684 SHEEP DOGS 



and-tan dogs, especially of the darker shades, are frequently 

 defective in the under-coat, owing to there being a stain in 

 the blood from the so-called Gordon setters of comparatively 

 recent times. The coat of the rough collie should not part 

 along the back line while dry, and, if parted while wet, the 

 second coat should still obscure the skin. 



The hair on the forelegs is smooth and short in front, 

 but it lengthens into a long silky fringe or feather down 

 the back of the leg all the way to the pastern. The hind- 

 legs are free from fringes, and they ought to be set on 

 straight not cow-hocked, " five o'clock " or V-shaped else 

 the stifle joints project and the power of motion is 

 weakened. To be "hare-footed" or long-footed is objec- 

 tionable. Dogs ought to stand on their toes or be "cat- 

 footed." The collie-claw, or dew-claws, on the hind feet 

 (parts strongly developed in the St Bernard, being in that 

 breed frequently double), should be cut off with a pair of 

 scissors at an early age in the case of dogs which are 

 intended to work. If not removed they are liable to be 

 torn when snow covers the ground and becomes slightly 

 crusted on the top, as is the case when frost occurs after 

 a mock-thaw; the toes of the dog sink, and the claws 

 come in contact with the ragged edges of the broken 

 snow-crust. 



The dew-claw seems to be the remains of a natural 

 and no doubt useful appendage, which existed in the 

 common ancestors of some of our most distinct breeds 

 of dogs, as the claws in question have been known to 

 appear in puppies which were first crosses between a 

 clawless spaniel and clawless English terrier, the ancestors 

 of both breeds having been clawless for many generations. 



The following descriptive points have been extracted 

 from the Rules of the Northern and Midland Sheep-dog 

 Club: 1 



Type of Rough Collie. 



Head. Should be in proportion to dog's size. Skull moderately 

 wide between the ears, and flat, tapering to the end of the muzzle, 

 which ought to be of a fair length, but not too snipey, with only a 

 slight stop. 2 



1 Secretary Harold Macbeth, Sale, Cheshire. 2 See footnote, p. 686. 



