[ Leslie / Minnie's Pet Dog ]
"Madeline Leslie" was one of the pen names used by Harriet Woods Baker (1815 - 1893), a prolific American author primarily of moral and religious tales for young readers. This particular story was one of the volumes in her series entitled Minnie and Her Pets.
Minnie's Pet Dog was first published in 1864 (Boston: Lee and Shepard) and has been reprinted a couple of times recently. The illustrator is uncredited, though the last name "Hyde" is readily evident in the illustrations; this would be John Newton Hyde (1846 - 1927), an American illustrator; the names of the engravers are also visible, Kilburn & Mallory — this would be the American engraver Samuel Kilborn (1831 - 1903) and his sometimes partner Richard Mallory (1813 - 1890).
Much of the first half of this book is devoted to stories about one of Minnie's dog, a Newfoundland named Leo. Several of his adventures, and several other anecdotes about dogs told in this book, are based on anecdotes of dogs told by various prior writers on dogs and dog behavior.
Here's the description of Leo — you can see that the (uncredited) illustrator wasn't particularly attentive to the text's description —and an anecdote regarding his intelligence and character:
He was a large, shaggy dog, of the Newfoundland breed, black as jet, with a white tip to his bushy tail, and three white feet.
Leo’s eyes were very bright, and his whole countenance remarkably intelligent. He was a most useful animal about the stable, always giving notice by a loud, fierce bark, when a stran[55]ger, and particularly an ill-dressed one, tried to enter. He was good-natured, too, and was never but once known to bite or seriously injure any person.
One day, the hostler, having gone into the city, left Leo in charge of the stable, as usual. About noon, a man entered and began to walk around.
After a few loud, prolonged barks, which brought no one to his aid, Leo concluded he must take care of the man himself. Every step that the stranger went he followed him, not molesting him in any way until the man took down a handsome fur robe from the shelf, and secreted it in the hay, near the window. He then proceeded to leave, when Leo caught him and held him fast.
Nearly an hour later, when the hostler returned, they were still in this position, the robber frightened almost out of his wits, and not daring to move lest the dog should kill him.
Being closely questioned by the hostler, he acknowledged his theft, and said that he had intended to come in the night and take away the robe, which he knew was valuable, by removing the window.
While he was talking, Leo watched him narrowly, and then followed him from the barn, growling continually.
If you'd like to read more of Leo's adventures, the full text of this work (multiple formats) is available here at Project Gutenberg.
Leo is mentioned again in another book in this series, Minnie's Pet Parrot. In the opening paragraph we learn of the acquisition of Minnie's pet spaniel, Tinney.
After a time, her father, seeing how much comfort she took with kitty, bought her a spaniel. He already had a large Newfoundland dog; but Mrs.[13] Lee was unwilling to have him come into the house, saying that in summer he drew the flies, and in winter he dirtied her hearth rugs. So Leo, as the great dog was called, was condemned to the barn, while Tiney could rove through the parlors and chambers whenever he pleased.
Leo's name comes up again a few lines later:
. . . though her parents had had six children, she was the only one remaining to them, and that in her infancy she was very sickly, you will not wonder so much. The doctor said that their only hope of[16] bringing her up was to keep her in the open air as much as possible.
“Let her have a run with Leo,” he used to say; or, “Get her a horse, and teach her to ride. That will do her more good than medicine.”
