THE COLLIE DOG

Manawatu Times, Volume 60, Issue 226, 25 September 1935, Page 12

THE COLLIE DOG

Origin of t-lie Breed

ITS VALUE IN FARMING

The Collie dbg is used as an assis-

at in the management of livestock ! ■. all kinds oil the farms of every part or tiie British Islands, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, and while its Aigin is difficult to trace, there is ; ,u doubt that the Collie, as we know ! .m, lias descended from a race of dogs .opt from time immemorial in the hills of Scotland to aid shepherds iu tending their Hocks. Hence we have the term “Scotch Collie. 1 ' commonly called a sheep dog. That great authority ou dogs, Air. Vere Shaw, says: “From the earliest period Collie dogs seem to have been accepted almost generally as among the most intelligent members of the great canine family, so much so, in fact, that their intelligence, combined as it has been with a faculty for dealing tenderly with the sheep, almost precludes the possibility of their having sprung, at a comparatively recent period, from the wolf, though this is an idea that is entertained by many whose opinions are entitled to respect. Such duties as a Collie is called upon to carry out, and especially tho conditions of difficulty under which lie very often has to work necessitate the possession of a great deal of intelligence, and it may conscientiously be added that it is seldom that the Collie is found wanting in that respect.

“Possibly his close associations with bis master may have developed his wain powers; but be this as it may, no observant human being who lias studied the breed can have failed to be impressed by the singularly intelligent expression of the Collie’s eyes. This characteristic of the variety is more apparent in the working than in the show dogs, but they all possess it.”

A big mistake is made by many when purchasing a dog to train and work among sheep, or even as a cattle dog, states an exchange. Breeding tells. Heredity transmits only wellfixed characters. Long continued linebreeding and even a little in-and-in breeding now and then, have fixed the instinctive abilities of the work Collie for successful labour in the flock. Similar breeding lias, as surely, bred the fashionable show-type Collie, in many instances at least, directly away from field-work utility and efficiency. And it is because people who have uot thought of that or been told so, buy city-bred and trained Collie pups, and then are disappointed in the result of their best efforts as dog trainers in tho field. All of the Collies that do the notable work at field and hill trials show the somewhat plebian or plain look, colour, shape and coat of the work-a-day Collie. That is the sort of Collie to buy.

Sheep Dog’s Sagacity

Some people maintain that the modern sheep dog is in many respects an improvement upon the old slice]) dog. It is doubtful whether, in the matter of brains and all-round intelligence, any improvement pan have been established, seeing that the dogs of the old Scotch gillies of 100 years ago were as nearly human as anything could be. Scores of anecdotes can be told of the intelligence of the shepherd’s dog; but as an instance of sagacity and maternal tenderness in the animal, the following well authenticated story will take some beating. In Octover, 1843, a shepherd had purchased at Falkirk for his master in Perthshire, four score of sheep. Having occasion to stop a day in town, and confident of the sagacity of his Collie, which was a female, lie committed the drove to her care, with orders to drive them home, a distance of about 17 miles. The poor animal, when a few miles on the road, dropped two whelps, but, faithful to her charge, she drove the sheep on a mile or two farther; then, allowing them to stop, returned for her pups, which she carried for two miles in advance of the sheep. Leaving her pups, the Collie again returned for the sheep, and drove them onward a few miles. This she continued to do, alternately carrying her own young ones and taking charge of the dock till she reached home. The manner of her acting on this trying occasion was afterwards gathered by the shepherd from various individuals who had observed these extraordinary proceedings of the dumb animal on the road. However, when the collie reached her home and delivered her charge it was found that the two pups were dead In this extremity the instinct of the poor brute was. if possible, yet more remarkable. She went immediately to a rabbit brae in the vicinity and dug out of the earth two young rabbits, whom she deposited on some straw in a barn, and continued to suckle them for some time until one ! of the farm servants unluckily let ; down a Til' above them and smothciei l—— i