already given, will enable those interested to know exactly the sort of animal required.

Sir Cavendish is a pigeon-blue and white dog, with a white collar and white blaze, 23 inches in height at the shoulder, 52lb. in weight, with very small flat ears, almost entirely buried in coat, which is long, thick, and shaggy, free from either straightness or curl. It is 11 inches long upon his loins and hind-quarter, whilst his face and legs are evenly and equally clothed with hair, the front of the legs carrying as much coat as the back part of the same. His tail is very short, natural stump, and when he "wags" it, he does so vertically, not horizontally, which his breeder says is a peculiarity he has looked for in vain in any other strain. His sire, Sir Caradoc, is well known as a pigeon-blue and white dog of large size, rather soft in coat, but showing remarkable character; both he and his son inheriting their beautiful colour and sheep-dog characteristics from old Dame Margery, who was also a "natural bob." Her strain is remarkable as most of the dogs and bitches bred therefrom possess double dewclaws upon one or both hind legs.

One other interesting fact remains to be told with regard to the way Dr. Ker hit off the pigeonblue colour. He had been breeding blue grizzle

with blue grizzle for several years, hoping to produce the coveted pigeon-blue, but to his chagrin the puppies came darker with each succeeding generation, and smaller likewise. The thought then struck him of Jockey to get the size back-never dreaming about colour. Jockey was then mated to Dame Margery, and she bred two dog puppies at fourteen years old. One of these was of the long-coveted colour-he became Sir Caradoc; whilst the other was nearly white, with blue ears and a tan cheek.

A great portion of the above was printed in my book on the collie, but since it was published a couple of years ago, few really good specimens of the old English sheep-dog have appeared on the show bench; nor has the character or style of the dog been altered. The best of these have been Mr. Weager's Wall-eyed Bob and Brave Tory, Messrs. Birch's Invincible, Dr. Ker's Dame Caven- . dish, Mr. A. H. Megson's Sir Tatton, Mr. Freegard's Mayor of Newport, and Dr. McGill's Watchboy (one of the finest dogs I ever saw of the kind, some think him too big). Mr. T. E. Rees, Cardiff; Mr. R. Abbot, Norfolk; Mr. D. P. Thomas, Pontypridd ; Mr. Freeman Lloyd, London; Mr. J. Thomas, London; Mr. A. C. Jackson, Bath, have also from time to time exhibited excellent specimens of the old English sheep dog.

Disqualifications: soft, curly, poodle-like coat, black and tan and brindled colours.

The special club to promote the interests of the old-fashioned English bob-tailed sheep dog was established in 1888, and, not to be behind similar institutions, forthwith compiled a list of rules, and submitted the following description of the dog as he ought to be, with the scale of points by which he is to be judged. How far they coincide with what Dr. Ker has contributed, and what I have written, will, no doubt, be observed by those who trouble themselves to peruse this chapter.

The description and points of the "Old English Sheep Dog," as adopted by the club, of which Dr. Edwardes-Ker, Woodbridge, Suffolk, is the secretary, are as follows:

Skull.-Capacious and rather squarely formed, giving plenty of room for brain power. The parts over the eyes should be well arched, and the whole well covered with hair as defined in "coat."

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Faw. Should be fairly long and square. The stop" should be defined, but not to a great

extent.

Eyes.-These, of course, vary in different colours of dogs. In the dark blue shades they should be dark brown. In the lighter colours they will be found to follow them, and become paler in shade, while where white predominates, a wall or marble be considered very typical. eye may Nose. Always black in colour, fairly large and capacious.

Teeth. Strong and firm, and should be evenly placed in the jaw. Working dogs often have their incisors broken off. This is in no way detrimental.

Ears.-Medium sized and carried close to the head, coated with hair of a moderate length.

Legs. The fore - legs should be straight and

possess plenty of bone. They should remove the body a medium height off the ground, without approaching legginess. They should be well-coated all round.

Feet. Moderately large; round; toes well arched and pads capacious and hard.

Tail. This is a most important point in the Old English sheep dog. Without a doubt many dogs are bred without the slightest approach to a caudal appendage, while, on the other hand, some in the litters will be found with half, three-quarters, and whole length tails. The breeding of those without tails should be encouraged and persevered with, and be given preference to in judging, providing the dogs are good elsewhere. A tail of any length takes away the appearance and the corkiness of the dog. A docked dog can generally be detected by the bluntness at the end of stump.

Neck and Shoulders. The neck should be fairly long, arched and graceful, and well coated with hair. The shoulders should be set on slopingly, and the dog generally be found to stand lower at the shoulders than on his hind quarters.

Body.-Rather short and very compact. The ribs should be well sprung, and brisket deep and capacious. The loin should be very stout, and