22 THE OLD ENGLISH SHEEP DOG 



their task are all against them. As a rule the show ring 

 is far too small and too crowded to admit of proper 

 liberty and movement, and a dog which is practically 

 perfect in make and shape can sometimes hold his own in 

 the tiny arena where a slow trot of a dozen yards is the 

 most that can be exacted of him, whereas, if it were 

 possible to take him out into an open field and ask him to 

 gallop, his cramped action might become wofully apparent. 

 And the question naturally arises, How are we to guard 

 against the grave danger of breeding sheep dogs which 

 may be paragons of perfection in the show ring, and use- 

 less outside it ? The answer, fortunately, is not far to seek. 



Under the heading " General Appearance " we learn 

 that the dog must be " very elastic in his gallop, but in 

 walking or trotting he has a characteristic ambling or 

 pacing movement." And it will be found that these two 

 characteristics are virtually synonymous. For I have 

 never yet known a bob-tail, whose slow walking action 

 had the genuine bear-like roll, to fail in elasticity of gallop 

 when free to move at speed. 



The trained eye will recognise without hesitation this 

 liberty of walking action even in the cramped arena of the 

 show ring, and infallibly argue from it how the dog would 

 gallop if space permitted. 



The fact that the show dog is frequently too fat and 

 scant of breath does not touch the argument, so far as 

 action is concerned. That is a mere mistake on the part 

 of his owner, who elects to exhibit him out of working 



