We sometimes make the mistake of thinking we know what goes on in the minds of dogs. Certain things are obvious: the world to them is to a great extent a world of smell. You know what happens when two dogs meet: a ritual of nosework on the body of the other, mostly its vital parts.
One woman had a dog (among many) at her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts which especially interested her. The dog, a sort of husky - from memory of havingheard this read out only once was remarkable in that he went out into the busy streets and came back only at night. What did he do all day?
So she decided to follow him regularly on her bicycle. He was very much the urban citizen, crossing busy streets almost without appearing to look both ways. Though he did. His habit was not to cross where the lights were, but to go 20 or 30 yards farther along. And always was quite unerring in his choice. After several journeys in which she took care to keep well out of his sight and smelling powers she discovered what seems to have been the main aim. When he came to a spot where other males had left traces of a liquid squirting their mark in other words he sought always to put his mark higher on the wall or lamppost or whatever. Sometimes this led to wild contortions, as he strove to get his leg, and sometimes his two legs, up a wall to prove himself the top dog.
Dogs which wander into other people's gardens can be a nuisance. A superstition has grown up - and there may be some force behind it that a half empty, clear plastic bottle, laid down on its side, or four or five on a biggish lawn will, infallibly, keep them from defecating on your grass. Much scoffing when the women of the house thought it should be tried. This is on a lawn of some 40 yards long by 30 wide, with a gate which may not be shut.
In a whole month there was only one incident, and that was when one of the inhabitants, spotting a large, hairy dog of the collie type, let out a roar. The dog - 40 yards away squatted at once and left his pile on the innocent grass. Is it the glinting water in the bottles? For even the doubters are almost convinced. But when the dogs become well used to the bottles? We will see.