LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 
 UNITED STATES OF A5IEEICA. 
 
Wo: 
 P 
 
PRACTICAL TRAINING 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Shepherd Dog^ 
 
 A FEW CHAPTERS ON DOGS IN GENERAL, 
 AND THE COLLIE IN PARTICULAR, 
 
 Suggestions to Stockmen for the Protection of their Flocks, Etc. 
 
 V BY 
 
 p W. A. WICKHAI 
 
 } \^ C^ TIPTON, low A<^s^^'QOPYR'GHr 
 
 V 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 Men are gods to dogs, and they serve their deities with a faithfulness that 
 shames us. 
 
 — close beside him, in the snow, 
 Poor Yarrow, partner of their woe, 
 Crouches upon his master's breast, 
 And licks his cheek to break his rest. 
 
 —ScoU. 
 
3 fA^ 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1891, 
 By W. a. WICKHAM. 
 
r 
 
 To the stockmen of the United States, scattered far and wide 
 over our grand prairies and majestic mountain-sides, from the 
 mighty roaring Atlantic to the low-murmuring waters of the placid 
 Pacific, from the storm-swept northern lakes to the sea-girt shores 
 of the sunny South, this work is respectfully dedicated. 
 
pre:face:. 
 
 TJAVING been a breeder of Collies for a number of years, and 
 having numerous inquiries from patrons and friends for 
 practical training instructions, which I could not supply on account 
 of being unable to find a practical work on the subject, I have 
 endeavored to supply a long-felt want by presenting the present 
 work. I do so in the hope it may prove of service to those hav- 
 ing the handling and training of Shepherd Dogs. I can assure 
 my readers that if they will only take the trouble, and are 
 possessed of patience and perseverance, and will faithfully carry 
 out these instructions, they can not fail to be the happy possessor 
 of a faithful and devoted servant and friend. In my remarks on 
 dogs in general, I have endeavored to make it as interesting as 
 the somewhat limited space would admit. I have quoted from 
 the best ancient and modern writers and poets, and have also 
 made extracts from the standard work of Youatt. 
 
 W. A. W. 
 
 Tipton, Iowa, February, 1891. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUR FRIEND, THE DOG. 
 
 History of the canine race — Our present breeds of dogs —The 
 dog the only animal capable of disinterested affection — Scrip- 
 tural allusion — The Egyptian's veneration for the dog — The 
 dog as an animal of draught — The preserver of human life — 
 How a gentleman was saved from drowning by a Newfound- 
 land dog — The Newfoundland dog Bruno— Watch and the 
 minister — The mastiff: dog — A faithful watch-dog — The St. 
 Bernards — The dog of Mary, Queen of Scots — Dogs of the 
 French army — The poodle dog — The bloodhound — The Scotch 
 staghound — The English deerhound — The St. Hubert breed — 
 The foxhound — Dogs' usefulness to man — Ulysses and his dog 
 Argus — The faithful Gelert — A pointer dog — The deacon 
 and his setter dog — Courtney Langdon's love for dogs — 
 Friendship existing between dogs — The faithful wolf-hound — 
 Influence of climate on the form and character of the dog — 
 The bulldog — The wild dog — The source from which the 
 different breeds of dogs sprang 15 
 
Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 Reputation of the shepherd dog — His aptitude for his duties 
 Description of the French shepherd dog — Origin of the old 
 English sheep-dog — Earliest work on the subject written in 
 the English language— The opinion of Youatt, Richardson 
 and Dr. Kerr on this breed of dogs— Size of the English sheep- 
 dog—Where he originated — Where he is most used at the 
 present time — Not suitable for a household pet — The Spanish 
 shepherd dog —Their use as defenders and watch-dogs — Their 
 faithfulness illustrated by an anecdote— The shepherd dog 
 Montague — Dogs used for bad purposes— The Mexican sheep- 
 dog — Serious injury to sheep from badly trained dogs — The 
 instinct, sagacity and fidelity of the shepherd dog — Buffon's 
 account of the sheep-dog — An interesting account of the shep- 
 herd's dog as given by Taplin in the Sportsman'' s Cabinet 43 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 
 
 Five distinct breeds of shepherd dogs — The Collie regarded as 
 the best — His place of nativity — His companions — Mongrel 
 Collies— The origin and history of the Collie— Dr. Alexander 
 Stewart's opinion— Fingal's dog Bran— Dogs deemed worthy 
 of notice in the olden time — The sagacity of the Collie — How 
 they are valued in their native country — The Ettrick shep- 
 herd's opinion of what a Collie can do— The shepherd Collin 
 
CONTEXTS. ' IX 
 
 and his dosf — Collin's sorrow at the death of his dog— The 
 value of a well-trained Collie — Their work in the wild moor- 
 lands of Scotland — Sir Walter Scott's description of the life 
 of a Scotch shepherd — Mr. Hogg describes the difference 
 between the Collie sheep-dog and the cottager's Collie — The 
 bench-show Collie — Breeding for show alone has a deteriora- 
 ting influence — Means whereby the Collie may be improved 
 in appearance and still retain his working qualities — What 
 the English Kennel Gazette says on the subject — The coat of 
 the Collie of great importance — Color oB the Collie — Original 
 color of the Collie — In regard to crossing the Collie with the 
 Gordon setter — Hunting dogs improved by being crossed with 
 the Collie — The Collie a pure breed— Story of the Scotch 
 shepherd on the hillside — The English champion Collie Kut- 
 land — Value of color in the Collie— Fashionable colors — 
 White Collies— Collie presented to Queen A^ictoria — The 
 Queen a lover of dogs — General appearance of the Collie — 
 His motion or action — Cunningness of the Collie — Appear- 
 ance of the Collie as found among the sheep of Scotland —His 
 services indispensable — Collies in Australia— The Collie as a 
 companion — The Collie on the range, in the city and in his 
 native home — The most fashionable dog in England — The 
 coming dog of America — Closing remarks — Burns' description 
 of his dog Luath — Description of illustrations — Sensational 
 prices — Champion Charlemagne — Champion Rutland — 
 Champion Eclipse — Champion Peggie IT. and other noted 
 Collies — Their winnings, prices, etc 5.3 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS — HOUSE OR YARD TRAINING. 
 
 Remarks on training — The shepherd dog — The first step in the 
 direction of training — Advantage of selecting a young 
 puppy — The collar and chain — Time and place suitable for 
 training — To teach him to come in — The check cord — In- 
 structing the pup to lie down — The term ''Speak" How to 
 teach this useful accomplishment — Rewards — A puppy's 
 knowledge of language — The whistle — How to teach him to 
 obey the commands "Stop," ''Steady," "Hie on" — The 
 term "Over," so necessary in the field, can be taught when 
 the puppy is quite young ; how to do it — Instruction in walk- 
 ing to heel — Difference of opinion in regard to early train- 
 ing — Concluding remarks on yard-training. 71 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS — PRACTICAL FIEI.D WORK. 
 
 Introductory remarks on field-training — Different modes of 
 training — The disposition of the dog to be considered — An 
 enforcement of prompt obedience— How to correct heedless- 
 . ness in a young dog — Rules to be observed in training a dog — 
 Qualities that should be possessed by the trainer — The dog's 
 behavior when under correction — One cause why so many 
 dogs are made unfit for work — The term "Come in" — To 
 teach the dog to drive — The command "Hie on" — Training 
 to hand signals — To teach the word " Steady" — The use of 
 
CONTENTS. XI 
 
 the check cord — At what time to train the dog in the higher 
 branches of field work — Best position for the flock in order 
 to expedite the training — To teach him to "speak" to 
 them — to be quiet when bid — To train him to pass up the 
 side of the flock — The term ' ' Up, away up ' — To bring the 
 dog to the head of the flock, and pass around the other side — 
 To " come in" — Rewards — The feat an experienced Collie 
 will perform— To teach the dog to gather a scattered flock — 
 The term "Around them" — To teach the dog the term 
 ''Back, away back" — To teach him to stay at any desired 
 point alone — The term " Stop " or ''Lie down '' — To teach the 
 dog to cross fence in order to go to the head of the flock —To 
 train him to take the flock safely past gateways, openings in fen- 
 ces etc. — To teach him to " hold " the flock when necessary — 
 " Hold front"— "Hold right "—'• Hold left "—To teach the 
 dog to drive alone while the shepherd goes to the head of the 
 flock — To teach the dog to bring the sheep out of corners 
 when they face the dog and refuse to budge — To teach him 
 to bring the flock to you or fetch them home — The result of a 
 want of uniformity in training terms — Difference of opinion 
 in regard to training pups with an experienced dog — Our in- 
 structions sufficient without this aid, but the labor lessened 
 if it is found convenient to call in the services of an expert 
 dog — How to train the pup in connection with another dog — 
 Rules to be observed when the dog is to be trained for work 
 on both cattle and sheep — To teach him to fetch the cows 
 from the pasture- -To put them in different stalls — The shep- 
 herd dog should not be allowed to hunt — Teaching an old 
 dog — Time required for training a dog — Causes of failure in 
 training dogs successfully — How to inflict punishment when 
 it is found necessary — Concluding remarks 79 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COLLIE ANECDOTES. 
 
 Mr. James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, gives an interesting ac- 
 count of his dog Sirrah — Astonishment of Mr. Eiissell at 
 the intelligence of a Collie he saw in Scotland — A faithful 
 Collie who died at his post of duty rather than desert his 
 charge — How a Collie drove a flock of sheep a distance of 175 
 miles without assistance and without losing a single sheep — 
 How a Collie performed the duties which had previously 
 employed two men — An interesting incident illustrating the 
 memory of the dog — How a dishonest cattle-dealer Avas re- 
 buked by a dog — A few instances in which the Collie has 
 been useful in other ways besides the care of flocks and herds — 
 How the mail was carried regularly a distance of nearly four 
 miles over almost impassable mountains by the faithful Col- 
 lie Dorsey — A Collie's intelligence and usefulness in a 
 time of sickness — How a young man's life was saved by his 
 favorite Collie — Wonderful tricks performed by Mr. Harris' 
 Collie dog Boz — A Collie retriever — The Collie's antipa- 
 thy to cats illustrated by an anecdote 91 
 
CONTENTS. :s 
 
 CHAPTER VI J. 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 
 
 Good qualities of the dog— Canine pets —The dog one of man's 
 best friends— The dog's duties— The terrier— Even the 
 friendless cur not entirely worthless— The faithful watch- 
 dog — Coxie on the dog's reasoning powers — Sir Walter Scott 
 and his dogs— Man's just affection for the dog— Shakespeare's 
 language to Desdemona ; its relation to the dog — The society 
 of dogs — Concluding plea c 
 
 99 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 
 
 The wolf problem — Hounds can be used to advantage by stock- 
 men in the care of their flocks — They must be accustomed to 
 the sheep when young — How a sheep-breeder uses them to 
 advantage — The wolf's teeth too sharp for the shepherd dog — 
 Hounds protect the flock from strange dogs —What kind of 
 hounds to use — Sheep-bells a protection to the flock — A shep- 
 herd's experience in regard to bells — Cattle a protection to 
 sheep from the ravages of dogs and wolves — The cunningness 
 of the wolf— The result of keeping goats with sheep — The 
 situation of a farmer who attempts to keep sheep without a 
 shepherd dog — How to obtain a good dog — The Collie used 
 more than any other breed of shepherd dogs— -Raising dogs 
 with sheep ; how it is done — How to prevent dogs from kill- 
 ing sheep 10' 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 " Let Hercules himself do what he may, 
 The Cat will Mew, and Dog will have his Day." 
 
 —Hamlet, Act v., Scene 1. 
 
 A faint, wailing cry, like that of a young child, breaks the still- 
 ness, which is only disturbed by the rustling of the leaves and the 
 twittering of the birds, and the hunter, after one quick glance at 
 the undergrowth at his feet, glances apprehensively in every di- 
 rection to see if the mother is near to answer the call. And al- 
 though the hunter takes the young panther cubs to his cabin, he 
 always watches them for the first symptom of treachery, for he too 
 well knows that they are indeed fera naturce (wild by nature), and 
 can never be brought to look upon man as their master and friend. 
 How different is the dog ! Although abused from the time he 
 takes his initial journey as a sleek, fat, good-natured puppy,^ until, 
 as a lean, gaunt, hungry, ill-favored cur, he slinks behind his mas- 
 ter's heels, he is always faithful in his allegiance, and devoted to 
 his friendship. 
 
 The history of the canine race is as old as that of man, as far as 
 we know. The oldest geological traces of the abode of man which 
 have been discovered, also contain the bony reminders of his ever 
 faithful companion, the dog. Wife, friends and loved ones may 
 have deserted him, but the fare has never been so hard, the de- 
 pravity never so great, as to cause this faithful friend to desert its 
 master. We believe that the life history of the canine is coeval with 
 that of the human race, so intimate are the relations between these 
 two species of the animal kingdom. It is meet that this should be 
 so, for do they not represent the highest phase of intellectual de- 
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
16 OUR miEND THE DOG. 
 
 velopment and mutual attachment of which we have any exam- 
 ple between any two varieties of the mammalian animals ? 
 
 With poetic license, a Vedic writer in the " Zend Avesta" said, 
 thousands of years ago: ''That through the intelligence of the 
 dog the world existed." A German writer expresses the value 
 of the dog thus : "A good falcon, a speedy horse, a noble dog, 
 are more than twenty women worth." 
 
 While we can not express our love and admiration of the canine 
 race in the extravagant language which usage allows the poet, 
 still we venture to assert that notwithstanding the almost univer- 
 sal attachment which mankind feels for the dog, but few men 
 know of the immense debt which the human owes the canine race. 
 The firm believer in the biblical history of creation would be al- 
 most justified in asserting that, beyond all our domestic animals, the 
 dog was made for man. 
 
 Dr. Billings says that "the affectionate devotion of our canine 
 friends is one of the most wonderful of all their attributes, but still 
 more so is the fact that it has not been won from them through pun- 
 ishment and fear, but is the result of the gradual development of 
 trust and affection through centuries of contact. Hence we may 
 assume that the wild progenitors of our present dogs were first con- 
 quered through kindness, and their confidence won by the display 
 of sympathy on the part of man." 
 
 "May we not allow our minds to wander back to our primeval 
 ancestors, living their simple lives in huts or caves, and with the 
 mind's eye see some poor broken-down wolf or jackal finding its 
 way into these human abodes, or picked up by some sympathetic 
 person, its wounds dressed, its body nurtured, its shyness and 
 fierceness, at first depressed by weakness, finally subdued by kind- 
 ness, which rewarded its benefactor with the devotion of a life, 
 thus teaching man the value of its species, and the lesson which 
 has made the dog the friend of our sick-bed, the companion of the 
 fireside and camp-fire, the watchful guardian of our race, whether 
 found under Afric's scorching sun or on the frozen fields of the 
 Northland ? It matters not where man has wandered, could we 
 with Indian instinct trace those tracks we should ever see the im- 
 print of his faithful friend accompanying his own." That man ap- 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 17 
 
 predated this attachment, in what to us is a very early period of 
 our history, is most touchingly shown in Edwin Arnold's transla- 
 tion of the '^ Great Journey from the Mahal-harata, " which for 
 want of space we omit. 
 
 Pallas asserts that " the origin of the dog is to be sought in 
 the taming and interbreeding of the various species of wolf in dif- 
 ferent lands." 
 
 Certain it is, the originals of any of our present dogs are buried 
 in prehistoric darkness. There is no doubt that our present breeds 
 of dogs have been obtained by some system of selection instituted 
 by man, which was not altogether the result of accident. 
 
 The most ancient records which we have, such as the figures on 
 the Egyptian pyramids, have representations of dogs that do not 
 differ from those still living in that country in any remarkable de- 
 gree, and so of Koman, Greek, Phoenician and other carvings. 
 
 Taking for granted the story related by Herodotus (verified by 
 Le Plongeon, the archaeological explorer), that the priests of Egypt 
 told him of the migrations of the Egyptians from the East to the 
 Nile country ten thousand years before their time, there is a vast 
 period of mysterious silence that must be charged to man, but 
 "dead men tell no tales," and the records of the earlier days of 
 the human race are, with those of all of our other domestic animals, 
 particularly of the dog, buried behind the veil of prehistoric 
 darkness. 
 
 I must say that it appears to me an inexcusable neglect on the 
 part of scientists and intelligent breeders of dogs, that notwith- 
 standing the many dog books that have been written, notwith- 
 standing the fact that several breeds have been established in 
 what we may call modern times — i. e., during the last two or three 
 centuries — still we have no record of the crosses by which they were 
 obtained. 
 
 Mr. Ballou says : "In tracing the origin of the dog and cat he has 
 examined all the books and data back to Herodotus in vain. The 
 animals soon got lost in obscurity, but students agree that the an- 
 cestors were once wild like man." Still it is as true, as if recorded, 
 that the subjection of what we call the animal world to the human, 
 bore direct relation to the tamableness of the differer.t species, 
 2 
 
18 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 and their adaptability to the developing intellect and increasing 
 will power of the human. 
 
 Man has made the dog as we know him, as he has also made our 
 other domestic animals from wild progenitors. The improvement 
 in the breeds and characteristics of our domestic animals is in di- 
 rect ratio to the intellectual ascent of the human race ; or, in 
 more commonplace language, the history of the improvement in 
 our domestic animals is the counterpart of the same thing in man. 
 This is more strictly the case with regard to the dog than any other 
 animal. 
 
 It is impossible to fix the epoch when the dog became the ser- 
 vant of man. The oldest traditions, the most ancient historical 
 documents, show us the dog reduced to a state of domesticity. 
 Thus it may be said that the dog forms an integral part of man- 
 kind. The dog possesses all the qualities of intelligence and spirit. 
 Where can we find a more certain, more constant, or more devoted 
 friendship, a more faithful memory, a stronger attachment, more 
 sincere abnegation, a mind more loyal and frank ? The dog does 
 not know what ingratitude is. He does not abandon his benefac- 
 tor in danger or adversity. With joy he offers to sacrifice his life 
 for those who feed him. He pushes his devotion so far as to for- 
 get himself. He does not recall the corrections, the unkind treat- 
 ment, to which he has been subjected ; he thirsts for caresses, 
 while the indifference of those who are dear to hini plunges him 
 into deep distress. Noble creature ! the favorite of the rich, con- 
 solation of the poor, inseparable companion of the unfortunate ; 
 thanks to thee, the miserable individual who dies alone in the 
 midst of society counts at least one friend. And what intelli- 
 gence ! what penetration! what finesse is there in this admirable 
 companion of our gladness and sorrow ! How well he can read 
 countenances ; how skillfully he knows how to interpret the senti- 
 ments conveyed in gestures and words ! In vain you may threaten, 
 in vain try to frighten him. Your eye betrays you ; that smile, 
 which scarcely appears upon your lips, has unmasked your feelings ; 
 and so far from fearing and avoiding you, he comes to solicit your 
 attention. 
 
 "Next to the human being, the dog ranks highest in the scale of 
 intelligence, and was evidently designed to be the companion of 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 19 
 
 man," says Youatt. We exact the services of other animals, and, 
 the task being finished, we dismiss them to their accustomed food 
 and rest ; but several of the varieties of the dog follow us to our 
 homes ; they are connected with many of our pleasures and wants, 
 and guard our sleeping hours. 
 
 The first animal of domestication, of which we have any ac- 
 count, was the sheep. " Abel was a keeper of sheep." It is diffi- 
 cult to believe that any long time would pass before the dog — who 
 now, in every part of the world, is the companion of the shepherd 
 and the director or guardian of the sheep — would be established in 
 the service of man. In the process of time man began to sur- 
 round himself with many servants from among the lower animals, 
 but among them all he had only one friend — the dog — one animal 
 whose services were voluntary, and who was susceptible of disin- 
 terested affection and gratitude. 
 
 In every country and in every time there has existed between 
 man and the dog a connection different from that which is observed 
 between him and any other animal. The ox and the sheep sub- 
 mit to our control, but their affections are principally, if not solely, 
 confined to themselves. They submit to us, but they can rarely 
 be said to love, or even to recognize us, except as connected with 
 the supply of their wants. 
 
 The horse will share some of our pleasures. He enjoys the 
 chase as much as does his rider, and when contending for victory 
 on the course, he feels the full influence of emulation. Remem- 
 bering the pleasures he has experienced with his master, or the 
 supply of food from the groom, he often exhibits evident tokens 
 of recognition ; but they are founded on a selfish principle — he 
 neighs that he may be fed, and his affections are easily transferred. 
 
 The dog is the only animal that is capable of disinterested af- 
 fection. He is the only one that regards the human being as his 
 companion, and follows him as his friend ; the only one that 
 seems to possess a natural desire to be useful to him. We take 
 the bridle from the horse and turn him free into the pasture, and 
 he testifies his joy at his partially recovered liberty. 
 
 We exact from the dog the services required of him, and he fol- 
 lows us. He solicits to be continued as our companion and our 
 
20 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 friend. As from instinct, the dog abandons his own race and as- 
 sociates himself entirely with man as his best friend ; arid no 
 cause, however great, is sufficient, in his estimation, to break asun- 
 der these voluntary ties or destroy this beloved connection. He 
 asks a trifle for his proffered services : a kind word, an occasional 
 smile, a fragment of our abundance, or a mere mite of our pov- 
 erty, is all that he requires. The extremes of luxury or indigence 
 are alike the same to him, so long as he is suffered to enjoy the 
 companionship and kindness of his allotted master, let him be a 
 prince or a beggar. For his master alone he leaps for joy when 
 spoken to ; on him alone he fondles when caressed, but for him 
 alone he grieves when absent, exults at his return, and even in 
 the sadness of his heart he pines away over his deserted grave. 
 
 " Dark green was that spot, 'mid the brown mountain heather, 
 
 Where the pilgrim of nature lay stretched in decay : 
 Like the corpse of an outcast, abandoned to weather. 
 
 Till the mountain winds wasted the tenantless clay; 
 Nor yet quite deserted, though lonely extended, 
 
 For, faithful in death, his mute favorite attended, 
 The much-loved remains of her master defended, 
 
 And chased the hill-fox and the raven away. 
 How long didst thou think that his silence was slumber? 
 
 When the wind waved his garments how oft didst thou start? 
 How many long days and long nights didst thou number 
 
 Ere he faded before thee, the friend of thy heart?"- 
 
 Astonishment is sometimes expressed that in both the Old and 
 New Testament the dog is spoken of with abhorrence. One great 
 object in the institution of the Jewish ritual was to preserve the 
 Israelites from the idolatry which prevailed among every people, 
 although a few years after their escape from the Egyptians it ap- 
 pears they worshiped the golden calf, during the temporary ab- 
 sence of their leader.f 
 
 The Jews considered the dog an unclean beast, and wherever 
 the Jewish religion spread, or its. traditions are believed, this dis- 
 
 - Note.— A young man lost his life by falling from one of the prec- 
 ipices of the Helvellyn Mountains. Three months afterwards his 
 remains were discovered at the bottom of a ravine, and his faith- 
 ful dog, almost a skeleton, still guarding them. Sir Walter Scott 
 beautifully describes the scene as above. 
 
 fExodus xxxii. 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 21 
 
 like of the dog continues to the present dav. This accounts for 
 the singular fact that even so useful an animal as the dog failed to 
 be well spoken of by Jewish writers. In the whole of the Jewish 
 history there is not a single allusion to hunting with dogs. Men- 
 tion is made of nets and snares, but the dog seems to have been 
 never used in the pursuit of game. Dr. Tristram, in his ''Natural 
 History of the Bible," says: "The Jews were not a hunting people.'" 
 
 Dogs were held in considerable veneration by the Egyptians. 
 Figures of dogs appeared on the friezes of most of the temples,* 
 and they were regarded as emblems of the divine Being. Herod- 
 otus, speaking of the sanctity in which some animals were held 
 by the Egyptians, says that the people of every family in which a 
 dog died, shaved themselves— their expression of mourning— and 
 he adds, "This was a custom existing in his own time." 
 
