I have been a friend of the dogs for many years; and from much that I had seen long before I got Master Frisky, I had become convinced that they have a way of talking,—if not in real words, yet in signs, looks, and motions, that are quite as good as words.
After my acquaintance with Master Frisky began, I, of course, had more chances of studying dog language than I had before; so, in the course of time, I came to understand a great deal that went on among them, that would have escaped the notice of some people.
Some of the more common signs and signals I shall tell my readers, but other signs I have promised to keep secret; for, as Master Frisky says, if folks once knew the dog language, that would be an end of all their secrets. Here is one of the incidents that led me to think that the dogs had a language of their own.
I was sitting in the hammock, watching a flock of blackbirds that were in a big elm-tree; they were visiting and scolding away at the top of their voices. Presently I heard a patter on the sidewalk; and looking up, I saw Ned, Frisky's particular friend, coming down the street with a bone in his mouth. He trotted into the yard; and after snuffing about for a moment, he seemed to make up his mind that Frisky was not at home, which was the case.
He laid his bone down on the lawn and looked longingly at it; but it was not for him, for after a few minutes he picked it up, and went and buried it in the garden. He then brought a stick from the woodshed and laid it on the lawn, and trotted off in the direction of home. "That is very queer," I said. "I will keep watch and see what happens."
After an hour or two Master Frisky came home covered with mud and very tired. He was trotting along, looking rather dejected, when he saw the stick. He went up and smelled of it, and gave a short, delighted bark, and then trotted with head up, to the corner of the garden, dug up the bone that Ned had buried there, and in less time than it takes to tell was lying by my side gnawing it. "Well, if that doesn't beat all," I said. The stick was a letter that Ned had left for Frisky; and if it had said upon it, "Dear Frisky, I have left a bone for you; it is buried in the north-west corner of the garden," the meaning would not have been plainer.
Now I will tell you some of the most common signs and signals in the language of the dogs.
For these signs they depend on their ears, eyes, mouth, paws, and tail; also barks, growls, whines, and grunts are brought into their language. They also use sticks, stones, bones, and prints of their paws to tell their friends different things.
When one dog goes up to another, and sticks up both ears, and scratches with his hind feet, he means, "Let's play;" and directly you will see them go tearing away, chasing and tumbling over one another in the most excited manner.
When two dogs go up and snuff noses, and at the same time wag their tails, they mean, "Good-morning." When a dog sticks up both of his ears and stands perfectly still, he means "Hark! I thought I heard something;" and when he has located the sound, you will see him trot off to find what it is.
When a dog puts one ear up and the other down, he says, "It is very queer; I don't understand it at all." When a dog draws down his lips until his teeth show all the way around, and gleam white, he says, "Go away; I don't like you; take care, or I shall bite." But when he opens his mouth and shows his teeth, and at the same time wags his tail, he says, "I like you, let's be friends;" and then you almost expect him to laugh, he looks so good natured.
When a dog stands still, and holds up one paw, he says, "It is very interesting; I wonder what it can be." When he puts his tail between his legs, he says, "I am awfully afraid;" and if he is a timid dog, you will see him run.
When one dog starts out to call on another, and does not find him at home, he leaves a stick near his kennel; that means, "I called on you to-day, but you were not at home." If he leaves two sticks, it means, "Come and see me to-morrow." If the dog cannot find a stick, he makes a great many tracks in the dirt that mean the same thing.
When a dog is going by his friend's house, and cannot stop, he will give one short bark, which means, "How are you?" and the dog will answer with two barks, that mean, "First-rate; how are you?"
If my young readers will watch the dogs at play, or as they trot soberly about on business, they will see them using all these signs, and many more that are most interesting; and if they are patient, and love them, they may learn many strange things about the life in dogtown.