WHENEVER a serious controversy occurs in relation to the general character of any breed of our domestic animals, or to any peculiarity said to exist in it, there is often strong reason to conclude that the arguments pro and con. are founded upon unsubstantial premises. It happens in canine matters, as in most others, that facts are sometimes invented to support a theory which has been previously evolved out of the author's inner consciousness, the theory itself owing its birth to a desire on the part of its inventor to explain the existence of some peculiarity connected with a bantling belonging to himself, either in the shape of an individual or a breed. For example, some years ago that good sportsman, the late Mr. Lang, introduced a strain of lemon and white pointers, which was taken up so successfully by Mr. Whitehouse that he gained nearly every prize in the medium-sized classes of our shows. Straightway several of those who have possessed themselves of one or two of the colour contended that it was in itself a proof of high breeding; but, I am happy to say, neither Mr. Lang nor Mr. Whitehouse was of that opinion, both of them resorting to a liver and white dog when they wanted a cross, and one of that colour happened to be the best at their command.

Time has shown the propriety of that decision, and good judges of the breed now accept either colour without scruple. In all breeds of dogs which are useful to man there are certain attributes which are essential to the full development of their powers in the right direction, and by these attributes it is easy to estimate any animal of the breed under consideration. Thus a greyhound must have a form calculated to develop high speed, and for distances averaging somewhat less than a mile. A foxhound should have speed also, but united with high powers of scent, and stamina sufficient to carry him at a speed somewhat less than that of the greyhound for ten times the above distance. Pointers and setters require a combination of these qualities in about the same proportions as the foxhound; while the fox terrier demands certain other qualities enabling him to dig his way to his prey underground, and "mark" him there without injuring him to any serious extent. All these dogs are exposed to the weather, but they do not stand about for hours in the cold and wet on a hill side, and the sheepdog is the only one of his kind, except the water spaniel and water retriever, whose trade renders it all important that the coat should be of a texture to resist the depressing influence of rain or melting snow when exposed to a strong wind.

Hence it follows that, in addition to speed, stamina, and intelligence which he requires in common with all the breeds I have named, the proper texture of his coat for facing bad weather is the first point which requires to be settled before we can estimate a specimen of the colley, and this attribute must be valued accordingly in the scale of points allotted to him. In the Irish water spaniel, whose coat is oily, and of a texture calculated absolutely to resist the entrance of water into it, even when immersed in that fluid, the legs are clothed with short curls down to the toes, and this point is of great importance to his resistance for a length of time of the effects of wet. But he is always actively employed, except when used for wildfowl shooting in a boat or in ambush, and even then he can protect himself from the wind. The colley, on the other hand, is often for hours doing little or nothing on a Scotch, Welsh, or north-country hill side after tramping through melting snow or wet heather, and in him legs covered with short hair are a sine qua non on the principle which is admitted to apply to the horse.

If that animal is at grass he must have a long winter coat in order to resist bad weather; but whenever he is to be worked and then exposed to the wind with his coat wet either from sweat or rain, he is far less likely to take cold if clipped than if his full coat is left on. Hence it follows that by the general consent of practical men a peculiar coat is required on the body of the colley which I shall presently describe, calculated to keep the whole animal warm, and especially on the neck and breast; and in addition they have decided that the legs must be clothed with short hair only, showing little or no feather as in the setter and land spaniel, nor even the short curls of the water spaniel. This is the main reason for the objections which are taken to the cross of the Gordon setter, which has been used with the hope of adding to the beauty of the colley; and from the "toy-dog" point of view no doubt it has that effect, imparting brilliancy and rich colour to the coat, but at the expense of its texture, and also feathering the legs, though this last alteration is of comparatively little importance.

The whole variety included under the term "sheepdogs" approaches more nearly than any other to the Dingo of Australia and the Pariah of India, which are the only wild dogs now in existence; but whether the former are derived from a wild breed and have become tame, or the latter are merely wild sheep dogs, I do not pretend to say. My own opinion is that we know nothing of the history of the dog sufficiently minute and reliable to identify the ancient breeds as compared with the modern, and that our knowledge only extends to the proof afforded by Roman remains that the greyhound and either the mastiff or bulldog, or a dog intermediate between the two, existed in old Rome; while Arrian describes only three varieties as known in Greece, viz.: the celeres, probably greyhounds; pugnaces mastiffs; and sagaces, answering either to our trick dogs or to dogs hunting by nose. But, leaving the history of the colley, we must now consider his present condition; and here experience has decided that he should either have a moderately long coat with a woolly undergrowth over the body, increased in length round the neck in the shape of what is called a "ruff" or "frill," and with very short hair on the legs below the elbows and hocks, or that he shall have a short hard coat over the whole body.

A very long coat is found to mat and hold the wet, so as to tire the dog, while the short coat is well suited to the lowland sheep, and is even found to answer in some hill countries. At all events, there is no doubt that many goods shepherds use, and have long done so, the short-coated colley; and he must therefore be accepted as typical of the true breed as well as the rough variety, and, except in coat, there is not much difference between them.