And some of us may have witnessed the counterpart to this picture, that of a dog's funeral, in which a whole family have followed the be- loved one to his garden-grave with no mere hypocrisy of grief Many a strong man unused to weep or " play the woman " has shed tears of real grief at the death of his dog. I have always thought that meaner even than to shoot an enemy from behind a hedge is to poison his dog in order to afflict him with an irreparable loss. For the dog once loved and become " one of us " is not to be replaced. Others can be had in plenty, but dogs have a biography which is personal to each one of them when they are of high intelligence and nobility of character. Even strangers miss them and ask, "Why, where's your dog?" The Christmas guests miss the friendly bark that wel- comed them, for dogs are often the masters of the ceremonies and guardians of the hearth who seemed to call the names and bid us enter the hospitable doors as they " Wagged all their tails and seemed to say The master knows you — you're expected." Indeed, the humane and humanizing quality of a noble dog is his 3-^ THE hearthstone; or, life at home. most homely and pleasant characteristic. He can often put us in good humor when we feel " out of sorts." He can inspire us with kindlier feelings toward our fellow-men and women. He can plead .-.s an eloquent but mute advocate for our truant boys when they have been out of bounds with him on what he knows as well as they was ail illicit gambol. When he has not a perfect consciousness of his own rectitude he shows it, and if he has gained a dinner by unfair and sneaking artifice, he feels dyspepsia of the heart, his food does him no good, he laments his lapse from the straight path of virtue and keeps out of our sight, not so much because he dreads the rod as because he feels that our confidence in his integrity is broken. In the training or education of pets the same method should be fol- lowed which I have suggested in another chapter in the case of chil- dren. Far better than the rule of " Never too late to mend " is " Never too soon to begin." The lower animals, like ourselves, are the creatures of habit, and it is as true of the dog as of the child that if you train him up in the way that he should go, when he is old he will not de- part from it. The gravest defect in the education of household pets is that too much pains are taken in teaching them the fine arts, such as standing on their hind legs and holding skeins of silk for their mistress — they generally accompany a piano with vocal music of their own accord — while too little attention is paid to moral and social philosophy. A conscientious perception of the rights of persons and the difference between " meum " and " tuum" is of more importance than mere accomplishments. The first point in a dog's education is religious rather than secular : it is to keep the commandments and do as he would be done by. Greediness and selfishness are easily eradicated in the dog, for he is naturally the most generous and un- selfish of creatures. But care for number one is latent in him as in children, and if encouraged will vitiate and demoralize his whole character. Socratic temperance should be taught him in the use of meats. The canine gourmand is as unlovely as the human.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

And some of us may have witnessed the counterpart to this picture, that of a dog's funeral, in which a whole family have followed the beloved one to his garden-grave with no mere hypocrisy of grief Many a strong man unused to weep or " play the woman " has shed tears of real grief at the death of his dog. I have always thought that meaner even than to shoot an enemy from behind a hedge is to poison his dog in order to afflict him with an irreparable loss. For the dog once loved and become " one of us " is not to be replaced. Others can be had in plenty, but dogs have a biography which is personal to each one of them when they are of high intelligence and nobility of character. Even strangers miss them and ask, "Why, where's your dog?" The Christmas guests miss the friendly bark that welcomed them, for dogs are often the masters of the ceremonies and guardians of the hearth who seemed to call the names and bid us enter the hospitable doors as they " Wagged all their tails and seemed to say The master knows you — you're expected." Indeed, the humane and humanizing quality of a noble dog is his 3-^ THE hearthstone; or, life at home. most homely and pleasant characteristic. He can often put us in good humor when we feel " out of sorts." He can inspire us with kindlier feelings toward our fellow-men and women. He can plead .-.s an eloquent but mute advocate for our truant boys when they have been out of bounds with him on what he knows as well as they was an illicit gambol. When he has not a perfect consciousness of his own rectitude he shows it, and if he has gained a dinner by unfair and sneaking artifice, he feels dyspepsia of the heart, his food does him no good, he laments his lapse from the straight path of virtue and keeps out of our sight, not so much because he dreads the rod as because he feels that our confidence in his integrity is broken. In the training or education of pets the same method should be followed which I have suggested in another chapter in the case of children. Far better than the rule of " Never too late to mend " is " Never too soon to begin." The lower animals, like ourselves, are the creatures of habit, and it is as true of the dog as of the child that if you train him up in the way that he should go, when he is old he will not depart from it. The gravest defect in the education of household pets is that too much pains are taken in teaching them the fine arts, such as standing on their hind legs and holding skeins of silk for their mistress — they generally accompany a piano with vocal music of their own accord — while too little attention is paid to moral and social philosophy. A conscientious perception of the rights of persons and the difference between " meum " and " tuum" is of more importance than mere accomplishments. The first point in a dog's education is religious rather than secular : it is to keep the commandments and do as he would be done by. Greediness and selfishness are easily eradicated in the dog, for he is naturally the most generous and unselfish of creatures. But care for number one is latent in him as in children, and if encouraged will vitiate and demoralize his whole character. Socratic temperance should be taught him in the use of meats. The canine gourmand is as unlovely as the human.

The hearthstone; or, Life at home