G08 SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



and lead liim back to the flock. Not the least fear did the sheep manifest at the approach 

 of these dogs, and there was no occasion for it. 



The.se noble animals seem, according to these and various other corre- 

 sponding accounts I have seen of them, to leave nothing to desire in the way 

 of a sheep-dog, either for guarding or managing flocks. They would be in- 

 valuable in our Southern States, to protect the flocks from the cur-dogs 

 which so often attack them, and from the occasional wolves. I hope 

 efforts will be made to introduce them into our country, and then they 

 should be bred in the utmost purity. 



South American Sheep-Dog. — Similar to the preceding in character 

 and habits, are the sheep-dogs to be found in various parts of South Amer- 

 ica. They, too, are undoubtedly an offshoot from the Spanish stem. 

 The following interesting account of them is from Darwin's Journal : 



" While staying at this estancia (in Banda Oriental), I was amused witli 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 distance 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 m accustoming it to its ftiture companions. A 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 associate 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 any fieelings 

 in common with the rest of its kind. From this education it has no wisli to leave the flock, 

 and just as another dog will defend its master, man, so will these the sheep. It is amusing 

 to observe, when approaching a flock, how the dog immediately advances barking — and the 

 sheep all close in his rear as if round the oldest ram. These dogs are also easily taught to 

 bring home the flock at a certain time in the evening. Their most troublesome fault when 

 young is their desire of playing with the sheep, for in their play, they sometimes gallop their 

 poor subjects most unmercifully. The shepherd dog comes to the house every day for 

 some meat, and immediately it is given to him he skulks away as if ashamed of himself. 

 On these occasions the house dogs are very tyrannical, and the least of them will attack 

 and ])ursue the stranger. The minute, however, the latter has reached the flock, he tunis 

 round and begins to bark, and then all the house dogs take very quickly to their 

 hoels. In a similar manner a whole pack of hungry wild dogs will scai-cely ever (and I was 

 told by some, never), venture to attack a flock guarded even by one of these faithful shepherds. 

 The whole account appears to me a curious instance of the pliability of the affections of the 

 dog race ; and yet, whether wild, or however educated, with a mutual feeling of respect and 

 fear for those that are fulfilling their instinct of association. For we can understand on no 

 principle the wild dogs being dris'en away by the single one with its flock, except that they 

 consider, from some confused notion, that the one thus associated gains power, as if in com- 

 pany with its own kind. F. Cuvier has observed that all animals which enter into domes- 

 tication consider Man as a member of their society, and thus they fulfil their instinct of asso- 

 ciation. In the above case the shepherd dogs rank the sheep as their brethren ; and the 

 \vild dogs, though knowing that the individual sheep are not dogs, but are good to eat, yet 

 partly consent to this view, when seeing them in a flock, with a shepherd dog at theu: 

 head." 



Other large races of Sheep-Dogs. — There are one or two fine species 

 in France, as those of Brie, and Auvergne. In a letter from Gr. W. 

 Lafayette, to John S. Skinner, Esq., the latter are pronounced equal to 

 the Spanish dogs.* Large powerful races, everywhere possessing the 

 same general characteristics, are to be found in almost every country 

 excepting our own, where the fine-wooled breeds of sheep have been ex- 

 tensively introduced. With a commerce extending to all the maritime 

 nations of the world, singular it is that so little pains have been taken to 

 introduce them. 



The English Sheep-Dog. — The following are portraits of a Drover's dog, 



* See Farmers' Library, Vol. i., p. 465. 



(1X83) 



