Dogs who wag their tails are an evidence of canines who are farther from their original wolf stock. Ulysses had specially bred Argos to have a gentle and friendly disposition. Argos’s being quiet, gentle, and friendly to his old master is an evidence of his age and memory. He was the only dog among the hounds who was old enough to have had Ulysses as a master. The other dogs’ running at Ulysses and threatening him shows that they had been born and bred after Ulysses left for Troy. Argos was a far different breed of dog from the herd-hounds that surrounded Eumaeus’s hut. Those hounds had been trained to protect the swine. Thus when Ulysses came up, they were doing their doggy job. Eumaeus was not as talented a dog trainer as was Ulysses. Ulysses had complete control over Argos while Eumaeus had to yell at the hounds and throw stones at them to make them mind.