466 



MONTHLY JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURE. 



ciations with him warn tliem of danger and de- 

 struction. It is related of Mr. Jefferson, to whom 

 a well-broken Shepherd's Dog had been sent 

 from abroad, that after explaining to his visitors 

 the sagacity and usefulness of the Shepherd's 

 Dog, he lad them to the fields, taking along the 

 dog, to give them an exhibition of his fine quali- 

 ties. On the first indication of what he was to 

 do, the dog made for the sheep, and they scat- 

 tered in all directions, terrified to death, and the 

 dog not much less confounded at their strange 

 behavior. Some of them threw themselves over 

 precipices, and the dog was never recovered. 



Sheep iHust be brought up in familiar inter- 

 course with the dog, that he may mind and 

 manage them. The fear of dogs, with our 

 sheep, is doubtless hereditary, as are other qual- 

 ities of animals, of which many and curious in- 

 stances might be given. In a communication to 

 tlie Royal Society in 1807, Mr. Knight cited 

 several instances of domesticated animals inher- 

 iting the acquired habits of their parents. In 

 all animals, he says, this is observable ; but in 

 the dog, he says, it exists to a wonderful extent, 

 and the offspring appears to inherit not only the 

 passions and propensities, but even the resent- 

 jnents of the family from which he springs. — 

 " I ascertained that a terrier, whose parents had 

 been in the habit of fighting ^vlth polecats, will 

 instantly show every mark of auger when he 

 first perceives the scent of that animal, though 

 the animal itself be wholly concealed from his 

 sight." 

 In Martin's History of the Dog, he says: 

 " The Shepherds Dog is of middle stature, or 

 rather low in proportion to its length, slightly 

 but vigorously formed, and quick and active in 

 its movements. Though not quarrelsome, it is 

 very courageous, and will resolutely encounter 

 the fox in defence of the sheep ; and though, un- 

 like the spaniel, it is iudilTerent to caresses, and 

 distant toward strangers, yet to its master it is 

 most devotedly attached. When the labor of 

 the day is over — when the sheep are folded for 

 the night — it returns with him home to his hum- 

 ble cottage, and there curls up underneath his 

 chair, or sits by his side and partakes of his sim- 

 ple repast. Where flocks are of large extent, 

 and have to be watched during the night, and in 

 cases where several hundred weaning lambs, 

 wild and capricious, demand the care of the 

 sliepherd night and day— when winter storms of 

 snow come on, and the scattered sheep have to 

 be hastily collected and brought to a place of se- 

 curity, it is then that the shepherd feels to the 

 full the value of his dog. A circuit of miles on the 

 dreary hills or mountain-side, or over vast and 

 trackless downs, has to be taken, and that with- 

 out loss of time ; to the dog is this duty entrust- 

 ed, and well does he perform his office : not a 

 sheep belonging to his master's flock is missing 

 —unless, indeed, any have been stolen or killed ; 

 the whole are gathered together without inter- 

 mixture with the sheep of other owners." 



"We have often seen the Drover's Dogs, at 

 their master's bidding, single both sheep and 

 cattle from the drove, and separate them, or 

 (926) 



drive them to some spot apart from the rest ; 

 we have seen them part the droves of two or 

 more drovers traveling in company. v»hich have 

 become mingled together at a halting-place by 

 the road-side, and arrange them in order for 

 continuing the journey ; we have seen them 

 turn back the herd from a forbidden lane or 

 gateway, or run before and plant themselves in 

 the way, so as to prevent any of the cattle from 

 going astray. During his long, slow journey 

 from the west or the north of our island to the 

 great capital, the drover finds his dog of all-im- 

 portant utility ; nor without this assistant could 

 the crowded cattle in Smithfield Market be at 

 all managed." 



The following farther extracts from the same 

 work will be found entertaining, especially the 

 one from Darwin's jounial : 



The dog is intelligent, but some breeds are 

 far more so than others, and some individuals 

 are elevated above their fellows. Greatly in- 

 deed does the cerebral development vary in dif- 

 ferent races (and consequently the cranial capa- 

 city relative to the rest of the skull), as may be 

 seen by comparing the skulls together. The 

 superiority in this respect of the skull of the 

 spaniel over that of the bull-dog is most decided, 

 — and it is in the .spaniel, and those breeds most 

 nearly related to it, that we observe the greatest 

 intelligence and tractability. In the Bull-Dog 

 and mastiff, on the contrarj', the bold inter-pari- 

 etal and occipital ridges of the skull demonstrate 

 the force and volume of the muscles of the jaw 

 and neck. It is in these dogs that we find the 

 most indomitable courage and the most combat- 

 ive disposition. M. Elzear Blaze says, " Le 

 chien est courageux, mais son courage augment 

 beaucoup en la presence de sou maitre, soil 

 qu'il veuille le defendre, soit qu'il se sente plus 

 forte d'un tel appui, soit enfiu qu'il veuille mer- 

 iter son e.stime."* The fact is, that so utterly 

 subjugated is the dog and so dependent on man, 

 that he looks to his master for support and en- 

 couragement, and even the most pugnacious 

 dogs fight more resolutely when they are en- 

 couraged by their master's voice. In South 

 America, the large sheep-dogs which guard the 

 flocks display courage only when in charge of 

 the sheep. The following extract from Mr. 

 Darwin's journal is very interesting : — " While 

 staying at this estancia (in Banda Oriental) I 

 was amused with what I saw and heard of the 

 Shepherd Dogs of the country, When riding, 

 it is a common thing to meet a large flock of 

 sheep guarded by one or two dogs, at the dis- 

 tance of some miles from any house or man. I 

 often wondered how so firm a friendship had 

 been established. The method of education 

 consists in separating the puppy, when very 

 young, from the bitch, and in accustoming it to 

 its future companions. An ewe is held three or 

 four times a day for the little thing to .suck, and 

 a nest of wool is made for it in the sheep-pen.— 

 At no time is it allowed to a.«sociate with other 

 dogs, or with the children of the family. The 

 puppy, moreover, is generally castrated ; so that 

 when grown up, it can scarcely have anj' feel- 

 ings in common with the rest of its kind. From 

 this education it has no wish to leave the flock, 

 and just as another dog will defend its master, 



* " The dog is courageous, but his courage incrpases 

 in the prcsenoe of his master; whether it be that he 

 wishes to defend him, or that he feels himself strong- 

 er with such assistance, or that he desires to merit 

 bis approbation." 



