The Collie or Sheep Dog. 123 



collies which has been produced through a craze for 

 certain " points " or supposed excellences that are 

 produced at the expense of others. This change is 

 nothing new in other varieties of the dog. In the 

 collie, unduly long heads, lean, narrow, and unin- 

 tellectual, in many cases partaking of the greyhound 

 type, or rather of that of the Borzoi or Russian wolf 

 hound, have been sadly too prevalent. Indeed, 

 these long-headed dogs were becoming so numerous 

 that the cry raised against them had due weight, and 

 I believe that in the future few or no such dogs will 

 be seen coming on the show bench. A collie of all 

 dogs should be sensible and sagacious. If he is so, 

 he cannot in appearance be a fool his character is 

 stamped on his countenance and many recent 

 winners on the bench could be mentioned whose 

 narrow foreheads, big eyes, and general appearance 

 were indicative of idiocy rather than wisdom. Let 

 us all hope, in our admiration for a noble dog, that 

 what is said here and has been said elsewhere will 

 prevent in the future a danger arising that might 

 destroy the popularity of the collie. 



Still more fault-finding. I do not know how it 

 has been brought about, but somehow or other our 

 collie in many cases arrives at maturity before he is 

 out of his puppyhood if such an expression may 

 be used. At eight or nine months old he is well 



