DOGS IN GENERAL—WATCH DOGS—THE SHEPHERD’S DOG.  
Among all the animals the dog seems pre?minently intended by nature for the companion and friend of man. Even the instinctive passions all animals have for their own kind appear to be in a measure sacrificed to human influence, for the dogs often care more for the society of man than for that of their own kind. Not only is the dog a trusty and valuable friend and associate of man, but the companionship between the human and the canine races developes in the latter many of those noble qualities not possessed under other circumstances. The Turks look upon the dog with abhorrence, and almost universally in the East he is an outcast from human society. The consequence is that all his good qualities are lost; he is no longer the faithful companion, ready to defend his master with his life, but on the contrary, he is deceitful, bloodthirsty, and as unlike the more favored dog of other countries as it is possible to imagine.
WATCH DOGS.
 
Many kinds of dogs are used as watch dogs, and where all that is required of them is a notification of nightly intruders, and the awakening of the household, perhaps the species used is of comparatively little consequence. Where the dog is intended to act as a defender as well as a sentinel, strength and courage are important requisites. With many the bull dog is a favorite for this purpose. Though the least intelligent of his species his unflinching and unconquerable courage renders him a terrible opponent. So utterly without intellect is his courage, however, that no consideration of his foe’s powers deters him from attacking the most formidable thing that gives offense. Striking examples of this quality are displayed in England in what are termed “bull baits,” exhibitions whose cruelty and brutality are scarcely excelled in the customs of any other country. In these bull baits the dog, while fastened to the nose of some unfortunate bull, has had one leg after another cut off with a knife to test his courage. So persistent is the dog in maintaining his hold that the most frightful mutilation will not compel him to relinquish it until his strength is exhausted from loss of blood; he has been known to die from this inhuman hacking with his death grip firmly holding the bull.
Probably the best watch dog is the mastiff. Capable of 69great attachment to his master, he unites strength with intelligence, and, while implacable toward intruders, toward members of his master’s family he is docile and gentle. His hearing is remarkably acute, for he can detect the difference between a familiar and a strange footstep, however light it may be.
THE SHEPHERD’S DOG.
 
The rapid increase in the importance of sheep husbandry in this country will soon direct attention to the value of proper dogs for assisting in their management and protection. There are several different breeds used for this purpose, varying in different countries with their several local requirements. In Spain the Pyrenean, or St. Bernard’s dogs, are found valuable to accompany the large merino flocks on their annual migrations to the mountains, as a protection against the wolves infesting the Pyrenees. In Spain, too, the mastiff is highly prized, an improved, large breed, with strong feet, short hair and slightly pointed nose, being much in use.
A gentleman of Delaware gave, some years ago, the following account of a shepherd’s dog of the Spanish breed in his possession:
“The dog is three times as large as the shepherd’s dog described by Buffon, but is endowed with the same good qualities: immense strength and great mildness in his usual deportment, though ferocious toward other dogs. I can say, without exaggeration, that at least twenty dogs have been killed in my barnyard, or on my farm, by my dog Montague. His dimensions are three feet eleven inches from his eyes to the root of his tail, and two feet eight inches high over the shoulders. He is a fine animal, entirely white. I prefer that color in recollection of the story of old Jacob. In fact, I had formerly a black dog, and many of my lambs were born black. Since I have had Montague and his mother I have very few black lambs. The natural instinct of this animal is to guard your sheep against wolves and dogs. No other training is required, but to keep them constantly with your flock, the moment they are from the litter, until they are grown.”
What is commonly known as the shepherd’s dog is a smaller breed, seldom more than two feet high. Those in France are usually black with white touches on breast, face, legs, etc.; with sharp head and nose, and with a countenance full of alertness and intelligence. In Great Britain, particularly in Scotland, the colors of the shepherd’s dog are more mixed with shades of red and brown; or black dogs with sharp ears, turning down at the tips. The Scotch breed, or colley, is a light and active one, 70probably the best adapted for those portions of our own country where there is no danger from wild animals. It is pretty extensively diffused in the United States and British America, and is very useful to the farmer, shepherd or drover.
 
SCOTCH COLLEY, OR SHEPHERD’S DOG.
The Mexican shepherd’s dog is doubtless a descendant of the Spanish ones introduced at the time of the conquest, and is a marvel of fidelity and intelligence. In training these dogs the method is to select from a multitude of pups a few of the healthiest and finest looking, and to put them to a sucking ewe, first depriving her of her own lamb. By force, as well as from a natural desire she has to be relieved of the contents of her udder, she soon learns to look upon the little interlopers with all the affection she would manifest for her own natural offspring. For the first few days the pups are kept in the hut, the ewe suckling them morning and evening only; but gradually, ............