 The cause of this attachment to and veneration for the dog is, 
 however, explained in a far more probable and pleasing way than 
 many of the fables of ancient mythology. The prosperity of 
 Lower Egypt, and almost the very subsistence of its inhabitants, 
 depended on the annual overflowing of the Xile ; and they looked 
 for it with the utmost anxiety. Its approach was announced by 
 the appearance of a certain star— Sirius. As soon as that star was 
 seen above the horizon, they hastened to remove their flocks to the 
 higher ground and abandoned the lower pastures to the fertilizing 
 influence of the stream. They hailed it as their guard and pro- 
 tector, and, associating with its apparent watchfulness the weU- 
 known fidelity of the dog, they called it the "dog-star," and they 
 worshiped it. 
 
 The dog soon came to be regarded as the god of the river, and 
 the people represented this god with the body of a man and the 
 head of a dog. This river god was also caUed Anubis, and its im- 
 age was placed in all the temples of Egypt. Juvenal writes : 
 " Whole cities worship the dog ; not one, Diana." The dog was 
 worshiped in all the towns of Egypt, and a city was built in his 
 honor, and there the priests celebrated its festivals with great 
 
 '•;Ia some of Belzoni's beautiful sketches of the frieze work of the 
 old ii,gyptian temples, the dog appears, with his long ears and broad 
 muzzle, not unlike the old Talbot hound. 
 
22 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 pomp. Lucan says : '' Weliave received into our Roman temples 
 thine Isis and divinities half dog." The Egyptian dog was deemed 
 worthy of special embalment and honorable sepulture followed 
 by processions of white-robed priests, with their images of dog- 
 headed gods and singing of the choirs of Isis, from the temple gates 
 to the catacombs under the rocks. The popularity of the dog trav- 
 eled rapidly westward, and the worship of the dog god was soon in- 
 termingled with the religious rites and ceremonies of other nations. 
 The tire-worshipers of Persia paid divine honors to the dog, and 
 he is still held in deep veneration by the modern Parsees. 
 
 The first hint of the employment of the dog in the pursuit of 
 other animals is given by Oppian in his Cynegeticus, who attrib- 
 utes it to Pollux, about two hundred years after the promulgation 
 of the Levitical law. 
 
 Among the savage dogs of ancient times were the Hyrcanian, 
 said, on account of their extreme ferocity, to have been crossed 
 with the tiger ; the Locrian, chiefly employed in hunting the 
 boar ; the Pannonian, used in war as well as in the chase, and by 
 whom the first charge on the enemy was always made ; and the 
 Molossian, of Epirus, likewise trained to war as well as to the 
 honors of the amphitheatre and the dangers of the chase. This 
 last breed had one redeeming quality — an inviolable attachment to 
 their owners. This attachment was reciprocal ; for it is said that 
 the Molossi used to weep over their faithful quadruped compan- 
 ions slain in war. 
 
 Of all the dogs of the ancients, those bred on the continent of 
 Epirus were the most esteemed, and more particularly those from 
 a southern district called Molossia, from which they received their 
 name. These animals are described as being of enormous size, 
 great courage and powerful make. The Molossian dogs were at a 
 later period much esteemed by the Eomans as watch-dogs, not 
 only of their dwellings, but also to guard their flocks against the 
 incursions of wild animals. jElian relates that one of them, and 
 his owner, so much distinguished themselves at the battle of Mara- 
 thon, that the eflSgy of the dog was placed on the same tablet with 
 that of his master. 
 
 Soon after Britain was discovered, a variety of this class, but as 
 large and as ferocious, was employed to guard the sheep and- cattle, 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. .23 
 
 or to watch at the door of the house, or to follow the owner on 
 any excursion of business or pleasure. 
 
 As an animal of draught the dog is highly useful in some coun- 
 tries. What would become of the inhabitants of the northern 
 regions, if the dog were not harnessed to the sledge, and the Lap- 
 lander, and the Greenlander, and the Kamtschatkan drawn, and 
 not unfrequently at the rate of nearly a hundred miles a day, over 
 the snowy wastes ? In Newfoundland, the timber, one of the most 
 important articles of commerce, is drawn to the water-side by the 
 docile but ill-used dog. 
 
 If people would treat their dogs as kindly as the Dutch and Bel- 
 gians do, we should have no need to brand as cruel and brutal the 
 custom of putting dogs in harness. From the earliest known his- 
 tory the dog was the protector of the habitation of the human be- 
 ing. At the feet of the lares, those household deities who were 
 supposed to protect the abode of men, the figure of a barking dog 
 was often placed. In every age and almost in every part of the 
 globe, he has played a principal part in the labors, the dangers 
 and the pleasures of the chase. 
 
 In another and very important particular — as the preserver of 
 human life — the history of the dog will be most interesting. We 
 recall several instances of rescue from drowning by Newfound- 
 lands ; of defense against highwaymen by mastiffs ; of travelers 
 dragged by the noble St. Bernard from a snowy bed, where they 
 sank down to a fatal slumber which they could not shake off, and in- 
 stance after instance where the noble dog, finding himself power- 
 less to help his loved master, has gone and procured aid in time. 
 
 The Newfoundland dog is truly the friend of man. At all times 
 the sagacious animal is ready to help and succor him in danger. 
 A gentleman bathing in the sea at Portsmouth was in danger of 
 being drowned. Help was loudly called for, but no boat was 
 ready, and though many persons were looking on, none could be 
 found to rescue the drowning man, until at last a Newfoundland 
 dog rushed into the sea and brought the gentleman safe to land. 
 He afterward purchased the dog for a large sum, and treated him 
 with great kindness as long as he lived. 
 
 A story is told of a Newfoundland dog named Bruno. The wri- 
 ter says : ''He is always.'ready for a merry romp with the children ; 
 
24 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 he will submit, without any show of anger, to all the tortures that 
 they unwittingly inflict upon him. Many a time have I seen him 
 in winter, when the snow was packed hard, go dashing down the 
 street drawing a sled, upon which was a boy or two firmly grasping 
 him by the tail. As they flew along he would bark a joyous ac- 
 companiment to the shouts of the children. No child ever loved 
 to play 'blind man's buff' more dearly than he, and he is always 
 a welcome companion. lie will stand patiently wagging his tail, 
 waiting for the handkerchief to be adjusted over his eyes, and, 
 when it is announced that all is ready, he will cock up his ears and 
 listen for the faintest sound to indicate the whereabouts of his 
 playmates. A faint titter, the rustling of a dress, or the tell-tale 
 sound of a footstep, will give him his clue, and away he will dash, 
 with a bark of joy, in pursuit. Now the fun is fast and furious, 
 and agile and noiseless must be the child that escapes him, for his 
 keen nose and sharp ears make him a formidable one to evade. 
 When at last he catches some one, he is always careful not to be 
 too rough, and no child stands in fear of him on these occasions. 
 How dearly the children love to engage him in a game of hide and 
 seek, and with what earnestness, cunning and industry he will hunt 
 until he has succeeded in finding the last one of them. 
 
 "He is passionately fond of the water, and is always perfectly 
 happy when some one is throwing sticks for him to retrieve, or 
 stones, in water three or four feet deep, for him to dive after. By 
 his strength and sagacity he has saved two or three of his child 
 companions from drowning. On one occasion his master's little 
 sister and another little girl would surely have drowned had it not 
 been for hiiu. On another occasion his young master, who was 
 swimming in a lake some distance from shore, became wearied and 
 alarmed, and cried for help, when the noble dog, who was lying 
 on the shore, sprang into the water and swam out to the boy, who, 
 taking hold of him, was towed safely to shore, which he 
 reached in a very exhausted condition. Thus has he endeared 
 himself to his master's family, until nothing is thought to be too 
 good for him, and when his final summons comes, and his dog's 
 soul takes its flight to the shadowy beyond, he will be deeply and 
 sincerely mourned." 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 25 
 
 Mr. Tyler, a minister, owned a large Newfoundland dog named 
 Watch, and Watch was bent on going to church with Mrs. Tyler. 
 She, in her turn, was much opposed to his going, fearing that he 
 might excite the mirth of the children. Every Sunday a series of 
 maneuvers took place between the two, in which Watch often 
 proved himself the keenest. Sometimes he slipped away very 
 early, and Mrs. Tyler, after having searched for him to shut him 
 up, would go to church and find Watch seated in the family pew, 
 looking very grave and decorous, but evidently aware that it was 
 too late to turn him out. Sometimes he would hide himself until 
 the family had all started for church, and would then follow the 
 footsteps of some tardy worshiper who tiptoed in during prayers 
 with creaking boots ; and then didn't Watch know that Mrs. Tyler 
 would open the pew door in haste, to prevent his whining for ad- 
 mission ? When Mr. Tyler became earnest in his appeals, he 
 often repeated the same word with a ringing emphasis and a blow 
 on the desk cushion that startled the sleepers in the pews. One 
 day he thus shouted out, quoting the well-known text, " Watch ! 
 Watch! Watch! I say!" When rustle, rustle, bounce, came 
 his big dog, almost into his very arms. You may be sure the boys 
 all took occasion to relieve their pent-up restlessness by one up- 
 roarious laugh, before their astonished parents had time to frown 
 them into silence. Honest Watch had been sitting with his eyes 
 fixed, as usual, on the minister. At the first mention of his name, 
 up went his ears, and his eyes kindled ; at the second, he was still 
 more deeply moved ; at the third he obeyed, and flew completely 
 over pew-rail and pulpit door, with leaps that did equal honor to 
 his muscular powers and his desire to obey. After such a strict 
 interpretation of the letter rather than spirit, W^atch was effectu- 
 ally forbidden church-going. 
 
 It is probable that the mastiff is an original breed peculiar to 
 the British Islands. They are the most faithful and reliable of 
 watch-dogs, and, when properly trained, they will in the course of 
 the night several times examine everything with which they are 
 intrusted, with the most scrupulous care, even more faithfully than 
 a human watchman. 
 
 Dr. , of New Jersey, discovered a robber in his house in the 
 
 middle of the night. A terrible encounter took place, but just as 
 
26 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 the doctor was about to succumb, his mastiff dog came to his aid 
 and the robber was terribly bitten. The dog saved the doctor's 
 life. 
 
 The Hospice of St. Bernard pass was built about the year 962, 
 where a temple of Jupiter stood, and was constructed from the 
 ruins of the temple. This convent stands 7,668 feet above the 
 sea-level, and is undoubtedly the highest inhabited spot in Eu- 
 rope. Nine months in the year the snow is thick on the ground, 
 and in the very worst part of winter from 1,500 to 2,000 of the 
 poor inhabitants of the low countries pass over the mountains. 
 Every night the monks send out some o£ their dogs, which are 
 trained to search for the benighted and frozen wanderer. Very 
 many travelers have been thus rescued from death by these be- 
 nevolent men and their intelligent and interesting quadruped serv- 
 ants. 
 
 A St. Bernard dog named Barry had a medal tied around his 
 neck as a badge of honorable distinction, for he had saved the 
 lives of forty persons. He at length died nobly in his vocation. 
 A Piedmontese courier arrived at St. Bernard on a very stormy 
 day, laboring to make his way to the little village of St. Pierre, 
 in the valley beneath the mountain, where his wife and children 
 lived. It was in vain that the monks attempted to check his reso- 
 lution to reach his family. They at last gave him two guides, 
 each of whom was accompanied by a dog, one of which was the 
 remarkable creature whose services had been so valuable. De- 
 scending from the convent, they were overwhelmed by two ava- 
 lanches or heaps of falling snow, and the same destruction awaited 
 the family of the poor courier, who were traveling up the moun- 
 tain in the hope of obtaining some news of the husband and father. 
 A beautiful engraving has been made of this noble dog. It 
 represents him as saving a child which he had found in the 
 Glacier of Balsore, and cherished, and warmed, and induced to 
 climb upon his shoulders, and thus preserved from otherwise cer- 
 tain destruction. Barry was vigorous and active at the age of 
 fifteen years, although they generally succumb to rheumatism in 
 their tenth year. His remains are preserved in the Berne Mu- 
 seum, wearing an iron collar with large spikes which had often 
 
OUK FKIEND THE DOG. 27 
 
 protected him from the wolves. And it is said the remains of this 
 noble dog constitute one of the most interesting specimens in the 
 Museum. 
 
 It is stated that the favorite lap-dog of Mary, Queen of Scots, 
 that accompanied her to the scaffold, continued to caress the body 
 after the head was cut off, and refused to relinquish his post till 
 forcibly withdrawn, and afterwards died with grief in the course 
 of a day or two. 
 
 The following account is also an authentic instance of the incon- 
 solable grief displayed by a small dog at the death of his master : 
 A poor tailor in the parish of St. OJave, having died, was attended 
 to the grave by his dog, who had expressed every token of sorrow 
 from the instant of his master's death, and seemed unwilling to 
 quit the corpse even for a moment. After the funeral had dis- 
 persed, the faithful animal took his station upon the grave, and 
 was with great difficulty driven by the sexton from the church 
 ground ; on the following day he was again observed lying on the 
 grave of his master, and was a second time expelled from the 
 premises. Notwithstanding the harsh treatment received on sev- 
 eral succeeding days by the hands of the sexton, this little creature 
 would persist in occupying this position, and overcame every 
 difficulty to gain access to the spot where all he held most dear 
 was deposited. The minister of the parish, learning the circum- 
 stances of the case, ordered the dog to be carried to his house, 
 where he was confined and fed for several days, in hopes of wean- 
 ing him by kind treatment to forget his sorrow occasioaed by the 
 loss of his master. But all his benevolent efforts were of no 
 utility, as the dog availed himself of the first opportunity to escape, 
 and immediately repaired to his chosen spot over the grave. 
 This worthy clergyman now allowed him to follow the bent of 
 his own inclinations ; and, as a recompense for true friendship 
 and unfeigned sorrow, had a house built for him over the hallowed 
 spot, and daily supplied him with food and water for the space of 
 two years, during which time he never wandered from his post, 
 but, as a faithful guardian, kept his lonely watch day and night, 
 till death at last put an end to his sufferings. 
 
28 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 'Twas his master's grave where he chose to rest- 
 He guarded it night and day ; 
 The love that glowed in his grateful breast 
 For the friend who had fed him and caressed 
 Could never fade away. 
 
 And when he struggled with mortal pain, 
 And death was by his side, 
 With one loud cry, that shook the plain. 
 He called for his master— but called in vain ; 
 Then stretched himself and died. 
 
 The French army has trained dogs to act as scouts, messengers 
 and sentinels. When a dog is on messenger duty he carries dis- 
 patches between the main army and the distant outposts, the dis- 
 patch being enclosed in a hollow space in the collar. The senti- 
 nel dogs are said to scent strangers one hundred yards off, and, 
 directly they do so, begin to bark and growl. The training neces- 
 sary for the scout is very elaborate, as he has to be taught to 
 search fields and thickets, in which soldiers dressed in foreign uni- 
 forms are lying in ambush. As soon as the animals find the ene- 
 my it is their business to run back to their own friends, and to 
 report what they have seen. Owing to their superior intelligence, 
 collies and poodles are principally used. 
 
 Probably no dog has ever rendered such signal military service, 
 or been so honorably recognized, as the celebrated poodle Mus- 
 tache, who shared the victorious fortunes of the French army 
 through most of the wars of the Consulate and the French Empire. 
 He won special honors at Marengo, and was decorated on the 
 battle-field of Austerlitz by Marshal Lannes as a reward for having 
 rescued his regimental standard from an Austrian soldier when in 
 the act of snatching it from the grasp of the standard-bearer, as he 
 fell mortally wounded. The plucky poodle drove off the assail- 
 ant, and then, seizing the tattered colors in his teeth, dragged 
 them triumphantly till he reached his own company. Many are the 
 incidents recorded of the bravery and sagacity of this prince of 
 poodles. In the van of scouting parties he discovered many an 
 Austrian ambush, and on at least one occasion he drew attention 
 to the presence of a disguised spy in the camp. Moreover, to his 
 vigilance was due the failure of a night attack by a body of Aus- 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 29 
 
 trians, of whose vicinity in the Valley of Balbo the French were 
 apparently ignorant. 
 
 In the days when bows and arrows were the weapons used in 
 battle, the bloodhound was a most useful addition to an army, 
 and later on, before electricity and steam were brought into use, 
 it was kept to trace criminals, slave-owners generally keeping two 
 or three to bring the runaways back to work. 
 
 The advance of civilization, the introduction of gunpowder, the 
 establishment of the police, the discovery of electricity and loco- 
 motive power, and the abolition of the slave trade, have consigned 
 the use of the bloodhound to the history of the past. As an orna- 
 mental dog, it, however, remains highly prized, in some part ow- 
 ing to the knowledge of what it is capable of doing when put to 
 the test, occasional instances even now being recorded of some im- 
 portant discoveries having been made by this intelligent hound. 
 It is only a few years ago that a thief was caught in Epping Forest 
 by the instrumentality of a bloodhound, and about the same time 
 a hound chained up as a watch-dog in a tanyard in Devonshire, on 
 being let loose, ran (for three miles) the line of a man who had 
 stolen some leather, and caught him red-handed with the goods. 
 
 Much has been written about the origin of the bloodhound, but 
 little learned, as it is one of the first breeds spoken of in early 
 literature, on account of its having been used in early warfare to 
 trace fugitives. To quote the words of "Tickell" : 
 
 "O'er all the bloodliound boasts superior skill, 
 To scent, to view, to turn, to boldly kill." 
 
 Generally speaking, however, the bloodhound of former days 
 would not injure the culprit that did not attempt to escape, but 
 would lie down quietly and give notice by a loud and peculiar 
 howl what kind of prey he had found. Some, however, of a sav- 
 age disposition, or trained to unnatural ferocity, would tear to 
 pieces the hunted wretch, if timely rescue did not arrive. 
 
 "A wild hound of this race was used by the Spaniards in the 
 conquest of the Western hemisphere. This dog was not deficient 
 in intelligence of a low order, but he had a look of relentless fe- 
 rocity and bloodthirstiness terrible to behold." * 
 
 -New Physiognoniy, p. 610. 
 
30 OUK FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 The use of this dog calls up some of the most painful recollec- 
 tions in the history of the human race. The Spaniards had pos- 
 sessed themselves of several of the South American islands. They 
 found them peopled with Indians, and those of a sensual, brutish 
 and barbarous class. They procured some of these dogs, by whose 
 assistance they penetrated into every part of the country, and de- 
 stroyed the greater portion of the former inhabitants. Las Casas, 
 a Catholic priest, and whose life was employed in endeavoring to 
 mitigate the sufferings of the original inhabitants, says that ''it 
 was resolved to march against the Indians, who had fled to the 
 mountains, and they were chased like wild beasts, with the assist- 
 ance of bloodhounds, who had been trained to a thirst for human 
 blood, so that before I had left the island it had become almost 
 entirely a desert." 
 
 Mr. John Lawrence says that a servant, discharged by a sporting 
 country gentleman, broke into his stables by night and cut off the 
 ears and tail of a favorite hunter. As soon as it was discovered, a 
 bloodhound was brought into the stable, who at once detected 
 the scent of the miscreant and traced it more than twenty miles. 
 He then stopped at a door, whence no power could move him. 
 Being at length admitted, he ran to the top of the house, and, 
 bursting open the door of a garret, found the object that he 
 sought in bed, and would have torn him to pieces had not the 
 huntsman, who had followed him on a fleet horse, rushed up after 
 him. Somerville thus describes the use to which he was generally 
 put, in pursuit of the robber : 
 
 "Soon the sagacious brute, his curling tail 
 Flourished in air, low bending, plies around 
 His bu,sy nose, the steaming vapor snuffs 
 Inquisitive, nor leaves one turf untried, 
 Till, conscious of the recent stains, his heart 
 Beats quick. His snuflSlng nose, his active tail, 
 Attest his joy. Then, with deep opening mouth, 
 That makes the welkin tremble, he proclaims 
 Th' audacious felon. Foot by foot he marks 
 His winding way. Over the watery ford, 
 Dry sandy heaths, and stony barren hills, 
 Unerring he pursues, till at the cot 
 Arrived, and, seizing by his guilty throat 
 The caitiff vile, redeems the captive prey." 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 31 
 
 The Scotch staghound is a large, strong and fierce dog. In 
 appearance this magnificent breed of dogs resembles the Eng- 
 lish greyhound, but is larger and has rough, wiry hair instead of a 
 smooth coat. The head is carried particularly high and gives the 
 animal a noble appearance. Many accounts have been given of 
 the perfection of its scent, and it is said to have followed a 
 wounded deer during two successive days. 
 
 On the hights of the moorlands, the night clouds are sleeping, 
 
 Enfolded in mist every glen, every crag ; 
 Every Scotchman asleep, save the deerstalker creeping. 
 
 With rifle and hound, in pursuit of the stag. 
 
 With his hound— or, say rather, companion and brother, 
 
 For Nature has set to affection no bound ; 
 What son more obedient and loving, what mother 
 
 More loved, than that man by his favorite hound ? 
 
 In the still of the morning their hearts beat together. 
 The same keen excitement is stirring each breast ; 
 
 Be it man, be it dog, the bejeweled pink heather 
 Scarce feels the soft footfall so cautiously press'd. 
 
 The only fault which these dogs have is their occasional ill- 
 temper, or even ferocity ; but this does not extend to the owner 
 and his family. His appearance indicates strength, in which, in- 
 deed, he is unequaled, and he has sufficient speed to render it 
 difficult for the best horses long to keep pace with him : while, as 
 is necessary when the distance between the foot-marks of the deer 
 is considered, his scent is most exquisite. He is seldom at fault 
 and rarely fails to run down his game. They were first brought 
 into prominence in this country by English sporting gentlemen, 
 who used them for antelope and deer hunting in the western wilds. 
 
 "Ere the rising sun has blushed the early morn, 
 The sly old buck has heard the hunter's horn; 
 The shouts of men, the trusty charger's neigh, 
 But high above them all the hound's deep bay." 
 
 The English deerhound has been used from time immemorial 
 in the chase of the deer. The most tyrannical laws were enforced 
 for the preservation of this species of game, and the life of the 
 deer, except when sacrificed in the chase, was guarded with even 
 more strictness than the life of the human being. 
 
32 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 Of the stoutness of this dog the following anecdotes will be a 
 sufficient illustration. A deer, in the spring of 1822, was turned 
 out before the Earl of Derby's hounds at Hayes Common. The 
 chase was continued nearly four hours without a check, when, be- 
 ing almost run down, the animal took refuge in some out-houses, 
 near Speldhurst, in Kent, more than forty miles across the coun- 
 try, having actually run more than fifty miles. Nearly twenty 
 horses died in the field, or in consequence of the severity of the 
 chase, A stag was turned out at Wingfield Park, in Northumber- 
 land. The whole pack, with the exception of two hounds, Avas, 
 after a long run, thrown out. The stag returned to his accustomed 
 haunt, and, as his last effort, leaped the wall of the park, and lay 
 down and died. One of the hounds, unable to clear the wall, fell 
 and expired and the other was found dead at a little distance. 
 They had run about forty miles. When the stag first hears the 
 cry of the hounds he runs with the swiftness of the wind, and 
 continues to run as long as any sound of his pursuers can be dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 "An hundred dogs bayed deep and strong, 
 Clattered an hundred steeds along." 
 
 Since the decline in stag-hunting, the English deerhound, as a 
 distinct breed, is unknown in that country. All those packs that 
 now hunt the stag are pure foxhounds, with the exception of Mr. 
 Nevill's in Hampshire, which are called "Black St. Huberts." 
 Those dogs are referred to in Sir Walter Scott's " Lady of the 
 Lake ": 
 
 " Two dogs of black St. Hubert's breed, 
 Unmatched for courage, breath and speed, 
 Fast on his flying traces came, 
 And all but won that desperate game." 
 
