Every shepherd has his own peculiar specific, which he believes to be the only certain remedy.
Tar is used in the sheepfold, just as it used to be when sweet Dowsabell went forth to gather honeysuckle and lady's-smock nearly three centuries since.

For the shepherd with whom she fell in love carried His tar-boxe on his broad belt hong.
So, too, He leared his sheepe as he him list When he would whistle in his fist; and the shepherd still guides and encourages his sheep by whistling.
Hilary said that years ago the dogs kept at farmhouses in that district did not seem of such good breeds, nor were there so many varieties as at present.

They were mostly sheep-dogs, or mongrels of the sheep-dog cast; for little attention was paid to breed.

Dogs of this kind, with shaggy black coats and stump tails, could be found at most farms, and were often of a savage disposition; so much so that it was occasionally necessary to break their teeth that they might not injure the sheep.

From his description the dogs at the present day must be far superior; indeed, there seems to have been no variety of dog and no purity of breed at that time (in that neighbourhood); meaning, of course, outside the gamekeeper's kennels, or the hounds used for hunting.