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THE COLLIE OR SHEEP DOG. 



CHAPTER I. 



EARLY HISTORY VARIETIES OF THE SHEPHERD'S DOG 

 SCRIPTURAL ALLUSION ALDROVANDUS AN EARLY 

 RECIPE FOR DYEING A DOG SUPPOSED ORIGIN 

 ALLEGED CROSSES. _^ > ^ c ^_ 



||N LIKE many varieties of the dog common to the 

 British Isles, and which must in a great measure 

 be considered indigenous thereto, the shepherd's 

 dog, in one form or another, is to be found in each hemi- 

 sphere, and in every country where sheep or goats or cattle 

 form a part of the wealth of the inhabitants, whose lives 

 are consequently more or less pastoral. Thus, for its 

 history we must go back many hundreds of years so far, 

 indeed, that particulars of its origin appear to be entirely 

 lost. 



Many eminent naturalists, Buffon amongst the number, 

 were of opinion that the original dog was a sheep dog, or 

 one which answered the same purpose: an animal sagacious 

 enough to assist the shepherd to watch the flocks and 

 herds ; strong enough to protect them from ravenous 

 animals, and ferocious enough to keep the thief and the 

 robber at a distance. Thus, in those countries where wild 



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