THE OLD ENGLISH BOBT AILED SHEEPDOG 165 



lands ; and if we grant that mutilation may result in establishing 

 reproduction of a variety minus the particular member, the history 

 of docking shows a long period of time in which to produce the 

 effect. 



As a justification for docking, it has been argued that the 

 shortening of the tail strengthens the back, but there is no proof 

 of the statement ever forthcoming; and the same may be said 

 of the equally unsupported opinion that the absence of the tail 

 increases the speed of the dog. One thing in connection with 

 docking should never be forgotten, if but in the interests of 

 humanity, and that is to get the operation performed as early as 

 possible. Since Fashion has ordained that but the merest stump 

 shall be allowed, it is the height of folly and of cruelty to wait 

 until a puppy is a few weeks old before removing the portion 

 of the tail that is considered necessary. 



It is always interesting and frequently instructive to be able 

 to compare a breed as we know it to-day with what it was, say, 

 half a century previous. Richardson wrote in praise of the Bob- 

 tailed Sheepdog rather more than fifty years ago. Comparing it with 

 the Collie, he says that it is "larger and stronger, and has much 

 the appearance of a cross with the great rough Water-dog. It 

 is coarser in the muzzle and coat, and is destitute of tail." Further, 

 he says, with reference to the latter, that it "is not the natural form 

 of the animal, for the tail is destroyed when very young, not by 

 cutting off, but by extracting the bones an inhuman practice 

 technically called ' stringing,' generally performed by pulling out 

 that part with the teeth. After this the fleshy part of the tail 

 contracts to a mere tubercle, and is wholly concealed among 

 the shaggy hair of the animal. Dogs treated in this manner are 

 said to endure much more exertion with less fatigue than those 

 in which the tail is entire." 



Old English Sheepdogs have been called Curs, and some writers 

 on the subject derive the appellation from "curtail." The etymology 

 of the word is, however, entirely against that. The term Cur has 

 come to be applied to a crossbred, useless, or degenerate dog, 

 but that is far from the original meaning. In the old Welsh laws 

 we find distinct mention of three kinds of Cur dogs the Mastiff, 

 the House Cur, and the Shepherd's Cur. Now, the House Cur 

 was, in the eye of the Welsh law, exalted to the name and dignity 

 of Shepherd's Cur when it was proved he could perform the duties 

 of the Sheepdog. The term Cur has no more reference to a 

 docked dog than any other, and even curtail has nothing to do 

 with tail, but is, says Skeat, a corruption of the older form curtal 

 (verb, to dock) ; whilst Cur, Old English Curre, is from the Swedish 

 Kurre, a dog ; Old Dutch Korre, a house dog ; named from growling, 

 and derived from the Icelandic Kurra, to murmur, grumble. The 



