WONDERFUL FEATS OF DOGS. 97 



As soon as she presented the thimble, he ran off, maldng a 

 thousand gambols at having obtained it. After this he passed 

 gravely about the room, as if to say : ' What shall I do with 

 it f On saying to him : ^ Go to the sofa in front of the tire- 

 place — there is a hat upon it — put the thimble in the hat, and 

 carry it to the lady in blue,' the dog would strictly carry out 

 the order. » 



^' Placing a piece of meat on a piece of bread, and putting 

 the whole into a corner of the room, you might say to either of 

 these dogs : ^ Seek it ! Seize it !' The animal would run 

 toward the object in question, but on nearing it, he would face 

 about, seat himself before you with a*pleasant air, as if to say : 

 ' I only eat what my master gives me-^is Mons. Leonard pres- 

 ent V The latter would say : ' Leave the meat — put it on the 

 ground — eat the bread.' The order would be executed. 



^^Both these dogs knew how to play dominoes, and this is the 

 method in which it was done : One dog was made to seat 

 himself upon a chair before a table on which were placed the 

 dominoes, and opposite a human player. It was necessary to 

 give the dog only four dominoes, which were laid out in a row, 

 the faces toward him. If he had a double six he played it at 

 once, placing it in the middle of the table. If he had not, he 

 waited for his opponent to play. Then, if he had a domino 

 proper to play, he did not fail to do it, though he never ad- 

 justed it nicely — contenting himself with placing it at the end 

 to which it l3elouged. If you attempted to cheat, by placing a 

 two, for instance, where a six belonged, he contented himself 

 (if it was a lady) with returning the wrong domino ; but if it 

 was a gentleman, he accompanied the correction with a growl, 

 as if to say : ' Do not revoke, sir.' These feats were performed 

 by these dogs either in the presence or absence of their master. 



^' One day, walking in the country, I asked M. Leonard to 

 order the dogs to go over a fence right and left. He did so by 

 command only, Philax going over on our left, and Braque on 

 the right, as they were ordered. Then he ordered them to kiss 

 each other; they pushed muzzle to muzzle in quite an amus- 

 ing way. Another thing, the dogs were frequently sent to the 

 butcher, baker, or grocer, with a basket and written message, 

 and on these occasions it was only necessary to say : ^ G-o to 

 the butcher !' ' Go to the baker !' or, ^ Go to the grocer !' and 

 the command was always obej^ed without fail. On these occa- 

 sions, one would carry the basket, and the other would act as 

 guard. 



" One may see from this that if the grayhound, the least in- 

 telligent of his kind, is capable of such instruction, all dogs are. 



