No. 5. 



The Shepherd's Dog. 



153 



THE SHEPHERD'S DOG. 



From the life, by P. Reinagle, A. R. A, 



In the accompanying plate, the artist has done eminent justice to his subject. The soft, 

 mild and inoffensive countenance, indicative of true breed, together with the lopped ear, 

 small nose and prominent under jaw, are admirably portrayed; as much may be said for the 

 figure of the animal as a whole, that gait and peculiar position of the fore leg — it is indeed 

 a portrait from the life. 



This race of dogs have a strong natural instinct to keeping or watching and preserving 

 anything that may be put under their care, which, joined to patience, mildness and gentle- 

 ness of disposition, indicate to the inquiring faculties of man their use, as keepers of sheep. 

 Their sagacity, docility, and powerful attachment to home and to their master, aided by their 

 natural propensity, render the teaching them their duty an easy and pleasant task, the young 

 dogs indeed being generally instructed by their elders, with little instruction from the shep- 

 herd. 



But it is upon the continent of Europe where the labours of the sheep-dog are incessant, from the minute 

 division of their flocks and the total want of fences, where he may have to confine his charge to a very narrow 

 strip of laiiii ; but even there, their tenderness, kindness, and affection to their charge, are proverbial. Many 

 stories are told of their sagacity, fidelity and attachment to human nature, of which tlie following are well au- 

 thenticated. A person living in Yorkshire, purchased a flock of sheep from the county of Durham, and after 

 the sheep had been several days on their travel, the owner set out from his home to meet them, accompanied by 

 his dog ; they were brought in safely and lodged in a field for the night, the dog in charge ; but tlie ne.xt morning, 

 fifteen of the sheep with the dog were missing. The owner not knowing what to do, determined to leave the 

 matter to Trusty, remarking, "he would not leave them, while he had a foot to travel on," and at the end of 

 two days and three nights, his ears were gladdened by the barking of the faithful creature, who was entering 

 the village in the rear of the fifteen runaways, and driving them before him with the greatest care! The dis- 

 tance they had gone must have been very great, as they had much wild country to run over. 



As a young man was attending his father's sheep he had the misfortune to fall and break his leg, while three 

 miles from home. The e.xtreme pain from the fracture while lying on the damp ground in the inclement season 

 of winter, suggested to him the following expedient: folding one of his gloves in liis pocket handkerchief, he 

 tied it round the neck of the dog, and ordered him home in a rough voice ; the faithful animal immediately set 

 ofT, and returned with the parents of the youth, just as evening was closing around him. 



A farmer who lived near Elarrow-weald common purchased a lot of sheep at Kingston fair, the jobber throwing 

 in his dog, as the purchaser expressed a fancy for him : the sheep and dog were taken home, and at eventide the 

 flock were committed to the care of the dog for the ni^'ht ; but in the morning they were all missing! The fear 

 that they had been stolen was heartbreaking to the farmer, but having searched the neighbourhood in vain, the 

 thought occurred, that the dog had taken them back to their old quarters, and so it proved, for he overtook them 

 within a few miles of Kingston, the faithful animal drivizig them soberly and carefully along before him! 



On another occasion, a dog, having the charge of a large flock of sheep in a field near Guildford, drove them 

 into a pit, and instinctively feeling it his duty to keep and guard them there, confined them so closely through 

 the night as to cause the death of nearly 200 of them, which were found in the morning smothered by close 

 packing. 



