To a certain degree this dislike of the dog continues to the present day; for, with few exceptions, the dog is seldom the chosen companion of the Jew, or even the inmate of his house. Nor was it originally confined to Palestine. Wherever a knowledge of the Jewish religion spread, or any of its traditions were believed, there arose an abhorrence of the dog. The Mohammedans have always regarded him as an unclean animal, that should never be cherished in any human habitation--belonging to no particular owner, but protecting the street [9] and the district rather than the house of a master.
The Hindoos regard him likewise as unclean, and submit to various purifications if they accidentally come in contact with him, believing that every dog was animated by a wicked and malignant spirit, condemned to do penance in that form for crimes committed in a previous state of existence. If by chance a dog passed between a teacher and his pupil during the period of instruction, it was supposed that the best lesson would be completely poisoned, and it was deemed prudent to suspend the tuition for at least a day and a night. Even in Egypt, dogs are now as much avoided as they were venerated. In every Mohammedan and Hindoo country, the most scurrilous epithet bestowed on a European or a Christian is--"a dog!" [10]
This accounts for the singular fact that in the whole of the Jewish history there is not a single allusion to hunting with dogs. Mention is made of nets and snares, but the dog seems to have been never used in the pursuit of game.
In the early periods of the history of other countries this seems to have been the case even where the dog was esteemed and valued, and had become the companion, the friend, and the defender of man and his home. So late as the second century of the Christian era, the fair hunting of the present day needed the eloquent defence of Arrian, who says that "there is as much difference between a fair trial of speed in a good run, and ensnaring a poor animal without an effort, as between the secret piratical assaults of robbers at sea, and the victorious naval engagements of the Athenians at Artemisium and at Salamis." [11] The first hint of the employment of the dog in the pursuit of other animals is given by Oppian in his Cynegeticus, who attributes it to Pollux, about 200 years after the promulgation of the Levitical law.