188 British War Dogs 



exert its vocal powers to the fullest extent, in order to reach 

 the ears of the owner. For the inverse reason, dogs that 

 are trained for sentry work become more and more silent, 

 as they become interested in their work, and accustomed 

 to the conditions. They are always in close contact with 

 the sentry, and feel more in touch with him, so that there 

 is no necessity to bark loudly, but they give him warning 

 by other means, such as low growling, and a very alert 

 attitude. Picket the same dog, a couple of hundred yards 

 outside the lines by itself, and it will let the guard know by 

 barking, of enemy approach, because it will know that 

 this is the only way it can communicate satisfactorily. 



One could write lengthily on speech in dogs. It is a 

 subject, which has not been much studied or experimented 

 with, but which opens up immensely interesting possi- 

 bilities. The most intelligent dogs exhibit the most comical 

 and fascinating ways of communicating their fancies* 

 desires and mandates. They smile like human beings, 

 they talk, — expressing pleasure and annoyance, — -they 

 scold, they grumble, and are, in fact, never at a loss to 

 clearly express themselves. In fact, the family dog, as 

 everyone knows who is fortunate enough to be in posses- 

 sion of the right sort, rules with a rod of iron, has a very 

 high standard as to punctuality, and other modes of 

 behaviour for the members of the family, and leaves no 

 stone unturned to keep them up to the mark. As this is 

 a digression, however, I will hope at some other period 

 to follow up the interesting question of speech in animals, 

 particularly in dogs, both towards human beings, and to 

 each other. 



I would merely add, that it is extremely interesting to 

 study the manner in which trained guard dogs communicate 

 with each other. In the New Forest, I had an entire valley 



