THE MIND OF A DOG 203 



instance, is the key to the inner workings of the 

 mind of a dog ? 



Nearly all the probable ancestors of the dog are 

 animals whose natural habit it is to hunt in packs. 

 Wolves and jackals still do so. The Indian wild 

 dogs and the hyaena dogs of South Africa exhibit 

 similar habits. Even the scavenger dogs which 

 infest the towns of the East show the same natural 

 tendency to hunt in bands. We may take it, 

 therefore, that the most fundamental instincts of 

 the dog's mind have arisen out of association with 

 his fellows for a common object like the hunting of 

 game. At first sight the dog's more or less solitary 

 life as the friend and associate of man would seem 

 to take us out of the region of these ideas. Yet 

 it will be seen on reflection that this is not so, and 

 that it is probably in such ideas that we have now 

 the clue to all the workings of the dog's mind and 

 to the remarkable and exceptional kind of intelli- 

 gence displayed by dogs in certain circumstances. 

 One of the most obvious and striking of a dog's 

 qualities is the sense of devotion and exclusive 

 attachment to his master and his master's household. 

 His eye will kindle at the approach of a friend. But 

 not even the eye of the Oxford undergraduate who 

 looked through Jude the Obscure without being 

 even conscious of his presence could have been 

 more unseeing than that of the dog can be when he 

 looks through a stranger. His attitude is no doubt 

 prompted by feelings towards an outsider whom he 

 regards as not a member of his pack. Similarly as 

 to the dog's extraordinary loyalty, the remarkable 

 sense of obedience which will hold him to a command 

 for days and weeks, the power of control which he 



