Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1903-02-20
TEACHING A DOG TO READ.
Experiments Of Lord Avsbnry That Con
tinusd for Three Months.

terlcd 10 as OF JOhn LuDDOCks mas
contributed to the London Magazine
an extremely interesting paper on
Intelligence in Animals" lie first
tells of some experiments he has
carried out with a view TO testing
and training the intelligence Of a
dog.
That the dog is a loyal, true and af-
fectionate friend, his lordship re-
marks, must be gratefully admitted,
but when we come to consider the
psychical nature Of the animal, the
limits Of our knowledge are almost
Immediately reached. | have else
where suggested that this arises very
much from the fact that hitherto
we have tried to teach animals, rath-
er than to learn from them-to con-
vey our IDEAS to them, rather than to
devise any language or code Of sig
nails by means of which they might
communicate their ideas to us. The
former may be more important from
uilitarian point Of view. though
even this is questionable, but psyche
logically it is far less interesting,
Under these circumstances it oc-
CURED to me whether some such
system as that followed with deaf
mutes, and especially by DR.. Howe
with Laura Bridgman, might not
prove very instructive if adapted to
the case Of dogs.
| have tried this in a small way
with a black poodle named Van. |
took two pieces of cardboard about
ten inches by three, and on one of
them printed in large letters the
word ''food" leaving the other
blank. l then placed the two cards
over two saucers, and in the one IN
der the "food" card 1 put a little
bread and milk, which Van. after
having his attention called to the
card, was allowed to eat. This was
repeated over and over again until
he had had enough.
In about ten days he began to dis
tinguish between the two cards. l
then put them on The floor and babe
him bring them to me, which he did
readily enough. When he brought
the plain card l simply threw it
back, while when he brought the
food" card ! gave him a piece of
bread, and in about month he had
pretty well learned to realize the diff
ference.
l then had some cards printed
with the words "out," "tea, " ''bone,"
water" spelled phonetically, so as
not to trouble him by our intricate
spelling, and certain number also
with words to which l did not in
tend him to attach any significance,
such as "nought," "plain," "ball, !"
etc. Van soon learned that bringing
a card was a request and soon learned
to distinguish between the plain and
the printed cards. 1t took him
longer to realize the difference be-
tween the words, but he gradually
got to recognize several, such as
'food," "out," "bone," "tea," etc.
| II he were asked whether he would
like TO go for walk he would JOY
fully fish up the "out" card, choos-
ing it from several others, and bring
it to me or run with it in evil knt tri.
umph to the door.
l need hardly say that the cards
were not always put in the same
places. They were changed quite
Unfortunately and placed in great
variety Of positions. Nor could the
dog recognize them by scent. They
were all alike, and all continually
handled by US. Still, | did not trust
to that alone, but had a number
printed for each word. When, for
instance, he brought card with
Stood" on it, / did not put down the
same identical card, but another
bearing the same word; when he
had brought that, third, then
fourth, and so on. For a single meal,
therefore, is or 20 cards would be
used, SO that he evidently was not
guided by scent. No one who has
seen him look down row of cards and
pick out the one he wanted could, l
think, doubt that in bringing a card
he felt he was making a request, and
that he could not only distinguish
one card from another, but could
also associate the word and the OBJ
ject.
l used to leave card marked "wa-
( Ter" in nv dreseinO-roorn fba door