They have been known for several successive days to travel more than 60 miles. They seldom miss their road, although they may be driven over one untrodden snowy plain, where they are occasionally unable to reach any place of shelter. When, however, night comes, they partake with their master of the scanty fare which the sledge will afford, and, crowding round, keep him warm and defend him from danger. If any of them fall victims to the hardships to which they are exposed, their master or their companions frequently feed on their remains, and their skins are converted into warm and comfortable dresses.
Captain Clarke thus describes the Lapland dog:
"We had a valuable companion in a dog belonging to one of the boatmen. It was of the true Lapland breed, and in all respects similar to a wolf, excepting the tail, which was bushy and curled like those of the Pomeranian race. This dog, swimming after the boat, if his master merely waved his hand, would cross the lake as often as he pleased, carrying half his body and the whole of his head and tail out of the water. Wherever he landed, he scoured all the long grass by the side of the lake in search of wild-fowl, and came back to us, bringing wild-ducks in his mouth to the boat, and then, having delivered his prey to his master, he would instantly set off again in search of more." [3]
But we pass on to another and more valuable species of the dog:
The origin of the sheep-dog is somewhat various; but the predominant breed is that of the intelligent and docile spaniel. Although it is now found in every civilized country in which the sheep is cultivated, ii is not coeval with the domestication of that animal. When the pastures were in a manner open to the first occupant, and every shepherd had a common property in them, it was not so necessary to restrain the wandering of the sheep, and the voice of the shepherd was usually sufficient to collect and to guide them. He preceded the flock, and they "followed him whithersoever he went." In process of time, however, man availed himself of the sagacity of the dog to diminish his own labour and fatigue, and this useful servitor became the guide and defender of the flock.
The sheep-dog possesses much of the same form and character in every country. The muzzle is sharp, the ears are short and erect, and the animal is covered, particularly about the neck, with thick and shaggy hair. He has usually two dew claws on each of the hind legs; not, however, as in the one claw of other dogs, having a jointed attachment to the limb, but merely connected by the skin and some slight cellular substance. These excrescences should be cut off when the dog is young. The tail is slightly turned upwards and long, and almost as bushy as that of a fox, even in that variety whose coat is almost smooth. He is of a black colour or black prevails, mixed with gray or brown.