THE COLLIES 157 



and Mr. Powers are but a few that will go down to posterity as 

 breeders and owners of renown. 



To select a Collie puppy practically from the nest is no easy 

 matter, and even really good judges not infrequently find them- 

 selves " at sea." The usual time at which the average novice is 

 called upon to make a selection is just after weaning. At that 

 age the puppies have not the correct ear-carriage of the adult, and 

 with this variety, as with all others, it is not wise to discard an 

 otherwise promising puppy on account thereof. Often even after 

 the time when the ears are "up" they are carried indifferently, if 

 the teething process is incomplete. There must, however, be a 

 great distinction drawn between ear-carriage and ear-placement, as 

 obviously the latter does not alter. A Collie's ears should be set 

 on high, and the smaller they are the better. The head should 

 be long and level, and neither too broad nor too narrow the happy 

 medium, in fact. The eyes should be small and intelligent-looking. 

 The back should be short and strong. The fore legs should be 

 straight. The tail should be short, and though a gay carriage is not 

 desirable in the adult, too much importance must not be placed upon 

 this in the case of the young puppy. The age at which the ears are 

 raised varies in individuals, but is usually about the sixth month. 



With regard to colour in Collie puppies, it may be stated that 

 they always darken with age. As an instance of this the well-known 

 Metchley Wonder may be cited. As a puppy he might have been 

 correctly described as a pale sable ; but at five years of age he 

 had developed a black saddle. Mr. A. H. Megson relates how he 

 once thought that he had a white Collie, which was most unusual ; 

 but when three months old it was of a cinnamon colour. He also 

 states that he has bred puppies of quite a blue shade that ultimately 

 turned out black. 



In selecting, therefore, a Rough Collie puppy, the animal that 

 most closely approximates, so far as points go, to the one described 

 will probably make the most typical adult. Practically everything 

 that has been said in connection with the Rough variety holds good 

 with the Smooth, save that in the latter the shorter and smoother 

 the coat is, the more promising the individual so long as the 

 desired coat is a natural and not an artificial production. 



Something here may be very well said with regard to colour in 

 the Collie, despite the fact that in the Club's descriptions this is 

 said to be immaterial. Sable and sable-and-white are the fashion- 

 able colours, although there is no denying the beauty of the black, 

 white, and tan. With many of the older school of Collie fanciers 

 the last-named was considered the colour. Mr. Thomson Gray 

 was an admirer of them. He wrote : " There is no colour so 

 pretty in a Collie as a black, white, and tan, the tan being confined 

 to the lower part of the legs, and to spots above the eyes ; the 



