Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-08-19
CANINE LANGUAGE.
THREE STORIES THAT SHOW DOGS
CAN TALK

Case Of Satisfying a Dogs Sense of Hon
or-New Zealand Greyhounds at Their
Play-An Insistent Committee of Dogs
and Its Work.
We were speaking Of the power pos
sessed by some animals of commune
eating their ideas one to another, and
my friend kindly furnished me with
two or three stories to illustrate the
point. He said. James Cumming was
fishing a stream near Coupar, and was
much annoyed by small terrier which
followed him along the path, barking,
till he turned and clicked" the dog
over the nose with his fishing rod,
when the dog at once ran off. My friend
went on with his fishing, and forgot the
incidenttill he noticed the small dog re-
turning. trotting by the side Of large
retriever, who without any growing or
preliminaries, quietly bit Cummings
heel, and in the same quiet and digni-
fed manner at once retired, honor
having been satisfied.
In the district of Rangitikei, New
Zealand. where l lived for some years
hares were very plentiful, and coursing
was a sport INDUCED in by everybody
the result being that greyhounds
swarmed in the townships; and while
their owners were busy, they were in
clined to suffer from ennui, and thus
it happened that some fifteen or twenty
hounds would often trot out of the
village, quite unattended. about a
quarter of a mile to a paddock oppo-
site my house, and there they would
mass up in one corner close to the gate
Presently one of the number would
dash out from the mob towards the
middle of the field. and when it had
got some fifty or seventy yards start,
would begin to double" and twist ex
aCtly as a hare would do when hard
pressed. The pack would at once com
mence the chase, while the hare dog
lodged and turned at full speed. till at
last he was "coliared" and pulled
down. when the painting pack would re.
turn to the rendezvous at the gate, and
after brief blow" another dog would
break away and assume the role of
hare" This sport l have seen carried
on for nearly an hour at a stretch
perfectly spontaneous on the part OF
the dogs.
Another curious story was told me
by DR.. Frank Wallace Mckenzie OF
Wellington N. a., whose father owned
run in Otago, which was much over
run by rabbits. IL order to keep the
rabbits in check, if possible, a monde
script pack Of dogs was kept at the
station to hunt rabbits for their living.
The pack was composed of half-breed
greybounds and collies chiefly, and
they were in the habit of going out
every morning quite by themselves and
hunting all day, returning in the even
ing to the station. A very small Scotch
terrier always accompanied these ex-
petitions, his small body allowing him
to take the part of ferret, and turn
the rabbits out of their burrows. The
dog, therefore. became necessary to
others if they wanted really good
sport; but there were times-as this
dog grew old-when the comforts OF
the kitchen fire outweighed the joyous
excitement of digging rabbits out Of
the snow, and as ne was a privileged
individual, and his daily bread did not
depend entirely upon the slaughter of
the chase, he would sometimes absent
himself from the meet" but the
other dogs knew better than to start
without him. so a deputation would
return to the kitchen to ask him to
reconsider his position" and being
armed with wider powers of persuasion
than most Populations, when this one
was met with snaris and growls, it set
upon the object of it's prayers and
dragged him out of the place At
once he was surrounded by the pack,
and hurried off to the hunting ground
by the pack in no very gentle manner.
| Once there, the spirit of the chase"
would come over him. and his stiffness
wear off, but the same performance
would probably have to be gone
through next morning. l have often
wondered what the other dogs did
when this terrier died.