Year: 1877

The sagacity of Sheep Dogs.


! The London Standard of June 80 ha
the following :--"It has occurred 10 tn,
Kennel Club, body of gentlemen wht
are interested in the improvement of dogs
Of all breeds, that the collie trials which
had proved 50 successful in Wales might
be carried on little nearer the metropolis
and they therefore organized meeting in
the Alexandra Park, which commenced
yesterday and will be concluded to-day.
The mode 10 which the trials are conduct
ed is as follows: A flock Of Welsh weth-
ers one hundred in number have been
brought up to the park, and were penned
near the grand stand on the race course.
From this flock three animals were taken
at hazard, and conveyed to the side of the
hill on which the palace stands and set at
liberty. On the circular cricket ground,
some half mile TO the west, a triangular
pen of hurdles, with an opening in the
base, formed a sort of station, about which
are grouped the judges and officials Of
the show, and from which the shepherd
with the dog that was about to be tested
took his departure. The man aud dog
walked together along the race-course un-
til the sheep were sighted, when he gave
a sign or a word to his four-footed com
panion. and the intelligent brute at once
started of at gallop and sought first to
drive the sheep down the hill toward his
master. When he had succeeded in doing
this, the man walked toward the pen, and
the dog drove the sheep after him until
they were near enough to operate in get
ting the sheep inside. Twenty minutes
was the maximum time allowed, the prizes
being won by those who succeeded 10 pen
ming their sheep in the shortest time, while
those which failed TO pen within the allot-
ted time were disqualified. 1t was not
difficult to discover that dogs and sheep
were working under great disadvantages,
and animals which have no doubt we'll
deserved reputation on their own hills
failed to distinguish themselves under to-
tally novel conditions, though enough was
demonstrated to make it apparent that
these collie trials are likely to become
very interesting annual performance.
Though space Of ground was marked off
by ropes and stakes, which were respected
by the spectators, the sheep felt under no
restrictions, and the poor collie, therefore,
that had been used to the clear view of
the Welsh hillside, with no human being
but his master within miles of him, had to
dodge his charges among visitors aud
round plantations, which frequently hid
them altogether The sheep were many
Of them very wild and ran ike deer, their
disincliDatiou to proceed in the direction
of the pen being increased from the main
flock being in full view, and thus stimu-
lating the natural ovine tendency to re-
join companions. In several cases, on the
dog nearing the three sheep, the nimble
and independent wethers scattered and
Galloped in different directions out of sight,
when the collie, after an honest attempt to
bring them together, seemed to conclude
that it was hopeless to complete the task
10 twenty minutes, so he philosophically
dropped it altogher and trotted back to his
master. Some Of the triads of wethers
behaved in O manner more in accordance
with the gregarious traditions of their
race; aud when in addition to hanging to-
gether they happened to start in the right
direction down hill, the first portion of
the dogs work was easily and speedily
done. The marvellous sagacity of the
breed was seen when the Sleeps we're near
the pen and the dog had to overcome their
natural disinclination to enter Not only
did the animal in this position obey every
sign and word of his master, but he would
exercise what might almost be called his
own reason and discretion in the mode of
carrying out his masters wishes in fash
ion that was astonishing. Success, how
ever, depended altogether on the behavior
Of the three particular sheep. The famous
dog named Handy, which won the champ
ion prize two years running in Wales, was
very unfortunate in this respect. He
succeeded in getting them to tho pen in
splendid style, but nothing could induce
the brutes to enter. They broke away
score of times, and, after display of abil-
ity worthy of his high reputation, poor
Handy failed to accomplish the task within
the twenty minutes. The most successful
performance was that by slut named
Maddie, belonging to Mr.. John Thomas,
Of Bala. Favored by tractable wethers
she succeeded in little over four minutes.
A famous dog named Boy did the work in
seven and half minutes. Another called
Laddie took nine minutes, and two others,
Pentre and Tweed, twelve minutes each.
There were nineteen entries for the All
Aged Stakes, and these were tested. Mr..
Lownds's Laddie perhaps showed the
highest training, by the way in which he
followed every motion of his shepherds
hand; now circling around, now creeping
nearer and nearer to the flock, and then
sitting on his launches until the signal to
move again was given. The man who
worked the dog has not seen him for twelve
months. But the triumph in point of
quickness was reserved for Mr. Jones
young dog, Boy, who brought his charge
TO their pen in seven minutes aud half
Mr.. Thomas's Maddie also penned his
sheep very well. 1t is curious that all
these were Welsh dogs belonging to Welsh
grazers, but then the great home of collies
---Scotland-was not represented. The
English dogs nearly all managed to let
their sheep wander in freedom over the
hills and far away, but Mr.. j. Gleudinny's
Tool got his lot together very well, aud
penued them cleverly."


Canine sagaoity.