Dog Stories from the "Spectator"

Dog Stories from the "Spectator" - Being anecdotes of the intelligence, reasoning power, affection and sympathy of dogs, selected from the correspondence columns of "The Spectator"

The following Dog Stories are taken from the pages of the Spectator, with the permission of the editors and proprietors. It was suggested to me by Mr. Fisher Unwin that the many strange and pleasant stories of dogs which from time to time are sent to the Spectator by its correspondents would, if put together, form a volume of no little entertainment for all who love dogs, or are interested in stories of animal intelligence. Up till now the Spectator dog stories, after the week of their publication, have practically been inaccessible to the general reader; for he is a bold man who will attack a bound volume of a newspaper in search of amusement. Though I at once agreed that the suggested[Pg 8] book would be a very readable one, and likely to please dog-lovers all the world over, I did not, till the selection was nearly made, realise how much the stories gain by being grouped together. A single story of a clever dog may amuse, but it is liable to be put aside as an accident, a coincidence, a purely exceptional circumstance which proves nothing. If, however, instead of a single story we have half a dozen illustrating the same form of intelligence, the value of the evidence is enormously increased, and a collection of dog stories may become of very great value in determining such questions as the power of dogs to act on reason as well as on instinct, or their ability to understand human language. The solution of these problems is, I cannot help thinking, materially advanced by the stories in the present book. Take, again, the group of stories which I have labelled Purchasing Dogs. One sample of this kind might, as I have noted above, be put off as a case of imperfect observation, or as a curious coincidence; but when we[Pg 9] get a whole group of stories it becomes very difficult to doubt that dogs may learn the first principles of the science of exchange. The Italian dog (page 59) which did the narrator a service by fetching him cigars, demanded payment in the shape of a penny, and then used that penny by exchanging it for a loaf, was far advanced in the practice of Political Economy. He not only understood and acted on an implied contract, but realised the great fact at the back of the currency. "What are guineas," said Horne Tooke, "but tickets for sheep and oxen!" The Italian dog did not, like a savage, say, "What is the use of copper to me, I cannot eat it?" Instead, he perceived that the piece of copper was a ticket for bread. It should be noted too that this dog, the dog called Hardy (page 57) and others, were able to distinguish between the pieces of copper given them. Again, the Glasgow story (page 53) shows that a dog can learn to realise that a halfpenny will buy not merely one thing but several thingsin fact, that the great advantage of[Pg 10] exchange by currency over barter is that it gives you a choice. While on the subject of purchasing dogs, it is curious to reflect how very little is wanted to convert the dog that is able to purchase into a free agent. If a dog can exchange his faculty for cigar carrying or his tricks against half-pence, why should he not exchange useful services, such as guarding a house or herding sheep, and so become self-supporting? Imagine a collie paid by the day, and, when his work was over, receiving twopence and going off to buy his supper. But the vista opened is too far-reaching. One sees down it dogs paid by the hour and by the piece, and then dogs asking for better pay and shorter hours, and, finally, dogs on strike, and dog "black-legs," or "free dogs." A word should be said as to the authenticity of the stories in the present volume. It is a matter of common form for the evening newspapers to talk of the Spectator dog stories as hoaxes, and to refer in their[Pg 11] playful, way to "another Spectator dog." It might not then unnaturally have been supposed that a person undertaking to edit and reprint these stories would have found a considerable number that showed signs of being hoaxes. I may confess, indeed, that I set out with the notion of forming a sort of Appendix to the present work, which should be headed "Ben Trovato," in which should be inserted stories which were too curious and amusing to be left out altogether, but which, on the other hand, were what the Americans call a little "too tall" to be accepted as genuine. The result of my plan was unexpected. Though I found many stories in which the inferences seemed strained or mistaken, and others which contained indications of exaggeration, I could find but two stories which could reasonably be declared as only suitable for a "Ben Trovato." I therefore suppressed my heading. The truth is that the animal stories are much more carefully sifted at the Spectator office than our witty critics and contemporaries will admit. No stories[Pg 12] are ever published unless the names and addresses of the writers are supplied, and all stories are rejected which have anything clearly suspicious about them. What the editors of the Spectator do not do is to reject a dog-story because it states that a dog has been observed to do something which has never been reported as having been done by a dog before, or at any rate, something which is not universally admitted to be doable by a dog. Apparently this willingness to print stories which enlarge our notions of animal intelligence is regarded in certain quarters as a sign that the Spectator will swallow anything, and that its stories must be apocryphal. I cannot, however, help thinking that all who care for the advancement of knowledge in regard to animals should be grateful to the editors of the Spectator for not adopting the plan of excluding all dog stories that do not correspond with an abstract ideal of canine intelligence. Had they acted on the principle of putting every anecdote that seemed prim facie unlikely into the waste-paper basket, they would[Pg 13] certainly have missed a great many stories of real value. In truth, there is nothing so credulous as universal incredulity. An attitude of general incredulity means a blind belief in the existing state of opinion. If we believe that animals have no reasoning power, and refuse to examine evidence that is brought to show the contrary, we are adopting, the attitude of those who disbelieve that the earth goes round the sun because they seem daily to see a proof of an exactly opposite proposition. If people are to refuse to believe anything of a dog that does not sound likely on the face of it, we shall never get at the truth about animal intelligence. What is wanted is the careful preservation and collection of instances of exceptional intelligence. Before I conclude this Introduction, I should like to address a word of apology to the correspondents of the Spectator whose letters form the present volume. Though the copyright of the letters belongs to the editors[Pg 14] and proprietors of the Spectator I should have liked to ask the leave of the various writers before republishing their letters. Physical difficulties have, however rendered this impossible. In the case of nearly half the letters the names and addresses have not been preserved. In many instances, again, only the names remain. Lastly, a large number of the letters are ten or twelve, or even twenty years old, and the writers may therefore be dead or out of England. Under these circumstances I have not made any effort to enter into communication with the writers before including their letters in this book. That their permission would have been given, had it been asked, I do not doubt. The original communication of the letters to the Spectator is proof that the writers wished a public use to be made of the anecdotes they relate. As long, then, as the letters are not altered or edited, but produced verbatim, I may, I think, feel assured that I am doing nothing which is even remotely discourteous to the writers. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 31847
Author: Strachey, John St. Loe
Release Date: Mar 31, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Strachey, John St. Loe, 1860-1927