THE SCOTCH SHEEP-DOG. 297 
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 lable 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 fault always lies more with 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 almost every instance, know each sheep by its name, and are 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 companionship, contenting himself with 
the society of his master alone. 
The ScorcH 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 
effectual 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 carry 
the long hairs free from the ground. The colour of the furis 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 these 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 
laborious vocation. In the entire aspect of this creature there is a curious resemblance to 
the Dingo, as may be seen on reference to the account of that animal in a subsequent 
page. 
It is hardly possible to overrate the marvellous intelligence of a well-taught Sheep- 
dog ; for if the shepherd were deprived of the help of his Dog his office would be almost 
impracticable. It has been forcibly said by a competent authority that, if the work of the 
Dog were to be performed by men, their maintenance would more than swallow up the 
entire profits of the flock. They, indeed, could never direct the sheep so successfully as 
the Dog directs them; for the sheep understand the Dog better than they comprehend the 
shepherd. The Dog serves as a medium through which the instructions of the man are 
communicated to the flock ; and being in intelligence the superior of his charge, and the 
inferior of his master, he is equally capable of communicating with either extreme. 
One of these Dogs performed a feat which would have been, excusably, thought impos- 
sible, had it not been proved to be true. A large flock of lambs took a sudden alarm one 
night, as sheep are wont, unaccountably and most skittishly, to do, and dashed off among 
the hills in three different directions. The shepherd tried in vain to recall the fugitives ; 
but finding all his endeavours useless, told his Dog that the lambs had all run away, and 
then set off himself in search of the lost flock. The remainder of the night was passed in 
fruitless search, and the shepherd was returning to his master to report his loss. However, 
as he was on the way, he saw a number of lambs standing at the bottom of a deep ravine, 
and his faithful Dog keeping watch over them. He immediately concluded that his Dog 
had discovered one of the three bands which had started off so inopportunely in the 
darkness ; but on visiting the recovered truants he discovered, to his equal joy and wonder, 
that the entire flock was collected in the ravine, without the loss of a single lamb. 
