27-S MODERN TRAINING. 



purposes proves the possession of pre-existing mental ca- 

 pabilities. The simple act of carrying an object to the 

 trainer, in compliance with an order, is not a mechanical and 

 meaningless act on the part of the dog, as is commonly 

 taught and believed. The act is in full accord with the sum 

 total of the dog's correlated experience. The greater num- 

 ber of the rational acts of life are devoted to seeking that 

 which is pleasurable and avoiding that which is painful. In 

 forcing a dog to retrieve, the trainer unconsciously considers 

 his own complete knowledge as a standard, overlooking the 

 fact that the dog cannot know the full application, since he 

 has not had a full experience. When a dog will retrieve an 

 object through the intermediate effects of the spike collar 

 or other means, such acts are intelligently applied in ac- 

 cordance with his associated experience. He has learned 

 by an association of ideas derived from special experiences 

 that by performing certain acts in a certain manner he 

 avoids pain, and that if he does not perform such acts he 

 suffers pain. The mere presentation of the usual retriev- 

 able object to his sight after the necessary experience will 

 cause him to grasp it forthwith without either command or 

 punishment; in this act is shown all that constitutes the 

 primary attributes of mind, a consciousness of agreement 

 and difference, and a memory. Learning to retrieve from 

 the application of force requires the exercise of complex 

 mental processes in the dog. He must learn to grasp the 

 object to avoid punishment; a new element is introduced 

 when the order Fetch is associated with it. The association 

 of ideas, although apparently simple to the trainer, are com- 

 plex, nevertheless, for there is a discriminating complex 

 mental process distinguishable in the intelligent perform- 

 ance of the act the dog, after a brief series of experiences, 

 associates a certain act with the sight of a certain object, 

 and the performance or non-performance of it with or 



