The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-10-29
THE TAIL OF THE DOG
HOW A CANINE EXPRESSES PLEAS
URE OR HUMILIATION.

Dogs seen, 10 WHg Their Tails When
Pleased why Dogs wag Their Tails.
There are many reasons for the tail
being the chief organ Of expression
among dogs. They have but little facial
expression beyond the lifting Of the lip
to show the teeth and the dilation of the
pupil Of the eye when angry. The jaws
and the contiguous parts are too much
specialized for the serious business OF
seizing prey to be fitted Tor such pur-
poses as they are in man. With dogs
which hunt by scent the head j.. neccs-
sarily carried low. aud is therefore not
plainly visible except 10 those close by.
But in the ease pf al hunting dogs. such
as foxhouHds or wolves which pack to-
gether, the tail is carried alofr aud j.
very free In movement. Il Is also fre-
quently rendered more conspicuous ly
the tip being white aud this il almost
invariably the case when tho hounds arc
Of mixed color.
When ranging the long grass Of ihr
prairie or jungle, the raised tips Of the
tails would often be all that an iudiyil-
ual member Of the baud would sca Of his
fellows. There is no doubt that hounds
habitually watch The tails of tinse in
front of them when drawing covert.
II faint drag is detected suggestive Of
the presence Of fox, but scarcely sufii-
cient to be sworn to vocally, the tail of
the finder is at once set in motion, aud
the warmer the scent the quicker docs it
wag. Others seeing the signal instantly
| join the first, and there is an assrmhlage
of waving tails before ever The least
whimper is heard.
Should the drag prove doubtful one
1 the hounds separate again aud the wav-
| ing ceases; but if it grows stronger whoi
followed mp the waggiug becomes nir.c
and more emphatic until one after an
other the hounds begin Ia whine aud
! give tongue, and stream off in Indian
file along the line Of scent.
| The whole question Of tail wa,.giny is
Il very interesting one. All dogs wag
| their tails when pleased. aud the move
ment is generally understood by their
! human associates rs an iutimation that
they are happy. But when we attempt
to discover the reason why pleasure
should he expressed in this way the ex.
| PLANTATION appears at first very difficult
one. All physical attributes Of living
beings are, upon the evolutionary
| hypothesis, trareable to some actual
need, past or present, Tho old and de-
lighlfully conclusive dictum that things
are as they ara because they were made
50 at the beginning no longer can be
put forward seriously outside the pulpit
or the nursery.
No doubt in many cascs--as, for in
stance the origin of human laughter-the
mystery seems unfalhomable. But this
only results from our defective knowl-
edge Of data upon which to build tho
bridge of deductivc argument. The rea-
son is there all the time could we but
reach it, and almost daily we are able
to account Tor mysterious and apparcut-
ly anomalous phenomena which ut,orly
bafiled our predecessors. Probably the
manner in which domestic dogs express
pleasure is owing to some interlocking
Of the machinery Of cognate ideas. In
order to understand this better it may
be helpful to consider some analogous
instances with regard to habits of our
own species.
There can be no question that the
J chief delight of wild dogs, as with mod.
! ern hounds aud sporting dogs, is in the
chase and its accompanying excitement
and consequences. One Of the most
thrilling moments to tiD human hunter
(and doubtless to the canine), and one
biz with that most =" sucnt of all de
! 4.
q citemcnt combined wi'E muscular sctiv
ity, IS when the presence Of game is fins
t detected. As we have cu in watching
7 the behavior in l'.s Of foyhounds
l this il invariably tn ime when tail
) are wag-Cd for The common good. Thl
wagging is au almost invaluable accom-
panimcntu Of this form of pleasure, whicl
is one Of the ChiRrest among the agree
able emotions when in the wild state
Owing TO some incubation of th
Q nervous mechanism, which at presen
5 we cannot unravel, the association 0
pleasure and waeging has become so in
separable that the movement of the tai
o follows the emotion whatever may cal
1t forth.
An explanation of "A similar kind ca
W be found for the fact that dogs deprc-
AZ their tails when threatened or scoldod
" When running away the tail would h
S the part nearest the pursuer, and ther,
" fore most likely TO be seized. Il wa
ID therefore securely tucked away botwee
10 the hind legs. The act Of running ava
al is naturally closely associated with Nh
eft emotion Of fear, and therefore tlli, 3e
es ture Of putting the tail between the le2
X becomes an inYariable concomit1ut Of n
lv treat or submission in the presence {
ri superior force When puppy take
a. out for an airing curves its tail dow
,le ward and scuds in circles and half ci
cles at fullest speed around its maste
lv it is apparently trying TO provoke i
IS. pseudo-cynic playfellow to pursue IL
mock combat II may be observed tn
re-. this running in sharp curves, with ir
nd quent change If direction, is a CONNIE
nd ruse with animals which are pursued {
X. larger enemies. The reason Of 70 is th
as- the centrifugal impulse acts more po'
,at erfully on the animal of larger hUl
-as and 80 gives the smaller an udvaulag
MI DIR. Louis r ,biu,uu IN Cmtrmlora
ad Review.