The Dog Collection | Choose your Favorite Dog

Dogs have long been useful and indeed talented at collecting money for good causes. On a snowy January day in 1900 the Ladies’ Kennel Association arranged a parade of 400 dogs to collect in aid of the Soldiers’ Widow and Orphan Fund, between them raising the commendable sum of £3,000. It was a highly organized affair. Many wore costume of a patriotic nature and the dogs were divided into 'companies', each under the direction of a 'divisional officer', the British Bulldogs were led by one called Simple Simon. Sergeant Locker's dog of Cheltenham looked a wonderful sight in his little red breeches and scarlet coat, with a miniature gun and flags crossed over his back. On the day the place of honor and silver cup were awarded to a young girl with her 'wee Jap', which she carried under a cloak, also managing to carry a flag of which she refused to be relieved.

GYP
That special parade marked a very important day for dogs and owners but many dogs collected money on an individual basis throughout the year, year in and year out. Gyp was an intelligent Rough Terrier who came into the hands of his new master in 1898, when his original owner was found leveling his gun at    ; the dog, for whom he had no further use. Lucky timing allowed Gyp to be taken into a more appreciative home and from then on he collected for numerous charities, including the Transvaal War Fund, for which he raised £9. Gyp was said to have a miser's perfect greed for money, the jingling of coins attracting him like a magnet. Once he had secured a coin between his teeth he held it with the tenacity of a pair of pincers. He would sit on his haunches to beg and with remarkable accuracy could catch a coin in his mouth when one was flung in his direction.

Bhutan. The lhasa apso
Another dog who sat up to beg was Bhutan, a Lhasa Apso imported from the Himalayas and registered with the English Kennel Club in 1896. Bhutan begged at shows, sitting for hours in that position; indeed on one occasion Princess Alexandra, a frequent visitor to these events, was heard to remark, 'That little dog is begging to leave the show'. Unfortunately, while begging for the Hospital Fund, Bhutan contracted distemper and, said his owner, ‘He fell at his post, so to speak.’ The determined little dog kept sinking down into a lying position but, after a short rest, would once again resume his usual pose. 'He kept his end up to the last,' said his owner, 'and then went home to die'.

Absent-minded beggar
A fluffy, white dog with a strong-minded aversion to the police and an equal dislike of newspaper boys was Absent-Minded Beggar. But his unsociable manners were overlooked because of the good work he did collecting money for patriotic causes. One Saturday he was standing in the market place collecting money as usual but that day, for some reason, the rattling of coins in the tin mug at his neck seemed to puzzle him. Beggar took it into his head to tip out the coins onto the pavement, to the delight of the urchins who made off hastily with the money.

Another famed collecting dog was Zulu, a Curly-coated Retriever, who collected on the sea front at Hastings on England's south coast. He usually collected where the band played, decked in red, white and blue ribbons and a khaki cap. In 1900 Zulu paid over _£20 to the Hastings Observer and was acknowledged in the newspaper for his valuable work.

Dadles
Dadles collected in Cirencester for the Cottage Hospital, amongst other charities. He had a natural affinity with strangers who enjoyed being entertained by Dadles' abilities. Regulars, though, tended to ignore him and one can perhaps understand why. He waited amongst the carriages at the far end of the yard outside a hotel; setting his targets on someone approaching, he would meet them at the hotel entrance and accompany them to the smoking room. Once comfortably seated, he would commence his irresistibly funny program involving a series of pantomimic illustrations of canine life, at the end of which he would 'sicken' and 'die'. After what he considered to be a decent interval he was miraculously 'resurrected' and -went around to make his collection, using every available means open to him and all his guile until a coin was deposited in the box.