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COLLIES, OR SHEEP DOGS 



Shepherds' clogs, when in regular work, are serious 

 animals, and far too busy in their daily life to have time 

 or taste for play. They do not make friends very easily, 

 because they and their masters are accustomed to live 

 alone on the wild hills or great moors, and the sight 

 of other men is strange to them. But they are as useful 

 and necessary to the shepherds, their masters, as any 

 other race of dogs trained to business habits ; indeed, the 

 work of keeping a rlock together would be quite impossible 

 without them. 



The shepherd's dog (or ' collie ' as he is called in 

 Scotland) is a beautifully shaped animal, either bright 

 yellow, or black and white, with a curly tail. He is a 

 very quick runner, and a splendid jumper, as he has need 

 to be, when his duty is to follow the sheep into all sorts 

 of rough places, where no man could ever keep his foot- 

 ing. He is regularly sent to school before going out to 

 service, and carefully taught his work, which, in general, 

 he learns very easily ; and besides the training he gets in 

 this way, his life soon teaches him to bear hunger and 

 thirst and to do without much food, which is often, in 

 severe winters, very hard to get in distant spots. 



As for weeks, and even months, the dog is frequently 

 the shepherd's only companion, the two seem almost to 

 understand the thoughts that are passing through each 

 other's minds without need of speech. One bitter 

 winter's day, about a hundred years ago, a young man 



