Public trials of working sheep dogs were first introduced by Mr. Lloyd
Price, of Rhiwlas, Bala, North Wales, in 1873. The object for which they
were originally instituted was to promote a better training of sheep
dogs amongst the Welsh farmers.
Strange as it may seem, though the mountainous districts of Wales have
been devoted from time immemorial almost exclusively to sheep rearing,
the old-time farmers took little trouble in the training of dogs to
collect and work their sheep. In fact, previous to the inauguration of
the competitions, the duties of the Welsh sheep dog were confined
principally to the task of hunting and chasing sheep back again up the
mountains whenever they strayed down to graze upon the more fertile
pastures in the valley which the farmers reserved for their cattle. This
was well enough so long as the sheep were roaming at will among their
native haunts and feeding grounds, but whenever it was necessary for the
farmer to gather his flock together the trouble began. The hardy little
animals are wild and timid creatures that are not easily induced to
leave their mountain home; moreover, when at liberty they are scattered
in small lots over immense tracts of country.
To gather sheep from the mountains with the aid of dogs alone was in
those days, with few exceptions, an utter impossibility, consequently as
many as ten or twelve men had to be employed to scour the mountains, and
even then many stragglers were inevitably left behind. Nowadays all that
is changed, one man can with the assistance of a good sheep dog do the
same work much more thoroughly and satisfactorily, and without hustling
or distressing the sheep themselves.
The systematic training of sheep dogs has indeed accomplished for the
sheep-rearing hill farmer almost as much in the way of labor-saving as
the adoption of agricultural machinery has done for the farmer who
cultivates the lowlands.
The sagacity displayed by a really good sheepdog gathering sheep upon a
mountain side, often a mile or more away from his master, must be seen
to be believed. When the farmer goes out to gather his flock for
shearing or other purposes, far away upon the bleak hillside, little
clusters of white spots are all that are to be seen. The farmer takes up
a position upon some point of vantage, gives a word or whistle or
instruction to his four-footed companion, and the dog bounds away in
response till he seems no more than a tiny moving speck occasionally
visible in the distance. Sharp and shrill the farmer’s whistle pierces
the keen mountain air, and ever and anon, as though by magic, the little
white dots begin to move and converge towards a common center. In
response to one signal the sound of the dog’s answering bark can be
heard; another signal and he drops as though shot, and is as silent as
the grave. In the dim distance a few small dots can be seen; they are
some stragglers that have been overlooked; a whistle galvanizes them
also into motion, but in the wrong direction; a moment later and they
are merged into one motionless white blot upon the dark mountain side.
The blot moves again, not quite in the desired direction; whistle
succeeds whistle in quick succession, and at each one the little moving
blot alters its course, zig-zagging this way and that, until it finally
becomes merged in the large white patch that marks the remainder of the
flock, which keeps on the move, drawing nearer and nearer until the
sheep take shape and can be seen coming down steadily with the dog
dodging in their rear, till they are rounded up and brought to a
standstill within reach of the farmer’s stick. Such a sight is common
today upon the Welsh mountain or in the Scottish Highlands, though it is
not given to every man to acquire perfect mastery over his animal; so
much depends upon both man and dog. A dog belonging to a man who takes
no interest, or has not the knack and patience necessary to teach him is
worse than useless. The dog often reflects to a great extent his
master’s character. An excitable, hasty-tempered man generally has a
headstrong, willful dog that is hard to control. Some dogs, born of a
long line of carefully-trained sheep dogs, take to working sheep as
ducks do to water; a savage, uncontrollable brute, whose only ambition
seems to be to worry and abuse the sheep, and there are hundreds of such
animals, is simply a hindrance and a source of trouble to its owner, as
anyone who is acquainted with sheep and their ways knows full well.
The sheep dog proper must above all things be gentle and patient with
its often cantankerous charges, yet firm and masterful enough to inspire
the timid sheep with sufficient sense of fear to cause them to move away
in another direction at its appearance and approach without creating
such a panic-stricken stampede. Such strains of dogs are scarce and
highly prized by their owners, though from the show bench fancier’s
point of view their often nondescript exterior cannot be classified into
those niceties of shape and color in which the judge of show dogs
delight. Many a sheep dog that would not attract a second glance from a
professional dog judge has won enough in money prizes to turn the whole
fraternity green with envy.
Such a dog is, for instance, Mr. J. Moses’ “Old Jem,” not beautiful to
look at, but of sterling quality, which has won for his master over
$1,000 in cash quite irrespective of the value of himself and his
progeny.
Sheepdog trials are now held in all parts of the British Empire, Canada,
New Zealand, Australia; in fact, wherever sheep are reared in any
quantity.
Perhaps one of the most favorable opportunities the general public has
of watching one of these absorbingly interesting spectacles is during
the well-known agricultural show held each year in Lord Rothchild’s
beautiful park at Tring, England. A description of an actual trial
witnessed by the writer in these ideal surroundings will give an idea of
the exciting nature of the tests and high standard of perfection to
which the numerous entries have to be trained before they can compete
with the remotest chance of success.
[Illustration:
_When “Penning,” the Man Is Allowed to Assist the Dog._
]
A portion of the vast park, some three-quarters of a mile long and about
half as wide, remote from the show ground where the exhibits are
localized, is divided off by a rope fence; this constitutes the course,
of which thousands can obtain a full and uninterrupted view. The
competitor takes up his stand near the center with his dog or dogs, for
there are prizes for two dogs working together as well as for single dog
trials. The number of sheep that have to be driven round the course is
three only; this small number greatly increases the difficulties of the
subsequent maneuvers. Fresh sheep are provided for each competitor,
usually those of the wild, hardy mountain variety.
