THE OLD ENGLISH SHEEPDOG. 



115 



and it is difficult, on any other h\Tpothesis, 

 to account for the fact that many puppies are 

 so bom. It is certainly a fact that one or 

 two natural bob-tails are frequently found 

 in a litter of which the remainder are dul}- 

 furnished with well-developed tails. And 

 it is interesting to note that the proportion is 



in the bob-tail's welfare, and attempts were 

 made to bring him into prominence. In 

 1873 his admirers succeeded in obtaining 

 for him a separate classification at a recog- 

 nised show, and at the Curzon Hall, at 

 Birmingham, in that year three temerarious 

 competitors appeared to imdergo the ordeal 



GROUP OF MRS. PHILIP RUNCIMAN'S SHEEPDOGS. 



CH. BEAT THE BAND. CRESSWELL RAGS. CRESSWELL LASSIE. CRESSWELL SUNNY JIM. 



Photogarph by Jonts arj Son, StirtHon. 



much higher in some strains than in others, 

 and that a few stud dogs consistently sire 

 bob-tailed puppies in almost even,' litter. 



From careful corusideration of the weight 

 of e%-idence, it seems unlikely that the breed 

 was originally a tailless one, but the modem 

 custom undoubtedly accentuates its pic- 

 turesqueness by bringing into special prom- 

 inence the rounded shaggy quarters and 

 the characteristic bear-like gait which dis- 

 tinguish the Old English Sheepdog. 



Somewhere about the 'si.xties there would 

 appear to have been a re\-i\-al of interest 



of expert judgment. It was an impromising 

 beginning, for Mr. M. B. W\tui, who officiated 

 found their quahty so inferior that he con- 

 tented liimself with awarding a second prize. 



But from this small beginning important 

 results were to spring, and the Old Enghsh 

 Sheepdog has made great strides in popu- 

 larity since then. At Clerkenwell, in 1905, 

 the entries in his classes reached a total of 

 over one hundred, and there was no gain- 

 sa3'ing the quality. 



This satisfactorj' result is due in no small 

 measure to the initiative of the Old English 



