100 CONTINENTAL, SHEEP DOG DROVER's DOG. 



very little extra instruction from the shepherd. Upon the Continent the labour of 

 the dog is incessant, from the minute division of the flocks and the absence of 

 fences, where he may have to confine his charge to a narrow slip of land. The 

 habits and training of the Continental Sheep Dog are, in one, which ought to be a 

 very important view, far superior to those of ours. They are not taught to chase, 

 worry and bite the sheep, as is too much the practice in this country ; but are al- 

 lowed to display, on all occasions, their natural kindness and affection to their 

 charge, in consequence of which, the sheep, far from having any fear or apprehension 

 of harm from the dogs which guard them, ever look upon them as natural associates 

 and protectors, and fly towards them on every occasion of alarm. Nor are the foreign 

 dogs, on account of this tenderness, in the slightest degree, less useful than ours, pro- 

 bably they are far more so ; and will perform every necessary manoeuvre of driving-, 

 stopping, separating the flock, or singling out an individual, with equal dexterity 

 and dispatch with the British, and far less of harrassing and affright to the sheep. 



It must be conceded however, that the treatment of sheep in Britain, although 

 objectionable enough in most parts of the Country, is no where so gross and 

 unfeeling, as in the large Towns, and most particularly in the Metropolis, where 

 those timid animals are chased, and worried, and torn with the utmost and unne- 

 cessary wantonness by the Drovers' dogs, a sort of mixed breed between the 

 Shepherd, Cur, Mastiff, and Lurcher, a very useful breed no doubt, but of qualities 

 varying in proportion to their mixture of breeds, and considerably different from 

 those of the parent stock. 



The Shepherd's Dog is said to have been preserved in its original purity of species, 

 in the Highland's of Scotland, and in the most uncultivated parts of Wales. In 

 fact, such is most likely to be the case, in all open Countries, where the Sheep 

 Husbandry necessarily predominates, and where this dog is of the greatest account, 

 his services being indispensable, and the trust reposed in him so great. He is truly 

 a wonder of his species ; with an appearance of somnolency, of heaviness and indo- 

 lence, he is all alive, and active, and energetic, when inspired by a sense of duty, 

 or directed by the commands of his master, the slightest indications of which, are 

 sufficient for his ready comprehension. He is the most contented of all the canine 

 race, the least given to wandering, or attention to strange pursuits or to strangers, 

 his whole faculties appearing completely absorbed in that employment to which he is 

 destined. Without the external signs of robustness, he is able to endure the great- 

 est hardships, defying hunger, wet and cold, and the shivering blasts of winter, in 

 the Wilderness, upon the Mountain, and in those dreary wilds, where if the shepherd 

 ventures, he treads with cautious and perilous steps. 



This species has generally, but not universally, one or two supernumerary toes 

 upon the hinder feet, sometimes on one foot only. The same peculiarity attends 

 .some of the larger Spaniels and Pointers. These spare toes are quite useless, being 



