dog law, ireland c. 500

It seems a great deal of early Irish law had to do with distress - that is, the seizure of personal property in satisfaction of a debt.  In the "Senchus Mor," the legal code recorded round this time, the list of possible items to take and the wait times before each were spelled out to the finest degree.

So here's what happened if you planned to relieve the ancient Irish of their dogs:

For a hound of the dunghill, i.e. the dog outside the door. For the watch-dog for every kind of cattle, i.e. every watch-dog of the three watch-dogs is a thing of necessity, i.e. there is a stay of one day upon the distress that is taken for obtaining restitution of these watch-dogs. For a lap-dog, i.e. that is in a house, i.e. the lap-dog of a queen; or it is the lap-dog of the pregnant woman; and it is her husband that takes distress for it, for if it were a woman the stay would be two days. For a watch-dog, i.e. the chained dog, i.e. the hound that does the three things, i.e. drives off robbers, &, i.e. there is a stay of one day upon the distress which is taken for the restitution of all these dogs. For the lawful hunting-hound, i.e. the hound which is kept for pursuing thieves, i.e. the fully-lawful hound; or for pursuing the deer at the time of hunting.

Ireland., . (18651901). Ancient laws of Ireland ..: Published under direction of the commissioners for publishing the ancient laws and institutes of Ireland. Dublin: Printed for H. M. Stationery off., published by A. Thom. 145.