. The dog book : a popular history of the dog, with practical information as to care and management of house, kennel, and exhibition dogs, and descriptions of all the important breeds . Dogs. CHAPTER XXIV The Bob-Tailed Sheep Dog. HERE is no evidence whatever that the bob-tailed sheep dog w^as known throughout England till quite a recent date, and we have shown in the preceding chapter that the old English sheep dog was the smooth, small mastiff or common dog of the farm. If there had been any knowledge regard- ing dogs of this shaggy kind the presumption is that in Mr. Aubrey Hop- wood's rece
. The dog book : a popular history of the dog, with practical information as to care and management of house, kennel, and exhibition dogs, and descriptions of all the important breeds . Dogs. CHAPTER XXIV The Bob-Tailed Sheep Dog. HERE is no evidence whatever that the bob-tailed sheep dog w^as known throughout England till quite a recent date, and we have shown in the preceding chapter that the old English sheep dog was the smooth, small mastiff or common dog of the farm. If there had been any knowledge regard- ing dogs of this shaggy kind the presumption is that in Mr. Aubrey Hop- wood's recent book on the breed it would have been forthcoming. That author begins with the statement that its origin lies buried in the mists of antiquity, whereas the dog has no antiquity. Not a single writer mentions it until we get to "Idstone" in 1872, and then as a dog found in a restricted part of England. He says he remembered it in Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hants, Dorset "and other ; This is his description: "There is one class of sheep dog which I always regard as the typical English sheep dog. I mean the blue, grizzled, rough-haired, large-limbed, surly, small-eared, small-eyed, leggy, bob-tailed ; Plenty of quotations can be made from old books in which the sheep dog is described, but the smooth dog's description is the only one that can be found. Mr. Hopwood twits Stonehenge for his description of the sheep dog, but if Mr. Hopwood had lived in Stonehenge's day he would have agreed with him, for that mongrel thing he described was all anyone knew of the breed about London. A wretched, miserable, bedraggled- coated dog, tagging after a drover armed with his gad. In the north of England he was absolutely unknown till quite recently. We were talking with Mr. Charles H. Mason a few days ago, and he asked us what we were going to say about the bob-tails. We frankly acknowledged that there was no finding any old history. "Well
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