 As a general complete poetic, yet accurate, description of the 
 chase, I know of nothing to compare with Sir Walter Scott's, which 
 I therefore transcribe: 
 
 " As chief, who hears his warder call, 
 ' To arms ! the foemen storm the wall,' 
 The antler'd monarch of the waste 
 Sprung from his heathery couch in haste. 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 33 
 
 But, ere his fleet career he took, 
 
 The dew-drops from his flanks he shook; 
 
 Like crested leader, proud and high, 
 
 Toss'd his beam'd frontlet to the sky; 
 
 A moment gazed adown the dale, 
 
 A moment suuflT'd the tainted gale, 
 
 A moment listen'd to the cry. 
 
 That thickened as the chase drew nigh; 
 
 Then, as the headmost fo6s appear'd. 
 
 With one brave bound the copse he clear'd, 
 
 And, stretching forward free and far. 
 
 Sought the wild heaths of Uam-Var." 
 
 The greyhound, deerhound and harrier were for many centuries 
 the only hunting-dogs. The foxhound has been much more 
 recently bred. The modern foxhound has had more attention paid 
 to his shape and has been kept more pure than any other breed of 
 dogs in existence. Most kennels of any standing possess stud- 
 books dating back one hundred years, and can trace the pedigree 
 of every hound in their packs for that time. This is almost equal 
 to that of the English thoroughbred horse, and far greater than 
 that of the greyhound, few pedigrees of which go back in all their 
 lines more than ten generations. " Cecil " has lately published the 
 ''Hound Stud Book," which proves this statement without a 
 doubt, and makes the study of the various strains of the foxhound 
 doubly interesting. 
 
 Some extraordinary accounts have been given of the speed of 
 the foxhound. A match that was run over the Beacon Course at 
 Newmarket is the best illustration of his fleetness. The distance 
 is four miles one furlong and 132 yards. The winning dog 
 performed it in eight minutes and a few seconds ; but of the sixty 
 horses that started with the hounds, only twelve were able to run 
 in with them. Flying Childers had run the same course in seven 
 minutes and thirty seconds. 
 
 Frank Forrester says : '' It is remarkable, though by no means 
 new, as a fact, that the most general of all human passions, not 
 directly connected with the gratification of the senses, is the 
 passion for the chase. From the savage ranger of the wilderness 
 to the effeminate dweller of the crowded city, from the proudest 
 magnate of European realms to their humblest serf, no race, no 
 
34 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 class, no age, no sex of the human family, seems to be exempt 
 from this pervading, passionate, self-originated frenzy for pursuit. 
 Witness, whoever has seen, in our Western hunting-grounds, a 
 stag, or bear, driven from his native fastnesses into the cultivated 
 clearings, with the whole neighborhood arising on his track to 
 share, at least with their eyes and ears, the thrilling rapture of the 
 ' Hunt's up ! ' " 
 
 Why it should be so, this is neither the time nor place to inquire. 
 Our article on hounds is already somewhat extended, but we shall 
 again find it necessary to refer to them later on in connection with 
 sheep. 
 
 Burchell, in his "Travels in Africa," places the connection 
 between man and the dog, and the good qualities of this animal, 
 in an interesting point of view. A pack of dogs of various descrip- 
 tions formed a necessary part of his caravan, occasionally to pro- 
 vide him with food, but oftener to defend him from wild beasts or 
 robbers. " While almost every other quadruped fears man as his 
 most formidable enemy," says this interesting traveler, " there is 
 one who regards him as his companion, and follows him as his 
 friend. We must not mistake the nature of the case. It is not 
 because we train him to our use, and have made choice of him in 
 preference to other animals, but because this particular species of 
 animal feels a natural desire to be useful to man, and, from spon- 
 taneous impulse, attaches himself to him. Were it not so, we 
 should see in various countries an equal familiarity with other 
 quadrupeds, according to their habits and the taste or caprices of 
 different nations, but, everywhere, it is the dog only that takes 
 delight in associating with us, and sharing our abode. It is he who 
 knows us personally, watches over us, and warns us of danger. It 
 is impossible for the naturalist not to feel a conviction that this 
 friendship between creatures so different from each other must be 
 the result of the laws of nature ; nor can the humane and feeling 
 mind avoid the belief that kindness to those animals, from which 
 he derives continued and essential assistance, is part of the moral 
 duty of man. Often in the silence of the night, when all my peo- 
 ple have been fast asleep around the fire, have I stood to contem- 
 plate these faithful animals watching by their side, and have 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 35 
 
 learned to esteem them for their social inclination towards man- 
 kind. When wandering over pathless deserts, oppressed with 
 vexation and distress at the conduct of my own men, I have turned 
 to these as my only friends, and felt how much inferior to them 
 was man when actuated only by selfish views." 
 
 Of the staunchness and incorruptible fidelity of the dog, and his 
 disregard of personal inconvenience and want, when employed in 
 our service, it is impossible to entertain a doubt. We have some- 
 times thought that the attachment of the dog to its master was in- 
 creased, or at least the exhibition of it, by the penury of the 
 owner. At all events one fact is plain enough, that, while poverty 
 drives away from us many a companion of our happier hours, it 
 was never known to diminish the love of our quadruped friend. 
 
 The early history of the dog has been described, and the abom- 
 ination in which he was held by the Israelites. At no great dis- 
 tance of time, however, we find him, almost in the neighborhood 
 of Palestine, in one of the islands of the Ionian Sea, the companion 
 and the friend of princes, and deserving their regard. The 
 following is a somewhat abbreviated account of the last meeting of 
 Ulysses and his dog. Twenty years had passed since Argus, the 
 favorite dog of Ulysses, had been parted from his master. The 
 monarch at length wended his way homewards, and, disguised as 
 a beggar, for his life would have been sacrificed had he been 
 known, stood at the entrance of his palace-door. There he met 
 with an old dependent, who had formerly served him with fidelity 
 and who was yet faithful to his memory ; but age and hardship and 
 care, and the disguise which he now wore, had so altered the wan- 
 derer that the good Eumaeus had not the most distant suspicion 
 with whom he was conversing ; but — 
 
 " Near to the gates, conferring as they drew, 
 Argus the dog his ancient master knew, 
 And, not unconscious of the voice and tread, 
 Lifts to the sound his ears, and rears his head. 
 He knew his lord, he knew, and strove to meet ; 
 In vain he strove to crawl and kiss his feet : 
 Yet, all he could, his tail, his ears, his eyes, 
 Salute his master, and confess his joys."* 
 
 -'Pope's Odyssey, xvii 
 
/ 
 
 36 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 In Daniel's "Kural Sports," the account of a nobleman and his 
 dog is given. The nobleman had been absent two years on foreign 
 service. On his return this faithful creature was the first to recog- 
 nize him, as he came through the court-yard, and he flew to wel- 
 come his old master and friend. He sprung upon him ; his agita- 
 tion and his joy knew no bounds ; and at length, in the fullness of 
 his transport, he fell at his master's feet and expired. 
 
 Every one has heard of the faithful greyhound Gelert, to whose 
 care was left his master's infant child in the cradle. When the 
 father returned from the chase he found the cradle overturned and 
 the child nowhere to be seen. The father, thinking the dog had 
 killed the child, slew him on the spot. — 
 
 " ' Hellhound ! by thee my child's devoured ! ' 
 
 The frantic father cried ; 
 And to the hilt his vengeful sword 
 
 He plunged in Gelert's side." 
 
 But he soon regretted his rashness, for, on looking under the bed, 
 he found the infant alive and well, and not far off the body of a 
 large wolf which the noble Gelert had killed. A splendid tomb 
 was erected to this faithful dog, and an image of him made of 
 marble was placed upon it, with the word ''Fidelity" carved 
 upon the stone. Prince Lewellyn, the owner of Gelert, lived in 
 the time of King John, in the early part of the thirteenth century. 
 
 One instance of dog sense that will strike home is told by a Cap- 
 tain Brown. A gentleman, requesting the loan of a pointer from 
 a friend, was informed that he was a perfect pointer, but could not 
 stomach a bad shot. Unfortunately for the dog, the borrower was 
 a poor shot, and missed bird after bird. Eventually the dog grew 
 careless, but finally came to a good point, seemingly at a fern-bush. 
 The sportsman advanced, and out sprang a fine black-cock. Both 
 barrels missed him, and the dog's patience was so exhausted that 
 he gave a howl, tucked his tail between his legs and put out for 
 home. If more dogs of this kind existed, half the powder manu- 
 facturers would shut up shop. 
 
 " See how the well-taught pointer leads the way ; 
 The scent grows warm ; he stops ; he springs the prey ; 
 The fluttering covey from the stubble rise, 
 And on swift wing divide the sounding skies !" 
 
 — Oapj Rural Sports. 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 37 
 
 A very good anecdote is related illustrative of the advantage of 
 having a well-broken dog. A deacon who lived in New Hamp- 
 shire was very fond of shooting and had a favorite well-trained 
 setter. It happened that one evening, while the deacon was ex- 
 horting earnestly at a prayer-meeting, the deacon's setter entered 
 and started with a bound to his master, when quick as a flash the 
 deacon raised his hand with a warning gesture and exclaimed : 
 " Thou hast given us our charge; help us to keep it." At the em- 
 phasized word, "charge," the dog dropped, as if shot, on the very 
 threshold of the door, with his eyes fixed on his master. In the 
 same unmoved tone, with a slight wave of the extended hand, 
 the deacon exclaimed : "We would not return back to Thee with 
 our duty on earth unfulfilled." At the emphasized word " back," 
 the dog went out as noiselessly as he had entered and waited for 
 the deacon outside. 
 
 The following, written by Courtney Langdon, whose profession 
 contines him to college life and among books, shows that the love 
 for dog and gun and appreciation of them are not confined to those 
 who are disposed to keep and handle them. These lines refer to 
 his brother's favorite setter dog, that was found dead on the rail- 
 road track, killed by a passing train. He had been a faithful and 
 true hunting companion, and a loving and gentle friend to the 
 household, and especially to the children : 
 
 " Some tribute to thy memory I would raise, 
 Some humble testimonial to thy praise, 
 Old friend, that never again shalt idly roam 
 From^ yonder yard, thy pleasant man-built home. 
 Companion, aye, far more, my brother's friend, 
 As more than dog, we mourn thy cruel end ; 
 Thy mate in silence grieves as dogs may grieve, 
 Nor can thy master even now believe 
 That thou no more shalt lick his petting hand, 
 No more thy graceful form beside him stand ; 
 The child, fair playmate of each idle day. 
 Will miss thee often in his childish play, 
 And at thy name in wonder point his hand. 
 Not to thy kennel, but to far-off land. 
 Where child and man place those whose loss they mourn. 
 When far from human love and care they're borne." 
 
38 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 In tracing the dog back to the very earliest period of history, 
 the fact that he then seemed to be as sagacious, as faithful 
 and as valuable as at the present day, strongly favors the opinion 
 that he descended from no inferior and comparatively worthless 
 animal — that he was not the progeny of the wolf, the jackal or the 
 fox, but he was originally created, somewhat as we now find him, 
 the associate and the friend of man. If, within the first thousand 
 years after the deluge, we observe that divine honors were paid to 
 him, we can scarcely be brought to believe his wolfish genealogy. 
 The most savage animals are capable of affection for those to 
 whom they have been accustomed and by whom they have been 
 well treated, and, therefore, we give full credit to several accounts 
 of this sort related of the wolf, the lion and even the cat and the 
 reptile ; but in no other animal — in no other, even in the genus 
 Canis — do we find the qualities of the domestic dog, or the slight- 
 est approach to them. " To his master he flies with alacrity," 
 say the eloquent Buffon, "and submissively lays at his feet all his 
 courage, strength and talent. A glance of the eye is suflicient ; 
 for he understands the smallest indications of his will. He has 
 all the ardor of friendship, and fidelity and constancy in his af- 
 fections, which man can have. Neither interest nor desire of re- 
 venge can corrupt him, and he has no fear but that of displeasing. 
 He is all zeal and obedience. He speedily forgets ill-usage, or 
 only recollects it to make returning attachment the stronger. He 
 licks the hand which causes him pain, and subdues his anger by 
 submission. The training of the dog seems to have been the first 
 art invented by man, and the fruit of that art was the conquest 
 and peaceable possession of the earth." " Man," says Burns, '' is 
 the God of the dog ; he knows no other ; and see how he worships 
 him With what reverence he crouches at his feet— with what 
 reverence he looks up to him — with what delight he fawns upon 
 him, and with what cheerful alacrity he obeys him !" 
 
 If any of the lower animals bear about them the impress of the 
 divine hand, it is found in the dog : many others are plainly and 
 decidedly more or less connected with the welfare of the human 
 being ; but this connection and its effects are limited to a few 
 points, or often to one alone. The dog, different, yet the same, in 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 89 
 
 ^very region, seems to be formed expressly to administer to our 
 comforts and to our pleasure. He displays a versatility, and yet 
 a perfect unity of power and character, which mark him as our 
 destined servant, and, still more, as our companion and friend. 
 Other animals may be brought to a certain degree of familiarity, 
 and may display much affection and gratitude. . There was 
 scarcely an animal in the menagerie of the Zoological Society that 
 did not acknowledge the superintendent as his friend ; but it was 
 only a casual intercourse, and might be dissolved by a word or 
 look. At the hour of feeding, the brute principle reigned supreme 
 and the companion of other hours would be sacrificed if he dared 
 to interfere ; but the connection between man and the dog, no 
 lapse of time, no change of circumstances, no infliction of evil, 
 can dissolve. We must, therefore, look far beyond the wolf for 
 the prototype of the dog. 
 
 Cuvier eloquently states that the dog exhibits the most com- 
 plete and the most useful conquest that man has made. Each in- 
 dividual is entirely devoted to his master, adopts his manners, 
 distinguishes and defends his property, and remains attached to 
 him even unto death ; and all this springing not from mere neces- 
 sity, or from constraint, but simply from gratitude and true friend- 
 ship. The swiftness, the strength and the highly developed power 
 of smelling of the dog, have made him a powerful ally of man 
 against the other animals ; these qualities in the dog were neces- 
 sary to the establishment of society. It is the only animal that 
 has followed the human being all over the earth. 
 
 There is occasionally a friendship existing between dogs resem- 
 bling that which is found in the human being, which the following 
 anecdote well illustrates : Two dogs, the property of a gentle- 
 man at Shrewsbury, had been companions for many years, until 
 one of them died of old age. The survivor immediately began to 
 manifest an extraordinary degree of restless anxiety, searching 
 for his old associate in all his former haunts and refusing every 
 kind of food. He gradually wasted away, and at the expiration 
 of the tenth day he died, the victim of an attachment that would 
 have done honor to man. 
 
 Books teem with anecdotes of the fidelity of the dog and their 
 attachment to their master, his property and family. Many of 
 
40 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 these incidents attest alike memory, judgment and reflection, no 
 less than affection, and cases which are well authenticated show 
 these in dogs of all degrees. Wordsworth has beautifully embodied 
 one of these in the following lines : 
 
 " A barking sound the shepherd hears, 
 A cry as of a dog or fox ; 
 He halts, and searches with his eyes 
 
 Among tlie scattered rocks : 
 And now at distance can discern 
 A stirring in a brake of fern ; 
 And instantly a dog is seen. 
 Glancing through that covert green. 
 
 " The dog is not of mountain breed ; 
 Its motions, too, are wild and shy, 
 With something, as the shepherd thinks. 
 
 Unusual in its cry. 
 Nor is there any one in sight 
 All round, in hollow or on height ; 
 Nor shout nor whistle strikes the ear ; 
 What is the creature doing here ? 
 
 " Not free from boding thoughts, a while 
 The shepherd stood ; then makes his way 
 
 Toward the dog, o'er rocks and stones, 
 As quickly as he may ; 
 
 Nor far had gone before he found 
 
 A human skeleton on the ground ! 
 
 Th' appail'd discoverer with a sigh 
 
 LiOOks round to learn the history. 
 
 " Yes, proof was plain, that since that day 
 When this ill-fated traveler died 
 The dog had watched about the spot. 
 
 Or by his master's side. 
 How nourish'd here through such long time 
 He knows who gave that love sublime, 
 And gave that strength of feeling great 
 Above all human estimate." 
 
 At the hard fought battle of Aughrim an Irish officer was ac- 
 companied by his wolfhound. This gentleman was killed and his 
 body stripped on the battle-field, but the dog remained by it both 
 by day and night. He fed upon some of the other bodies with 
 the rest of the dogs, yet he would not allow them, or any one else, 
 
OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 41 
 
 to come near that of his master. When all the other bodies were 
 consumed the other dogs departed, but this faithful creature used 
 to go in the night to the adjacent village for food, and in the 
 morning return to the place where his master's bones only were 
 then left. This he continued to do from July, when the battle was 
 fought, through the cold and dreary winter until the January fol- 
 lowing, when a soldier, whose regiment was quartered near that 
 spot, going that way by chance, the dog, fearing he came to disturb 
 his beloved master's bones, flew with great fierceness upon the 
 soldier, who, being thrown ofiE his guard by the suddenness of the 
 attack, unslung his carbine, he having been thrown on his back, 
 and killed the noble animal. 
 
 One of the most striking proofs of the influence of climate on 
 the form and character of this animal occurs in the bull-dog. 
 When transported to India he becomes in a few years greatly al- 
 tered in form, loses all his former courage and ferocity, and be- 
 comes a perfect coward. Captain Williamson savs "that many per- 
 sons affect to treat the idea of degeneration in quadrupeds with 
 ridicule ; but all who have been any considerable time resident in 
 India must be satisfied that dogs of European breed become, after 
 every successive generation, more and more similar to the pariah, 
 or indigenous dog of thai country. The hounds are the most 
 rapid in their decline, and, except in the form of their ears, they 
 are very much like many of the village curs."* Mr. Hodgson 
 found the wild dog more or less prevailing through the whole of 
 Northern India, and even southward of the coast of Coromandel. 
 He thought that he had discovered the primitive race of the dog. 
 The wild dog is essentially the same in every part of that im- 
 mense extent of country. There is no more reason, however, for 
 concluding that it was the primitive dog, than for conferring on 
 the Indian cattle the same honor among the ruminants. The 
 truth of the matter is that we have no guide what was the original 
 breed in any country. This is a point that can never be decided. 
 It is probable all dogs sprang from one common source, but cli- 
 mate, food and cross-breeding caused variations of form which 
 
 * Williamson's "Oriental Field Sports. 
 
42 
 
 OUR FRIEND THE DOG. 
 
 suggested particular uses, and these, being either designedly or 
 accidentally perpetuated, the various breeds of dogs thus arose. 
 Buffon imagines that the shepherd's dog — transported to different 
 climates, and acquiring different habits — was the ancestor of the 
 various species with which almost every country abounds ; but 
 whence they originally came it is impossible to say. They vary in 
 their size, their color, their attitude, their usual exterior and their 
 strangely different interior construction. Transported into vari- 
 ous climates, they are necessarily submitted to the influence of 
 heat and cold, and of food more or less abundant and more or less 
 suitable to their natural organization ; but the reason or the deri- 
 vation of these differences of structure it is not always easy to 
 explain. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 One breed may rise, another fall, 
 
 But the Shepherd Dog survives them all. 
 
 Among the highly cultivated breeds of dogs, the shepherd dog 
 enjoys a world-wide reputation for his intelligence and sagacity 
 exercised in the service of man. The shepherd dog, though moving 
 in an humble sphere, doubtless inherits, like the ancient races of 
 men, the resu't of many centuries of cultivation. His aptitude 
 for certain duties connected with the care of sheep are most aston- 
 ishing, and he is perhaps, on the whole, the most highly organized, 
 as he is certainly the most useful, of all dogs. 
 
 Whea the pastures were in a manner opea to the first occupant, 
 and every shepherd had a common property in them, it was not so 
 necessary to restrain the wandering of the sheep, and the voice of 
 the shepherd was usually sufficient to collect and to guide them. 
 He preceded the flock, and they " followed him whithersoever he 
 went." Much is written by Jewish historians of shepherds and 
 flocks, but the only allusion throughout the whole of the Scriptures 
 which can apply to the shepherd dog is to be found in the first 
 verse of the thirtieth chapter of Job, in which Job says : ''Now 
 they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I 
 would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flocks." Dr. 
 Tristram, in his "Natural History of the Bible," says the dogs 
 were only used as guards, to protect the herds and flocks from 
 wolves and jackals, and not to drive them. The Jews classed the 
 dog among the unclean animals, and with few exceptions he is sel- 
 dom the chosen companion of the Jew, or even the inmate of his 
 house, to the present day. This being the case, there is little won- 
 der that Jewish writers should have failed to make frequent men- 
 
 (43) 
 
44 THE SHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 tion of so useful an animal as the shepherd's dog. In process of 
 time, however, man availed himself of the sagacity of the dog to 
 diminish his own labor and fatigue, and this useful servitor be- 
 came the guide and defender of the flock. 
 
 Professor Grognier gives the following account of this dog as he 
 is found in France : "The shepherd's dog, the least removed from 
 the natural type of the dog, is of a middle size ; his ears short and 
 straight ; the hair long, principally on the tail, and of a dark 
 color ; the tail is carried horizontally or a little elevated. He is 
 very indifferent to caresses, possessed of much intelligence and 
 activity to discharge the duties for which he was designed. In 
 one or other of its varieties it is found in every part of France. 
 Sometimes there is but a single breed, in others there are several 
 varieties. It lives and maintains its proper characteristics, while 
 other races often degenerate. Everywhere it preserves its proper 
 distinguishing type. It is the servant of man, while other breeds 
 vary with a thousand circumstances. It has one appropriate 
 mission, and that it discharges in the most admirable way: there is 
 evidently a kind and wise design in this." This account of the 
 French sheep-dog, or of the sheep-dog everywhere, is as true as it 
 is beautiful. One age succeeds to another, we pass from one cli- 
 mate to another, and everything varies and changes, but the shep- 
 herd's dog is what he ever was — the guardian of our flocks. There 
 are, however, two or more species of this dog ; the one which Pro- 
 fessor Grognier has described, and which guards and guides the 
 sheep in the open and level country, where wolves seldom intrude ; 
 another crossed with the mastiff, or little removed from that dog, 
 used in the woody and mountainous countries, their guard more 
 than their guide.* In Great Britain, where he has principally to 
 guide, and not to guard, the flock, he is comparatively a small dog. 
 
 In whatever country the dog is used 'partly or principally to 
 protect the flock from the ravages of the wolf, he is as gentle as a 
 lamb, except when opposed to his natural enemy ; and it is only in 
 England that the guardian of the sheep occasionally injures and 
 
 *The migratory sheep, in some parts of the south of France almost 
 as numerous as in Spain, are attended by a goat, as a guide ; and the 
 intelligence and apparent pride which he displays are remarkable. 
 
THE SHEPHERD DOG. 45 
 
 worries them, and that many can be found bearing the mark of the 
 tooth. This may be somewhat excusable (although it is often car- 
 ried to a barbarous extent) in the drover's dog, but it will admit 
 of no apology in the shepherd dog. It is the result of the idleness 
 and brutality of the shepherd, who is attempting to make the dog 
 do his own work and that of his master, too. 
 
 The English sheep-dog, or drover's dog, is of such ancient origin 
 that its early history is enveloped in obscurity. It is supposed 
 that the breed was originally tailless like the Manx cats, but it 
 sometimes happens that several in a litter are born with tails of 
 full length. Stonehenge, on "The Dog," p. 123, says: ''Under 
 the old excise laws the shepherd dog was only exempt from tax 
 when without a tail, and for this reason it was always removed ; 
 from which last it happened that many puppies of the breed were 
 born without any tails." 
 
