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Show 122 SPECIAL EXPRES, 'IONS : CIIA 1'. v. appearance of a dog when cheerful, and the m~rked antithesis presented by the same animal when d~Jected and disappointed, with his head, ears, body, tail, ~nd chops drooping, and eyes dull. Under the expectation of any great pleasure, dogs bound and jump about in an extravagant manner, and bark for joy. The ten~ doncy to bark under this state of mind is inher~ted, or runs in the breed: greyhounds rarely bark, whilst the • ipitz-dog barks so incessantly on starting for a walk with his master that he becomes a nuisance. An agony of pain is expressed by dogs in nearly .the same way as by many other animals, nan1ely, by howhng, writhing, and contortions of the whole body. A tt ntion is shown by the head being raised, with the ears erected, and eyes intently directed towards the object or quarter under observation. If it be a sound and the source is not known, the head is often turned obliquely from side to side in a most significant manner, apparently in order to judge with more exactness fron1 what point the sound proceeds. But I have seen ·a dog greatly surprised at a new noise, turning his head to one side through habit, thongh be clearly perceived the source of the noise. Dogs, as formerly remarked, when their attention is in any way aroused, whilst watching some object, or attending to some sound, often lift up one paw (fig. 4) and keep it doubled up, as if to make a slow and stealthy approach. A dog under extreme terror ·will throw himself down, how 1, and void his excretions ; but the hair, I believe, does not become erect unless some anger is felt. I have seen a dog much terrified at a band of musicians who were playing loudly outside the house, with every muscle of his body tren1bling, with his heart palpitating so quickly that the beats could hardly be counted, and panting for breath with widely .open mouth, in the same manner C II AI'. V. DOGH. as a terrifi ed man does. Y ct thi · dog had not exerted himself; he had only wand r d , ·lowly aud re. tl ssly about tho roo1n, and tho day was cold. Even a very slight degree of fear is invariably shown by the tail being tucked in between the legs. This tucking in of the tail is accompanied by the ears being drawn backwards; but th y are not pressed closely to the head, as in snarling, and they are not lowered, aA when a dog is pleased or affectionate. When two young dogs chase each other in play, the one that runs away always keeps his tail tucked inwards. So it is when a dog, in the highest spirits, careers like a mad creature round and round his master in circles, or in figures f eight. He then acts as if another dog were chasing hin1. This curious kind of play, which must be familiar to every one who has attended to dogs, is particularly apt to be excited, after the animal has been a little startlecl or frightened, as by his master suddenly jumping out on him in the dusk. In this case, as well as when two young dogs are chasing each other in play, it appears as if the one that runs away was afraid of the other catching him by the tail; but as far as I can find Qut, clogs very rarely catch each other in this manner. I asked a gentleman, who had kept foxhounds all his life, and he applied to other experienced sports~ 1nen, whether they had ever seen hounds thus seize a fox; but they never had. It appears that when a dog is chased, or when in danger of being struck behind, or of anything falling on him, in all these cases he wishes to withdraw as quickly as possible his whole hind~ quarters, and that from some sympathy or connection between the muscles, the tail is then drawn closely inwards. A similarly connected movement between the hindquarters and the tail may be observed in the l1ymnn. |