7 6 DOG STORIES 



the two, and the next stage was to teach 

 him to bring me the card ; this he now does, 

 and hands it to me quite prettily, and I then 

 give him a bone, or a little food, or take him 

 out, according to the card brought. He 

 still brings sometimes a plain card, in which 

 case I point out his error, and he then takes 

 it back and changes it. This, however, does 

 not often happen. Yesterday morning, for 

 instance, he brought me the card with 

 " food " on it nine times in succession, 

 selecting it from among other plain cards, 

 though I changed the relative position every 

 time. No one who sees him can doubt that 

 he understands the act of bringing the card 

 with the word " food " on it, as a request for 

 something to eat, and that he distinguishes 

 between it and a plain card. I also believe 

 that he distinguishes, for instance, between 

 the card with the word " food " on it and the 

 card with " out " on it. 



This, then, seems to open up a method 

 which may be carried much further, for it is 

 obvious that the cards may be multiplied, 

 and the dog thus enabled to communicate 



