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Dogs and All about Them
·
Robert Leighton
76
The
dog
was
well
known
in
Scotland,
too,
under
the
title
of
the
Bearded
Collie,
for
there
is
little
doubt
that
this
last
is
merely
a
variant
of
the
breed.
He
differs,
in
point
of
fact,
chiefly
by
reason
of
possessing
a
tail,
the
amputation
of
which
is
a
recognised
custom
in
England.
With
regard
to
this
custom,
it
is
said
that
the
drovers
originated
it.
Their
dogs,
kept
for
working
purposes,
were
immune
from
taxation,
and
they
adopted
this
method
of
distinguishing
the
animals
thus
exempted.
It
has
been
argued,
by
disciples
of
the
Darwinian
theory
of
inherited
effects
from
continued
mutilations,
that
a
long
process
of
breeding
from
tailless
animals
has
resulted
in
producing
puppies
naturally
bob-tailed,
and
it
is
difficult,
on
any
other
hypothesis,
to
account
for
the
fact
that
many
puppies
are
so
born.
It
is
certainly
a
fact
that
one
or
two
natural
bob-tails
are
frequently
found
in
a
litter
of
which
the
remainder
are
duly
furnished
with
well-developed
tails.
From
careful
consideration
of
the
weight
of
evidence,
it
seems
unlikely
that
the
breed
was
originally
a
tailless
one,
but
the
modern
custom
undoubtedly
accentuates
its
picturesqueness
by
bringing
into
special
prominence
the
rounded
shaggy
quarters
and
the
characteristic
bear-like
gait
which
distinguish
the
Old
English
Sheepdog.
Somewhere
about
the
'sixties
there
would
appear
to
have
been
a
revival
of
interest
in
the
bob-tail's
welfare,
and
attempts
were
made
to
bring
him
into
prominence.
In
1873
his
admirers
succeeded
in
obtaining
for
him
a
separate
classification
at
a
recognised
show,
and
at
the
Curzon
Hall,
at
Birmingham,
in
that
year
three
temerarious
competitors
appeared
to
undergo
the
ordeal
of
expert
judgment.
It
was
an
unpromising
beginning,
for
Mr.
M.
B.
Wynn,
who
officiated
found
their
quality
so
inferior
that
he
contented
himself
with
awarding
a
second
prize.
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