644 MANUAL OF MODERN FARRIERY 



early puppies, five or six should be kept, and of the 

 later ones, not more than half that number. We, 

 however, beg to dissent from this conclusion, for the 

 reasons stated in a former paragraph. 



When the female has littered, and the puppies 

 have been cleaned by her tongue, it will be proper 

 to select such as are to be kept, while those that are 

 deemed superfluous should be immediately drowned. 

 In the chase a preference should be given to those 

 having a resemblance to dogs of the pack of established 

 worth, and possessing at the same time the strongest 

 make, as the smaller puppies are likely to turn out 

 weak. If a whole litter is wished to be preserved, and 

 if it is larger than can be nursed with ease and safety 

 by the dam, a few should be taken from her and given 

 to a foster mother. Sometimes, however, it is difficult 

 to get another bitch to nurse strange puppies. A 

 method, which has been successfully practised, is to 

 rub the puppies so selected with a little of the foster- 

 mother's milk, when, in general, she will carefully lick 

 them and adopt them as her own. 



While nursing, the bitches should be well fed with 

 flesh, broth, milk, porridge, etc., several times a day. 

 When puppies are a few weeks old, milk should be 

 offered them, and they will soon learn to lap it, which 

 will greatly relieve the dams. By the end of six weeks 

 they will be able to feed themselves, and may then be 

 removed from the nursing quarters. These observa- 

 tions apply to dogs generally. 



Many of the most experienced sportsmen, and also 

 writers on this subject, conceived that hounds may be 

 hunted while nursing ; but this is an opinion with 

 which no physiologist or medical man can concur ; 

 for violent exercise of any kind has a strong tendency 



