smooth collie and the old Scotch bearded collie. These animals are naturally hardy, 

 fleet-footed and sagacious, and for real skill in working sheep will hold their own 

 against any dogs in the world. 



One of the most prominent and successful trainers is Mr. J. Moses, of Oswestry, 

 who is manager of Lord Harlech's Home Farm at Brogyntyn>, and the accompanying 

 photographs show some of his famous dogs at work on the farm. Mr. Moses is a great 

 advocate of teaching a dog to work entirely by whistle, instead of giving commands in 

 ordinary language. The great advantage of this system is that the dog can hear and 

 recognize the signals at a much greater distance, and when once accustomed to them 

 is much less liable to misinterpret his master's meaning than is the case when the 

 command is given vocally. Many people seem to find a difficulty in training their dogs 

 to work by whistle, but if the system is started at the commencement of a young dog's 

 training he will soon learn to appreciate the distinctions of sounds and obey them 

 more readily. 



In order to demonstrate the perfect command that my friend had over the actions 

 of his dog, even at a great distance, for it must have been over three-quarters of a 

 mile, Mr. Moses made "Trim" execute a series of maneuvers, instructing the dog to 

 drive the sheep round a telegraph post, in and out of two trees, take them back again 

 to the original spot in which they were first located, and finally drive them straight 

 up to within reach of his master's stick. Each and every one of these evolutions was 

 carried out with such skill, intelligence and obedience on the part of the dog that it 

 seemed hard at first to realize that "Trim" was actually obeying implicitly his master's 

 command, and mot just driving the sheep about for his own pleasure. 



The maneuvering of sheep at a distance is a feature in sheep-dog trials for which 

 more points than are now granted should be given, as it demonstrates unmistakably 

 the excellence of the training and also the actual utility of a dog for field work. Many 

 dogs are under perfect control as long as they are within reach- of their master's stick, 

 but cannot be relied upon implicitly when far away ; such a dog is obviously improp- 

 erly trained. 



Patience and firmness are the keynotes of success in training a sheep dog, though 

 everything relies, in the first instance, upon the suitability of the dog taken in hand, for 

 good sheep dogs are born as well as made, and a well-bred puppy will have a natural 

 instinct for the work, which will reveal itself at an early age. 



In the next chapter will be found some useful hints on the training of the working 

 sheep dog. 



Training the Working Shepherd Dog 



CERTAIN technical terms are used in the following article which it may be well 

 to explain for the benefit of those not familiar with the shepherd's vocabulary. 

 1. The "run out" means that the dog is sent away to gather the sheep. 

 "Running out" is the act of going for the sheep. 



2. "Hauling" in its widest sense means the dog going out for his sheep, taking 

 command of them and bringing them to the shepherd. In the narrower sense, how- 

 ever, the term is confined to the bringing in of the sheep by the dog. 



3. "Shedding" means the dividing of a lot of sheep. Supposing, for example, a 

 shepherd wis'hes to separate lambs from their mothers, the act of doing so by the 

 dog is called "shedding." 



4. "Wearing" means keeping a sheep from going in the wrong direction. Sup- 

 posing, for example, a sheep bolts up a wrong road, the dog is sent to turn it back. 

 Turning back is the "wearing." 



5. A "cut" simply refers to a number of sheep. Supposing, for example, a shep- 

 herd herds five or six hundred sheep and goes for forty or fifty to take them to the 

 market. The number so taken is called a "cut." 



6. "Flying off" means where the dog yields to the sheep instead of facing up to 

 them. In "wearing" this is best seen. A dog which will not come in close to stubborn 

 sheep, yields to them when pressed, is said to "fly off." 



7. A "soft-tempered" dog is one which shows little grit when pressed by wild or 

 stubborn sheep. It won't, stand up to them and shows little fight, and generally 

 evidence of a soft disposition. The contrary expression is "hard tempered," which 

 means a dog that will not yield to wild or stubborn sheep, but will face up to them, 

 and as a last resort will even grip and show his teeth and other signs of temper and 

 determination. 



Believing that some instruction as to the methods employed in the training of the 

 working collie will be helpful to those who desire to bring out the best gifts with 



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