686 SHEEP DOGS 



Type of the Old English Sheep Dog. 



Skull. Capacious, and rather squarely formed, giving plenty of 

 room for brain power. The parts over the eyes should be well arched, 

 and the whole well covered with hair, as defined in " coat." 



Jaw. Should be fairly long and square. The "stop" 1 should be 

 defined, but not to a great extent. 



Eyes. These, of course, vary in different colours of dogs. In the 

 dark-blue shades they should be dark-brown. In the lighter colours 

 they will be found to follow them, and become paler in shade, while 

 where white predominates a "wall" or marble eye may be considered 

 typical. 



Nose. Always black in colour ; fairly large and capacious. 



Teeth. Strong and firm, and should be evenly placed in the jaw. 

 Working dogs often have their incisors broken off. This is in no way 

 detrimental. 



Ears. Medium sized, and carried close to the head, coated with 

 hair of a moderate length. 



Legs. The forelegs should be straight and possess plenty of bone, 

 They should remove the body a medium height off the ground with- 

 out approaching legginess. They should be well coated all round. 



Feet. Moderately large, round toes, well arched, and pads capacious 

 and hard. 



Tail. This is a most important point in the Old English Sheep 

 Dog. Without a doubt many dogs are bred without the slightest 

 approach to a caudal appendage ; while, on the other hand, some in 

 the litters will be found with half, three-quarters, and whole length 

 tails. The breeding of those without tails should be encouraged and 

 be persevered with, and be given preference to in judging, provided 

 the dogs are good elsewhere. A tail of any length takes away the 

 appearance and the " corkiness " 2 of the dog. A docked dog can gene- 

 rally be detected by the bluntness at the end of the stump. 



Neck and Shoulders. The neck should be fairly long, arched, and 

 graceful, and well coated with hair. The shoulders should be set on 

 slopingly, and the dog generally be found to stand lower at the shoulders 

 than on his hind quarters. 



Body. Rather short, and very compact. The ribs should be well 

 sprung, and the brisket deep and capacious. The loin should be very 

 stout, and to a certain extent arched, while the hindquarters should 

 be bulky, and the hams densely covered with a coat very often of a 

 softer and more woolly description than is to be found on other parts 

 of the body. 



Coat. Profuse, and of a good texture, i.e., fairly hard and strong. 

 There should also be a double or under coat. 



Colour. Varies ; but preference should be given to dark-blue, 

 light, or pigeon-blue and steel-grey dogs. The colours are generally 



1 " The indentation between the skull and the nasal bone near the eyes." 

 Vero Shaw's definition. 

 3 Compactness. 



