Inventor/printmaker Lee Sturges (1865-1954) is best known for his landscape prints. He used drypoint to create this composition, incising directly on the copper plate with a needle and not using any acid to further bite the line, retaining the spontaneity of drawing. The line created by the ink of the "burr" helps emphasize the softness of the hair of the subject.
Sturges creates a "portrait" of this shepherd that does not portray its stoic nobility but more the dog that owners know, with its tongue hanging out, probably drooling, trying to cool off.