REMARKABLE DOG

Hokitika Guardian, 18 February 1933, Page 2

REMARKABLE DOG

YOUNG MAORI’S MESSENGER. BRINGS T|HE TEA “BILLY.” In a remote corner of the Hokianga County there is a dog ‘which might have made fame behind th e footlights or in th e moving picture studio had he been given the opportunity. He is owned by a young Maori, Aninea, who is on relief employment on the new road to Mitimiti, on the coast. Skipper i s his name, but the “s” is silent in that Maori locality. H e is a collie of no great beauty, but has am extraordinary know, ledge of both English and Maori. His most notable achievement is to travel about a mile from the , r oad works to the camp where Mrs Aninea lives ; and return with a “billy” of hot tea for j hie master. He carries his burden very ! carefully by the handle, around which. ! a piece of cloth is tied to improve rjls \ grip, and so far he has not upset the ! “billy.” Not only can he carry a long-handled shovel, although sometimes it takes him a little while to lift it at th e point of balance, but lie is able to pick out the right- one from a dozen. To search for and find his master’s hat is easy. Occasionally he is sent for Aninea s home that has been left grazing with a loose rope, but is now a little diffident about leading the horse, having been kicked by it. “Skipp er ” has been sent milos with a note to a house where his owner has been. Once he was sent up a paddock to a .homestead on the verandah of which a lady was sitting. He was simply told to bring the hat. He took it ■from her head, carried it to his master and then, on command, returned it to the lady. This wonderful dog owes most °f h'* knowledge to tbo training of a little girl, Aninea’s sister, who had no otffie l playmate. Apparently she talked to lUm as t° another child, and lie proved to be an apt pupil.