DOG LORE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 63, 28 October 1911, Page 8

DOG LORE.

> (By Liivcrack.) At the forthcoming Stratford Show, at winch Mr Paid Hunter, of Porangahau, has kindly consented to act as judge, classes have been provided for both sexes of the working collie. The East Hoad Sheep-dog Trial Club have v.ith their customary generosity donated a £1 Is special, and in all probability the Tarata Field Trial Club may do likewise. The townsman who knows the shepherd’s dog as he is to lie seen, 1 out of his true element, threading his way through Broadway where sheep are not, ban have small appreciation of his wisdom and his sterling worth. To know him properly, one needs to see him at work in the back country whore sheep abound, to watch him • adroitly rounding up his scattered charges on hilly land, gathering the wandering wethers into close order and riving' them before him in unbroken company to the fold, handling the stubborn pack in a narrow roadway, running lightly over the woolly floor to whisper a stern command in the ear of some patriarch of the flock; or holding them in a corner of a field immobile under the spell of his vigilant eye. It is a pleasure to watch him surmount tho difficult obstacles that lie in his path, in the shape of the subdued rnouarchs of tho forest that strew tho hillside and to note, when he is beyond •the sound of call or whistle, how eagerly ho watches for the semaphore signal given Inins master’s directing hand from .yonder eminence. Ho is at his host as a worker conscious of the responsibility reposed in him; a marvel of generalship; gentle, judicious, slow to anger, quick to action; tho priceless helpmeet of tho shepherd, of whom he is the business half, sharing ambitious, perils, sorrows, joys, sun and rain—-the most useful member of all tho tribe of dogs. Few dogs possess tho fertile, resourceful brain of the collie. Ho can he trained to perform the duties of other breeds. Ho makes an excellent sporting dog, and can bo. taught to do the work of the pointer and tho setter as well as that of the water spaniel and the retriever. Ho is clever at hunting, having an excellent nose, is a good vermin-killer, a most faithful watch, guard, and companion. I have seen many companies of performing dogs, and one of the very best of thorn was a collie. It is, however, as an assistant to the shepherd, the farmer, the butcher, and the drover that tho collie takes his most prominent place in everyday life. The shepherd on his daily rounds, travelling over miles of country, could not well accomplish his task without his collie’s skilful aid. One such dog, knowing what is expected of him, can do work wh icii would otherwise require tho combined efforts of a score of men. Right • here, 1 fearlessly wish to declare that tho greater part of our hack country—which is now valued at so many pounds—would not be worth as many sixpences were it not for tho hard working collie. It would require more hands to manage a flock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force them into the sheepyards, and drive them to markets than tho profits of the whole stock would be capable of maintaining. Picture the shepherd winding his way along tho narrow bridle track of the hillside, his dog busy all the time gathering v!n sheep from the distant gullies ' and scrub bringing them into’ sight from beyond intervening knolls and logs: consider the vast mileage that the dog covers in. Ins bounding pace, the diiiicult road be travels over rough timber, sharp rocks and swamps. The shepherd tramps miles, perhaps, but on a beaten track, while his collie,

taking a wider range, is compelled to gallop at high spaed in order finally to reach the hilltop, at the same time as Ids master and continue the industrious search on the farther side. It’s a hard day’s work for any dog: ithe hardest that the canine race is exI pacted to perform. Even on a flat country farm, whore the flocks are easily handled- and whore there aio no awkward jumps across dangerous chasms, there are still fig days for the dogs—the dipping, clipping, and docking days, when the paddocks near the homestead are white with thoii

bloatin°' crowds needing to be marshalled” for the collie well knows the trouble that will follow if one ol the iioet-tooted sheep should break away and, whether standing, or resting, ho never takes his watchful eye oil his charges. tattle is known with certainty of the origin of the collie, but judging by the shepherd s description of Ids _ dog’s_ parents when something is amiss v.nth the sheep, ho has sprung from low parentage, in all probability tlio wolr. it is to be regretted that pedigrees are commonly ignored among owners of the sheep-dog. Of course a good pedigree is of no immediate value to a bad working dog. 1 once heard an lush exhibitor say to a judge, “You have

not looked ;it my dog s pedigree. The judge examined the formidable document and nodded. “Yes,’ lie ieinarked; “and the next time you come to a show take my advice and uring the pedigree, but leave the dog at home.” Nevertheless, from a had worker of good descent many an efficient worker might ho produced by proper mating, and those of us skilled in the breeding of collies knew the importance of a well-considered process of selection from unsullied strains. Probably the most perfect working dog the world has yet soon was Kep, now dead, the property of T imes Scott, yntil recently of T'ronoy’oill, Scotland. I believe Mr Broad, if Douglas, has* a descendant of tins famous worker in his kennels. It is the custom of some shepherds when the day’s labour is over to tie then dogs to a log, under which the habit of‘the'animal is to burrow a hole for himself; heavy rain falls and the hole is soon filled with water, and tne dog has perforce to seat himself on top of the log until relieved from his uncomfortable position by his master in the mornin. 1 fervently beseech tnese owners of the hard-working collie to provide some better housing for thendoge, and I. fail to gee why they should not receive the same interest and care the ploughman bestows upon his horse.