 The earliest work on the subject of the shepherd dog written in 
 the English language was Dr. Canis' ''Treatise on Englishe Dogges," 
 published in 1550. This book was originally in Latin, and 
 translated by Abraham Fleming. Dr. Canis devotes a chapter to 
 the shepherd dog (which he calls the shepherd's hound), from 
 which we give a brief extract : "This dog, either at the hearing 
 of his master's voice, or at the wagging of his fist, or at his shrill 
 and hoarse whistling and hissing, bringeth the wandering wethers 
 and straying sheep into the self-same place where his master's will 
 and work is to have them, whereby the shepherd reapeth the bene- 
 fit, namely, that with little labor and no toil of moving his feet he 
 may rule and guide his flock according to his own desire, either to 
 have them go forward or stand still, or to draw backward, or to 
 turn this way or to take that way." The popular author Youatt 
 (1845) tells us little or nothing about this dog, but his illustration 
 represents him as an ordinary collie without a tail. Kichardson, 
 in 1850, gives an extended description of this dog, which he 
 alludes to as "the shepherd's dog of England," and says he is larger 
 and stronger, and fully equal in sagacity to its more northern rela- 
 tive. Dr. Kerr says: "With regard to the sagacity of this breed 
 I consider it has few equals and certainly no superior. Many years 
 ago, wh»n our island was principally primeval forest with few 
 
46 THE SHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 clearings, it must necessarily have been infested with wolves and 
 bears, and, to protect the flocks and herds, it must have been 
 requisite to have a large and powerful dog, able to cope with such 
 formidable and destructive foes, and to undergo any amount of 
 fatigue, and with a jacket to withstand all vicissitudes of weather, 
 for his avocation was an every-day one ; day and night, and in all 
 weathers, was he watching and battling with heat and storms and 
 marauding foes." The English sheep-dog is heavier and stronger 
 than the collie, and the original breed was undoubtedly a larger 
 dog than those of the present day. 
 
 England, Scotland and Wales have each laid claim to the 
 orii;inal possession of the bob-tailed sheep-dog. There is no 
 doubt he was at one time about equally distributed throughout the 
 United Kingdom, but at the present time he is found in the highest 
 perfection in the south and west, where a dog of his description is 
 most required. He has been found most useful as a drover's dog, 
 and is of tener seen following stockmen through the streets of London 
 than in any other locality. They are quiet, steady, patient work- 
 ers, and are not apt to hurry stock, which, as drovers know, is a 
 serious injury to cattle and sheep in our hot summers. They are 
 not often seen in this country, but can be procured from large 
 kennels in the East. At present they are not quite suitable for a 
 domestic companion, as they are more or less surly in disposition, 
 though improved associations may remedy this, but as a household 
 pet he is not likely to become fashionable like the modern collie. 
 
 A flock of a thousand sheep in Spain requires the attention of 
 two men, and an equal number of dogs, who never for a moment 
 quit their charge, watching them without intermission day and 
 night. The original Spanish shepherd dog is a very powerful 
 animal, and, Avhen armed with spike collar, is a sufficient match 
 for the largest wolves that infest the mountainous parts of Spain 
 most frequented by the herds during the summer season. They 
 are said to be very ferocious, and will allow no strange person or 
 animal to approach the flock. They are very faithful to their 
 charge, and, if employed in this country, would not only defend 
 the sheep from the bloodthirsty wolf, but even attack, if necessary, 
 the skulking savage. Some years since a flock of merinos was sent 
 
THE SHEPHERD DOG. 4/ 
 
 from Spain to England, accompanied by the shepherd and his dog. 
 During the shepherd's temporary absence one of the sheep fell 
 into a ditch and was unable to extricate itself. A young man that 
 was passing went to the sheep's assistance, but the Spanish shep- 
 herd dog commenced to growl, and a bystander told the young 
 man it was not safe to touch the sheep ; but he persisted in doing 
 so. The dog immediately sprang on him and mangled his arm, 
 so that it had to be amputated. In order to save the dog's life, he 
 was smuggled over to this country, where he did good duty with 
 the sheep until a stranger struck him a severe blow with a stick. 
 The dog at once pounced upon him and bit him badly. The dog 
 was again smuggled off, and the next time he turns up in the great 
 Northwest, where, after guarding a large flock of sheep faithfully 
 for several months, he received a severe cut from a whip in the 
 hands of a drunken rowdy. He at once sprang at him, but was 
 called off before any great damage was done. The man was told 
 to never again approach the dog, but some months later the man 
 happened to be passing on horseback, when the dog sprang from 
 the roadside straight at his throat ; but his horse happening to shy 
 to one side, saved his life. This time the dog was destroyed. 
 
 A gentleman in Delaware says : "I can say without exaggera- 
 tion that at least twenty dogs have been killed on my farm or in my 
 barnyard by my dog Montague. He is a Spanish shepherd dog. 
 His dimensions are nearly four feet from his eyes to the root of 
 his tail, and two feet eight inches high over the shoulders. The 
 natural instinct of this animal is to guard your sheep against 
 wolves and dogs." 
 
 Mr. Trammer, in his work on the merinos, speaking of the 
 Spanish flocks, says : " There is no driving of the flock ; that is a 
 practice entirely unknown ; but the shepherd, when he wishes to 
 remove his sheep, calls to him a tame wether accustomed to feed 
 from his hands. The favorite, however distant, obeys his call, 
 and the" rest follow. One or more of the dogs, with large collars 
 armed with spikes, in order to protect them from the wolves, pre- 
 cede the flock, others skirt it on each side, and some bring up the 
 rear. If a sheep be ill or lame, or lag behind unobserved by the 
 jshepherds, they will stay with it and defend it until some one 
 
48 THE SHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 return in search of it. With us, dogs are often used for other and 
 worse purposes. In open, unenclosed districts, they are indispen- 
 sable ; but in others I wish them, I confess, either managed, or 
 encouraged less. If a sheep commits a fault in the sight of an in- 
 temperate shepherd, or accidentally offends him, it is dogged into 
 obedience ; the signal is given, the dog obeys the mandate, and the 
 poor sheep flies around the field to escape from the fangs of him 
 who should be his protector, until it becomes half dead with fright 
 and exhaustion, while the trembling flock crowd together dreading 
 the same fate, and the churl exults in this cowardly victory over a 
 weak and defenceless animal."* 
 
 We will not enter into particulars regarding the Mexican sheep- 
 dog. Suffice it to say, he is descended from the Spanish shepherd 
 dog, and, while being very much smaller in size, he is very intelli- 
 gent in his business of watching herds and flocks. Whenever 
 sheep hear a dog that is accustomed to hound them every day, 
 they will immediately start from their grazing, gather together and 
 run to the farthest fence, and press upon each other in order to 
 escape the dog. With lambs, after they are weaned, it is apt to 
 overheat them and induce palpitation ; with ewes, it is apt to 
 cause abortion, and among wethers, puts them off their feeding for 
 a time. Should the farmer take all these things into consideration 
 he would attach more importance to the good temper of both the 
 shepherd and the dog than he has been accustomed to do. When 
 the sheep, instead of collecting round the dog and placing them- 
 selves under his protection on any sudden alarm, fly from him 
 with terror, the farmer may be assured there is something radi- 
 cally wrong in the management of his flock. Instinct and educa- 
 tion combine to fit this dog for our service. He will, if he has the 
 example of an older and expert one, almost without the teaching 
 of the master, become everything that can be desired — obedient 
 to every order, even to the slightest motion of the hand. It is a 
 natural predisposition for the office he lias to fill, which it requires 
 little trouble or skill to develop and perfect. If he is but with his 
 master, he is content, indifferent to every surrounding object ; 
 
 ■!• Trammer on the Merinos, p. 50. 
 
THE SHEPHERD DOG. 49 
 
 seemingly half asleep and half awake ; rarely mingling with his 
 kind, and generally shrinking from the notice of strangers ; but 
 the moment duty calls, his sleepy, listless eye becomes brightened, 
 he eagerly gazes on his master, inquires and comprehends all he 
 has to do, and, springing up, gives himself to the discharge of 
 his duty with a sagacity and fidelity too rarely equaled even by 
 man himself. 
 
 Buffon gives an eloquent and faithful account of the sheep-dog : 
 " This animal, faithful to man, will always preserve a portion of 
 his empire and a degree of superiority over other beings. He 
 reigns at the head of his flock, and makes himself better under- 
 stood than the voice of the shepherd. Safety, order and disci- 
 pline are the fruits of his vigilance and activity. They are a peo- 
 ple submitted to his management, whom he conducts and protects, 
 and against whom he never employs force but for the preservation 
 of good order. If we consider that this animal, notwithstanding 
 his ugliness and his wild and melancholy look, is superior in in- 
 stinct to all others ; that he has a decided character in which edu- 
 cation has comparatively little share ; that he is the only animal 
 born perfectly trained for the service of others ; that, guided by 
 natural powers alone, he applies himself to the care of our flocks, 
 a duty which he executes with singular assiduity, vigilance and 
 fidelity; that he conducts them with an admirable intelligence 
 which is a part and portion of himself ; that his sagacity astonishes 
 at the same time that it gives repose to his master, while it requires 
 great time and trouble to instruct other dogs for the purposes to 
 which they are destined — if w& reflect on these facts, we shall be 
 confirmed in the opinion that the shepherd's dog is the true dog of 
 nature, the stock and model of the whole species." * 
 
 Taplin, in the Sportman's Cabinet, published in 1803, devotes 
 several pages to a description of the shepherd's dog. He says : 
 " Constitutionally calm, patient and philosophic, the sheep-dog ap- 
 pears totally lost to every appearance of novelty, and insensible to 
 every attraction beyond the protection and indefatigable preserva- 
 tion of the flock committed to his charge. In the most sequestered 
 
 *Buffon's "Natural History," Vol. V., p. 314. 
 3 
 
50 THE?lSHEPHERD DOG. 
 
 and remote spots, dreary _^'wilds and lofty mountains, almost in- 
 accessible to man, the dog become an incredible and trusty substi- 
 tute ; for, once initiated into the groundwork of his office, he soon 
 acquires a perfect knowledge of the extent of his walk, as well as 
 of every individual of his flock ; and will as regularly select his 
 own, and disperse obtruders, as the most faithful and attentive 
 shepherd in existence. This becomes the more extraordinary to 
 the contemplative mind, when it is recollected what immense flocks 
 are seen to cover the downy hills of Hants and Wilts, as far as the 
 eye can reach, without control ; and to know that by a signal from 
 the shepherd this faithful, sagacious animal, replete with energy, 
 vigilance and activity, will make his circle so as to surround a 
 flock of hundreds, and bring them within any compass that may 
 be required." 
 
CHAPTEK III. 
 
 THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 
 
 " Pat him on the head and say, * Hector, ma mon ! ' and he whines 
 wi' joy; snap your thooms, and he gangs dancin' round ye like a 
 whurlwund; gie a whusslin' hiss, and he loups frantic ower your 
 head; cry halloo! and he's aflflike a shot, chasin' naething, as if he 
 were mad." — Wilson, Noctes Ambrosianse. 
 
 As far as my observation extends, I find there are in the United 
 States five different kinds of shepherd dogs— the Scotch collie, the 
 German, Spanish and Mexican, also the bob-tailed English sheep- 
 dog. Of these, the Scotch collie is regarded as the best, and is 
 most known. His place of nativity is among the moors, fens, 
 glens and hills of Scotland, where the clannishness of the master 
 is so pronounced that even the dogs refuse to make friends with the 
 stranger who stops to share their porridge and shelter for the night. 
 His only companions are the sheep upon the hillside, among whom 
 he stalks with an air of conscious protection and guardianship. 
 Throughout the northwest many mongrel collies are to be seen, 
 mainly a bull and collie cross. As a" result, an old sow or a grown 
 hog rarely has a whole ear, the ears having been split and torn off 
 by mongrel dogs. Send one of these so-called collies after a cow, 
 and ninety-nine times out of a hundred he will go at the 
 head instead of at the heels ; not but what some of the genuine ar- 
 ticle will do the same thing, but this is from lack of proper train- 
 ing and can be remedied at will. 
 
 The origin and history of the collie is obscured in the mists of 
 the past. None of the old writers with whom I am acquainted 
 gives a description that could be applied to the collie of to-day. 
 Although many writers give their opinion, all are more or less left 
 to conjecture. Dr. Alexander Stewart, a Scotchman, says the col- 
 
 ( 53J 
 
54 THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 
 
 lie is '' the old indigenous dog of the British Islands." In refer- 
 ring to Fingal's dog Bran, he says he was ''just an exceptionally 
 strong and intelligent collie ; nor would it be easy to persuade me 
 that the faithful Argus of Ulyssus, in far-off Ithaca, three thou- 
 sand years ago, was other than a genuine collie of the same breed 
 as the Fingalians more than a thousand years afterwards in the 
 hunting-grounds of medieval Scotland and Ireland." If Dr. 
 Stewart's theory is correct, this collie would be identical with the 
 collie of to-day. We have proof of the early Irish possessing 
 hounds and spaniels, also a description of the greyhound written 
 nearly two thousand years ago, but, so far as we know, no dog of 
 the description of the collie, or even resembling him enough to 
 enable us to form a correct idea of the breed from which he de- 
 scended. This, however, does not prove that the collie was not in 
 existence, for in ancient times few breeds save, those used in the 
 chase were deemed worthy of notice. My opinion in regard to 
 the collie's origin is, that he is the result of -careful selections sys- 
 tematically carried on through a long series of years until the de- 
 sired results were obtained. 
 
 In sagacity he excels all others of the dog family. His is not 
 the intelligence of the trick dog ; one look into his bright, wise 
 eyes will tell you that antics and pranks are not for him, a dog's 
 life is to him quite too serious a matter to be wasted in frivolities ; 
 his mission is hard work ; he has duties to perform, as had gener- 
 ations of his ancestors before him. Indeed, certain parts of Scot- 
 land and England owe all their value for sheep-raising purposes to 
 the collie. " Without him,'' wrote Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, 
 "the mountainous land of Scotland and England would not be worth 
 six pence. It would require more hands to manage a flock of 
 sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into houses and folds, 
 and drive them to market, than the profits of the whole are capa- 
 ble of maintaining." Collies are valued very highly in their native 
 country, and the highest praise a Scotch shepherd can pass on a 
 collie is that he is "gey wyse "; i. e., very wise. Mr. Hogg says 
 that " a single shepherd and his dog will accomplish more ingath- 
 ering a flock of sheep from a Highland farm than twenty shep- 
 herds could do without dogs ; in fact, that without this docile an- 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 55 
 
 imal, pastoral life would be a mere blank. He it is that earns 
 the family bread of which he is himself content with the smallest 
 morsel, always grateful and always ready to exert his utmost abil- 
 ities in his master's interests. Neither hunger, fatigue nor the 
 worst treatment will drive him from his side, and he will follow 
 him through every hardship without murmuring or repining. If 
 one of them is obliged to change masters, it is sometimes long be- 
 fore he will acknowledge his new owner or condescend to work for 
 him with the willingness that he did for his former lord ; but if 
 he once acknowledges him, he continues attached to him until 
 death."* 
 
 We have a touching instance of the love existing between the 
 shepherd and his dog in the simple tale of the shepherd Colin and 
 his dog Tray. Both were old and feeble, and Tray, dying, licked 
 Colin's hand. The sorrow of the old shepherd on the death of his 
 favorite is well described by Peter Pindar, who tells us— 
 
 " Not long after Tray did the shepherd remain, 
 
 Who oft o'er his grave with true sorrow would bend ; 
 And when dying thus feebly was heard the poor swain, 
 ' Oh, bury me, neighbors, beside my poor friend.' " 
 
 Well may the owner feel an interest in his shepherd dog. He 
 is the only dog on the farm that earns his bread. Among dogs I 
 do not believe there are more than three or four breeds which pay 
 in dollars and cents for their keep, and among these few breeds 
 not one in a dozen is anything but a nuisance. Well-trained collies 
 are not only of great value as a breed, but ninety-five per cent, of 
 the individuals are worth to their owners in cash from ten to one 
 hundred dollars per year. In fact, the value of a well-trained col- 
 lie on a large sh^eep ranch can not be estimated by dollars and cents. 
 In a letter I received from a gentleman a few weeks since, he says a 
 well-trained collie is worth more to him than a man on horseback. 
 
 In the wild moorlands of Scotland, abounding in deep, treacher- 
 ous morasses, and visited by pitiless storms of snow, the service of 
 
 -"The Ettrick Shepherd has probably spolcen somewhat too en- 
 thusiastically of his dog; but accounts of the sagacity and almost 
 supei-human fidelity of this dog crowd so rapidly upon us that we 
 are compelled to admire and to love him."— Hogg's " Shepherd's Cal- 
 endar," Vol. II., p. 308. 
 
56 THE FASHIONABLE COIiLIE. 
 
 the collie is almost indispensable, and they sometimes have most 
 arduous duties to perform. The hardy, black-faced sheep that 
 have existed on the bleak mountains of Scotland for centuries, are 
 frequently lost and completely buried in drifts of snow, where 
 they often remain for several days. The sagacious collie is found 
 very useful in locating them in the snowdrifts. With his keen 
 scent he will locate a sheep in several feet of snow. 
 
 Sir Walter Scott, who knew pastoral life so well, gives in his in- 
 troduction to "Marmion," Canto IV., the following poetic yet ac- 
 curate description of the life of the Scotch shepherd : 
 
 '' The sounds that drive wild deer and lox 
 To shelter in the brake and rocks, 
 Are warnings which the shepherd ask 
 To dismal and to dangerous task. 
 Oft he looks forth, and hopes in vain 
 The blast may sink in mellowing rain; 
 Till, dark above and white below, 
 Decided drives the flaky snow. 
 And forth the hardy swain must go. 
 Long, with dejected look and whine. 
 To leave the hearth his dogs repine; 
 Whistling and cheering them to aid. 
 Around his back he wreathes the plaid; 
 And, facing to the tempest's sweep, 
 Drives through the gloom his lagging sheep." 
 
 Mr. Hogg draws the following curious parallel between the col- 
 lie sheep-dog and the cottager's collie: ''An exceedingly good 
 sheep-dog attends to nothing but the particular brancli of business 
 to which he is bred. His whole capacity is exerted and exhausted 
 in it, and he is of little avail in miscellaneous matters ; whereas a 
 very indifferent dog, bred about the house, and accustomed to assist 
 in everything, will often put the more noble breed to disgrace in 
 tiiese little services. If some one calls out that the cows are in the 
 corn or the hens in the garden, the house collie needs no other 
 hint, but runs and turns them out. The shepherd's dog knows 
 not what is astir, and, if he is called out in a hurry for such work, 
 all that he will do is to run to the hill, or rear himself on his 
 haunches to see that no sheep are running away. A well-bred 
 sheep-dog, if coming hungry from the hills, and getting into a 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 57 
 
 milk-house, would likely think of nothing else than filling his belly 
 with the cream. In fact, he seems to think that is the only way in 
 which he can collect his wages for the work he does ; so steal he 
 will, without a quiver of the eye or a cessation of wag to his tail. 
 Therefore we caution the good housewife to look sharp that the 
 door to the milk-house is securely closed, or there will be sorrow 
 in the household — and very likely to the dog. Not so his initialed 
 brother: he is bred at home to far higher principles of honor. I 
 have known such lie night and day among from ten to twenty pails 
 full of milk, and never once break the cream of one of them with 
 the tip of his tongue, nor would he suffer cat, rat, or any other 
 creature, to touch it." 
 
 Since the institution of bench shows, there has been too great a 
 tendency to breed for type alone, and too little care to preserve 
 the working instinct, and, as a consequence, some winners at the 
 shows are of slight use as drivers. The show collie, being un- 
 trained, is losing intelligence, and a good judge can readily distin- 
 guish the untrained dog from the intelligent and well taught, by 
 the fatuous look the idle life of the former develops. The breed- 
 ing for show alone is having a deteriorating influence on the coKie. 
 I think the placing of dogs, which breeders have improved in 
 appearance for exhibition, in the hands of our working shepherds 
 who are scattered over our lonely hillsides and prairies, and the 
 drafting of clever, good-looking, practical working dogs from the 
 shepherds to recruit the stock of exhibitors, might prove of mutual 
 benefit to both. The English Kennel Gazette says: "Fanciers, 
 locust-like, appear to have settled on the collie, and have recently 
 determined that a collie shall have an enormous head, an enormous 
 coat, and enormous limbs, and that by these three 'points' shall he 
 stand or fall in the judging-ring; so they have commenced to graft 
 on to the breed the jaw of an alligator, the coat of an Angora goat, 
 and the clumsy bone of a St. Bernard. A 'cobby' dog with short 
 neck, straight thick shoulders, hollow back, and small straight tail, 
 but graced with a very long snout and a very heavy jacket, is 
 already common at our shows, and increases and multiplies. In 
 the advertising columns of the doggy papers can be read the exulta- 
 tion of the 'collie-fancier' at his pet's 'immense bone,' 'enormous 
 
58 THE FASHIONABLE 'cOIiLIE. 
 
 coat,' and so on. I therefore think it high time that the public 
 be reminded of what a collie was formerly, and what the Collie 
 Club's recognized standard says that he ought to be even now. 
 First of all, the collie is intended for use, for definite work, and, as 
 soon as we find ourselves breeding dogs that can not gallop, jump, 
 'rough it,' aye! and think, too, we may be certain that, whatever we 
 may have got hold of, it is not a sheep-dog; and with the disap- 
 pearance of his workmanlike attributes vanish also his social vir- 
 tues and his beauty. But let us consider a few of his points — 
 those which are in more immediate danger of being misunderstood 
 — in detail. The under-coat, without doubt, should be very thick 
 and furry, and the outer coat also should be well developed. But 
 an excessive length and weight of it can only be a hindrance to the 
 dog's movements. The skull should be flat and rather broad, 
 because brain room is required, a greyhound skull being manifestly 
 a foolish one. The collie's muzzle should be fine and tapering, 
 because, though the dog may be required occasionally to 'nip' a 
 sheep to make it move, a severe wound would be calamitous ; a 
 greyhound-jaw is designed for killing. As to general shape, the 
 collie should be a lightly built dog, of medium size, wonderfully 
 active, wiry in his movements, free and sweeping in his form, that 
 he may be able to go at racing pace over rough ground, and jump 
 any obstacles in his path. He must have long, oblique shoulders, 
 deep, narrow chest, loin somewhat arched, a fair length of leg, 
 with a fair amount of oval-shaped bone, and perfect balance every- 
 where. As he should show no relationship to the greyhound in 
 skull or jaw, so, also, should he be free from trace of setter in ear 
 and tail. The former should be small and semi-erect, but a prick- 
 ear is preferable to one carried on the cheek ; the latter should be 
 carried low, but should be long and have the 'upward swirl' at the 
 end." 
 
 The coat of the collie is of great importance and one of the 
 special characteristics of the breed. The outer coat consists of long, 
 thin hair of coarse texture, and the under-coat of very thick, close, 
 soft hair, which in black dogs is of a light color, often showing 
 through the thin outer coat ; the two together are impermeable to 
 rain. On the jaw, face, skull, and on the front and inside of legs, 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLME. 59 
 
 the hair is short and smooth, but from the angle of the jaw and 
 round immediately at the back of the skull it is very long, and 
 round the throat it turns upwards and forwards, and round the 
 neck and throat forms a decided ruff or frill. On the whole of the 
 body the coat stands well out because of the abundance of the 
 under-coat. It should not be curly, but present a level and flat 
 appearance. The hair on the hams and tail is long and very abund- 
 ant. There are also smooth-coated collies, the hair being short 
 and thick and very weather-resisting, for the collie's duties compel 
 him to be out on the windy moors and bleak hillsides in all kinds 
 of weather, and "to bide the pelting of the pitiless storm" when — 
 
 " The shepherd shifts his mantle fold. 
 And wraps him closer from the cold; 
 His dogs no merry circles wheel, 
 But shivering follow at his heel; 
 A cowering glance they often cast, 
 As deeper moans the gathering blast." 
 
