THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



257 



tator some years ago published a book 

 filled from cover to cover with claimed- 

 to-be-authentic stories of dogs. One 

 story published told of an old mastiff 

 that, wanting a fresh tgg for dinner, 

 caught a hen and carried her to his ken- 

 nel, where he kept her a prisoner until 

 she laid one, after which captor and cap- 

 tive became inseparable friends. 



Another story alleged that a Dr. Bar- 

 ford's dog was muzzled, but managed 

 to get out of the nosepiece, which he 

 promptly hid. A policeman found him 

 and summoned his master to court. The 

 children of the family told the dog how 

 wicked he had been to get his master into 

 so much trouble, and added the infor- 

 mation that he, too, would have to appear 

 in court on a given day. Later the case 

 was postponed, but the dog was in court 

 as per schedule. 



Then there is the story of a dog which, 

 on being rewarded with a bun for res- 

 cuing a drowning child, pushed another 

 into the water so that he might get 

 another bun. Still another story has it 

 that a man on a walking tour in the 

 Maine woods left his note-book at a 

 lodge. He didn't have time to go back 

 for it, so the lodgekeeper held the tour- 

 ist's glove to the dog's nose and com- 

 manded him to go back to the camp and 

 get the book. In due time the dog was 

 back with the forgotten diary. 



A DOG THAT BROUGHT AN INJURED PAL 

 TO A PHYSICIAN 



Another story relates that a bulldog 

 owned by a tavern-keeper followed his 

 master to a surgeon's office and watched 

 the latter set a broken arm for his master. 

 After several weeks the surgeon heard a 

 scratching at his door. Upon opening it 

 he found the self-same bulldog with a 

 canine pal that needed a leg set. 



Another veracious gentleman vouches 

 for this story : One night he was way- 

 laid by "Sweep," an Australian collie, 

 whose master was a friend of his. The 

 dog took his hand in his mouth, and 

 gently but firmly attempted to lead him 

 away. Although provoked, he decided to 

 follow the dog, which piloted the way to 

 the ferry, where he was requested in dog 



language to buy a ferry ticket that would 

 permit the collie to cross the river. 



These are but samples of an endless 

 array of stories of dog intelligence, every 

 one solemnly vouched for, that fill the 

 literature concerning dogs. The pity is 

 that men who tell such stories seriously 

 tend to discredit actual instances of in- 

 telligence on the part of these faithful 

 animals. 



THE) DOG'S MANIFOLD DUTIES AT THE 



BATTLE FRONT 



The stories of the devotion of dogs to 

 their masters under the most trying con- 

 ditions of the battle front form one of 

 the epics of the great struggle. 



It is said that there were about ten 

 thousand dogs employed at the battle 

 front at the time of the signing of the 

 armistice. They ranged from Alaskan 

 malamute to St. Bernard and from 

 Scotch collie to fox terrier. Many of 

 them were placed on the regimental 

 rosters like soldiers. In the trenches they 

 shared all the perils and hardships of the 

 soldiers themselves, and drew their turns 

 in the rest camps in the same fashion. 

 But they were always ready to go back, 

 and it is not recorded that a single one 

 of them ever failed when it came to 

 "going over the top" (see also page 201). 



The Red Cross dogs rendered inval- 

 uable service in feeding and aiding the 

 wounded. Each one carried a first-aid 

 kit either strapped to its collar or in a 

 small saddle pouch. When they found a 

 soldier who was unconscious, they were 

 taught to bring back his helmet, handker- 

 chief, or some other small article as a 

 token of the discovery. Many of them 

 learned wholly to ignore the dead, but to 

 bark loudly whenever they came upon a 

 wounded man. 



Not only did the dog figure gloriously 

 as a messenger of mercy in the war, but 

 did his bit nobly as a sentinel in the 

 trenches. Mounting guard at a listening 

 post for long hours at a stretch, ignoring 

 danger with all the stolidness of a stoic, 

 yet alert every moment, he played an 

 heroic role. 



Full many a time it was the keen ear 

 of a collie that first caught the sound of 

 the approaching raiding party. And did 



