given a job, which allows them to burn off excessive energy. Work they excel at includes herding livestock, blood trailing or tracking, treeing game, running trap lines, and hunting wild hogs. Modern activities like agility that stress intelligence, passion, speed and nimbleness may be appropriate substitutes for traditional work. Herding instincts and trainability can be measured at noncompetitive herding tests. Lacys generally exhibit herding instincts and can be trained to compete in stock dog trials or hog bays. During recent years, Lacy dogs have also become recognized for their tracking skills, and are used to locate "lost" game animals. They are also used by United States trappers for save and chasing operations. Health Lacys are generally healthy dogs. Developed for generations to meet the requirements of ranchers and hunters, they are sturdy enough to withstand tough terrain, difficult working conditions, and both hot and cold weather by Texan standards. However, skin problems and food allergies can occur. Color dilution alopecia is very rare but has occurred in Lacys. History The Lacy dog was named after the Lacy brothers (Young Ewin "Ewin", Francis Marion "Frank", John Hiram "Harry," and George Lacy) who created the breed for work on their ranch, the Lacy Lans Ranch (as of 2022, a portion of the original ranch is still owned by descendants of the Lacy family but is now called the Shifflett Ranch). The Lacy family had moved from Kentucky to Texas in 1858, settling in Burnet County, Texas. The Blue Lacy dog was allegedly a mixture of Greyhound, an unnamed scent hound, and either coyote or gray wolf. Historical and geographical evidence points to the July Hound as the possible scent hound genetic factor, but there is no official documentation asserting this claim. They were bred to handle multiple tasks on the ranch, but especially the herding of free-range hogs (leading to the affectionate local sobriquet "Lacy hog dogs"). Texas House Concurrent Resolution No. 108 also mentions that scenthound may have been included in the breed's mix. The Lacy family who bred the Blue Lacy dog was the same family who donated the red (also known as pink) granite from their quarry on Granite Mountain (which was then located on the Lacy Lans Ranch and owned by the Lacy brother George, along with his business partners William H. Westfall and Nimrod L. Norton) to build the Texas State Capitol building in Austin, Texas. On