68 
The Shepherd or Police Dog 
But it is necessary that we do what training we 
can in order to keep up the breed as a working dog, 
and to further the mental development; if we can 
not produce the highly trained and efficient workers 
in the trials, we can at least train them in the 
simplier exercises and derive much personal pleasure 
from it. Dogs trained as guards and protectors have 
a value that is certainly a full compensation for the 
time spent in their schooling, and another use for 
which the dog should be generally adopted in this 
country is in the capacity of a sheep and cattle dog. 
There is no doubt that in the Shepherd, as well as 
the collies, there exists a strong hereditary instinct 
for the work connected with the care of stock and 
sheep. The countless generations of working dogs 
have left their impress upon the breed, and for this 
reason it is most amenable in this direction; there¬ 
fore an early association of the dog with sheep and 
cattle in itself works miracles in bringing out this 
latent instinct, and the greater part of the training 
of a herding dog is really self-training. The es¬ 
sential requirement of a herding dog is implicit 
obedience, and this can be done in the yard without 
the stock. He must come and go upon command 
and with an instantaneous response, for in driving 
the dog may become overzealous and stampede the 
herd or flock. Almost all dogs bark of their own 
accord when driving; if not, then it is well to teach 
him to speak by prompting him with offers of food, 
and with this preliminary lesson it will be an easy 
transition to the command when working with the 
flock. The dog at first must he worked on one side 
