Page 89 - 1957

Intermediate Essay - First
DOGS
Long before any writt en hi story, dogs have oeen companions to mana Through t he ages t hey have guarded h1s livestock~ helped hunt his food, and protected him and his family o In ancient Rome they were f avourit8s as pets~ and in Egypt, whenever a dog died, the family would go into
mourning for days, often embalming the body of their canine friend.,
As time went on p di fferen t breeds were developed for different types of worko In Switzerland the Sta Bernard was used for rescuing lost mountain climbers and to-day the pic- ture of this ~-og with a cask of brandy around his neck is very familiaro One of these dogs named Bar r y did su~h great services that for a while t he St a Bernard was known as t:.he "Barry Hounda" Barry died in 1816 after saving no less than 40 lives ~ His likeness fs rg:>w mounted in The Natural History Museum in Berne.~ Switzerlando
In Germany the German Shepherd~ popularly called the police dog, v.e as at first developed for ·sheepherd1ngo To=day
he is used for police work and also served as a war dog in World War lla
There are many different breeds~ but 0ne of the most
noble is the Newfoundlanda This breed is credited ~ith saving. over 500 people from drowni ng o His coat is dens~ and oiiy
and his feet are webbed for easy swimmingo Lord Byron had a Newfoundland named Boatswain and after the dog died h~ v.~c~e this inscription on his grave: "Beneath this spot are deposited the remains of a being who was possessed of beauty w·ithout vanity, strength without insolence , co·urage 'VITi thout ferocity, and all t he virtues of man without man<ts vicesoao o11
A good plac~ to see ·all the breeds is at a dog showo Here the dogs are judged and the finest one in each breed
is picked for the "Best of Breed" titlea From these dogs they selecet the "Best in Showo" There are also field trails where the sporting breeds are judged in their ability to hunt and retrieveo The first dog show was held in Brita~n i.n 1843 11t the Zoological Gardens.~ London~ and 't.ras confined to spaniels onlya
There are many incidents in history about dogsa When Mary~ Queen of Scots was executed9 her little spanieL crept between her head and shoulders and could not oe taken
away by force o When Champlain founded Quebec~ they tra1~ dogs to warn them of the ap.proach of t.he Indianso When
William 9 Pri nce of Orange was at war with Spa1n, he was befriended by a stray dogo ~Later t he dog saved h1s life
from a Spanish s-py who was going t.o kill t.he sleeping Pr1nceo The dog has been called Man11 s Best Friend and he certain~
ly has deserved the titlao
One or the grea~est tri butes ever paid to dog~ occurred r.bout 5000 R,C.,,.,An Egypti<jn peasant was walting for the N:LJ_e to ov:erflow its banks as it does every yeara He noticed that whenever the river overflowed~ a certain bright star aver failed to appear i n t he sky., He tnought that the or thing as faithful as that star was a dog~so