THE COLLIE. 



179 



Of late years the collie has descended into the South, and 

 fairly taken us by storm, being used, however, chiefly as a com- 

 panionable dog, though on many farms his proper, vocation is 

 allotted to him. An attempt has been made to meet the fashion- 

 able demand for a pretty colour by crossing him with the black and 

 tan setter, and this cross has taken the fancy of those who require an 

 ornamental rather than a useful dog, but it has completely de- 

 stroyed the main features of the breed for which he was prized. 

 Instead of a thick woolly coat with a very close undergrowth, it 

 has given the shining but open hair of the setter, letting in the 

 wet, so that the dog would be utterly useless on a Scotch hill. 

 Instead of the bare legs of the true breed, which, even if wet, do 

 not hold it in any quantity, the legs are feathered like a setter's, 

 and would speedily be fringed with icicles if folding sheep in a 

 white frost. The cross, however, answers the purpose for which it 

 was intended by filling the pockets of the breeders with Southern 

 gold, and is perfectly suited to Eotten Eow or an undergraduate's 

 room at Oxford or Cambridga My purpose, however, is to de- 

 scribe the collie as a sheep-dog, and, regarded from this point of 

 view, there must be neither a setter's coat nor setter's feather. 



Points of the rough collie : — 



Head, 



Muzzle, 



Ears and eyes, 



Shoulders, . 



Chest, 



Loin, 



Legs, 





VALUE 



Feet, . 



. 10 



Coat, . 



■ 15 



Colour, 



10 



Tail, . 



S 



Symmetry, . 



5 



Total, 



The head should be fox-like in shape, that is to say, widest at 

 the ears and tapering rapidly to the nose. This causes the eyes 

 to be nearer together than in most dogs, the formation being seen 



