It seems strange that a dog endowed by nature with those qualities which the collie possesses should be so seldom used for the purposes for which he is intended. The collie stands to-day the most popular dog in America. In point of numbers he heads the list in eight out of ten of our bench shows. We have brought to this country almost all the great breeding stock of England and Scotland, so much so that American fanciers who have recently visited English kennels and English shows claim that high class dogs are much more rare than they are in America. Yet not one dog in a hundred is used on the farm—not one dog, in a hundred is used for the purpose for which he is best suited and for which nature fitted him. You cannot meet a man who has seen a Scotch collie on his native heath who cannot tell you stories by the hour of his sagacity, intelligence, faithfulness and won- erful usefulness. Yet in this country, with the best breeding stock at hand, with the greatest facilities for breeding the collie as he should be bred, we are entirely or nearly so, overlooking his claim for greatest usefulness.
The farmer to whom you would suggest that a good collie properly trained was worth two of his high bred colts, would likely laugh in your face. Yet the man who had seen the collie at his best would quickly endorse such a statement. The average farmer neither appreciates the dog’s value as a helper nor the money to be made in his raising. Collie puppies are easy to raise and will cost less to bring up to a selling age than any other stock in the farm and will bring a better return for the money invested.
Since the farmer will not come to the breeder, the breeder must go to the farmer and the state fair show is the best means of reaching him. If a sheep dog trial be added then, indeed, the farmer quickly appreciates the collie’s claim and breeders would soon have a demand which would puzzle them to cope with.
Let us hope that the day may soon arrive when a trained collie will he found on every farm and when the collie in America will not only stand above all other breeds because of his beauty and intelligence but also because of usefulness to man.
Related Images:
Be the first to comment