[To THE EDITOR Or THE " SPECTATOR:1 SIR,—As I believe
that doge very rarely understand the use of mechanical contrivances, and that my young half-bred collie certainly does the use of bells, I hope you will admit a notice of him among your records of intelligent dogs. I have long, old-fashioned bell-ropes in my dining-room, and when he was about seven months old, he noticed that when the bell was rung, a door communicating by a long passage with the kitchen was opened, and he could escape into the kitchen for a romp with the servants and another dog, who mostly lives there, SO he took to ringing for himself when tired of the dining-room, and still continues to do so, though he is now over two years' old. His way is, having made sure the bell has really sounded, to go and listen at the door, to hear if the kitchen door opens at the other end of the passage ; if it does not, after waiting about as long as any one else would, he rings again, and again listens. Once he pulled the bell-rope down, and I happened to be in the room when he wished to ring and discovered his loss. He looked much discomfited ; he then stood and thought for a miruite or two ; suddenly his countenance cleared up ; he had remembered there was another bell-pull the other side of the fireplace, so he dived under the sofa and chairs and pulled that. Now where he stood thinking, he could not see the second bell-rope, and it is very seldom used, so it must have been memory that helped him. There are two other doors in the room, but he simply barks or whines to be let out of them, unless he is alone in the room, when he will ring for the servants whichever way he wants to go. The dining-room is the last of three rooms en suite, and a short time ago, the dog was in the further one with a visitor who was too idle to let him out when he asked to go ; so, much to my friend's amusement, he walked de- liberately through into the dining-room and rang the bell there. He cannot manage the newer bell-handles in the other rooms.—I am, Sir,
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