Dam mid Puppies. 35 



piece of carpet the size of the box Is firmly 

 tacked down, and the couch is placed in the 

 corner of a box stall, or some quiet place, 

 where she will not be disturbed. Many use 

 a bed of straw, shavings or sawdust, but 

 these are all objectionable. Sawdust is 

 especially so, as the particles are very 

 annoying to the mother and are positively 

 dangerous to her offspring, as fragments of 

 the material will adhere to the teats of the 

 dam, and thus get into the puppies' mouths 

 and are swallowed, causing irritation and 

 sometimes death. 



There is also great objection to anything 

 for a bed that will allow a hollow to be 

 made; as the puppies will, of course, lie at 

 the bottom of the depression, and, unless 

 the dam Is very careful, she will overlay 

 and sometimes smother them — an accident 

 which very rarely happens when the bed is 

 hard and level. Occasionally, when the 

 dam is heedless, a puppy will get squeezed 

 between her and the sides of the box ; but 



