126 INSTINCT OF DOGS. 



afterwards stumbled upon the rabbit, he would from his 

 breaking have thought he had no business to touch it ; but 

 not having seen the shot, he fancied he had a right to bring 

 what he had himself found upon the moor. Any person who 

 was no judge of dogs would have said, " Why, this is no 

 more than what any retriever puppy would have done." It 

 is not, however, the mere act alone, but the connecting cir- 

 cumstances which often show the superior instinct of the 

 canine species. 



The performances of the retriever are more showy, and 

 the generality of observers would immediately on that account 

 pronounce him the more sagacious dog. In taking a walk 

 with him last winter, I met a friend who had dropped a whip : 

 if this had happened to myself there would have been no 

 difficulty, as I had only to send the dog off upon my track ; 

 but upon trial he immediately ran back upon that of my 

 friend, recovered the whip, and brought it to me. Another 

 time, when he was following an open carriage, a shawl was 

 dropped: no one perceived the loss until the dog was seen car- 

 rying it in his mouth behind. Not long after a bouquet of 

 flowers was missed : I immediately looked round for the re- 

 triever, and, to be sure, there he was with the bouquet most 

 jauntily carried in his mouth. I only mention these as ex- 

 planatory of my theory ; viz. that we are apt to overvalue 

 one dog for sagacity, while we overlook its more unpretend- 

 ing neighbour, because, from shyness, surliness, eagerness of 

 temper, or want of practice, all its powers of instinct and 

 memory are employed in a different and less obvious way ; 

 for there is no doubt, if a dog is eager, shy, or sulky, it 



