The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-03-19
Old English Sheepdog

The Old English Sheepdog was a rare companion for people in the higher class of society in olden times, as his homely and rugged exterior placed his claim to artstocratic patronage beneath the other and coarser build than his cousins, the Scotch and Welsh Sheepdogs.
 The good face of this dog is intelligent and the animal is constantly looking for something to do in it's particular line of herding sheep or cattle. The skull is round and truncated. with coupling short and square. The chief feature of the breed, however, is the absence of tail, which is of the shortest possible dimen- sions. Several ancient writers have put forth the theory that constant docking of the tails, and then breeding crosses thus trimmed produced this short-tailed dog. but this appears incredible to me. If such was the case then English Bull Terriers would have been on the market with natural ears in the trimmed shape; Fox Terriers would be born with the stubby tail and French Poodles would ap- pear at birth with their heads and legs trimmed up ready for the show.
 An instance of this dogs intelligence is shown in recent photo I seen of a fine specimen, which was actually running across the backs of closely-packed flock of sheep, endeavoring to get in front of the drove so as to direct them down a lane leading off from the regular road way. Other instances are sighted where they will herd up flocks from the moun- tainside, gather them in the valley below and then lead them safely home to head quarters. And if any of the flock Jagged behind. the dog would lie down in front of the flock for a time, thus giving them time to rest. He would then pro- I1,... -I@x ', an occasional turn of the head to see if everything looked right. They seem very mechanical in theirszduties, and go about it like a workman would his duties
 | The original type of the Sheepdog is uncertain. The best early specimens were shown in Devon, England, where at~Exe- ter and other shows it appeared in fair numbers. The colors are black and white and grizzle, although the former is much more in vogue. It is breed that is not as well known among American fanciers as it should be, but, like all the canine family, is faithful to every line of duty.
 As to the origin of the breed, it is really not known The breed is supposed to be very old as the few prints and pictures that have seen of Sheepdogs of 100 years ago are very much like the living ones of today. The unusual true breeding to type is also an indication of antiquity.
 True to its name and history, this dog is used for herding sheep and cattle. But this is not it's only good qualities. It is watcher and a protector. and looks about the home place with the same keen eye as it does on the mountainside Its long, shaggy, waterproof coat, powerful hindquarters, great sagacity and extreme hardness and vigor especially fit it for trying life of shepherds dog.
 The scale of points in the show speci- mems is as follows: Head 5, eye 5. color 10, ears 5, body, loins and hindquarters 20 jaw 1O nose 5, teeth 5. legs 10, neck and shoulders 10. coat 15-total 100.
 The magnificent animal, whose likeness we reproduce on this page, is Champion Night Rider. owned by Kinnelon Kennels Butler. N. J. The owner of these ken nels, Morris Kinney. is secretary of the Old English Sheepdog club, and is an enthusiastic admirer of this breed. As the south is branching out more anc more in the live stock industry this rugged animal may find favor among us It adapts itself to most every eli mate MT. Kinney would be pleased to correspond with anybody interested in this useful dog