112 



CHAPTER X. 



THE OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG. 



BV ATBREY HOPWOOD. 



" My ' friend,' replies Gawaine, the ever bland, 

 ' I took thy lesson, in return take mine ; 

 All human, ties, alas ! are ropes of sand. 

 My lot to-day, to-morrow may be thine ; 

 But never yet the dog our bounty fed 

 Betrayed the kindness, or forgot the bread.' " 



— BULWER LyTTON. 



INTELLIGENT and picturesque, work- 

 manlike and affectionate, the (Jld 

 English Sheepdog combines, in his 

 shaggy person, the attributes at once of a 

 dro\-er's drudge and of an ideal companion. 

 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 unclianged ; but the 

 mongrel certainlv comes cheaiier. 



Carefully handled in his youth, the 

 bob-tail is unequalled as a stock dog, and I 

 have seen him equally at home and efficient 

 in charge of sheep, of cattle, and of New 

 Forest ponies. \\'ithin my recent experi- 

 ence, a yoimgster of the most aristocratic 

 parentage, scion of a race of modern prize- 

 winners, passed into the hands of a drover, 

 owing to a malformed jaw which marred 

 his winning chances. His new master 

 promptly placed him in charge of a small 

 herd of dairy cows, and the youngster took 

 to his job with the keenest relish. Long 

 before he \\as out of his puppyhood, he 

 could be trusted to go out and collect his 

 charges, to bring them back to the cow- 

 house, and to place each separate animal in 

 her allotted stall. On no account what- 

 ever would he suffer any change in their 

 positions, and, his task patiently accom- 

 phshed. he was accustomed to lie down 



behind their stalls and keep them in their 

 places until relieved of duty. 



So deep-rooted is the natural herding 

 instinct of the breed that it is a thousand 

 pities that the modem shepherd so fre- 

 quently 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 qualifica- 

 tions as a sporting dog are excellent, and he 

 makes a capital retriever, being usually 

 under e.xcellent control, generally hght- 

 mouthed, and taking very readily to water. 

 His natural inclination to remain at his 

 master's heel and Iiis 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 popu- 

 larity 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 further from the fact. 

 Nevertheless, he has few equals as a house 

 dog, being naturally cleanly in his habits, 

 affectionate in his disposition, an admirable 

 watch, and an extraordinarily adaptable 

 companion. 



As to his origin, there is considerable 

 conflict of opinion, owing to the natural 

 difficulty of tracing him back to that period 

 when the dog-fancier, as he flourishes to-day, 

 was all imknown, and the \oluminous 



