Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1899-03-09
FAMOUS SHEEP DOGS.
THESE CANINE WONDERS CAME FROM
NEW ZEALAND.

hatch of Stories, Illustrating the
Rare Intelligence and Faithfulness
of the Animals, Told by an Old
Time Colorado Sheep Man.
''The most celebrated breed of shep-
herd dog ever known in the west, y said
Jud Bristol, the old time sheep man OF
Fort Collins, Colo, "were those bred
from a pair of New Zealand dogs
brought to Colorado in 1915. l had
several of their pups on my ranges and
could fill volume with instances OF
their rare intelligence and faithfulness.
81 remember one pup in particular.
He was only six months old when he
was sent cut one day to work on the
range. At night, when the herd was
brought up to the corrals, we saw at
once that part of the herd was miss
ing. There were 1000 head in the
bunch when they went out in the
morning. but when we put them through
the shoot we found that goo were miss
ing. The pup was also missing
"Well, all hands turned out for the
search. We hunted all the night and all
of the next day, and did not find the
lost sheep until along toward night
But there they were, all herded in q
little draw, about five miles from home,
and there was the faithful dog standing
guard. The wolves were very plentiful
in those days, and the dog had actually
hidden the sheep from the animals in
the draw. The poor fellow was nearly
famished, as he had been for 36 hours
without food or water. From that day
he became hero, but was SO badly at
fected by hunger, exposure and thirst
and subsequent overlooking and pettlng
that he died not long afterward
'This same pups mother was an es-
pecially fine animal One night the
herder brought in his tiocks and hurried
TO his cabin to cook himself some sup
per, for he was more than usually hun
CRY. But he missed the dog, which usu-
ally followed him to the cabin Of an
evening to have her supper. The herder
thought rather strange of it, but made
no search for the dog that night But
when he went down to the corrals the
next morning he found the gate open
and the faithful dog standing guard
over the locks. The herder, in his haste
the night before, had forgotten to close
the gate, and the dog more faithful
than her master, had remained at her
post all night, though suffering from
hunger and thirst.
ION another occasion this same dog
was left to- watch flock Of sheep near
the herder,s cabin while the herder got
his supper. After the herder had eaten
his supper he went out to where the
sheep were and told the dog to put the
sheep in the corral. This she refused to
do. and although she had had no supper
she started off over the prairie as fast
as she could go. The herder put the
sheep in the corral and went to bed
About midnight he was awakened by
the loud barking Of a dog down by the
corrals. He got up, dressed himself and
went down to the corrals, and there
found the dog with band Of about 80
sheep. which had strayed off during the
previous day without the herder's
knowledge; but the poor dog knew it,
and also knew that they ought to be
corralled, and she did it
another good story of this same
dog: One day she was sent out with
new herder to an outlying ranch some
is miles distant That night she came
home, and by her actions told us that
there was something wrong at the
ranch Well, we mounted our bronch9s
and went over to the ranch, and very
soon found out what the matter was
The new herder was simply tramp,
who as soon as he had got a good feed
had lit out and left the sheep uncared
for save by his more faithful compan-
ion, the dog.
Zone time we had tenderfoot come
to work for Us, and the boys had filed
him SO full Of hair raising stories that
he never went out on the range without
expecting to be either eaten by bears or
scalped by Indians One day he came
running to the house, all out of breath,
declaring that he had seen bear. We
laughed at him and sent him back to
the range
ga few days afterward he came in
again, more scared than ever and said
it was bear that time sure Well, we
took our guns and a foxhound and went
out, and, sure enough, over on hill
we saw large black animal 1t wasn't
a bear, but we couldn't make out ex-
actly what it was. We sent the hound
and the shepherd dog that was tending
the herd out on its trail, while we fol-
lowed on foot. The dogs chased the ami
NAL over he hill out of sight. Soon the
shepherd dog came trotting leisurely
back and took her place with the herd
again. Over in gulch we found the
hound standing over dead animal,
which upon examination we found to
be big black Mexican sheep. Now,
that shepherd dog, as soon as she found
it was nothing but sheep, had given
up the chase and returned to her flock
She knew it was not game and of no
account, while the hound had followed
the trail and killed the sheep. Den
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