ALTERATIONS IN CHARACTER 123 



under this heading at all, and here a slight contempt 

 for the " oppressor " is often discernable. There is 

 also a greater show of independence and frequent 

 contrariness, owing to her diminished respect for our 

 " species," in short it becomes more difficult to deal 

 with the dog. The days of blind confidence are past 

 even though an innate sense of devotion to man 

 remains, for what has just been said, seems always to 

 occur more as the result of " moments of reflection." 

 Indeed, this entire educational process would have 

 little that is joyful about it, were it not for the feeling 

 that the animal understands its friend, and is in a 

 position to converse with us within certain limits, and 

 this outweighs and compensates for all the rest I 



As to the practical results I can say little that is 

 favourable. The dog's thinking seems to be at variance 

 with her acts : thought can therefore, have little 

 influence upon a dog's behaviour, for as has been the 

 case with dogs of every kind, from time immemorial 

 its actions are due to the excitement of the outer 

 senses, such as scent, taste, and hearing, and any 

 emotions observable are but the direct and inward 

 continuation of those external sensations, and, as such, 

 last but for a given time. What we may term the 

 " thought form " that is bound to any given word, 

 representing objective thought in its simplest form, 

 rotates within a very limited circle, and is powerless 

 over the animal's feeling. For instance : Lola knows 

 that she is forbidden to " hunt " i.e. to go after the 

 game, etc., indeed she has shown in many of her 

 replies that she is well aware of what " totgeschossen " 

 ( = to be shot dead) means. And yet once the scent 

 is up, off she goes, and nothing will prevent her for, 

 she must go ! 



This is a particularly strong characteristic which 



