year old, and so beyond puppy folly, though very lively and playful
still.

A. M. B.

_THE SENSE OF HUMOUR AND CUNNING IN DOGS._

DOGS' SENSE OF HUMOUR.

THE POWER OF IMITATION IN DOGS.

[_Oct. 22, 1882._]

The following anecdote may interest those of your readers who are
accustomed to observe the characteristic actions of dogs. I can vouch
for its accuracy, as I was an amused eye-witness, and several members of
my family were also present, and have often told the story.

A friend of ours and his wife were spending a musical evening with us,
and an old, black, English terrier, who belonged to the house, had been
in the drawing-room, which was upstairs. The dog had been kindly noticed
by our friend, who was partially lame from paralysis. On leaving the
drawing-room the dog followed him to the top of the staircase (we, with
his wife, were waiting below in the hall), and with cocked tail and
ears stood gravely watching his slow, limping descent. When the invalid
was nearly at the foot of the stairs the dog began to follow, limping on
three legs (he was quite sound), in humorous imitation of our poor,
afflicted friend, and this assumed lameness was gravely kept up till he
arrived on the mat. It was impossible to repress a smile, though our
politeness was at stake, and the unconsciousness of our friend added to
the difficulty.

A. R.

SENSE OF HUMOUR IN DOGS.

[_July 28, 1888._]

A recent anecdote from one of your correspondents about a dog and a hen
brought to my mind an incident, related to me by an eye-witness, of a
dog who had a constant feud with the fowls, which were prone to pilfer
from the basin containing his dinner. On one occasion he was lying in
front of his kennel, quietly watching a hen as she made stealthy and
tentative approaches to his basin, which at length she reached and
looked into, finding it perfectly empty. The dog wagged his tail.

J. R.

A DOG'S SENSE OF HUMOUR.

[_March 9, 1895._]

Does the following dog-story show a sense of humour? A retriever was in
the habit of leaving his bed in the kitchen when he heard his master
descending the stairs in the morning. On one occasion a new kitchen-maid
turned him out of his bed at a much earlier hour than usual. He looked
angrily at her, but walked out quietly. Time passed, and he was nowhere
to be found. At last, in going to her bedroom, the kitchen-maid found
h