he body is long and set low, on stout, short legs, which end in
long-shaped, feathered feet. The tail is a substantial brush,
beautifully carried, and the coat is long and inclined to silkiness,
with a considerable neck-frill. The usual weight is from six to ten
pounds, the dog being of smaller size than the bitch. The prettiest
are all white, or white with rich sable markings, but many are black
and tan or all black. The head is short and the face not so aquiline
as that of the large Collie. The eyes are well proportioned to the
size of the head, and have a singularly soft round brightness,
reminding one of the eye of a woodcock or a snipe.

The Shetlanders use them with the sheep, and they are excellent little
workers, intelligent and very active, and as hardy as terriers. Dog
lovers in search of novelty might do worse than take up this
attractive and certainly genuine breed.

CHAPTER XLIX

PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT

Many people are deterred from keeping dogs by the belief that the
hobby is expensive and that it entails a profitless amount of trouble
and anxiety; but to the true dog-lover the anxiety and trouble are far
outbalanced by the pleasures of possession, and as to the expense,
that is a matter which can be regulated at will. A luxuriously
appointed kennel of valuable dogs, who are pampered into sickness,
may, indeed, become a serious drain upon the owner's banking account,
but if managed on business principles the occupation is capable of
yielding a very respectable income. One does not wish to see
dog-keeping turned into a profession, and there seems to be something
mean in making money by our pets; but the process of drafting is
necessary when the kennel is overstocked, and buying and selling are
among the interesting accessories of the game, second only to the
pleasurable excitement of submitting one's favourites to the judgment
of the show-ring. The delights of breeding and rearing should be their
own reward, as they usually are, yet something more than mere
pin-money can be made by the alert amateur who possesses a kennel of
acknowledged merit, and who knows how to turn it to account. A
champion ought easily to earn his own living: some are a source of
handsome revenue.

Occasionally one hears of very high prices being paid for dogs
acknowledged to be perfect specimens of their breed. For the St.
Bernard Sir Belvidere sixteen hundred pounds were offered. Plinlimmon
was sold for a thousand, the