Abstract
THE following somewhat remarkable instance of a dog finding its way back was told me by the owner, who lived 20 or 25 miles up (and on the left bank of) the river Canumá, in Brazil; a small river just east of the river Madeira. He took the dog by boat down the river Canumá and up the Madeira to Borba, a small town on the right bank of the latter river; a distance of 70 or 80 miles round; and left the dog the re. The dog ran away from Borba and made its way back to its former home on the river Canumá. More exactly, it was making its way back, for my informant being out in the wood some little way inland, and S.W. of his cottage, fell in with it. It was in bad condition, having been some weeks—the exact time could not be ascertained—in working its way back through the forest, and of course had lived by hunting. I cannot give with any exactness the distance overland from Borba: perhaps it is less than 25 miles; and in this respect the return is not remarkable. It seems to me that the dog during its journey by water must have had a constant perception of the bearing of its old home; and on the other hand that it made its way back not by any blind instinct but by trial and error and by recognition of the character of the forest.
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S., F. External Perception in Dogs. Nature 7, 361 (1873). https://doi.org/10.1038/007361a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/007361a0
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