A friend of mine once told me a story about a dog 

 of his and the trouble he had with fowls. Several of 

 us had been discussing the characters of dogs, and the 

 different emotions they feel and manage to express, 

 and the kind of things they seem to think about. 

 Every one knows that a dog can feel angry, frightened, 

 pleased, and disappointed. Any one who knows dogs 

 will tell you that they can also feel anxious, hopeful, 

 nervous, inquisitive, surprised, ashamed, interested, 

 sad, loving, jealous, and contented just like human 

 beings. 



We had told many stories illustrating this, when 

 my friend asked the question : " Have dogs a sense of 

 humour ? " Now I know that Jock looked very 

 foolish the day he fought the table-leg and a silly 

 old hen made him look just as foolish another day 

 but that is not quite what my friend meant. On 

 both occasions Jock clearly felt that he had made 

 himself look ridiculous ; but he was very far from 

 looking amused. The question was : Is a dog capable 

 of sufficient thinking to appreciate a simple joke, 

 and is it possible for a dog to feel amused. If Jess 

 had seen Jock bursting to fight the table-leg 

 would she have seen the joke ? Well, I certainly did 

 not think so ; but he said he was quite certain some 

 dogs have a sense of humour ; and he had had proof 

 of it. 



He told the story very gravely, but I really do not 

 even now know whether he Well, here it is : He 

 had once owned a savage old watch-dog, whose box 

 stood in the back-yard where he was kept chained up 

 8 9 



