CHAPTER IX 

 THE OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG 



INTELLIGENT and picturesque, workmanlike and affectionate, 

 the Old English Sheepdog combines, in his shaggy person, the 

 attributes at once of a drover's drudge and of an ideal com- 

 panion. Although the modern dog is seen less often than of 

 old performing his legitimate duties as a shepherd dog, there 

 is no ground whatever for supposing that he is a whit less 

 sagacious than the mongrels which have largely supplanted 

 him. The instincts of the race remain unchanged; but the 

 mongrel certainly comes cheaper. 



Carefully handled in his youth, the bob-tail is unequalled as 

 a stock dog, and he is equally at home and efficient in charge 

 of sheep, of cattle, and of New Forest ponies. So deep-rooted 

 is the natural herding instinct of the breed that it is a thousand 

 pities that the modern shepherd so frequently puts up with an 

 inferior animal in place of the genuine article. 



Nor is it as a shepherd dog alone that the bob-tail shines in 

 the field. His qualifications as a sporting dog are excellent, 

 and he makes a capital retriever, being usually under excellent 

 control, generally light-mouthed, and taking very readily to 

 water. His natural inclination to remain at his master's heel 

 and his exceptional sagacity and quickness of perception will 

 speedily develop him, in a sportsman's hands, into a first-rate 

 dog to shoot over. 



These points in his favour should never be lost sight of, 

 because his increasing popularity on the show bench is apt to 

 mislead many of his admirers into the belief that he is an 

 ornamental rather than a utility dog. Nothing could be 



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