The Newtown bee., 1904-01-29
COLLIES FOR WORK.
J. s. MATHEW IN FIELD AND FANCY.

In reading the items in the recent
 issue of your paper in relation to work ing COllies l was much interested and pleased to see the subject receiving at UentiOn in this country In the North of England every year large numbers of people gather to witness the Collie trials, especially the sheep herders, be- ing connected as it is with their llvel1- hood. It calls forth the admiration of all who see 1t, for it Is d display not of brute force, nor of human powers, but of the intelligence of dogs. While horse racing calls for highly developed wind and muscle, kennel trials are ex- amples of speed, endurance and the natural instinct of the dogs: and hu- man sports, such as running, jumping and the like, need little more than strength. The dog trials require be- yOnd all of these high degree of req sOning power.
 So great is the competition at these trials that over 40 dogs are sometimes entered on the list, divided up into classes according to age and the certain radius of miles. Three wild sheep are used for each trial, and three fresh sheep for each dog, taken from a herd of over one thousand. The sheep are driven without the aid of a herdsman a certain distance marked out with flags into a triangular pen. In this country, sheep not being so plentiful, :, cattle could be substituted. The first Collie trial to be held in this country, so far as 1 know, will take place at the Newtown Fair, NewtOWn, Conn.,, Tues day, September 29, open for all dogs, with cash prizes and no entrance ice. These trials, which are so popular ln England, should receive attention here, and it is predicted that in the near fu- ture it will be one of the leading at fractions at our Fall fairs and Summer bench shows. Having had nearly 40 years experience training animals and dogs, 1 find the highly bred pedigreed Collies are more intelligent and make better drivers than common dogs, even when Collies are raised from kennels that afford no chance to develop their talents. These same CollieS show their natural instinct for working on stock when put to test.
 The old saying is Gan old dog learns no knew tricks" but 1 had an import ed bitch that knew nothing about driv- ing stock at three years old, yet after the first lesson it was surprising to see how fast was the progress she made. The bitch turned out the best ever o No6 OAAS y 0~-
 with six months teaching, who would go alone in the dark or daylight out of sight to any field on a seventy acre farm and bring the cattle to the barn carefully. It is said Collie should never be
 whipped. There seems to be a vast difference in them. Some of them, if spoken to unkindly, seem to almost break their hearts, while others will
 bear whipping and like their master
 better for it. Now, if the Collie fancl- CTS will take hold of this subject and have Collie trials connected with the
 shows, the Collie,as well as being one of
 the handsOmeSt and most intelligent
 breeds, can be given an opportunity to show it's usefulness and which will ren-
 der them more highly valued. The
 demand for Collies, we'll broken, is greater than can turn them out, and
 at present 1 have none to offer: How ever, will give S5 for first and S3 for
 second as special prize to the dogs win.
 ming at the first trial held in Connect icut, New York or Massachusetts after the Newtown trial. Bethel, | Conn.