The daily morning journal and courier., 1895-02-19
Two Aneodntes of Dogs.

Having derived much pleasure from
 reading the frequent natural-history
 notes which from time to time appear
 in the Spectator, venture to send you
 two instances of what seems to me the
 working of the canine mind under
 quite different circumstances. The first
 refers to an incident which happened a
 great many years ago. It was this.
 One day. when lad, was walking
 with my father accompanied by q
 strong, smooth-haired retriever called
 Turk" We were joined by the bailiR
 of the farm, and In the course of our
 walk Turk suddenly discovered the
 presence of rabbit concealed in what
 In Scotland is called "dry-stane
 dyke" After little trouble in remov-
 ing some stones, poor bunny was
 caught and slaughtered, being handed
 to the baillff, who put it in his coat
 pocket. Shortly afterwards we separa-
 ted the bailiff going to his home in one
 direction, and we to ours in an opposite
 one. Before we reached home we mo-
 ticed that Turk was no longer with us,
 at which we were rather surprised, as
 he was a very faithful follower. Some
 time after we got home, perhaps an
 hour, chanced to see a strange object
 on the public road which puzzled me as
 to what it was. It raised cloud of dust as it came along, which partly ob
 scured the vision. What was my sur prise when I found it was dragging all mans shooting-jacket which proved to be the bailiff's, with the rabbit still in the pocket We afterwards learned that the dog, to the surprise of the bailiff, quietly followed him home and lay down near him. Presently the man took off his coat and laid it on a. chair. Instantly Turk bounced upon 1t and dashed to the door with 1t in his mouth. He was pursued, but in vain; and suc- ceeded in dragging the coat from the one house to the other, a distance of one mile and three-fourths. It was ev- ident the dog had a strong sense of the right of property He believed the rab- bit belonged to his master, so he set himself to recover what he thought l stolen goods
 The other anecdote refers to quite a | recent date, and the only interest it has is that it shows how perfectly a. dog | can exhibit facial expression, and also | read at a glance the slightest indica- | tions of feeling in the human face. I | had a well-broken Irish setter, which l was perfectly free of hare or rabbit as | to chasing, but he was sad rascal for all that. also had at the time rough Scotch terrier, and the two dogs were great chums. The moment they got | the chance they were off together on a Like idiots, they would spend hours in vainly trying to dig rab- bits out of their burrows One day as I was returning home I met the pair in the avenue They were the very pie .ure of happiness. At first they did not see me and came joyously on at a trot. The instant they observed me they came to full stop, some forty yards off. The setter gently wagged his tail, md looked at me with an expression of anxious inquiry. Taking heart, he slowly advanced to within about thirty yards, and then came the varying play If feature which so interested me. He vas in great doubt as to whether had guessed what tricks he had been up to; ut as made no sign, he was gradual y looking more comfortable and gain ng confidence. Suddenly I noticed ,atch of mud above his nose, and I must have unconsciously shown him lad made a. discovery of some kind, for hat instant he turned tail and bolted lome at the utmost speed of which he vas capable, Without uttering a sim lie word or making a single gesture, he dog and man understood each other It was the language of Scot Skirving in the London pectator.