it in agility.
Manual dexterity will often fail, and is seldom employed save when danger
is present. Mental supremacy appealing to the source of action ensures
safety, by subduing, not the resistance, but the desire to resist.

It is easy to ascertain when the dog has regained that tranquillity which
would allow of its being trusted with security. The eye need alone be
consulted, and a little observation will speedily instruct any one to read
its meaning correctly. When the creature is irritated, the pupil
invariably dilates, and by singly marking this circumstance, the temper of
the beast may be correctly ascertained. Nor should caution be discarded
until the contracted circle assures that the agitation has passed away.

With the smaller kind of spaniels and the generality of petted animals,
the indications of the eye may be depended upon; but with the more robust
and less familiarized species it is safest to take some precaution, even,
while the sign of sagacity is exhibited. Certain dogs, those of coarse
breeds and large size, are exceedingly treacherous, and sometimes are not
safe even to their masters. Creatures of this kind are, however, usually
as devoid of courage as they are deficient of magnanimity; and by the
display of resolution are to be readily subdued.

When, however, really sick, there are few dogs which may not be
approached. Under such circumstances, the utmost gentleness should be
employed. The stranger should advance quietly, and not bustle rudely up to
the animal. He should speak to it in accents of commiseration, which will
be better comprehended than the majority of reasonable beings may be
willing to admit.

The hand after a little while should be quietly offered to the dog to
smell, and that ceremony being ended, the pulse may be taken, or any other
necessary observation made, without dread of danger. Every consideration,
however, ought to be given to the condition of the beast. No violence on
any account should be indulged; it is better to be ignorant of symptoms
than to aggravate the disorder by attempting to ascertain their existence.
If the brain should be affected, or the nervous system sympathetically
involved, silence is absolutely imperative. No chirping or loud talking
ought under such circumstances to be allowed, and the animal should not be
carried into the light for the purpose of inspecting it. The real
condition of the patient, and the extent or nature of its disease, will be
b