WONDER DOG

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 March 1928, Page 2

WONDER DOG

KNOWLEDGE OF 300 WORDS. A dog that knows 300 words, and can pass an examination on them, as he proved before an animal phsychology class in Columbia University, is the latest wonder of the animal world (says the Literary Digest). His name is Fellow, and he is a powerful German shepherd or pedigreed police dog, owned by Jacob. Herbert ,of Detroit, who has been educating him for the last four years. Fellow is not quite five years old, but those who saw him pass his examination in the animal psychology laboratory at Columbia before Professor C. H. Warden and 75 spectators, assure us that he has the intelligence of an eight-year-old child. Most amazing was Fellow’s infallible response to complex commands spoken in ordinary tones, without gestures, or even without the dog seeing his master at all. Fdr an hour, as one witness attests, the dog “ably maintained the receiving end of a conversation,” showing by his actions that he understood the words themselves. Mr. Herbert constantly varied the pitch of his voice (says the New York World), speaking loudly, then very softly, and at times going outside the laboratory and calling through the keyhole, to demonstrate that the dog was not responding to gestures ofr any other vision cues. The writer continues: . “Suppose you go to the door and wait there,” said Herbert quietly, and, like a flash, Fellow was off for the door. “Never mind,” he continued, and the dog froze to the floor. “Stand up against the wall,” came the command, and the black-and-tan shepherd reared against the wall. “Do it again,” said Herbert casually, and Fellow repeated his action instantly. “Go to the window and look out,” “Put your feet on the radiator,” “Step down,” “Go to that lady in the back row and put your head in her lap”; these commands and similar ones were executed without the slightest hesitation by Fellow. The dog’s eyes and face constantly made one feel that he would like to join in the conversation. Then, breaking into these commands, Herbert remarked that he didn’t trust the people present. Fellow barked angrily until told, “The people here are all right.” Mr. Herbert then told Fellow not to let anyone approach a certain lady sitting in a corner. The dog followed his instructions so implicitly that he would not let his own master come near.

“He will bite me to protect anyone I tell him to,” Mr. Herebjrt explained. “He has been taught to follow instructions to the letter, and he does it regardless of consequences.” For an hour Mr. Herbert issued instructions to him, usually in a conversational tone, and part of the time from behind a screen. Fellow appeared delighted when Mr. Herbert praised him by calling him a “good dog,” and very downcast when his master said “What a shame” at his failure to obey an instructioo promptly. “With dogs, as with children,” said Mr. Herbert, “the first lesson to have them learn is to love their teacher. I never said anything to Fellow without a purpose, and never punished him or rewarded him except by saying “What a shame,’ of ‘Good dog.’ ” At the end of an hour Fellow displayed signs of weariness, and his master saying that the dog was “intellectually fatigued,” ended the demonstration. Fellow’s audience appeared more than willing to stay all day.