THE COLLIE DOG.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 115, 13 December 1879, Page 2

THE COLLIE DOG.

«. AmongHl all clnus thu collio is second Id noun, It is siiiil Kv some writers Unit ho in (Htttal to tlir Newfoundland itUoltigcni'O, but 1 consider him vastly suporinr; ami lie lets you SWi tliin* in the Kpurklo of his iiblinuo, oral'ty intelligent , eyes, which with his pointud nose and , half pricked cars, ami gonoml diameter of his head, remind uno Ktrongly of his forty-second cousin, thu fox, The true Scotch collie is gcuomllv admired by high and low, and nil' who know lam can npprociato his kindheartednow, nml colMequoutly lie has free adimWon to all part* uf the haunt. Judging by his gonoral appearance mu! would naturally come to thu conclusion that ho i.s closely llllioil tn tho Allstrolltui dingo, but th» collie's can , m , I nut so much pricked, ami the ~y,. j, lu f.

I ier; these, however, we nodilitfktions- | that would be brought about by eivi- ! ligation, indneed by dwelling with man. The same cause would- account I for the superior intelligence that ; s j engrafted on his original craftiness. ; Some Scotchmen affirm that the coli He," do;j is a descendant of the fox ; this may or may not be the ease, but wo must recollect that the dingo and tho fox are apparently first cousins, if we may judge by the likeness existing|bctween them. The name "collie," applied to these dogs, is said to bn of Celtic origin, ami referred, perhaps, to their being cattto or herd dogs. By-tUe-way, it may bo mentioned here that the word "collio " should not 1)0 pronounced with tho 0 short, jw is usually done out of Scotland hut with a long o as if tho word only contained one 1. In giviugjtho description or point-, of this Jog, I shall begin with that important part tho head, and the chief part of that as regards intelligence; is the brain-case. In the collio tho skull is not flat, nor too much raised, nor is it as narrow as it looks, but affords ample space for tho thinking material within. The muzzle is of a somewhat fox-like form, the nose' tappering to a narrow black cold) wot point ; mouth tho feerlfc of two jaws quite level, or those of the upper jaws slightly protruding over those of the under. . The eye moderate size, bright and dark hazel colour, placed slightly oblique, which gives an appearance of sharpness or Jceeness to the expression. The ears rather small, and should never hang downwards or forwards ; in fact it would be n prick oar wheu the animal is listening if it did not fall a. little over at the top. The chin clean and nicely cut: lips thin : no looseness of throat or dewlap, and ihe outline of the head, though not massive or powerful, is very elegant, and indicative of swiftness and sharpness. The neck is long and well arched, tho shoulders slope well backwards, and have a plentiful provision of muscle. The chest, though not wide, diep enough to give plenty of lung mom, thus supplying the necessary wind ' thout the breadth interfering with I Hon. The furc-arm strung, and t._ bow well let down ; pasterns haru and lung, and lendonous, and the whole iug quite straight. Stifles should be moderately well bent ; the hock low and plenty of muscle on the Hughs. Feet, well padded coles, and not spread out, btltcatlike. except in old age, wheu they spread . somewhat. The ribs should be well rninulreil, ami the back ones deep, otherwise tho animal is defective, lor speed and staying powers the loins should be strong umt muscular. In size the medium is to bo preferred, having say a height of about, ti or 2." inches at the shoulder. Length of head, about Hi inches ; and girth of the head below tlie ear, 14 inches ; giitk of nose below the eyes, eight iiivbws. The length of tho head to be taken from the occiput or must backward part to the very tip of the nose. Coat short, soft, close hair on the face, in fact it is a smooth face, but the hair lengthens suddenly and considerably on the neck, throat, and shoulders. It is massed upon the neck and shoulders, where it is called by fanciers the tnaino ; it bangs in quite aii apron over the chest, where it is known as the frill. The rest of the body is. covered with long, abundant hair, which parts in the centre, and tho tail is so plentifully supplied as to be bush v. Jiroech, well protected. Fore legs covered with smooth hair in front, moderately feathered behind; feather on tho hind legs and ends at tho hock ; all be- I low that his smooth. Such a cout urfords ample protection from tbe cold mid wet, i for if you separate the out hair you find a warm, wooly under growth. The- most favourite colours are the black and tans with little or no white, except perhaps a spot on the chest. Those with the white ring around tho neck are i much admired, and perhaps the prettier though from the whims of fashion, arc not just now so greatly fancied in Englainl. A well-bred collio carries his tail in ordinary circumstances, hung downward-, and sweeping backwards gracefully, but when excited he will carry it high above the level of his back. St. John, in his admirable " Skelebts of Highland Sports," says :--•• Generally speaking these Highland sheep-dogs do not chow much aptness in learning to do anything not connected in some way or other with sheep or cattle"; but in this respect other persons quite as 'capable 01 funning a judgment, and with equal if not superior opportunities for observations whereon to huso such a judgment, ■ dittcr entirely from him in this estimate of the collie. In fact he himself produces evidence against his own view in the • following anecdote which ho relates : for i be tell.- us a shepherd, to prove the quickness df Ins<l o j{ who was Iving before the lite in the honso, said, " I'm thinking the i cow is in the potatoes," laying no stress "n tlw words. "TUo dog, which uppoured to be asleep, iunnediutelv jumped ■ n(i, and leaping through tho open window, scrambled up the turf roof of tho house, , from which he could sco the potato Held ; he then, not wing thu cow, run into tlw byre where she win, uud Hading that all Wtu right, cauiu back to tlm house. After « short time the shepherd repeated the

worcfe, and the dog repeated his look-out; • \ but ou the false alarm being given the j ] third time tfes dog got up, and, vaggiug; t Ida toil, looked lus master in the face i i with so comical an expression of iuterro-1 ( gation thathß coukl not help laughing! (i aloud at him, on Which, with, a slight I t growl, he laid himself down in his warm I 'J corner with an olfended air, as if not to s be made a fool of again." j Dr. Gordon Stables in his splendid 1 article on the collie writes: " I was t much amused one day at the conduct of t a collie dog who was left in temporary '. charge of about 50 sheep. The sheep t where on a journey, and the shepherd ( had driven them into a field opposite a i a public bouse : ' Just hand them there i a few minutes, Collie,' he remarked to i dog, a wall-eyed grey animal, until I t wet my whistle.' When half an hour i elapsed, and no shepherd appeared, tho i dog got very impatient, changing tho 1 sheep from corner to corner of tho field, < aud making no end of fuss over them, i So an hour elapsed. '0 bother!' Col- I lie must have thought; ' he's had time ( enough to wet twenty whistles, so here i goes,' and Collie drove the sheep out • of the held, aud stationed them in a duster in the middle of tho road, right opposite the 'puhlic.house, looking all , the while eager eyed to the door. But even this hint was thrown away on the , drouthy Scot, and even this the dog's ' ' pretending that the sheep were getting very wild indeed, and wanted any amount of tongue and labour to keep them in order, didn't bring the shep- . heal out, so honest Collie started off homo with the sheep. 1 watched him . till he was quite out of sight, aud thought there the matter ended, but fully an hour afterwards back came Coliio with his fifty sheep, and this ' time the shepherd having ' wetted his whistle' till he couldn't walk straight, condescended to leave the house aud continue the journey. Cmery : In this case which was the noblest animal '(" Idstone, writing of the collie, relates u story about a dog " which, having ' his flock intercepted by the " toll-wife' jumped on her back, and crossed his forn-legs over her arms, uutil his charge had all passed through." This, however, is a rather tough morsel that requires to bo taken with a grain of salt. T.C. Jc.nu.