The Sense Of Boundary In Dogs


[March 14, 1885.]



I have been much interested in the communications which have appeared

from time to time in the Spectator in reference to "animal

intelligence." Recently my attention has been called to a somewhat

striking illustration of it, in the case of my own dog and his canine

neighbour next door. Wallace is an Irish staghound, and is about a year

old. My neighbour's dog is a pointer, and is conside
ably advanced in

life. There is no hedge nor fence separating the two estates. The

dividing line runs between two stone posts about a foot in height, and

more than two hundred feet from each other. The dogs have never been

friendly, the pointer having repeatedly driven Wallace back over the

boundary when he has caught him trespassing. Both dogs, even when going

at full speed, stop the moment my dog has crossed the line. How does

the pointer know where the line runs, and how does Wallace know when he

is safely across it?



F. TUCKERMAN.



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