Dogs in Railway Police Work.

The employment of dogs for assisting in policing some of the Home railway dock premises has for long been common. Now we hear of canine intelligence being utilised in another direction in the railway world, this time by the Great Western Railway. On certain of the South Wales tracks, sheep have a habit of straying, and to round up these trespassers, sheep dogs are allotted to the permanent-way staffs, and perform invaluable service. The dogs are trained to answer verbal commands from their masters, and also to understand and answer to whistles and hand-signals. In addition to driving sheep off the track, the dogs give warning to the permanent-way men of an approaching train, and will not leave the track until all the men are clear. The track sense of the animals is truly remarkable. If caught between the sets of rails while driving a sheep off the track, they calmly lie down in safety until the two trains have passed.