 The collie's coat depends entirely upon climate and the circum- 
 stances in life in which he is placed. In southern latitudes the 
 rough-coated will breed back to smooth coat in four generations, 
 unless there are frequent importations made. The poet Burns de- 
 scribes the color of the collie as black and white. Bingley (1809) 
 also colors his collies black and white, and that is about as far back 
 as we can get in regard to color. All of the drawings and color- 
 ings are so faithful in Bingley that we must rely upon black and 
 white being the original color. In the early days of dog shows the 
 black and tan color was very fashionable. It is thought by some 
 that this is the true original color of the collie ; others affirm the 
 black and tan color was produced or improved by crossing the col- 
 lie with the black and tan, or Gordon setter. Mr. Wrn. Ark- 
 wright says : " It is an open secret that just before this period the 
 shepherds on the Scotch hills, admiring the fervid coloring of the 
 Gordon setters brought near them in the shooting season, had begun 
 to use these dogs to their collie bitches whenever they got a chance. 
 Hence those setter characteristics were to be observed in the show 
 collies of the day, which continue to predominate in many parts of 
 
60 THE FASHIONABIiE COLLIE. 
 
 the Highlands to the present time. But the collie lovers, whether 
 from inspection of old pictures or from evolution of inner 
 consciousness, after a time became distrustful of the sunset beau- 
 ties of 'tan,' and the ear which might afterwards serve as a saddle- 
 flap, and commenced to reform the show-dog judiciously enough. 
 But just at this transition period, when men's opinions were thor- 
 oughly unhinged, there appeared in our midst a dog of chestnut- 
 bronze color, called ' Vero.' Every one raved about the animal. 
 His color, besides the charm of novelty, was aesthetically beautiful ; 
 his head, though effeminate, was good, and his ears were small and 
 well carried ; beyond these points, there was not much to praise in 
 him. 'Vero's' own career was that of the meteor, brilliant but 
 brief — he emerged from obscurity and disappeared whence he 
 came ; but the appetite for those harmonious, ruddy shadings was 
 excited by him, and has since not known satiety. With marvelous 
 quickness came pouring in the red collie from all sides to supply 
 the demand, and as soon as the task of judging became more diffi- 
 cult from there being more of this complexion than prizes in the 
 classes, semi-erect ears, a crafty face and a thick coat were the ad- 
 ditional qualities sought for. Such was the infancy of the modern 
 type, which fills the classes with ever-increasing numbers." 
 
 Oar opinion in regard to this crossing is, that the contrary was 
 the case, and that the black and tan, or Gordon setter, has been 
 greatly improved by being judiciously crossed with the Highland 
 sheep-dog, and we have numerous instances in which the collie 
 sheep-dog has been introduced into sporting kennels for stud pur- 
 poses. About eighty years ago a gentleman, in order to improve 
 his hunting dogs, paid £20 ($100) for a collie, which at that time 
 was considered a very high price for a sheep-dog. Rawdon Lee, 
 in his book on the collie, says : ''My opinion is that no variety of 
 dog in the British Isles can boast of purer blood, or possibly blood 
 so pure as that of the collie." Hugh Dalziel, in his history of the 
 collie, also alludes to the setter cross. He tells the story of the 
 Scotch shepherd on the hillside falling in love with "Idstone's'' 
 Gordon setters, and saying he would ''like a cross o' yin o' them 
 wi' his collie, for they would throw unco braw whalps." Dalziel 
 evidently does not believe in the alleged cross, for he says : " O Id- 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLLtE. 61 
 
 stone ! Idstone ! how could you let my countryman draw the white 
 feather over your eyes so ? The ' pawky auld carle ' had ulterior 
 designs on your whisky flask, and was not unmindful of the 
 proverb, ' Love me, love my dog ; ' but a shepherd who would 
 make such a proposition in earnest is not fit to take care of a hirsel." 
 The collie's usefulness is too well known, and his services too 
 highly valued, to admit of experiments in crossing which would 
 doubtless spoil him for the work for which he is required, and for 
 which, in his present state, he is so well adapted. We believe the 
 collie to be a pure and distinct breed, and will continue to be so. 
 
 At present a majority of the noted champion collies are of sable 
 color, still that grand old black and tan champion of England, 
 Eutland, is able to hold his own against new-comers. Although 
 color is not valued so highly in this breed as in some others, there 
 is usually one which is the prevailing fashion. At the present 
 time the large kennels in this country are trying to produce white 
 collies by close inbreeding of the light-colored ones, but most of 
 them have dark ears or spots on the body. Although pure white 
 collies are scarcely to be desired, they may possibly become the 
 fashion from the fact that a pure white puppy has been presented 
 to Queen Victoria. The Queen has always been a great lover of 
 dogs, and has done more to foster a kindly and humane feeling 
 towards dumb animals than any reigning monarch in the world. 
 The white collie referred to was bred by Messrs. J. and W. H. 
 Charles, of Warwickshire, England. His sire, "The Squire," and 
 his dam, "Betty," are of the most fashionable pedigree. 
 
 In general appearance the collie, as a breed, is clear and dis- 
 tinct from any other breed of our domestic dogs. His motion or 
 action ought to be that of the wolf or fox, as light upon his feet as 
 though his muscles were springs of steel, his glances as sharp and 
 animated as flashes of lightning. He should be light and graceful, 
 giving the idea of great speed capacity, and altogether a handsome 
 dog — one that poets have celebrated in their verse and artists loved 
 to paint. Sir Walter Scott and the immortal Burns make frequent 
 mention of them. The great masterpiece of the artist Landseer, 
 called "The Old Shepherd's Chief Mourner," represents a collie 
 sitting in a dejected attitude, his chin resting lovingly on the coffin , 
 
62 'THE FASHIONABLE COLLTfi. 
 
 which encloses the remains of his master. The collie's bearing is 
 dainty and natty, as that of the fox. Nor does the likeness end 
 there. Take the human-like intelligence ascribed to the hero of 
 the old romance, Keynard the Fox — let the craft and duplicity be 
 refined and transmuted into devotion to his master, and you have 
 the characteristics of the collie's nature. 
 
 The clever, cunning appearance of the collie should be due as 
 much to the expression of the eye as to the shape of the head, as 
 the Esquimaux dog has an air of cunning (but villainous cunning) 
 in his oblique eyes. The cunning and craftiness of the collie is of 
 a superior order, and displays considerable reasoning power. The 
 nearer he comes to moving like a fox and looking like a wolf, the 
 nearer you will approach the dog found among the sheep of Scot- 
 land. The disposition of the collie is as marked as his physical 
 characteristics. Some of the writers upon dogs who wish us to 
 think they know everything about every breed of dog, tell us that 
 the collie is of a cross and surly disposition. This is a falsehood ; 
 he is all kindness and affection. Put a dog of any breed out upon 
 a desolate stretch of pasture, day after day and month after month, 
 and when approached by a stranger he will manifest his suspicion 
 and mistrust. But let a collie be placed in the same walks of Jife 
 as other dogs, and he will far exceed them in general aptitude and 
 intelligence. For the use of the farm, it will be conceded by all 
 this is the distinctively appropriate breed. 
 
 A. well-trained and experienced collie appears to rule a flock of 
 sheep by force of his dominant nature, just as a good horseman 
 controls a horse. He is often equally successful in managing un- 
 ruly cattle, and sometimes exercises the same supremacy over other 
 dogs. Dr. Lewis says : ''The increased vigor that is now given to 
 the cultivation of sheep to supply the necessary demands of the 
 numerous woolen factories springing up in every quarter, renders 
 the services of this faithful creature absolutely indispensable, 
 not only as a guardian of the flocks, but as a mere expedient of 
 economy. Many portions of our country, now lying idle, particu- 
 larly the mountainous ranges, are pecularly adapted for the graz- 
 ing of sheep, and we are destined not only to supply the world 
 with cotton, but may hope ere long to add to our national wealth 
 the other equally valuable staple commodity, that of wool." 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 63 
 
 In Australia the shepherds delight in having well-bred dogs, 
 and devote immense care and patience to their education. Their 
 animals are all more or less collies (called, by the way, in the bush, 
 coolies), very often come of good imported strains, and are often 
 exceedingly handsome and clever. Mr. M. Roberts, writing to 
 the London Field in regard to dogs in Australia, says : " I have 
 seen many decent horses sold for less than the price of a sheep- 
 dog of any reputation. I have heard £15 asked for a thoroughly 
 trained, well-bred bitch who was exceptionally clever. The 
 training of pups usually commences as-soon as they are able to walk. 
 In the bush, being naturally on a sheep station, they see their 
 future charges every day, and frequently watch the elder dogs 
 working. It is amusing to note the instinct showing itself at a 
 very early stage ; a young puppy of mine, called Bo'sun, volun- 
 tarily took charge of a small mob of rams, having previously had no 
 experience at all, and I have frequently seen similar instances. 
 The things the older dogs do verge sometimes on the marvelous. 
 I remember, when mustering the sheep on Dora Station, a very 
 beautiful bitch, owned by a man in the place, brought, with a 
 young puppy of her own, a large number of sheep to the meeting- 
 place and then disappeared. I asked her owner were she was, 
 and he answered that he did not know, but that she would prob- 
 ably turn up directly. In half an hour we saw a small flock of 
 about 250 coming down a gully on to the little plain, and behind 
 them was Flo. She had noticed them in the distance when bring- 
 ing down the others, but evidently distrusted her son's capabilities 
 of managing the large flock. She was quite ready to take charge 
 of any number for hours together, and we could be quite sure none 
 would stray while she was about. There was no other dog on the 
 station who knew it as she did ; indeed, though it was a mass of 
 hills, she seemed acquainted with every gulch about it. Yet I ad- 
 mired the dogs even more on the great plains in the Lachlan Back 
 Blocks, where sheep were numbered in tens and hundreds of thou- 
 sands. Few people in this country have ever seen 20,000 sheep 
 together, and can scarcely imagine what a space of country they 
 cover when they are being slowly driven along at a rate which 
 permits them to feed. Yet my own dog Sancho, at Mossgiel, 
 
() I: THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 
 
 would handle so many with the greatest ease ; indeed, the more 
 they were the better he seemed pleased. As a matter of fact, I 
 must acknowledge he was not much good with a very small num- 
 ber. But when I was riding on an endless plain, with the flock 
 spreading out two miles, he would watch for me to wave my hand 
 when all shouting was useless by distance. When he was so far 
 off that I could not distinguish him, I knew well that he was look- 
 ing out for the signal of a fluttering handkerchief to the right or 
 left, and that he could discern a different motion which meant 
 'That will do.' When the flock was set in the right direction, he 
 would make a long bend to come to me, and without any orders 
 keep each wing up, first going half a mile to the left and then as 
 far to the right." 
 
 The collie is one of the coming dogs in America. If he were 
 better known, and his usefulness on the farm were more widely 
 appreciated, he would soon supplant the curs of low degree ; and 
 as a faithful, intelligent, almost human guardian, he would watch 
 over and attend flocks of sheep in districts where now, because of 
 the midnight forages of mutton-hungry mongrels, sheep can not 
 be raised. They are pre-eminently the farmer's dog, but if any 
 one is in need of a faithful, intelligent servant or companion, let 
 him get a collie. His chief charm as a companion is his great af- 
 fection and strong attachment. They are ever anxious to please, 
 which is shown by the way they watch every look and motion and 
 listen to every word by which they may interpret their master's 
 wishes, and the readiness with which they obey. The collie soon 
 adapts himself to his surroundings, and, whether we find him gal- 
 loping on the vast ranges of Australia, or busy working among the 
 glittering rocks and trackless deserts of the West, or in more fash- 
 ionable life gently walking in the bustling thoroughfares of our 
 great cities, or, perhaps, sedately promenading the avenues with 
 his master's family, he seems to be just as happy in his new abode 
 as in his native home on the northern hills, amid fern and heather, 
 with a bed in the corner of his master's plaid, left hanging loose 
 for the purpose. 
 
 The collie is to-day the most fashionable dog in England, and is 
 fast becoming fashionable in this country. The importation, 
 
THE FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 65 
 
 breeding and sale of this variety of dog has grown into an exten- 
 sive business. Several hundred choice specimens have been im- 
 ported ; the collie classes at the bench shows have been creditably 
 filled and have shown that the breed is rapidly growing in num- 
 bers and quality. 
 
 In closing my remarks upon this breed of dog, I recommend 
 him most heartily to the consideration of the reader. I do not 
 speak from hearsay, or from knowledge derived from books, but 
 from practical experience, having owned collies for nearly a dozen 
 years. The only faults you will find in the collie will arise from 
 his extreme restlessness and activity. He will drive the chick- 
 ens, he will stand guard over the geese, he will be here one min- 
 ute and there the next, looking into this corner and poking his 
 nose into that, forever on the move ; in fact, among all breeds of 
 dogs he can truthfully be nicknamed the "policeman," as his eyes 
 are forever looking into everything, but at the same time he is not 
 at all too headlong in getting into a scrimmage. Lovers of the 
 poet Burns will enjoy these lines, descriptive of a typical collie, 
 liis own dog, Luath : 
 
 " He was a gash and faithful tyke 
 As ever lap a sleugh or dyke ; 
 His honest, sonsie, bawns'nt face 
 Aye gat him. friends in ilka place ; 
 His breast was white, his touzie back 
 Weel clad wi' coat o' glossy black ; 
 His gawsie tail wi' upward curl 
 Hvmg ower his hurdles wi' a swirl.". 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIONS — SENSATIONAL PRICES. 
 
 The well-known Charlemagne, represented in frontispiece, is 
 considered by many good judges to be the best collie of all times. 
 His successes at the stud have been quite equal to that of any collie 
 that either preceded or has followed him. He commands the 
 highest stud fee ever paid for a collie, viz.: $100, and is valued at 
 $50,000, which is not merely a fictitious value, for his income in 
 the stud more than equals that amount. Extremely high bids 
 have been made for Charlemagne, and dogs of much the same 
 blood have been claimed at what must be considered extraordi- 
 
66 THK FASHIONABLE COLLIE. 
 
 nary figures. Charlemagne is sable and white in color, with 
 evenly placed and well-carried ears, and bright and intelligent in 
 expression. He won the sixty-guinea challenge cup at the show 
 held in Holborn, February, 1890. The old veteran was over 
 eleven years old, and, it is said, looked more like his grandsire. 
 Cookie, than ever. Almost all the best collies of the present day 
 are descended from old Cockie, who was considered the best dog 
 of his day. 
 
 Our next illustration is an exact likeness of that grand old En- 
 glish champion collie, Kutland. He is a splendid specimen of the 
 black and tan color, of beautiful formation, and possessing all 
 the attributes of a show-dog. He is the winner of over twenty-five 
 champion prizes and sixteen cups, and is already the sire of nearly 
 one hundred first-prize winners. Eutland is a dog of that class 
 that the more you look at him the better you are pleased. On his 
 sire's side he has a double strain of the famous old Cockie ; on the 
 other side, his pedigree traces back — as so many show-dogs do — to 
 Mr. S. E. Shirley's kennels, through Tricolor, a younger brother 
 of the more celebrated Trifoil, who is to the collie what Kysdyk's 
 Hambletonian was to the high-bred trotting horse. The name of . 
 Trifoil, says an authority, will ever be known as the source from 
 whence sprung the modern typical fancy collie. Rutland, who was 
 given away when a puppy, and afterwards sold at auction for 
 $12.50, was eventually sold for the sum of $1,250. His head, ears 
 and general form are first-class, and these, with his other good 
 qualities, he in many cases transmits to his progeny, and Eutland 
 blood is still in great demand. 
 
 The illustration on page 70 ,is that of the celebrated sable-colored 
 collie champion. Eclipse (E. K. C. S. B. 12949), owned by Mr. G. 
 K. Krehl, London, England. He was claimed at Birmingham 
 show, when a puppy, at the catalogue price of $500, which was 
 then considered a very high price, but he proved to his owner a 
 financial success. Eclipse is a handsome dog of great intelligence 
 and lovely disposition, and no one need desire a nicer dog as a 
 companion and household pet, for which purpose the collie has 
 gradually drifted to our great commercial centers. Eclipse is one 
 of the most typical collies ever bred, and unequaled as a stud dog. 
 
THE FASHIOBTABLE COLLIE. 69 
 
 The English Kennel Gazette says: ''It is remarkable that his 
 progeny are all of sable color, no matter what the color of the dam 
 may be." 
 
 The Kev. Hans Hamilton's sable and white collie, Peggie II. 
 (of which an engraving appears on opposite page), is the dam of 
 bench-show winners, and is particularly noted as being the dam of 
 champion Christopher, who was placed over his sire, Mitchley 
 Wonder, for the challenge prize, at the Liverpool show in Febru- 
 ary, 1890. He was afterwards purchased for .American kennels 
 for 13,500 in cash, and two other noted champion collies, valued 
 at $750 each, so it can be said that the immense sum of |5,000 was 
 paid for this handsome son of Peggie II. This is the highest 
 price ever paid for a non-sporting dog excepting for a St. Bernard, 
 and such a price has never been paid for a sporting dog excepting 
 the English greyhound. 
 
 The noted bench-show winner, Mitchley Wonder, referred to 
 above, is said to have been sold by Mr. Boddington for $2,650. 
 
 Caractacus, another noted collie, created quite a sensation in 
 the canine world in 1888. He was at the time nine months old, 
 and was on exhibition at the Liverpool show, where he won first 
 prize in the puppy class and was claimed by several gentlemen at 
 the catalogue price, $500. This being the case, the dog was put 
 up at auction and became the property of Mr. Megson, of Man- 
 chester, but not until the immense sum of $1,750 had been bid for 
 him. 
 
 These prices, Avhich are now quite common, would have been 
 considered by our forefathers fabulous sums to pay for what in 
 their day was ofttimes refused as a gift. American breeders have 
 from time to time purchased some of the best collie blood of Eng- 
 land and Scotland, which is greatly improving the breed in this 
 country. At the first exhibition of the Westminster Kennel Club, 
 held in New York in 1870, only eight collies were entered. From 
 this date the increase has been steady, until, in February, 1890, 
 the entries reached 117. And a grand lot they were, having im- 
 proved in quality as well as increased in number. 
 
Sable-Colored Collie Champion, Eclipse (E. K. C. S. B. 12949). 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS— HOUSE OR YARD TRAINING. 
 
 "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well."— X>r. Johnson. 
 
 When a clog becomes a member of civilized society he is doomed 
 to undergo a more or less rigid course of instruction to educate 
 him "in the way he should go." His education may consist in 
 teaching him as much as he is capable of learning, or merely in 
 teaching him the things necessary to make him a good house or 
 watch dog. The shepherd dog is a wonderfully intelligent animal, 
 and can be trained to his work to a degree that it seems to be 
 gifted with almost human intelligence. It is some work to train a 
 shepherd dog. No animal will perform duties that require special 
 intelligence without special training. Of course they inherit a 
 'Halent." The laws of heredity operate wonderfully. Miles cites 
 many instances. The shepherd dog is remarkable for its sagacity 
 and the persistence with which it carries out the wishes of its mas- 
 ter ; and it would be difficult, if not impossible, to train dogs of 
 any other breeds to equal them in their special duties. The dis- 
 positions of dogs remain true to their natural instincts, and, though 
 now and again a specimen of one variety may perform duties which 
 essentially are those of another breed, the broad fact remains that 
 the original race are, as a whole, vastly to be preferred for the 
 work. The greyhound still hunts by sight as in the days of Arrian, 
 and the bloodhound by scent, and their offspring all inherit the 
 same peculiarities. Both the foxhound and setter have the quality 
 of acute scent, but the foxhound pays no attention to the bird 
 track, while the setter does not notice the fox track. The differ- 
 ence has been bred into these two breeds of dogs by the intelligence 
 of their breeders for a century or more. Cross these breeds, and 
 
 (71) 
 
72 TEAININa SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 their special characteristics are spoiled. Mongrels do not and can 
 not possess the intelligence of the thoroughbred. 
 
 It is a matter of much more difficulty and importance to learn 
 how to train a sheep-dog than to discover it-^-ai he should be taught. 
 The collie is controlled not only by instinct, but by a higher intel- 
 ligence, which, when properly developed, often enables it to meet 
 emergencies for which mere instinct would be entirely inadequate. 
 It should therefore be the purpose of the teacher to train the men- 
 tal faculties of the pupil, to give him a liberal education, rather 
 than to teach him a series of automatic tricks. The first step is to 
 secure the respect and affection of the pupil, so that he will be 
 anxious to anticipate his master's demands, and to do his bidding. 
 Kindness and imperturbable patience are virtues the teacher must 
 exercise. He should persist in his efforts until the pupil thor- 
 oughly understands what is required of him, and he ought never 
 to be punished to compel him to learn, or for failing to do what 
 he does not understand, but only for refusing to do what he already 
 thoroughly knows. The cruelties that are perpetrated on puppies 
 during the course of their education, or breaking-in, are sometimes 
 infamous^ Young dogs, like young, people, must be to a certain 
 degree coerced ; but these animals receive from nature so great an 
 aptitude for learning, and practicing that which we require of 
 them, and their own pleasure is so much connected with what they 
 learn, that there is no occasion for one-tenth part of the correction 
 that is occasionally inflicted ; and the frequent consequence of the 
 cruelty to which they are subjected is cowardice or ferocity during 
 life. 
 
 Only one thing should be taught at a time, and not until it is 
 thoroughly mastered should another be undertaken. The puppy 
 should be shown, in the simplest way, what his master wants him 
 to do, and the thing to be done should be associated in his mind 
 with a very brief command, or, if possible, with a single word. 
 You must have patience and devote time to it. Don't expect him 
 to learn faster than a child could, with as limited a way of com- 
 municating ideas as exists between you and your pupil. A dog 
 understands actions better than words, therefore you should use 
 your hand in giving directions, and always take him with you and 
 
HOUSE OR YARD TRAINING. 73 
 
 let him see you do the work expected of him before you attempt to 
 teach him to do it alone. You should always use the same word in 
 giving the same order ; thus you should not say bring, one time, 
 and fetch, another. For different orders use as different sounding 
 words as possible. When there is much difficulty in teaching the 
 dog his lesson, the fault lies as often with the master as with him ; 
 or they are, generally speaking, both in fault. The majority of ■ 
 dogs are exceedingly sagacious. They possess strong reasoning 
 powers ; they understand, by intuition, almost every want and wish 
 of their master, and they deserve the kindest and best usage. 
 
 Make as far as possible a friend and companion of the puppy, 
 for the more he is with you, the handier he will be. You should 
 select him when quite young, and engraft upon his nature obedi- 
 ence. If possible, give him a large yard on the ground, with a 
 warm kennel or box in which to sleep. A part of the time he 
 should have his liberty, that he may become accustomed to the 
 stock and poultry. He should only be petted and fed by the hand 
 of his master ; all other members of the family should be strictly 
 forbidden to cultivate his affections. By selecting him when young, 
 before he has contracted any bad habits, it will be easier to train 
 him. As soon as you have gained his affection, begin by teaching 
 him a few simple things, which should be done in his yard, or it 
 may be done in the house on winter evenings. It will be a pleas- 
 ant pastime, and will be much easier for both master and pupil 
 than putting him entirely uneducated to practical field work. He 
 may be taught to "come," to ''lie down," to ''speak" and to jump 
 ''over." If he has thoroughly learned these things, and is obedi- 
 ent, your work will be greatly lessened when you take him into the 
 field. The bitch is generally more acute in learning, though the 
 dog will bear the greater fatigue. The quietly disposed shepherd 
 mostly prefers the bitch, but is careful about working her when in 
 pup. There are several modes of training — different ways of ac- 
 complishing the same end. I simply propose to suggest the plan 
 that seems most simple to myself, which I have learned from my 
 own experience and the suggestions of others. 
 
