108 The Collie or Sheep Dog. 



done, so the worker of the dog by whistling, calling, or by 

 movements of the arms, lets his favourite know that the 

 two must be driven to the one. This may prove successful, 

 and by order the sagacious collie continues his task. 

 Possibly the sheep may run away entirely, and, followed 

 by the competitor, gallop until the latter is out of sight 

 and out of hearing too. Then, after a tedious wait of a 

 quarter of an hour or more, in the far distance the three 

 sheep and their canine driver may be seen, the latter 

 bringing bis charge back to his owner, irrespective of 

 course to be followed, or anything else. All he knows is 

 that his duty is to fetch the sheep, and this he does. 



Another difficulty comes when one of the three sheep 

 cannot move as fast as the others, and, being hard pushed, 

 ultimately gives up entirely and lies down ; in which case 

 the best dog in the world cannot make it rise again until 

 thoroughly rested and so inclined. One batch of sheep may 

 almost of themselves go the course, and require little driving 

 by the dog, whilst, au contraire, another lot may be just as 

 stupid and wayward, willing to be taken in any direction 

 but the right one. Sometime the collie is unable to make 

 a start at all through his perverse flock separating and 

 trotting away in different directions immediately they 

 are loosed from the liberation pen. Again the competitor 

 may perform his driving task admirably, but is quite 

 unable to consummate his work of making the sheep enter 

 the pen at the end of the trial. Repeatedly at this 

 penning the best work is shown, and the patience of the 

 dog must be well supported by that of the shepherd. 



To be successful at these trials the dog must be 

 sagacious, well trained, quick of hearing, and sharp in 

 his sight, patient, and have a peculiar power in command- 



