THE SCOTCH SHEEP-DOG. 



that if the sheep do not crowd round the Dog when they are alarmed, and 

 place themselves under his protection, there is something radically wrong in 

 the management of the flock. He remarks, that the Dog will seldom, if ever 

 bite a sheep, unless incited to do so by its master, and suggests that the 

 shepherd should be liable to a certain fine for every tooth-mark upon his 

 flock. Very great injury is done to the weakly sheep and tender lambs by 

 the crowding and racing that takes place when a cruel Dog begins to run 

 among the flock. However, the faidt always lies more Avith the shepherd than 

 with his Dog, for as the man is, so will his Dog be. The reader must bear in 

 mind that the barbarous treatment to which travelling flocks are so often subjected 

 is caused by drovers and not shepherds, who, in ahnost every instance, know 

 each sheep by its name, and arc as careful of its wellbeing as if it were a member 

 of their own family. The Dogs which so persecute the poor sheep in their 

 bewilderments among cross-roads and the perplexity of crowded streets, are in 

 their turn treated by their masters quite as cruelly as they treat the sheep. In 

 this, as in other instances, it is " like man and like Dog." 



As a general rule, the Sheep-dog cares little for any one but his master, and so 

 far from courting the notice or caresses of a stranger will coldly withdraw from 

 them, and keep his distance. Even with other Dogs he rarely makes companion- 

 ship, contenting himself with the society of his master alone. 



The Scotch Sheep-dog, more familiarly called the Colley, is not unlike the 

 English Sheep-dog in character, though it rather differs from that animal in form. 

 It is sharp of nose, bright and mild of eye, and most sagacious of aspect. Its 

 body is heavily covered with long and woolly hair, which stands boldly out from 

 its body, and forms a most eff'ectual screen against the heat of the blazing sun, or 

 the cold sleety blasts of the winter winds. The tail is exceedingly bushy, and 

 curves upwards towards the end, so as to cany the long hairs free from the ground. 

 The colour of the fur is always dark, and is sometimes variegated with a very 

 little white. The most approved tint is black and tan ; but it sometimes happens 

 that the entire coat is of one of those colours, and in that case the Dog is not so 

 highly valued. 



The " dew-claws" of the English and Scotch Sheep-dogs are generally double, 

 and are not attached to the bone, as is the case with the other claws. At the 

 present day it is the custom to remove these appendages, on the grounds that 

 they are of no use to the Dog, and that they are apt to be rudely torn off' by 

 the various obstacles through which the animal is obliged to force its way, or 

 by the many accidents to which it is liable in its laliorions vocation. 



It is hardly possible to overrate the mai"vellous intelligence of a well-taught 

 Sheep-dog; for if the shepherd were deprived of the help nf his Dog, his office 



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