Editing Cur (section)

==English cur==
In [[England]], the cur, also called the drover's dog, was a distinct [[Dog breed|breed]] of [[dog]] used by cattle [[Droving|drovers]]; they are now extinct.{{r|Morris|Hancock2}} The cur was described by [[Ralph Beilby]] and [[Thomas Bewick]] in their 1790 work ''A general history of quadrupeds'', as well as by [[Sydenham Edwards]] in his 1800 ''Cynographia Britannica'', as dogs principally used by drovers to drive cattle.{{r|Morris|Bewick|Edwards}} Curs were described as heelers, nipping the heels of cattle to make them move and ducking below the subsequent kick. They were said to be common in England, particularly the [[North of England]], but were virtually unknown in the rest of the United Kingdom.{{r|Morris|Bewick|Edwards}}

The cur was described as being larger, stronger and longer legged than shepherds' [[collie]]s with shorter and smoother coats; in colour they were generally black, [[brindle]]d, or {{linktext|grizzled}} with a white neck and legs and occasionally a white face, they had some feathering on their legs and [[Prick ear|half-pricked ears]].{{r|Morris|Bewick|Edwards}} A defining characteristic of the cur was that many were born with short, stumpy tails, which gave the appearance of their having been [[Docking (animal)|docked]].{{r|Morris|Bewick|Edwards}} Edwards described the breed's ancestry as likely a mixture of collie, [[lurcher]], [[English mastiff]], or [[Great Dane]].{{r|Edwards}} Their character was described as cunning, clever, ever busy and restless; it was said they could differentiate their master's cattle from those of strangers, and they would separate the strange cattle from their master's herds.{{r|Morris|Bewick|Edwards}}

Although it is uncertain when or why the breed became extinct, it likely disappeared in the mid-19th century.{{r|Morris}} Some modern writers believe it was the cur, not the collie, that was crossed with the [[dingo]] to create the now-extinct [[Halls Heeler]] in Australia. This would make the cur an ancestor of both the [[Australian cattle dog]] and the [[Australian stumpy tail cattle dog]], the latter inheriting the cur's bobtail.{{r|Horter|Lee}}