 The first thing is to teach him his name. If you intend to train 
 him for work in the field, his name should be short, for long names 
 
74 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 are hard to pronounce when rapid action is necessary. He should 
 early be accustomed to the use of the collar and chain, as a long 
 string attached to the pup's neck will often be of service in the 
 course of his training; you can then check him if he is very high- 
 lifed, as well as make him more easily acquainted with the language 
 and various evolutions which are necessary in a well-trained shep- 
 herd dog. The collar should be a wide one, and should be worn 
 several days before the chain is attached. The chain should have 
 two or three swivels to prevent the links from kinking. You can 
 attach a light chain to his collar, and let him run about his yard 
 for a day or two ; then you can take him out for a good run in the 
 fields, following at a short distance and allowing him to roam at 
 his own sweet will. In a day or two you can commence to regulate 
 his actions. The restraint must be very slight at first ; entice him 
 along, and, if needs be, reward him with a piece of cracker or 
 cheese whenever he ceases to strain and pull, and he will soon trot 
 along like an old dog. There is nothing more unpleasant to see 
 than a full-grown dog with his tail between his legs being dragged 
 along by his master. It is best to give the puppy his first lesson in 
 the yard to which he has been accustomed, as the irrepressible 
 collie's eyes seem to be everywhere and his nose poking into every- 
 thing, and strange surroundings are sure to attract his attention. 
 Be sure to give him his lesson when you will be undisturbed, recol- 
 lecting that the presence of company (man or dog) should be pro 
 hibited, that the puppy may give his full attention to his lesson 
 without anything to distract his attention. His first lesson should 
 be to "come in." To teach him the words "come in," you sltould 
 use it on all occasions when a short distance from you. You may 
 use it when you call him to feed him ; you may also let him accom- 
 pany you in a walk, having a small cord twenty to thirty foot long 
 attached to his collar. Should he run too far ahead, check him, 
 and cry '^Come in!" If he pavs little attention to the summons, 
 draw him in rather roughly by the cord, at the same time crying 
 ''Come in!" 
 
 Your pupil's next lesson is to "lie down." He is made to un- 
 derstand this by gently forcing him down, keeping his hind legs 
 well up under him, extending his fore legs, and forcing his head 
 
HOUSE OR YARD TRAINING. 75 
 
 gently between them, crying ' * Lie down ! " Put him in as natural 
 a position as possible, always crying "Lie down ! " and practice 
 him in this position until he fully understands the command. 
 Now, to make him drop at the word, you should cry " Lie down ! 
 Lie down ! " with your hand upraised, gently forcing him into the 
 required position, and by frequent practice you will soon have 
 him drop at the word. When you wish him to rise, cry " Come 
 in ! " When your dog behaves well, never fail to encourage him 
 with caresses. When he thoroughly understands the word "Lie 
 down !" and will ''lie down" at your command, you should bid 
 him " Lie down," and go some distance from him. On the slight- 
 est inclination on the part of the dog to get up, you should go 
 back, crying ''Lie down ! " Then again go a little distance from 
 him, and continue this until you can go any distance from him, 
 and he will continue to "lie down" until he receives the com- 
 mand " Come in ! " 
 
 Having learned this lesson, we will proceed by teaching him to 
 " speak." This will greatly add to his accomplishments, and will 
 be needed later on when introduced into the field. Having pro- 
 vided yourself with a piece of beef, you can commence this lesson 
 by holding it just out of his reach, at the same time teasing him 
 with it, and bidding him "Speak ! " After awhile, growing im- 
 patient in his desire for the meat, he will whine, when you should 
 make a great ado and fuss, which will most likely make him bark ; 
 if it does not, imitate, as near as you can, the bark of a dog, which 
 rarely fails of the desired results. At the slightest approach to a 
 bark, he should be immediately rewarded with the meat. By 
 persevering in this way, he will soon understand what you mean, 
 and give a good bark. Do not expect to see a great deal of im- 
 provement from the early lessons. The dog will often forget that 
 which was inculcated upon him a few hours before ; but persever- 
 ance and kindness will effect much. The first lessons over, the 
 dog, beginning to perceive a little what is meant, will cheerfully 
 and joyfully do his duty. I usually begin my first lessons with 
 the aid of beef, on account of the dog's great love for it, and be- 
 cause he is much more apt to learn his lessons for such a prize. 
 Always perfect your pupil in one lesson before commencing an- 
 
76 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 other, and do not tire him by continuing the lesson too long at a 
 time. A puppy is naturally restless and hates restraint, and his 
 education must be carried on slowly. There is one thing that can 
 not be too forcibly impressed on the trainer of young puppies, 
 and that is, never to use severity at this tender age. The majority 
 of puppies are only too willing to do as you wish them when they 
 understand what your wishes are ; you should bear in mind lie 
 does not understand the language. We may as well give a child 
 an order in an unknown tongue, and then punish him for not 
 executing it, as to punish a puppy for not doing what he fails to 
 understand. He should never be punished until he has age, and 
 then only for willful disobedience. 
 
 When you introduce the dog to practical field work, you will 
 find a whistle very convenient to call him when he is out of sight, 
 and also out of hearing of the sound of your voice. To teach 
 him this is a very simple thing, and can be done when he is quite 
 young. When he is lying quietly asleep, give a shrill whistle, at 
 the same time holding in your hand a piece of beef. He will im- 
 mediately look up, startled at the sound, and, seeing the meat, will 
 come to you, when the meat should be given him After a time 
 the meat may be omitted, and a kind word and gentle pat substi" 
 tuted. 
 
 We will take for our next lesson three terms — " Stop," "Steady," 
 ''Hie on." To commence, take a plate of beef, or such other 
 food as he very much fancies, and place it before him. Of course, 
 he evinces a great desire to " pitch in." You repress his ardor by 
 putting on check cord, crying ''Stop!" Of course, he does not 
 understand the word, but every time he starts, check him with the 
 cord, crying "Stop!" with emphasis. After repeated trials, he 
 soon associates the word with the pull on the cord, and slops. 
 After a few seconds, cry "Hie on! " at the same time gently 
 forcing him toward the plate. '"Hie on "he learns amazingly 
 soon. A few such lessons, and the words are learned to be re- 
 tained. The word "Steady" is now easily learned by making 
 him approach the plate slowly, crying "Steady! Steady!" 
 at short intervals. When near the plate, cry "Stop ! " never per- 
 mitting him to eat until you cry " Hie on ! " He must understand 
 
HOUSE OR YARD TRAINING. 77 
 
 that he is to move cautiously bj the oft-repeated command of 
 " Steady! " " Steady " should not be used with the same emphasis 
 as "Hie on." 
 
 Another term that will add to the accomplishments of the 
 puppy, as well as save trouble in the field, is "Over," a com- 
 mand often necessary to make your dog cross fence. To teach 
 him this, take a board a foot or more high, according to the age 
 of the puppy, and place it so he can not get around it. Then take 
 a piece of meat and throw it over the board, crying "Over! " 
 He will most likely whine and try to go around the board, when 
 you must push him gently towards it, crying " Over ! " Of course 
 he does not understand it, but his desire for the meat will cause 
 him to jump over. After you have practiced him some time with 
 the board, take a common stick or cane, and throw the meat over 
 as before. On no account allow him to creep under, but raise the 
 stick to suit the puppy's jumping powers, and insist on him jump- 
 ing before getting the meat. As the puppy progresses in his lesson 
 you can raise the stick a little higher, until you can get him to 
 jump quite a distance. You can also practice him when you have 
 him out with you, and have occasion to cross a fence, by getting 
 over yourself and crying " Over ! " This he will soon learn to do 
 without other reward than the praises of his master. 
 
 Our puppy's last lesson in yard-training will be "to heel." To 
 learn him in the shortest space of time, take a strong stick that 
 will not bend, about three or four feet long, and of convenient 
 size. To the end of this fasten a small harness snap. With this 
 fastened into the ring of his collar, he can be held in the position 
 you wish him to occupy as you walk along. Place him directly 
 behind you, crying " Heel ! " He will not like having to occupy 
 this position, and may cause you some trouble, but be patient with 
 him, bidding him be " Steady ! " and he will by degrees get used 
 to it. Do not keep him long in this position, but be sure he is 
 " steady " before letting him loose. When you unfasten the snap 
 from his collar, cry " Hie on ! " This he will be sure to do with 
 alacrity. After you have practiced him in this way until he will 
 keep to "heel " without struggling to get free, use the check cord 
 n place of the stick, at the same time carrying in your hand a 
 
78 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 small switch. Then order him ''Heel!" as before. If he at- 
 tempts to leave his place, give him a slight tap with the switch, cry- 
 ing " Heel ! " He will soon find out he has to obey. After a time 
 you may dispense with the check cord, but retain the switch until 
 he will keep to "heel" until given the command, ''Hie on !" You 
 will soon realize the benefit of this instruction when you introduce 
 the puppy into the field, as you will not have to look about to 
 see where he is or what he is doing, and run the risk of being 
 driven wild and as hoarse as a raven. 
 
 All of the foregoing instructions are of a preliminary character, 
 and are intended for young dogs or puppies, as a preparation for 
 the more arduous duties of the field. Trainers of young dogs differ 
 in opinion in regard to this yard-training. Some think it is best 
 to begin with a young dog, and take him directly into the field, 
 while others think yard or house training is absolutely necessary 
 to a dog's education. Our opinion is, it is best to take a young 
 puppy, and give him thorough yard-training ; still, if it is not 
 convenient to do this, we believe they can be successfully trained 
 without it, and will devote the next chapter in giving full instruc- 
 tion for the training of dogs in the field. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS — PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 
 
 "Waving his hat, the shepherd in the vale 
 Directs his winding dog the cliffs to scale, 
 That, harking, busy, 'mid the glittering rocks, 
 Hunts, where he points, the intercepted flocks." 
 
 — Wordsworth. 
 
 The most that can be done in the way of conveying instruction 
 in regard to the training of dogs without practical illustration is 
 to state the results to be attained, together with aii outline of the 
 mode by which to reach them. Your home may be toward the 
 setting sun, on the great plains of the West, with the grand old 
 mountains and trackless deserts always before you, or perchance 
 you may live in the more thickly settled portions of the country — 
 no matter where your lines may be cast, you will find in practice 
 the details will necessarily vary very considerably. One will find 
 this mode, another that, to be most efficient, besides which the 
 disposition of the particular animal sought to be controlled will in 
 a considerable degree affect the character of the training to which 
 he is subjected. After all, the knowledge which is to be imparted 
 to shepherd dogs is comprised in understanding a very few terms, 
 and the great idea in their education is the enforcement of a 
 prompt, unhesitating obedience to every command. If you have fol- 
 lowed our instructions given in yard-training, and have thoroughly 
 instilled into the mind of your pupil the terms we have given, 
 your work in the field will be easy, compared to what it would 
 have been had you waited until your puppy had age, and perhaps 
 learned bad habits, and then taken him, entirely unacquainted with 
 the language, into the field. You will also possess a knowledge of 
 the disposition and temper of your pupil which will be a great 
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
80 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 aid to you in perfecting him in the higher branches of his educa- 
 tion. Much kindness and gentleness are certainly requisite when 
 training the puppy. There is heedlessness in the young dog which 
 is not readily got rid of until age has given him experience. He 
 must not, however, be too severely corrected, or he may be spoiled 
 for life. If considerable correction is sometimes necessary, it 
 should be followed, at a little distance of time, by some kind 
 usage. The memory of the suffering will remain ; but the feeling 
 of attachment to the master will also remain, or rather be in- 
 creased. The temper of a young dog must be almost as carefully 
 studied as that of a human being. Timidity may be encouraged, 
 and eagerness may be restrained, but affection must be the tie that 
 binds him to his master, and renders him subservient to his will. 
 In training a shepherd dog, it is necessary to first accustom him 
 to your voice and to teach him by kindness, coupled with firmness, 
 the work you wish him to do, rewarding him with a kind word or 
 a pat on the head when he has done well. Let him know that 
 you appreciate his conduct ; the dog very well knows when you 
 are pleased. Talk to him as you would to a child, and you will be 
 surprised to note how well he understands you. If you feel vexed, 
 don't let the dog know it ; if he does not do right, go with him, 
 and show him the way it is done ; do not be too impatient to have 
 him do the work alone. The shepherd pup is much like a child ; 
 he is a great imitator. It is as natural for a well-bred Scotch shepherd 
 dog to work as to eat. The rules for his training are, to be kind, pa- 
 tient and faithful in your instruction. No one should attempt to 
 train a dog who is not possessed of patience and perseverance. 
 Always be careful not to use harsh and severe measures, for if once 
 the will is broken, the dog will ever afterward be timid and afraid 
 to attempt anything for fear of punishment ; they seldom outgrow 
 it. Continually whipping and scolding will render them utterly 
 worthless, as it will any kind of dog. Give the most intelligent 
 pup on earth to a coarse, brutal master, and he will turn out a 
 worthless cur. If you are compelled to punish your dog for dis- 
 obedience, do not call him to you, but go to him, or he will be 
 afraid to come to you when you call him next time, for fear of 
 getting a whipping, and may tuck his tail between his legs and go 
 
PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 81 
 
 home. A dog is greatly tempted to run away when he knows from 
 the angry voice of his master that he is going to be punished. 
 When the dog is chastised, see that he makes friends with you be- 
 fore you let him go ; should he run off he may be cc>mpletely 
 ruined. Some collies are of such a nervous disposition that they can 
 not stand whipping, or even scolding, and the trainer must study 
 the disposition of the dog he is handling, as the most intelligent 
 dog may be spoiled by mismanagement in training. He will in a 
 great measure act as his master does. If the shepherd treats the 
 sheep with gentleness, and does not alloAV the dog to bite them, he 
 will be a protector of the flock ; but should the shepherd be harsh 
 and rough with the sheep, the dog will harrass and worry them. 
 Many men professing to train young dogs display much ignorance 
 in this respect, from which cause many dogs are made totally unfit 
 for work. Never let him follow teams, or any one except those 
 that attend the sheep. 
 
 When you have got him trained to " come in " when told, then, 
 and not till then, take him among sheep. You should drive the 
 sheep to one particular point for a week or so, saying " Hie on !" 
 but don't take any notice for a few days whether he drives or not, 
 only go yourself and see that he is following you. When you get 
 him to assist you in driving, you should encourage him all you can, 
 as your chief point is gained. Train the dog to hand signals, be- 
 cause when at a distance, and in windy weather, the dog can see 
 the signals when he can not hear. Use your right hand or left 
 hand as the case requires, whichever way you want him to go. 
 When you are on an endless plain, with a large flock spread out 
 sufficient to allow them to feed, the dog is sometimes so far off that 
 he can not see the hand signals. You can then signal by fluttering 
 a handkerchief to the right or left. A hand or handkerchief held 
 up, he will soon understand to mean " That will do." In time you 
 will teach him the meaning of the word " Steady." If he is very 
 high-spirited, and you can not control him, you should attach 
 about ten yards of check-cord to his collar, and when he fails to 
 be " steady," jerk him, crying '' Steady !" until he has learned the 
 meaning of the word. Do not put him to work until he has 
 strength ajjd speed of foot to run e^§ily around or past the flock. 
 
82 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 If he is lacking in speed, he will be sure to run straight, instead of 
 taking a wide circuit in order to come in front and turn the sheep. 
 Some dogs can be taught this at seven or eight months old, while 
 others will not acquire speed until they are fully a year old. There 
 is much they can learn by even accompanying you on your rounds 
 with the sheep. The rashness and impetuosity of a young dog 
 must be checked, but not by whipping, for it is an excess of zeal 
 on his part ; he is overanxious to work, and thinks he is pleasing 
 you. He should be called back, scolded, and shown by word and 
 manner he has done wrong, and when he has fully learned to obey 
 the command ''Steady!" you will have no further trouble with 
 him in this respect, but until he has learned, be patient with him. 
 If you find it convenient to take a small flock on a fenced road or 
 lane, you could make more rapid progress with the training. 
 _^ You will next1[earn)the pup to "speak" to them when you wish 
 them hurried up. This is desirable at railroad crossings or in 
 driving them across a creek. If you have not yard-trained him, 
 you can set him a-barking by getting him excited and giving a 
 " bowwow " yourself in as doggish a manner as you are able, and 
 crying: "Speak!" " Hie on ! " "Speak!" When he has thor- 
 oughly learned this term it will be an easy matter to teach him to be 
 " quiet," as it is not desirable to have him barking all the time. 
 This can be done by giving the command " Quiet!" and making 
 threatening gestures, until he understands the meaning of the 
 word. You will find the terms "quiet" and " steady " con- 
 venient when the dog is crowding the sheep too much. When 
 you set him on, indicate the direction by using your hand, and 
 you will find he will soon see which way to drive them. When 
 you have got him to go back and forth from one side of the flock 
 to the other at the motion of your hand, the next step will be to 
 have him pass up the side of the flock. To teach him to do this 
 you should indicate by a motion of the right hand the direction 
 you wish him to go, at the same time crying : "Up ! " "' Away 
 up ! " You can get him started by throwing a stick, or any con- 
 venient article within reach, or you may show him what is desired 
 by walking a little way in that direction yourself, repeating the 
 motion of your hand and crying : " Up ! " "Away up ! " In a 
 
PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 83 
 
 few days he will go half way up the side of the flock alone and 
 you can gradually urge him forward by crying "Away up ! " at 
 the same time throwing your hand out, as you would in direct- 
 ing a man who was beyond the reach of your voice. By degrees 
 he Avill reach the head of the flock, and may go partly around. 
 AVhile he is there quickly change your position from the right at 
 the rear of the flock to the left. If the dog is not too far off, he 
 will notice you hare changed your position and will probably pass 
 entirely around the head of the flock. Quickly give a shrill 
 whistle and cry "Come in!" If he "comes in " promptly to 
 you, pet him for duty well performed, and the next time he will 
 do it with greater alacrity and pleasure. You should also reward 
 him ; the rule should be, as many rewards and as few punishments 
 as possible. As this will cause *a great run on the provisions, you 
 had better provide yourself with a small tin box of cheese scraps, 
 which you can carry in your pocket. You wiU then be prepared 
 to reward your pupil on short notice, and be careful not to keep 
 him waiting for his dainty morsel, It requires considerable prac- 
 tice and patience to bring the dog up and to the front of the flock. 
 But it can be done ; only do not expect him to learn it all at once. 
 If he fails to understand what you wish him to do, he will most 
 likely look around on his way up for further instructions. You 
 must at once repeat the command "Up!" " Away up ! " ac- 
 companying the command with a wave of the hand. An ex- 
 perienced collie will frequently perform the feat of running over 
 the backs of a flock of sheep that are bunched together, in order 
 to head them. 
 
 After your pupil has learned to pass easily up and around the 
 flock, he may be taught to gather them together, in order to keep 
 them from straying, or to drive them to any desired point. This 
 may be done by crying " Around them ! " moving the hand from 
 right to left, or vice versa. Sometimes scattered members of the 
 flock may be at a greater distance than the dog seems to be taking 
 in. You wiU then use the term " back," crying : "Back!" 
 ' ' Away back ! " At first you wiU have to go towards the head of 
 the flock yourself and urge him forward by the term he has al- 
 ready learned, crying " Away up ! " until you have him weU un- 
 
84 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 der way, then continue to cry ''Back ! " " Away back ! " at the 
 same time waving the hand. If the dog is intelligent, it will not 
 take him long to know that " back," ''away back," means that he 
 shall go for outlying members of the flock which he failed to 
 take in when ordered " Around them ! " The Scotch shepherd 
 uses the term " Far yand," for collecting distant members of the 
 flock, and also to drive off those that may be trespassing from 
 other flocks; at least, this is the case in some parts of Scotland. 
 The dog should also be taught to stay at a certain place away from 
 you in the rear or front of flock, or at any place you may wish. 
 To do this, if you have not yard-trained him, it will be necessary 
 to tie him a few times. Before leaving him, say "Lie down ! " 
 pointing with the hand to the ground. If you give him an article 
 of your clothing to lake care of, he has an object to interest him 
 and will be more contented. Some strains of collies take nat- 
 urally to watching anything belonging to their master. When he 
 is unchained tell him to "stop," or " lie down." If he attempts to 
 follow you, drive him back by pretending to hit him. When you 
 are driving a flock in a field along a fence, or along a fenced road 
 or lane, it is sometimes necessary to make your dog cross the fence 
 when you want him to go ahead of them. If you have thoroughly 
 taught him the trick or term "Over," as I have previously de- 
 scribed in yard-training, you can simply cry "Over," and "Up," 
 and he will at once leap over the fence and pass to the head of the 
 flock. If he has not been yard-trained, you should go to the fence 
 with him and cry "Hie over ! " If he disregards the words " Hie 
 over," use the words" Hie on, " and afterwards "Hie over," waving 
 your hand at the same time. If he fails .to understand, you must 
 first get over the fence yourself, calling the dog by name and 
 crying "Hie over! " He will soon jump over the fence and go 
 ahead as desired. If you toss a piece of beef over the fence 
 when you command him to "hie over," he will learn amazingly 
 soon. In driving fiocks along fenced roads or by the side of in- 
 closed fields, there are sometimes openings or gaps in the fence, or 
 there may be gates or cross-roads of which the sheep might take 
 advantage to stray. To keep the sheep in the right direction the 
 Scotch shepherd dog is taught to "go by." We will use the term 
 
PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 85 
 
 " Hold them ! " and when you wish an opening guarded order him 
 to " stop, " or " lie down." If the sheep attempt to stray, cry 
 " Hold them ! " At first you will have to go and show him what 
 to do. 
 
 When you get so far as to want the dog to hold them up in front, 
 you may need an assistant to drive the sheep, or you can go ahead 
 of them at a narrow place in the road when they are crowding for- 
 ward, and attempt to hold them, continually crying "Hold!" 
 Kemember dogs are great imitators. If you do it right yourself, 
 and have patience, he will soon learn to do it as well as you. Later 
 on, when you are in the rear of the flock, you can order him to 
 ''Hold front!" at the same time throwing your hand straight out. 
 When he gets to the head of the flock, you will find just swinging 
 your arms, first one way, then the other, will be quite sufficient to 
 keep him running first one way, then another, and when you hold 
 your hand up, he will soon understand it means "That will do." 
 The term "Hold" will be found quite useful at public crossings 
 where others have the right of way, and is especially useful on the 
 prairies when another flock is crossing the front of your flock at 
 right angles. The flock with lambs, for obvious reasons, always 
 holds the right of way by established usage. A well-trained dog 
 will hold a large flock of sheep, so that they will loom up from a 
 distance like a stone wall. You should also teach the dog to "hold 
 right" or "hold left." A few lessons will serve to teach him, from 
 your manner, the difference between right and left. When you 
 want the dog, cry "Come in!" and he can then take his place as 
 driver. In ancient times it was said the sheep follow the shep- 
 herd, "for they know his voice," but in modern times the shep- 
 herd follows the sheep, at least such is the case in some of the most 
 civilized countries. Still, it is necessary in some instances to leave 
 the dog in the rear to drive, while you go to the head of the flock 
 yourself, and it is beet to train the dog to do this, to be ready in 
 case of necessity. To do this, go up along one side of the flock 
 yourself, and leave the dog in the rear. Should he attempt to fol- 
 low you, drive him back by threatening gestures, at the same time 
 bidding him go "Back!" and when he has again taken his place at 
 the rear of the flock, bid him "Hie onl" "Speak to them!" and by 
 4 
 
ob TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 this means he will be encouraged to stay at the rear of the flock 
 instead of trying to follow you. By practicing this a short time, 
 and going a little farther up the side of the flock each time, you 
 can by degrees get to the head of the flock entirely out of sight of 
 the dog, and he will drive just as well as though you were there 
 yourself. Whenever several sheep take to a fence corner, ditch 
 or dried-up water-course, or have sought refuge behind a stone 
 pile or any other obstruction, and, turning round and facing the 
 dog, refuse to budge, order the dog "Over!" or ''Around!" in such 
 a manner that he can go directly in the rear of the sheep, but on 
 the other side of the obstruction ; then give the command "Over!" 
 when he will jump over directly in the rear of the sheep, and they 
 will start at once. 
 
