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Jim the Wonder Dog (1925–1937) was a Llewellin Setter'Llewellin Setter' is a name sometimes used to describe a specific strain of working English Sette
/ref> alleged to have a variety of remarkable abilities. He originally came from
Jim the Wonder Dog official siteRural Missouri Magazine
Individual dogs 1925 animal births 1937 animal deaths Individual animals in the United States
/ref> alleged to have a variety of remarkable abilities. He originally came from
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
and reportedly could predict the sex of unborn babies as well as the winner of the Kentucky Derby.
Life
Jim earned his reputation as a 'wonder dog' during the 1930s, puzzling psychologists from bothWashington University in St. Louis
Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...
and University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded in ...
in Columbia. Dr. A. J. Durant, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine, tested Jim's abilities in a public demonstration. He concluded that Jim "possessed an occult power that might never come again to a dog in many generations." Jim seemed to have the ability to guess the sex of an unborn baby and answer to orders in many languages even though his owner, Sam Van Arsdale, only spoke English. Jim the Wonder Dog picked the winner of the Kentucky Derby seven years in a row. He also predicted the Yankee victory in the 1936 World Series
The 1936 World Series was the championship series in Major League Baseball for the 1936 season. The 33rd edition of the World Series, it matched the New York Yankees against the New York Giants, with the Yankees winning in six games to earn t ...
. A joint session of the Missouri Legislature was called in order to witness the talents of Jim. He died March 18, 1937.
Memorial Park
In 1999 a park inMarshall, Missouri
Marshall is a city in Saline County, Missouri, United States. The population was 13,065 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Saline County. The Marshall Micropolitan Statistical Area consists of Saline County. It is home to Missouri Val ...
, where he died, was built in his honor. The park was opened May 1, 1999, where a statue of Jim was unveiled. Andy Davis, a Columbia sculptor, was commissioned to create the likeness of Jim out of bronze. The park is located on the former location of Sam Van Arsdale's hotel. The Saline County Water Garden Club designed and constructed the water feature within the park.
See also
* Clever Hans *Observer-expectancy effect
The observer-expectancy effect (also called the experimenter-expectancy effect, expectancy bias, observer effect, or experimenter effect) is a form of reactivity in which a researcher's cognitive bias causes them to subconsciously influence t ...
* List of individual dogs
This is a list of individual famous actual dogs; for famous dogs from fiction, see List of fictional dogs.
Actors
Advertising
* Axelrod, Basset Hound, appeared in commercials and print ads for Flying "A" Service Station advertisements in ...
Notes
References
{{ReflistExternal links
Jim the Wonder Dog official site
Individual dogs 1925 animal births 1937 animal deaths Individual animals in the United States