The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1899-03-16
SHEEP DOGS.
THESE CANINE WONDERS CAME FROM
NEW ZEALAND

THESE CANINE WONDERS CAME FROM
NEW ZEALAND
Batch of Stories. Illustrating the
Rare Intelligence and Faithfulness
of the Animals. Told ny Old
Time Colorado sheep Man.
1.-The most celebrated breed of shep-
herd dog ever known in the west. 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 1876. / had
several of their pups on my ranges and
could fill a volume with instances of
their rare intelligence and faithfulness
II remember one pup in particular
He was only six months old when he
was sent out one day to work on the
range. At night, when the herd was
brought up to the corrals, we saw at
once that a 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 900 were miss
ing. The pup was also missing.
"Well, all hands turned out for the
search We hunted all the night and all
IF the next day, and did not find the
lost sheep until along toward night
But there they We're. all herded in a
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 a hero. but was so badly af-
fected by hunger, exposure and thirst
and subsequent overlooking and petting
that he died not long afterward.
''This same pups mother was an es
pecially fine animal One night the
herder brought in his fiocks 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, hut made
when be went down to the corrals the
next morning he found the gate open
and the faithful dog standing guard
over the flocks. 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 he1
post all night, though suffering from
hunger and thirst
ION another occasion this same dog
was left to watch flock of sheep neal
the herder's cabin while the herder go,
his supper After the herder had eater
his supper he went out to where the
sheep were and told the dog to put the
sheep in the corral This she refused tt
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 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 81
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 bs
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 thai
there was something wrong at the
ranch Well we mounted our bronchO!
| and went over to the ranch, and very
| soon found out what the matter was
The new herder was simply a tramp
who as soon as he had got good feet
had lit out and left the sheep uncarei
for save by his more faithful compan
ion, the dog
Zone time we had tenderfoot com,
to work for us, and the boys had filled
him so full of hair raising stories tina
| he never went out on the range withou
expecting to be either eaten by bears o.
scalped by Indians One day he cam,
running to the house, all out of breath
declaring that he had seen a bear W.
laughed at him and sent him back t,
| the range
|
| again, more scared than ever. and sait
it was bear that time sure Well, w,
took our gums and a foxhound and wen
out. and, sure enough, over on hill
we saw a large black animal 1t WASH
bear. but we couldn't make out ex
actly what it was We sent the houn,
and the shepherd dog that was tendin,
the herd out ON it's trail. while we fol
lowed ON foot. The dogs chased the ami
NAL over he hill out of sight Soon tn
shepherd dog came trotting leisurel,
back and took her place with the her,
again Over in gulch we found tn
hound standing over dead animal
which upon examination we found t.
be a big black Mexican sheep Now
that shepherd dog, as soon rs she foun'
it was nothing but sheep, had giveI
| up the chase and returned to her flock
| She knew it was not game and of n
| account. while the hound had followe,
| the trail and killed the sheep Den
yer Post
Knew Her Business.