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Chris the Wonder Dog - Talented canine (part
Beagle) who caused a stir on THE GARRY MOORE SHOW and I'VE GOT A SECRET
during the 1950s.
Chris was called a "Wonder Dog" because he could answer
questions by tapping his paws on the ground or at his master's
shirtsleeves. For example, three paw taps for "yes" and two paw taps for
"no." The dog could also do simple arithmetic problems like adding 4+3=7
by tapping his paws.
Chris the Wonder Dog was so clever in fact, that many
people thought his antics just an elaborate trick created by his owner
George Wood, an engineer from East Greenwich, Rhode Island.
American
Parapsychologist Dr. Remi Cadoret of Duke University (1928-2005) visited Chris'
owners George and Marion Wood to investigate the possibility that the dog
was exhibiting the powers of ESP
The results were published in The Journal
of Parapsychology 22 (1): March, 1958. Using a tapping code for the
letters of the alphabet, Chris made startling predictions such as
what horse would win what race. If asked his opinion on cats, he spelled
out D-U-M-B. And when he asked how he did his tricks, he spelled out
S-M-A-R-T-D-O-G.
Cadoret also used a deck of cards known as Zener cards
(decorated with circle, plus sign, square, star, and wavy lines). Placing
the cards in black envelopes, Cadoret mixed up the envelopes and presented
them to the waiting canine. Miraculously, Chris divined the contents of
each and according to one series of tests produced clairvoyance levels
"the order of a thousand million to one against chance expectation."
The
most phenomenal prediction Chris made concerned his own death (See "The
Enchanted Voyager" by Brian Davis p219-225). When asked when he would die
he used his paw code to indicate June 10, 1962. He died on June 9, 1962,
one day shy of his own deadline.
Chris was adopted by the Wood's when
his original owners abandoned him. He first exhibited his abilities after
seeing another dog who was trained to count to ten. Jokingly, Marion Wood
asked Chris if he could do that? He immediately reached up to her arm and
touched it ten times with his paw.
The Wood's donated all the money earned
from Chris' performances to the SPCA.
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