At a given signal the animals are released from a cart that is out of
sight in a clump of trees on a hill some half a mile distant. The dog
must then locate the sheep, the master remaining in the center of the
course guiding and directing him by voice or whistle as he chooses. The
obstacles consist of, first, what is termed “a false fence”; that is to
say, two short lines of hurdles so placed as to leave a wide gap through
which the dog must drive the sheep; should he allow them to run round
the end of one of the lines instead of through the center, the sheep
must be driven back and another attempt made. The second obstacle is a
flag-post, round which the sheep must be driven in a circle before being
conducted through a V-shaped gap made with two hurdles.
If the dog has negotiated these obstacles successfully he will have
brought his charges to within about a hundred yards of his master.
Having been successful in bringing the sheep so far, a very different
task awaits both dog and master at the “Maltese Cross.” At this, and the
final “penning up” of the sheep, the master is permitted by the rules of
the trials, to assist his dog personally. The “Maltese Cross” consists
of two lanes intersecting at right angles, each passage being only just
sufficiently wide to permit the sheep to pass in single file. It must
not be imagined that the wild mountain sheep, terrified at their
unwonted surroundings and the presence of a strange dog, submit tamely
to being thus driven past alternative openings without strenuous efforts
to break away and bolt in whichever direction their erratic fancy
dictates. The master must be on the alert for these attempts, and be
quick and decisive in giving his dog instruction as to how to frustrate
these sudden rushes. It is upon the promptitude and correctness with
which the dog responds to the signals that success or failure depends.
It is at the cross that the innate perversity of the sheep’s nature
asserts itself, with the result that the first animal very frequently
turns down one or other of the cross lanes instead of going straight
through. When this occurs the other two naturally follow, and all three
must be induced to negotiate the passage again. Having driven the sheep
through straight in one direction, the dog and his master must then
bring them back and run them through the other lane at right angles to
the original course. Finally, the even more difficult task of “penning
up” awaits the competitors. The final pen is formed of four hurdles with
a space just sufficient to admit one sheep at a time left open. The
slightest over-anxiety on the part of the dog or his master is fatal at
this stage of the trial. The difficulty of exercising the necessary
self-restraint will be the more readily realized when one considers that
it is often a matter of working against time, as should a dog have been
a little slow or unfortunate in his previous maneuvers he is extremely
liable to exceed the time limit set for the competition, and thus lose
the points awarded for penning.
[Illustration:
_The Sheep Being Driven Through the Maltese Cross._
]
It cannot be laid down as an infallible rule that the best dog for
actual field work will always win a competition, so much relies on the
master and other incidental details which affect the judge’s decision.
The most important consideration from the competitor’s point of view is
the individuality of the three sheep which the dog is called upon to
work. Some, when released, are found to be extremely wild, and cause the
dog a lot of trouble by frantic efforts to escape. Others often adopt an
aggressive attitude towards the dog, and persist in facing round and
charging at him instead of allowing themselves to be driven. This type
of sheep is most exasperating, both to dog and man. Again, many dogs,
more especially young ones, are excitable by the applause of the
spectators.
To see sheep dogs work to perfection one should watch them, as the
writer has been privileged to do, being practiced and trained upon their
own home ground, where one can realize more fully the practical utility
of a well-trained dog and the amount of labor which he saves his owner.
The north of England and some parts of Scotland have always been noted
for good dogs, the original strain being a cross between the smooth
collie and the old Scotch bearded collie. These animals are naturally
hardy, fleet-footed and sagacious, and for real skill in working sheep
will hold their own against any dogs in the world.
One of the most prominent and successful trainers is Mr. J. Moses, of
Oswestry, who is manager of Lord Harlech’s Home Farm at Brogyntyn, and
the accompanying photographs show some of his famous dogs at work on the
farm. Mr. Moses is a great advocate of teaching a dog to work entirely
by whistle, instead of giving commands in ordinary language. The great
advantage of this system is that the dog can hear and recognize the
signals at a much greater distance, and when once accustomed to them is
much less liable to misinterpret his master’s meaning than is the case
when the command is given vocally. Many people seem to find a difficulty
in training their dogs to work by whistle, but if the system is started
at the commencement of a young dog’s training he will soon learn to
appreciate the distinctions of sounds and obey them more readily.
In order to demonstrate the perfect command that my friend had over the
actions of his dog, even at a great distance, for it must have been over
three-quarters of a mile, Mr. Moses made “Trim” execute a series of
maneuvers, instructing the dog to drive the sheep round a telegraph
post, in and out of two trees, take them back again to the original spot
in which they were first located, and finally drive them straight up to
within reach of his master’s stick. Each and every one of these
evolutions was carried out with such skill, intelligence and obedience
on the part of the dog that it seemed hard at first to realize that
“Trim” was actually obeying implicitly his master’s command, and not
just driving the sheep about for his own pleasure.
The maneuvering of sheep at a distance is a feature in sheepdog trials
for which more points than are now granted should be given, as it
demonstrates unmistakably the excellence of the training and also the
actual utility of a dog for field work. Many dogs are under perfect
control as long as they are within reach of their master’s stick, but
cannot be relied upon implicitly when far away; such a dog is obviously
improperly trained.
Patience and firmness are the keynotes of success in training a sheep
dog, though everything relies, in the first instance, upon the
suitability of the dog taken in hand, for good sheep dogs are born as
well as made, and a well-bred puppy will have a natural instinct for the
work, which will reveal itself at an early age.
In the next chapter will be found some useful hints on the training of
the working sheep dog.