The Collie or Sheep Dog. 



speaks highly of the intelligence of this variety, and, like all 

 enthusiasts, rather overstates his case. 



I do not consider the " bob-tail" a great success as a 

 show dog. Birmingham has the credit of giving him the 

 first class in which he was able to compete against dogs 

 only of his own variety, and, as a rule, when such an oppor- 

 tunity is afforded, one may conclude that the future of the 

 dog so honoured is more or less assured. Will it be so in 

 this instance ? for, this early class was provided so far 

 back as 1873, when there were only three entries. There 

 were but thirteen entries in 1889, although the formation of 

 the club the year before, and the commencement of an 

 attempt to popularise them, resulted in an excellent collec- 

 tion of twenty in the two classes at Curzon Hall, a number 

 which has not been reached at any show since that time, 

 nor had this record been approached earlier. In 1873 the 

 three entries were a poor sample so indifferent in fact that 

 only a second prize was awarded. Two years later Mr. 

 Lloyd Price won with a good-looking dog called Bob, and 

 since then, as a rule, all the prizes have been given. Other 

 exhibitions of the kind that have provided these distinct 

 classes have received no greater support, though with ever 

 varying fashion, one cannot divine the result that might be 

 brought about in two or three years' time. Personally, I 

 do not believe that this variety of dog is destined to obtain 

 any great hold on our human affections. His disposition is 

 at present not quite suitable for a domestic companion, 

 though improved associations might remedy this, and his 

 long shaggy coat (especially the abundance of hair on his 

 legs) must, for reasons of cleanliness, make him unfitted as 

 an inhabitant of the drawing-room, which, popularised as 

 the club wishes him to be, would be his place. 