 You will next teach him to "fetch" the flock to. you, or "fetch" 
 them home. To teach him quickly and well, take him to the pas- 
 ture with you several times, and repeat the words "Fetch them!" 
 until he learns to associate the words with the work. Then you 
 can simply wave your hand towards them when giving the order, 
 and turn your back for an instant. Do not confuse the dog by 
 saying what you mean in too many difi^erent ways. Do not say 
 "Fetch them!" one time, and "Bringthem!" another. There is a 
 great deal of inconvenience growing out of the want of uniformity 
 in training-terms, and it is desirable that persons herding in any 
 given section of the country should adopt the same phraseology or 
 training-terms. A new herdsman or shepherd, in giving the dog 
 an order, may use a different term from the one the dog has been 
 accustomed to, and although not understanding what is required of 
 him, he may, in his eagerness to please, run a quarter of a mile 
 before he can be brought in. Althotigh the dog is guilty of no 
 fault, he is often severely whipped for disobeying a command 
 which he failed to understand, the shepherd at the same time 
 cursing the dog for an ill-taught mongrel. By this means the dog 
 is set back in his education, and possibly ruined. Some people 
 think it is absolutely necessary to have an experienced, trained dog 
 in order to train a puppy successfully, but such is not the case. 
 The instructions I have given, if faithfully and perseveringly car- 
 ried out, will be found sufficient without the aid of a trained dog. 
 
PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 87 
 
 Yet notwithstanding, it can not be denied that the services of an 
 expert dog will, in a great measure, lessen the labor of training. A 
 well-bred, intelligent shepherd pup is most anxious to work, and, 
 if taken to the field with an experienced dog, will follow his move- 
 ments, and to a great extent do as he does. When your pupil has 
 gained strength and speed, he may be coupled to the trained dog, 
 but in order to do this they must be fully acquainted with each 
 other, and allowed to sleep together. As the male dogs are 
 inclined to be surly with puppies or young dogs, a female is best 
 for this purpose, and should it be the pup's dam, so much the bet- 
 ter. A coupler such as is used by sportsmen is convenient for this 
 purpose, and can be procured at any house where sportsmen's sup- 
 plies are sold. The chain of the coupler should be provided with 
 two good swivels. If the dogs are about the same size, the coup- 
 ling chain should be short. Should the young dog be smaller than 
 his companion, or the old dog carry his head very high, you can 
 easily lengthen the chain. A short time each day will be sufficient 
 to keep them coupled together, and always keep an eye on them. 
 
 Although the collie can not be surpassed as a sheep-dog, he is 
 equally valuable as a careful watcher over herds of cattle. The 
 instructions for training them for this purpose are precisely the 
 same as those I have given for training them for sheep. But should 
 you desire to work them on both cattle and sheep, they should be 
 trained on cattle first, as they will then be more determined. On 
 small farms where but few cattle are kept, let the pup accompany 
 you to the pasture with the cows, and also fetch them up in the 
 evening, and he will soon learn to do it alone. To learn him to 
 put stock in the right stalls, work on two or three at first ; take him 
 with you and put them in stalls that are as different in appearance 
 or location as possible. When a collie has been thoroughly trained 
 on cattle, he will work as well in the water as on land. This is 
 sometimes necessary when you wish cattle brought out of lakes and 
 streams. He will swim around to the head of the herd, turn them, 
 and drive them out. The working dog should not be allowed to 
 hunt. A dog that will break away from his work, and give chase 
 to rabbits and squirrels, will be of little or no account, as he will 
 frequently be absent when his services are urgently required, and 
 
88 TRAINING SHEPHERD DOGS. 
 
 you will be compelled to whistle and shout, and perhaps search, for 
 him. 
 
 The common expression, "You can't teach an old dog new 
 tricks," has led many to believe that a dog can't be taught anything 
 after he has attained his growth. This is a mistake. A dog can 
 be taught at any age if reasonable time and care are given him. 
 When a pup is taken in hand when young, and taught his first 
 lessons as we have given, he will learn at any age anything new in 
 one-third the time a pup will, as he has learned to understand, and 
 is far more willing. If your dog has thoroughly learned one-half 
 of these lessons by the time he is one year^ old, he is getting on 
 well. Shepherd dogs are not picked up here and there, of any 
 age, and put to work in a single day. A full course of training 
 occupies at least two years, sometimes longer, according to the 
 smartness and intelligence of the animal. It must not, in this or 
 any breed, be expected that every dog will show like mental qual- 
 ities, and aptitude to learn. There are stupid dogs, as there are 
 stupid people, whom no human teaching can make much of, but, 
 on the whole, the cause of "failure is oftener in the teacher than in 
 the scholar. 
 
 You will have no doubt noticed in the foregoing instructions that 
 we are very much opposed to the (to us inhuman) practice of so 
 much sevevity during the so-called breaking-in of young dogs. We 
 believe ninety per cent, of the whippings inflicted on young dogs 
 is due to the hastiness and impatience of the master. He appears 
 I.) I'Aiiik ihe (log understands the command given as well as he does 
 hl.i■^clf, aixi the dog, failing to execute it, is roughly grasped by 
 hirf master, whu, in his J'age, inllicls upon him a severe thrashing; 
 WMi'.i, iii must eases, liad tlie master kept cool and tried to make 
 liie do^- understand the nature of the command, he would have 
 1) 'en ehoei-iidly obeyed. We believe in most cases whipping is en- 
 tirely unnecessary; but, should it be necessary to punish a dog, 
 wiiieh is the case only in willful disobedience, do it calmly, and 
 with a view to making the dog understand you must be obeyed, 
 ratlier than to give vent to your anger. If you have given him a 
 command with which he is thoroughly acquainted, and he has not 
 obeyed you, you should repeat the command bIowIj with every 
 
PRACTICAL FIELD WORK. 89 
 
 blow given. A few blows given in this way will do more good 
 than all the thrashings given in the ordinary way. The chief thing 
 is to conceal your anger and to retain the confidence of the dog. A 
 man that can not control his temper should never attempt to train a 
 dog ; indeed, such a man would in most cases ruin a dog after he 
 was trained. Kindness is better than severity. When he has done 
 wrong, give him a good talking to in a quiet, calm voice, and you 
 will often be surprised at the look of shame with which he turns 
 away, unable to look you in the eye, or in some cases, especially of 
 a tender-hearted, affectionate female, look at you imploringly, and, 
 with whine and action, beg to be forgiven. When he has done 
 well, speak cheerfully to him ; let him know that you are pleased 
 with his behavior, and he will exert his utmost in your service. Be 
 gentle with him, and he will learn to look to you for guidance, and 
 you will be the fortunate owner of the most faithful four-footed 
 companion in existence. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 COLLIE ANECDOTES. 
 
 "His locked, lettered, braw brass collar 
 Showed him the gentleman and scholar." 
 
 —Burns. 
 
 Mr. James Hogg, the Ettrick Shepherd, living in his early days 
 among the sheep and their quadruped attendants, and an accurate 
 observer of nature, as well as an exquisite poet, gives some anec- 
 dotes of the collie with which the reader will not be displeased. 
 "My dog Sirrah," says he, in a letter to the editor of Blackwood's 
 Edinburgh Magazine, "was, beyond all comparison, the best dog I 
 ever saw. He had a somewhat surly and unsocial temper, disdain- 
 ing all flattery, and refusing to be caressed ; but his attention to my 
 commands and interest will never again be equaled by any of the 
 canine race. When I first saw him, a drover was leading him with 
 a rope. He was both lean and hungry, and far from being a beauti- 
 ful animal ; for he was almost black, and had a grim face, str'ped 
 with dark brown. I thought I perceived a sort of sullen intelli- 
 gence in his countenance, notwithstanding his dejected and forlorn 
 appearance, and I bought him. He was scarcely a year old, and 
 knew so litile of herding that he had never turned a sheep in his 
 life; but, as soon as he discovered that it was his duty to do so, 
 and that it obliged me, I can never forget with what anxiety and 
 eagerness he learned his different evolutions ; and when I once 
 made him understand a direction, he never forgot or mistook it." 
 On one night, a large flock of lambs that were under the Ettrick 
 Shepherd's care, frightened by something, scampered away in three 
 different directions across the hills, in spite of all that he could do 
 to keep them together. "Sirrah," said the shepherd, "they're a' 
 awa!" It was too dark for the dog and his master to see each 
 
 (91) 
 
92 COLLIE ANECDOTES. 
 
 other at any considerable distance, but Sirrah understood him, and 
 set off after the fugitives. The night passed on, and Hogg and his 
 assistant traversed every neighboring hill in anxious but fruitless 
 search for the lambs ; but he could hear nothing of them nor of the 
 dog, and he was returning to his master with the doleful intelli- 
 gence that he had lost all his lambs. "On our way home, how- 
 ever," says he, "we discovered a lot of lambs at the bottom of a 
 deep ravine called the Flesh Cleuch, and the indefatigable Sirrah 
 standing in front of them, looking round for some relief, but still 
 true to his charge. We concluded that it was one of the divisions 
 which Sirrah had been unable to manage, until he came to that 
 commanding situation. But what was our astonishment when we 
 discovered that not one lamb of the flock was missing ! How he had 
 got all the divisions collected in the dark, is beyond my compre- 
 hension. The charge was left entirely to himself from midnight 
 until the rising sun ; and, if all the shepherds in the forest had 
 been there to have assisted him, they could not have effected it 
 with greater promptitude. All that I can say is, that I never felt 
 so grateful to any creature under the sun as I did to my honest 
 Sirrah that morning." 
 
 Mr. Russell says : "I was veryraueh astonished at the remarka- 
 ble intelligence of a collie that I saw in Scotland. As I was walk- 
 ing along a Highland mountain road, I met a large flock of sheep. 
 They had traveled some twelve miles and were very thirsty. Just 
 below us, down a steep incline, ran a little brook. As soon as the 
 sheep sighted the brook, they ran down pell-mell for a drink. 
 Among the flock was a lame sheep that could not, or dared not, go 
 down the steep bank. While it ^ood hesitating, the shepherd's 
 dog, a collie, went up to it, pricked up its ears, and after an 
 instant's hesitation went below it, placed his shoulders against the 
 sheep and slowly assisted it down to the brook, then lay down near 
 by and watched it drink with as much apparent satisfaction as a 
 human being could have expressed in words." 
 
 A shepherd had driven part of his flock to a neighboring fair, 
 leaving his dog to watch the rest during that day, expecting to 
 rejoin them in the morning. Unfortunately, however, the shep- 
 herd forgot both his dog and his sheep, and did not return home 
 
COLI>IE ANECDOTES. 93 
 
 till the morning of the third dav. His first inquiry was whether the 
 dog had been seen. The answer was "No." "Then he must be 
 dead," replied the shepherd, with a look of pain, "for I know he 
 was too faithful to desert his charge." He went back to the heath 
 directly. The dog had just enough strength left to crawl to his 
 master's feet, and express his joy at his return, and then he died. 
 
 The collie bitch (lyp, by Rutland, out of Lorna Doone, is a 
 rarely intelligent animal. She is three years old, and winner of 
 twenty-seven prizes in England, Ireland and Australia. While in 
 Queensland, her owner wagered |2,500 that she could, unassisted, 
 drive a flock of sheep a distance of 175 miles, between Charleville 
 and Adavale, over a road familiar to her. The feat was accom- 
 plished in good time, the dog taking a flock of 151 sheep over the 
 entire distance, driving them by day and rounding them up at 
 night, without the slightest assistance, and without losing a single 
 sheep. This intelligent collie is now in this country. 
 
 It may seem incredible to the casual reader that a dog can 
 become of more value to its owner than is a hired man, but the 
 owner of "Southland Ned" asserts that this wise dog is of better 
 service than two men would be at $2.50 each per day. The dog 
 does the work once performed by two drovers, in driving to and 
 from Brighton market. The route is six miles from his home and 
 enables the dog to become acquainted with all the cattle during the 
 day's drive. The collie distributes the cattle on reaching home, 
 separating from the herd the bunch that is to be sent on six miles 
 to the slaughter-pens. For several years he has never lost a single 
 head en route. Even at $1.50 per day for a man's services, the 
 dog has saved his master no less than $3,600 during his useful 
 career. This fact is but one of thousands that might be cited. 
 
 The following incident illustrates the memory of the dog. A 
 shepherd was employed in bringing up some mountain sheep from 
 Westmoreland, and took with him a young sheep-dog who had 
 never made the journey before. From his assistant being ignorant 
 of the ground, he experienced great difficulty in having the flock 
 stopped at the various roads and lanes he passed in their way to 
 the neighborhood of London. In the next year the same shepherd, 
 accompanied by the same dog, brought up another flock for the 
 
94 OOLLIE ANECDOTES. 
 
 gentleman who had had the former one. On being questioned how 
 he had got on, he said much better tlian the year before, as Ins dog 
 now knew the road, and had kept the sheep from going up any of 
 the lanes or turnings that had given him so much trouble on his 
 former journey. The distance could not have been less than four 
 hundred miles.* 
 
 "Is thy servant a dog?" said Hazael when the prophet foretold 
 his crimes. Now and then tlie slandered dog finds liimself where 
 he could protest quite as strongly against being called a man. For 
 example : A farmer, having sold a Hock of sheep to a dealer, lent 
 him his dog to drive them home, a distance of thirty miles, desiring 
 him to give the dog a meal at his journey's end, and tell it to go 
 home. The drover found the dog so useful that he resolved to 
 keep it, and, instead of sending it back, locked it up. The collie 
 grew sulky and at last effected its escape. Evidently deeming the 
 drover had no more right to detain the sheep than he had to detain 
 itself, the honest creature went into the field, collected all the sheep 
 that had belonged to his master, and, to that person's intense aston- 
 ishment, drove the whole flock home again. What the culprit said 
 for himself, or what passed between the two men when the whole 
 story came out, we are not informed ; but if ever there was a ease 
 of human being rebuked in his morals by a brute, this is one. 
 
 We could quote innumerable instances in which the collie has 
 excelled in handling sheep and cattle, but we think enough has 
 been said on this subject and we will proceed to give a few of the 
 many instances in which he has been found useful in other ways. 
 
 Dorsey is a fine Scotch collie, and has the distinction of being 
 the only dog in the world regularly employed as a letter-carrier. 
 Dorsey has for more than three years carried the mail between 
 Calico, San Bernardino County, and Bismarck, a mining-camp be- 
 tween three and four miles away, over almost impassable moun- 
 tains. Calico is a stage-station and has a post-office. Without 
 the aid of the dog many a miner would have a hard time getting 
 his mail, as the country is very rough and steep in places, and 
 most of the year the weather is very warm. Dorsey belongs to 
 
 :> Jesse's Gleanings, Vol. I, p. 93. 
 
COLLIE AJTECDOTES. 95 
 
 the postmaster at Calico, and in his youth was not regarded as 
 anything more than a common puppy. The way the dog became 
 a mail-carrier was as follows : One day the postmaster wanted to 
 send word to his brother at Bismarck, but did not want to make 
 the trip. It occurred to him to try the dog. He wrote a letter 
 and tied it round the dog's neck, pointing his nose toward Bis- 
 marck, and then told him to go. He trotted off a short distance 
 and then turned about to see what else was wanted. Some of the 
 small boys showered stones at him and he ran on to Bismarck. 
 Next day he returned with an answer tied to his neck, and he 
 showed that he had been well treated. The experiment was re- 
 peated, each time with success and additional dignity on the part 
 of the dog. As soon as it became known thatDorsey could be de- 
 pended upon, requests were constantly made by the miners to 
 send their mail by him. The loads soon increased and it became 
 evident that they could not tie on all the letters. The miners 
 then ordered a fine little mail-bag and fitted it to the dog's shoul- 
 ders. It is fastened around his chest by one strap, and around his 
 body, back of the fore legs, by another. He has never missed a 
 trip or lost a letter. Now, w^hen the stage comes in, he gets up, 
 stretches himself, walks to the post-office, waits to have the mail 
 strapped on him, and starts off as soon as he is told all is readv. 
 He will go a long way around to avoid meeting a stranger, seem- 
 ing to realize the importance of his mission. 
 
 I. K. Felch says: ''One of my favorite collies could tell the 
 difference between two newspapers, folded exactly alike and flung 
 on my lawn. When sent 'for the fjaper,' he would select the one 
 belonging to me and leave the other. This dog served as messen- 
 ger between my family and my father's when my father lay ill. 
 We would send him to ascertain if assistance was needed. If told 
 that one of us was required, he would return and bark ; if told that 
 nothing was wanted just then, he would come home and lie down 
 quietly. At one time he was accustomed to go to the news-room 
 for my daily paper. The clerks enjoyed playing pranks on him, 
 which he resented. He would enter the store with dignity and 
 place his forepaws on the counter. If the paper was given him, 
 he would trot off contentedly, but if the boys pretended not to see 
 
96 COLIilE AKECDOTES. 
 
 him he would bark once or twice, and then, if still ignored, would 
 push from the counter whatever chanced to be loose. The boys 
 soon learned to wait upon this customer as promptly as though he 
 could talk." 
 
 Professor Sedgwick was staying in Cumberland with a college 
 friend of his, whose father farmed his own estate. His friend said 
 to him one day : '' You are so fond of dogs, you ought to ask my 
 father to tell you how his life was saved by his favorite shepherd 
 dog." The Professor did so, and heard the following story : 
 ' ' When I was a young man my father said to me : ' There is a 
 heavy snow-storm coming on. Ride up the mountain and see that 
 th(3 flock of sheep we have lately bought is properly folded.' So 
 off I set, mounted on a frisky colt, and accompanied by my favor- 
 ite collie. My errand over, I was returning home, when my horse 
 not only threw me off, but kicked me afterwards, so that my leg 
 was frightfully broken. The night coming on, the snow falling 
 heavily, nothing could be more perilous than my position, as I 
 could not move. In despair I dipped my glove in my blood and 
 gave it to my collie, saying, ' Take this right home to my father, 
 and bring me help.' Appearing to understand every word, he 
 seized the glove and tore home. The servants tried to catch him 
 in vain — he forced his way into the parlor and dropped the glove 
 on my father's lap, whining piteously. My father knew tlie glove 
 and saw that some accident had occurred ; he gathered the men on 
 the farm, and, guided by the dog, they came to my rescue." 
 
 The following interesting account of Mr. Harris's collie, Boz, 
 will show they can also be learned tricks : Mr. S. G. Harris, a 
 horse-dealer of Vincennes, Ind., is the owner of a wonderful dog. 
 It is a Scotch collie and seems possessed of almost human intelli- 
 gence. Mr. Harris exhibited him to Mr. Charles Schwartz and a 
 party of friends in Mr. Schwartz's private office in the Board of 
 Trade building. His performances — they seemed to show too 
 much intelligence to be called tricks — amazed everybody. Bank 
 bills and coins of various denominations were placed on the floor 
 and the dog was requested to take his choice. He immediately 
 picked up a ten-dollar bill, which was the largest in sight. 
 " Which piece would you give me, Boz ? " asked Mr. Harris. Boz 
 
COLLTE A2nECD0TES. 97 
 
 selected a nickel and dropped it into Mr. Harris's hand. Mr. S. 
 A. Kent came in while the dog was performing, and said : '•' Boz, 
 I want you to bring me five dollars and a half." Boz picked up a 
 five-dollar bill and a fifty-cent piece, gave Mr. Kent an I'm-onto- 
 you expression, and trotted over to Mr. Harris with the money. 
 •'Find Mr. Eichardson,'- was the next order. Boz trotted up to 
 that gentleman, looked up into his face and wagged his tail. " Pick 
 his pocket,' ' said Mr. Harris. Boz picked Mr. Eichardson'.s hand 
 kerchief out of his coat -pocket and trotted off with it. "I want 
 fifteen dollars," said Mr. Kent. Boz picked up a ten-dollar and a 
 five-dollar bill. ''Bring me the rest of it." Boz barked and 
 growled. His next performances were to bring a hat from the 
 window and a piece of paper from the waste-basket in the corner, 
 and he also gave an imitation of the way the clown-dog prayed in 
 the circus which Boz and his master visited last summer. At 
 Mr. Harris's request that he pray like a good dog, he got up in a 
 chair, put his paws up on the back, and, after putting his head 
 down between his paws, reverently closed his eyes. " Get down,'' 
 said Mr. Harris. Boz did not stir. Mr. Harris tipped the chair 
 over, but Boz took up his position again as soon as the chair was 
 righted. ''Amen,'" said Mr. Harris, and Boz jumped down and 
 wagged his tail. Boz showed them how the bad boy winked at 
 the girls in church, played bartender by giving Mr. Harris back 
 his correct change after the lictitious purchase of two drinks, and 
 did other equally wonderful tricks. Mr. Schwartz wrote out his 
 check for $6,000, which he gave to Mr. Harris for the dog, and 
 Mr. Schwartz took the dog home with him. Mr. Harris could 
 not sleep, however, and he came down to ^Ir. Schwartz's office 
 bright and early next morning and offered Mr. Schwartz $500 if 
 he would trade back. Mr. Schwartz refused the offer, but finally 
 took pity on ^Lr. Harris and sent up to the house for the dog. 
 Mr. Harris was proudly exhibiting him in the Grand Pacific 
 Hotel thf'.t afternoon, and declared that he would never part with 
 him again. The dog is five years old and has been Mr. Harris's 
 constant companion ever since it was three months old. "Boz " 
 was afterwards taken to England, where Mr. Harris had the honor 
 of exhibiting his wonderful performances before the Prince of 
 Wales. 
 
98 COIililE ANECDOTES. 
 
 Mr. Colin Campbell, of Stonefield, had a collie named Ettrick, 
 that was the finest all-round retriever I have ever seen, and no sum 
 would have bought him. The universal antipathy of the collie to 
 cats was never more fully demonstrated than at a Scotch kirk in 
 the Highlands. The congregation, mostly shepherds, always 
 brought their dogs with them. On one occasion, in the midst of. 
 the exhortation, a cat marched into the kirk and was seen by one 
 dog, who set up a howl. Out went the cat, followed by about fif- 
 teen grand collies, who ran into and killed her in fine style in the 
 church-yard. An edict from the pulpit excluded dogs after that. 
 
CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 
 In life the fii'mest friend, 
 
 The first to welcome, foremost to defend, 
 
 Whose honest heart is still his master's own, 
 
 "Who labors, fights, lives, hreathes for him alone. "—^j/ron. 
 
 Proud (and justly so) is the fortunate possessor of a good dog. 
 Many a life has been saved and manj an accident averted by the 
 constant watchfulness of man's best friend, the dog. Always on 
 the alert and ready for a frolic ; yet at the aproach of danger as 
 fearless as a lion in the discharge of his duty. To fully appreci- 
 ate the many excellent qualities and the educated instinct of the 
 thoroughbred dog is a study of no small proportions. Hear the 
 joyous bark which greets his master in the morning, note the glad- 
 ness of manner and the delicate hinting for the accustomed caress 
 — he gets it, too. 
 
 His indoor life yields to others as much joy and satisfaction as 
 his outdoor life. To take away from many homes the canine pets 
 would be to deprive them of one of the principal sources and one 
 of the essential factors of their happiness, content, security and 
 congenial companionship. From the large St. Bernard doAvn to 
 the parlor pug, the dog grows up in most well-regulated households 
 a member almost as indispensable as the children for whose 
 special rearing and training these homes are provided. For the 
 best of all reasons this is so, as the dog is one of man's best 
 friends and servants ; we may safely say the best. Affectionate, 
 patient, confiding, true to its trust, never, like so many other ser- 
 vants, whining with even a dog's whine, because too many burdens 
 are put upon them, the dog performs its duty even more manfully 
 than they. And this duty is manifold ; often it consists in guard, 
 ing persons and property from the depredations of men as well aS 
 of the other animals ; sometimes it consists in protecting children 
 
 (99) 
 
100 A PLEA FOE, THE DOG. 
 
 in the absence of other guardians ; sometimes in rescuing the 
 members of the family from danger and the effects of accident 5 
 sometimes in assisting the dog's master to earn a livelihood ; and 
 generally in acting in the twofold capacity of companion and play- 
 mate of the household, and of a willing drudge and servant in a 
 hundred useful ways. 
 
