THE OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG. 



ii5 



and it is difficult, on any other hypothesis, 

 to account for the fact that many puppies are 

 so born. It is certainly a fact that one or 

 two natural bob-tails are frequently found 

 in a litter of which the remainder are duly 

 furnished with well-developed tails. And 

 it is interesting to note that the proportion is 



in the bob-tail's welfare, and attempts were 

 made to bring him into prominence. In 

 1873 his admirers succeeded in obtaining 

 for him a separate classification at a recog- 

 nised show, and at the Curzon Hall, at 

 Birmingham, in that year three temerarious 

 competitors appeared to undergo the ordeal 



GROUP OF MRS. PHILIP RUNCIMANS SHEEPDOGS, 



CH BEAT THE BAND, CRESSWELL RAGS. CRESSWELL LASSIE, CRESSWELL SUNNY JIM. 



Photogarph by Jones and Son, Surbiton. 



much higher in some strains than in others, 

 and that a few stud dogs consistently sire 

 bob-tailed puppies in almost every litter. 



From careful consideration of the weight 

 of evidence, it seems unlikely that the breed 

 was originally a tailless one, but the modern 

 custom undoubtedly accentuates its pic- 

 turesqueness by bringing into special prom- 

 inence the rounded shaggy quarters and 

 the characteristic bear-like gait which dis- 

 tinguish the Old English Sheepdog. 



Somewhere about the 'sixties there would 

 appear to have been a revival of interest 



of expert judgment. It was an unpromising 

 beginning, for Mr. M. B. Wynn, who officiated 

 found their quality so inferior that he con- 

 tented himself with awarding a second prize. 



But from this small beginning important 

 results were to spring, and the Old English 

 Sheepdog has made great strides in popu- 

 larity since then. At Clerkenwell, in 1905, 

 the entries in his classes reached a total of 

 over one hundred, and there was no gain- 

 saying the quality- 



This satisfactory result is due in no small 

 measure to the initiative of the Old English 



