THE OLD ENGLISH BOBT AILED SHEEPDOG 167 



too, have not been without their refining influence. The result 

 is that many of the asperities inherited from those remote ancestors 

 that were called upon not only to " work " sheep as now generally 

 understood, but also to defend them from the co-existent wild 

 Carnivora, have been smoothed down, and the Bobtail Sheepdog, 

 when properly trained, is a model of what a canine companion 

 should be. To dilate upon the sagacity of the variety, or to 

 refer to the many excellent qualities that the dog possesses in a 

 marked degree, is unnecessary. To these the measure of popu- 

 larity that the breed enjoys abundantly testifies. How great 



1,: : . : _ \ m -M 



FIG. 46. DR. BOTT'S OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG CHAMPION BOUNCER. 



is this popularity may best be gauged by remembering that only 

 as far back as fourteen years ago an entry of a dozen at a show 

 providing a decent classification would have been a fair one ; while 

 to-day a three-figure entry would be the rule at a first-class show 

 under a popular judge ; while the breed is one of the comparative 

 few strong enough to provide a show all its own. Not a little of 

 the popularity the breed now enjoys is due to the labours of those 

 early fanciers, Mr. W. Weager, Mr. Freeman Lloyd, Mr. C. W. 

 Macbeth, Dr. Edwardes Kerr, Mr. R. J. Lloyd Price, and a few 

 others ; while later, Dr. Bott, Mr. A. H. Megson, Mrs. Fare Fosse, 

 Mr. T. H. Shout, .Mr. F. W. Clayton, and Dr. Locke have, with 



