THE SHEEP-KILLING DOG. 5 



crippled. In many cases where large numbers are killed they are 

 neither bitten nor wounded but simply chased until they die from 

 exhaustion. 



After a dog has once formed the habit of killing sheep it seemingly 

 becomes a mania with him and he is seldom if ever broken of it. 

 He not only destroys sheep himself but leads other dogs to the work. 

 No consideration should be given such dogs ; if additional losses from 

 this source are to be avoided, they should be killed as soon as their 

 habits are known. 



HOW DOG LOVERS CAN AID. 



The dog rightfully holds a strong place in the minds and affec- 

 tions of men. The owner of a good dog finds in him a most faithful 

 friend. But it sometimes happens that the dog most highly esteemed 

 is also one that kills and worries the most sheep and is the most 

 cunning in obscuring the evidences of his guilt. A well-bred dog's 

 habit of lying innocently asleep in the front yard during the daytime 

 is no proof that the same dog does not kill sheep at night. Be- 

 cause of the economic loss occasioned by sheep-killing dogs, and 

 because such dogs bring the whole of their kind into bad repute, the 

 true admirers and friends of this animal should help to further any 

 steps likely to result in the limitation of the activity of these dis- 

 crediting members of a noble race. One of the most practicable 

 methods of accomplishing this result seems to be to place upon dogs 

 such a tax as will reduce the number of superfluous ones and result 

 in fewer being kept by persons who can not or will not give them the 

 attention necessary to prevent the formation of habits and associa- 

 tions that lead to sheep killing. 



DOG-PROOF FENCES. 



A fence constructed in such a way as to be proof against dogs and 

 coyotes has been designed and tried out by the Forest Service of the 

 United States Department of Agriculture. A diagram showing the 

 construction of such a fence is shown in figure 1. Small holes ap- 

 pearing after the wire is stretched can be filled in with dirt or other 

 material. 



Specifications for the dog-proof fence : 



Posts 7 feet in length, set 1\ feet in the ground and 16 feet apart ; a barbed 

 wire stretched flat to the surface of the ground; 3 inches higher a 36-inch 

 woven-wire fence having a 4-inch triangular mesh; 5 inches higher a barbed 

 wire; 6 inches higher a second barbed wire; 7 inches above this a third 

 barbed wire. Total height, 57 inches. 



It is essential that the bottom barbed wire be stretched flat on the 

 surface of the ground at all points. This is accomplished by grading 

 the ground before the fence is built and by filling in the small holes 

 afterwards. 