 The only living being which deigned to notice the beggar as he 
 lay at the rich man's gate was the dog. The priest, the Levite, 
 and even the Samaritan, passed by. The pages of history, from 
 that day to this, record his fidelity as exceeding even that of his 
 master, and are unmarred by a single act of treachery. The St. 
 Bernards of the Alps, the staghounds of Russia, and the collies of 
 Scotland, save the lives of travelers, protect families from fam. 
 ished wolves, and herd the sheep of the highlands. Shepherds who 
 have large flocks find the dog a necessity in assisting them to guard, 
 drive, corral and care for them. At times the rivers overflow 
 and vast tracts of the country are inundated, driving myriads of 
 rats, weasels and other vermin inland, which become sources of 
 constant annoyance and loss to all, especially to farmers. We are 
 then glad to call in the assistance of dogs. A few years ago, 
 when there was a general overflow from the Ohio to the Missouri, 
 these vermin swarmed throughout the country ; they threw out 
 their skirmishers in every nook and corner of the land with such 
 rapidity that they soon became a vast arj ly preying upon almost 
 everything produced by the farmer. He razed old buildings, tore 
 up all harbors, shot, trapped and poisoned, but they would not go. 
 When they could not find harbors, they burrowed for their homes 
 in the open ground, in the garden, in the meadow, anywhere — rats 
 and weasels everywhere. Then we called in the aid of the terrier, 
 and these vermin began to see that there was a ''force in nature" 
 on which they never reckoned. Soon after the dog's advent 
 '* sweet peace" reigned once more from the depredations of these 
 pests. Permit me, as one somewhat observant of the habits and 
 nature of wild animals, to predict that if you exterminate the 
 dogs of the country, it will in a few years be overrun with vermin , 
 and your flocks less secure than now. Even the friendless cur, 
 which roams promiscuously about, performs an office other than 
 keeping down the supply of mutton. 
 
A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 101 
 
 Some races of dogs are extremely valuable, noble and intelli- 
 gent, only requiring education to advance them to a place of neces- 
 sity among those who are compelled to bear the heat and burden 
 of natural life. One thing you must admit in spite of all 
 prejudice, that we'll never find a better friend than the old watch- 
 dog. ' He seems to never sleep ; his penetrating eyes seem to note 
 every spot of the premises ; his ears seem to take in every sound, 
 and at night, when all should be wrapped in the peace and stillness 
 of sleep — save the cricket, whose cheerful chirping appoints the 
 restful dreams to calm the mind and fit you for the morrow's fight 
 for life — he stands guard, and prevents by timely warning your 
 loss of property. His nerves seem to never tire, until, by a long 
 life of constant, generous and unselfish devotion, he lies down on 
 your hearth to die, amid the heart-pangs of the family ; even then, 
 should a disturbance arise in his last death-throes, he will make 
 the attempt to obey the summons and give his last sad gasp in your 
 service. It is truly said of the dog that he possesses 
 
 " Many a good 
 And useful quality, and virtue, too ; 
 Attachment never to be weaned or changed 
 By any change of fortune ; proof alike 
 Against unkindness, absence and neglect ; 
 Fidelity, that neither bribe nor threat 
 Can move or warp ; and gratitude, for small 
 And trivial favors, lasting as the life. 
 And glistening even in the dying eye." 
 
 Coxie says : " Man is a reasoning animal, because he can reason 
 from cause to effect, and can trace effects to causes ; because he 
 possesses the passions of love, hope, fear, etc.; and especially be- 
 cause he possesses that most important faculty of memory. But if 
 this be the case, can any one deny to inferior animals, whom we 
 choose to designate by the name of brutes, many, or all, of the 
 above qualities or passions, or of the faculty or power of memory? 
 The dog, our familiar associate, will sufficiently answer such de- 
 nial. Acute and sensible, alive to friendship and affection, he ap- 
 pears on many occasions to reason from causes to their effects, and, 
 from a dread of punishment, he seems equally to retrace his ideas 
 back to the causes that led to it on former occasions, and wisely 
 therefore he avoids their repetition. The faculty or power of rea- 
 
102 A PLEA t'OR THE DOG. 
 
 soning seems to result from a combination of ideas. The man who 
 is persuaded of the existence of a Supreme Being is led by a train 
 of reasoning to view him in the wonders of creation ; and, by a 
 train not much dissimilar, the dog is kept in awe of that punish- 
 ment which memory informs him was inflicted for such or such a 
 fault, and which reflection or association of ideas leads him to antic- 
 ipate a renewal of, on a repetition of the same. How evidently, 
 too, does he express the emotions or passions of joy or sorrow, of 
 hope, fear, anger, shame, etc., according to the varied situation in 
 which he may be placed ; can man describe them by actions more 
 expressive ? Now, if these propositions are correct, must they not 
 confirm what is above sustained, that animals do possess, in varied 
 degrees, like man, those mental affections on which the latter sets 
 so high an estimate, and that memory forms the basis of such 
 powers, by which, through appropriate organs, their existence is 
 developed ?" 
 
 We here quote the beautiful account of Sir Walter Scott and his 
 dogs, as described by Henry Hallam : 
 
 " But looking toward the grassy mound 
 
 Where calm the Douglass chieftains lie, 
 
 Who, living, quiet never found, 
 
 I straightway learnt a lesson high ; 
 
 For there an old man sat serene, 
 
 And well 1 knew that thoughtful mien 
 
 Of him whose early lyre had thrown 
 
 O'er mouldering walls the magic of its tone, 
 " It was a comfort, too, to see 
 
 Those dogs that from him ne'er would rove, 
 
 And always eyed him reverently, 
 
 With glances of depending love. 
 
 They know not of the eminence 
 
 Which marks him to my reasoning sense ; 
 
 They know but that he is a man, 
 
 And still to them is kind, and glads them all he can. 
 " And hence their quiet looks confiding ; 
 
 Hence grateful instincts, seated deep, 
 
 By whose strong bond, were ill betiding. 
 
 They'd lose their own, his life to keep. 
 
 What joy to watch in lower creature 
 
 Such dawning of a moral nature. 
 
 And how (the rule all things obey) 
 
 They look to a higher mind to be their law and stay ! " 
 
A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 103 
 
 Those who sneer at what they are pleased to term a rage for 
 keeping dogs, should remember the great benefit so many families 
 derive by man's just affection for these household pets. He is a 
 faithful servant and loving companion, and worthy of the appre- 
 ciative treatment of his master, and he should receive every atten- 
 tion of which man is capable. "The dog, par excellence," says 
 Dr. E. J. Lewis, " may be considered the type of all that is no- 
 ble and great ; for, certainly, incorruptible fidelity, disinterested 
 attachment, and a never-ceasing desire to be useful to man, are at- 
 tributes sufficiently high in their moral bearing to entitle the pos- 
 sessor to this exalted position from among all other animals. From 
 the remotest ages of the world down to the present time, we find 
 the dog the intimate associate of man, the protector of his habi- 
 tation, the guardian of his flocks. No neglect, no ill-treatment,, 
 can drive him from our doors. 
 
 " ' Unkindness may do much ; 
 And his unkindness may defeat my life, 
 But never taint my love.' 
 
 "The dog alone bears every oppression, forgives every blow 
 and obeys every command." It is the dog who is the companion 
 of childhood, the sentinel who never sleeps, who sees that the 
 flocks and herds are in their places, that brings home the cows 
 when, from a hard day's work, we are too tired to bring them 
 
 ourselves. 
 
 " I am constant as the northern star, 
 Of whose true fix'd and resting quality 
 There is no fellow in the firmament," 
 
 Was the language Shakespeare put into the mouth of Desdemona 
 when she protested her fidelity to Othello. It is the language 
 that every master might unhesitatingly accept as the maxim of 
 the only domesticated animal that, if left to itself, would not 
 sooner relapse into its original state of freedom and independence 
 than forsake the hearthstone that gives it kindly shelter and am- 
 ple food. 
 
 There is much we may learn from the society of dogs, if we 
 observe their characters with close, sympathetic insight. One 
 learns at least simplicity, sincerity, and the insufferableness of 
 
104 A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 
 
 egotism, for, however playful and clever a dog is, he is never an 
 egotist, and even if he shows off his little tricks to please his mas- 
 ter, it is because he takes delight in doing what he has been 
 taught to do, never because he thinks himself the perfection of 
 creation and wants everybody to admire him. We do not deny 
 that dogs are at times guilty of affectation, if they can by that 
 means attract pity or get themselves petted. A dog will limp long 
 after he is really quite sound of limb, if there is anyone in sight to 
 pity or pet him ; but even this is not egotism; indeed, it is half 
 delight in the kindness shown him, and half humor, as he will 
 show his sense of fun if he perceives that he is found out and 
 kindly laughed at for his affectation. Never was there a dog 
 whose ruses of this kind went deeper than the wish to attract affec- 
 tionate notice ; whereas the loyalty of the dog is the deepest 
 instinct in him. What was it Cowper said of his water-spaniel 
 *'Beau," after he had watched "Beau" capturing and bringing to 
 his master's feet the water-lily which the poet had in vain endeav- 
 ored to hook with his stick ? 
 
 "But chief myself I will enjoin 
 Awake at duty's call, 
 And show a love as prompt as thine, 
 To Him who gives me all." 
 
 It is said of Sir Walter Scott, when his dog *'Camp" died, that 
 he declined to go out to dinner on the ground that he had just lost 
 a dear friend. It is when the dog gets old and dim-sighted, and 
 follows its master and mistress about like their shadow, that we 
 first begin to feel how close is the relation between the dog and the 
 man. 
 
 Volumes might be written, if desirable, relating all the extra- 
 ordinary stories of which dogs are the heroes. Every day, in ordi- 
 nary life, we see something of this kind, and which, although of 
 so frequent occurrence, is none the less curious. Is it necessary to 
 recall to memory the dog of Ulysses, the model of fidelity ; the dog 
 of Montargis, the vanquisher of crime; of Munito, the brilliant 
 player at dominoes? Must we mention the Newfoundland dog and 
 the dog of Mount St. Bernard, both of them preservers of human 
 life? Is it necessary to speak of intelligent dogs going for provis- 
 
A PLEA FOR THE DOG. 105 
 
 ions for their master, and assisting him in his duties with ability ; 
 of the shoeblack's dog, trained to plant his muddy paws on the 
 best polished boots, so as to bring more business to his master, the 
 man of the brush ? We should never come to an end if we 
 attempted to describe all the exploits of this valuable companion 
 of man. 
 
 As to people who positively hate dogs may a merciful Provi- 
 dence keep them far away from me ! If mankind is the noblest of 
 God's works, dogs undoubtedly rank next, and he must be a queer 
 Christian, to say the least of it, who hates or despises an animal 
 whom He has taken pains to bring to such perfection. Indeed, it 
 is my firm belief, that the human creature who really hates dogs, 
 must have something radically wrong with his cerebral convolu- 
 tions. Be just to the good dog, for he is, as you know, a protec- 
 tion to the family and property of his master. There is no de- 
 tective so keen, or watchman so faithful, as he. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 
 
 "His flock he gathers aud he guides 
 To open downs and mountain-sides."— Sco/^ 
 
 Over the principal part of llie ^reat Northwest the wolf problem 
 is a serious one, and how to battle with them is one of the vexing 
 questions. Some prominent floekmasters are using hounds to good 
 advantage in hunting wolves and coyotes. If the cattle and sheep 
 men of the Northwest would give these noble dogs a trial, I believe 
 they would find in them the solution of the wolf question. The 
 Siberian wolfhound (sometimes called the Russian bloodhound) is 
 the natural enemy of the wolf, and they have terrible encounteis 
 with the formidable black wolf in their native land. This dog, in 
 connection with the Scotch staghound (which I have fully described 
 on preceding pages), can be used for hunting wolves or for the pro- 
 tection of a single flock, by a method we will describe later on. Of 
 course, these formidable dogs should be accustomed to the sheep 
 when they are quite young. A Minnesota sheep-breeder says : "I 
 have three fine wolfhounds. I tied one of them in the yard with 
 the sheep; if anything scares the sheep, they ring the bells; the 
 hound in the yard raises the alarm ; the other two are soon on the 
 track of the dog or wolf, and soon have them outside of the lines." 
 Mr. B. Fay, writing in regard to wolves killing sheep, says : 
 "About ten years ago they used to kill a good many for me ; but I 
 got some wolfhounds, and since then I have not been troubled, day 
 or. night." 
 
 A Nebraska sheep-breeder says : "I am often amused at the 
 howling of people in the Eastern States about dogs killing sheep. 
 Very different with me ; I could not breed sheep without dogs. I 
 
 ( 107) 
 
108 " SU&GESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 
 
 came from Ohio to this State seven years ago, with eight carloads 
 of stock, etc., with me, intending to keep right on in my old busi- 
 ness — sheep-breeding ; but after a year or so found out something 
 must be done, as the wolves were making sad havoc with my lambs 
 and sometimes the older ones, but tlie young sixty-pound lambs 
 they preferred. I talked with neighbors about what to do. They 
 advised me to get dogs. I had a shepherd dog which I brought 
 with me, but the coyotes teeth were too long and sharp for him." 
 Not being posted in dogs, it took me three years trying and posting 
 up on the dog business before getting the right kind, but with 
 years of trying and quite an expenditure of money have at last 
 succeeded. I have the Siberian wolfhound and also the Scotch 
 staghound, to take in the wolf if he comes within sight My build- 
 ings are from ten to twenty rods from the house, and the slieep 
 come up from the different fields every night and lie around the 
 building, and the wolves often come howling round at night, but 
 at the least noise out go the dogs and the coyotes scamper for dear 
 life, yet the dogs often take them in. No strange dog, or anything 
 else, can come into this section without my dogs knowing it. Am 
 not in the least afraid of thieves coming in the house or stealing 
 horses, etc. One good dog will keep away everythin|f, but I keep 
 the fast ones, as I like to take them in." 
 
 Recently there has been considerable discussion in the agricul- 
 tural papers in regard to sheep-bells as a protection against dogs. 
 That there is a large and growing class of breeders, particularly in 
 the East, who place great weight on the protective power of sheep- 
 bells can not be denied. They show by their constant use of these 
 little ''alarmers" their faith in the idea that they actually drive 
 away dogs; and if this is the case, why would they not prove as 
 efficacious against wolves and coyotes ? The American Sheep-breeder 
 says : "Your sheep will be safe from annoying visits from wolves, 
 coyotes, dogs, etc., with a few sheep-bells strapped around their 
 necks." 
 
 Mr. J. Fullerton, of Minnesota, a great believer in the efficacy 
 of sheep-bells, says : ' 'In seventeen years I have lost one pet lamb ; 
 it had no bell. I have always been on the frontier and hunt wolves 
 for the bounty, but they never touch my sheep. I have a bell on 
 
SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 109 
 
 every fifth sheep ; cheap insurance against dogs and wolves, 
 watched a wolf trying to get at them, and the way they rang those 
 bells looked as if they fully appreciated them, and every time they 
 rang, off went his wolfship. Another time a man told me a wolf 
 was rounding 'em up, and I'd soon have lots of mutton. I did not 
 worry a bit ; I knew they were safe as in a barn. He never hurt 
 one." 
 
 A Montana breeder states : "Coyotes are plenty and wolves by 
 no means scarce, but I've yet to lose my first sheep by them. I 
 have herded sheep off and on for three years, and owned a bunch 
 for two years (three next summer) . My experience has been that a 
 flock that is plentifully supplied with good sounding bells, is prac- 
 tically exempt from the ravages of coyotes or wolves. I have left 
 my band a mile out on the range and gone to the ranch for dinner, 
 and on going out to them again I have seen one and sometimes two 
 coyotes off on a hill watching them, and remained back to see what 
 they would do. As soon as the sheep see them Lhey bunch, and 
 tlie jingling of the bells is too much for Mr. Coyote, and he 
 'bunches' himself off the other way." 
 
 An Illinois shepherd says : "In regard to bells as a protective 
 power to sheep, can say I rely upon my bells three-quarters of a 
 mile, notifying me of any disturbance to my flock. I have listened 
 to the jingle of sheep-bells for eight years, and can easily tell 
 when my sheep are being disturbed by dogs. Two-thirds of the 
 bells in use are too small. I regard bells a necessity, and can't do 
 without them." 
 
 A correspondent of the Country Gentleman writes: ''My experi- 
 ence for thirty years proves the protective power of bells on sheep. 
 I have kept sheep all that time a mile from home, beside a road 
 constantly traveled by dogs, and have never lost a sheep by them, 
 while there is not a flock in the vicinity which has not been raided. 
 When I hear of a case I have taken pains to ascertain if the sheep 
 had bells on, which has not been the fact in a single instance." 
 
 We firmly believe that the ravages of dogs, wolves and coyotes 
 would be greatly lessened if shepherds would more generally make 
 use of bells on their sheep. Fifty bells, costing not over eight dol- 
 lars with 9«trsiips and buckles complete, are enough for a hundred 
 
110 SUGaESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 
 
 sheep, and about two dollars a year will keep the bells good — in 
 case yoa get the cow-bell pattern, which are cast on a staple 
 through which the strap passes, and not those cast with a shank, 
 which passes through the strap, leaving a small part of the strap 
 entire. The wear coming all the time on one place, the corners of 
 the shank and wire soon cut the strap off. This kind are hardly 
 worth the trouble of putting on. 
 
 The American Sheep-breeder says: ''If a few dry cows or heifers 
 are kept in the field with sheep, the dogs will seldom molest them. 
 We have found sheep in the morning huddling so close around and 
 under a friendly old cow that she could not get away from them ; 
 she had saved their lives." Most people in the country have proba- 
 bly noticed the actions of cattle when a wolf howls or a strange 
 dog enters the pasture. They gather together, and, with heads 
 erect, immediately chase and drive out the intruder. We know 
 from experience that cattle are a sure protection to grown sheep, 
 but think the lambs would be lost where there was much under- 
 brush, especially if there were wolf whelps in the vicinity, as the 
 male wolf at this time has to forage for the whole family, and is 
 very cunning, and particularly destructive to lambs and pigs. 
 Should he discover a sow in the woods with pigs, and find her too 
 much to be managed by himself alone — for sows are very cour- 
 ageous and dangerous in defense of their young — he hastens to his 
 mate and acquaints her with his discovery. Then both sally forth, 
 and, while one rallies the sow with threatening movements in front, 
 the other darts in behind and snatches a pig and away. This is 
 repeated till each is supplied with one or more pigs, as they may 
 want. 
 
 It might be well for the flockmaster on the range to keep a few 
 Angora goats in his flock with bells on, to turn the flock homeward 
 toward evening. The Angora always wishes to spend the night in 
 its corral, and when dogs or coyotes assail them ihey make a bee- 
 line for the corral, the buck covering the rear and turning often to 
 beat back the enemy. Goats are more intelligent than sheep, and 
 ^ can often tell when a storm is coming some hours previous, and 
 will often seek shelter. In case of a sudden storm, a flock of sheep 
 alone would be driven before it, but goats will face the storm, if 
 
SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. Ill 
 
 necessary, in order to reach the corral, and the sheep, when accus- 
 tomed to the goats, will follow them, especially if they have 
 bells on. 
 
 In regard to dogs for herding sheep, we would say that a farmer 
 who attempts to keep sheep, and has no shepherd dog, is in about 
 as bad a situation as the mariner who ventures out to sea without 
 a compass. It is not a difficult matter to procure a likely puppy, 
 as there are always plenty of thoroughbred ones in the market, the 
 property of well-known and reliable breeders, and it is not as diffi- 
 cult to secure a good one as formerly. In buying a puppy or colt 
 it is a fatal mistake to think that a very low price is cheap in the 
 end. Purchasers of dogs and horses are greatly tempted to fall into 
 this error. If you purchase a puppy at random, you may not find 
 out for many montlis that you have been wasting your time in try- 
 ing to train and educate a dog which at best will be second-class 
 in every respect. Of course, under peculiar circumstances a fine 
 puppy may be obtained at a low figure, but, as a rule, the lower 
 the price the greater the lottery. Still, there are exceptions to 
 every rule, and it frequently happens that a high-priced dog is 
 practically worthless as a working dog, their ancestors being bred 
 for bench show only for several generations. There are instances 
 in which puppies from these bench-show strains have failed to 
 make good workers after careful training by experienced shep- 
 herds; but get a pup from a good working strain, and it only needs 
 patience and perseverance to make a good dog of him, as he has 
 the inherited instinct of a worker. 
 
 As regards the much argued question of color, we would say that 
 color has nothing to do with the working qualities of the dog. 
 There is a great deal of truth in the old adage, ''A good dog is 
 never of a bad color." Of the various breeds of shepherd dogs 
 we are prejudiced in favor of the collie, nor do we think it alto- 
 gether prejudice, as they are more extensively used than any other 
 breed of shepherd dogs, not only in Scotland, where they origi- 
 nated, but also in England and Australia, and of late years in this 
 country and Canada. In Texas and Mexico, they have a way of 
 training dogs with sheep. The pups, when first whelped, or before 
 their 6768 are open, are taken from the dam, and put to a sucking 
 
112 SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 
 
 ewe, already deprived of her own lamb. For several days the ewe 
 is confined with the pups in the shepherd's hut, and either from 
 force, or an instinctive desire to be relieved of the contents of the 
 udder, she soon allows the little strangers to suck, and, in the 
 course of a few days more, becomes quite reconciled to the change, 
 and exhibits a great degree of affection for her foster children, 
 who, knowing no other parentage, become thus early engrafted 
 into the general community, and return their early kindness by 
 every mark of affection and fidelity hereafter ; never being willing 
 for a moment to quit their society, but remain with them night 
 and day, expressing a peculiar attachment to this particular flock, 
 and seeming able to distinguish each member of it from all other 
 intruders. He will also bring them home in the evening if you 
 feed him regularly at the hour you wish the flock home. 
 
 The South American shepherd's dog becomes accustomed, when 
 a puppy, to its future companions. Taken when very young from 
 its mother, it is held three or four times a day to a ewe. A nest 
 of wool is made for it in the sheep-pen and no dog or children 
 allowed to come near. The puppy is castrated generally, so it 
 loses, when growing up, any feeling in common with the rest of its 
 kind ; thus the flock and dog grow up together and a permanent 
 friendship is established. The working shepherd dog should not 
 be castrated, or the female splayed, as they become fat and indo- 
 lent. If pups from some of the large and fierce breeds, such as 
 Siberian wolfhound or staghound, are raised with the sheep in the 
 way I have described, no harm can come to the flock from wolves 
 or worthless dogs. Most of our breeds of working shepherd dogs 
 do not have strong enough jaws to combat successfully with the 
 ferocious wolf, and if we engraft a greyhound jaw on them their 
 bite would prove a calamity to the sheep. A greyhound jaw was 
 meant for killing. 
 
 In conclusion we will say a few words on the subject of sheep 
 worrying or killing. This evil is often caused by farmers and 
 shepherds allowing the dead lambs and sheep to remain unburied, 
 also in butchering sheep in the presence of the dog, who is often 
 thrown a piece of the carcass, or is allowed to eat the refuse. From 
 this he soon gets a taste for raw meat, and, if there does not hap- 
 
SUGGESTIONS TO STOCKMEN. 113 
 
 pen to be a dead sheep, he will soon kill one to satisfy his craving. 
 This is how our faithful companions learn to destroy the innocent 
 creatures they are expected to defend. There was a great deal of 
 sheep-worrying in Scotland thirty or forty years ago, but of late 
 years shepherds and farmers bury their dead lambs and sheep. 
 On the Australian range, it is the shepherd's duty to skin all the 
 sheep that die, and burn the carcass, and they are expected to pro- 
 duce the pelts at headquarters Various devices have been resorted 
 to in order to correct this evil habit in dogs, but with little suc- 
 cess, and I think an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of 
 cure. 
 
West^szy^ard Ho! 
 
 If you want to see what the Golden West can do in the way of 
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 ^ FKNCIERS' MONTHLY.t^ 
 
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