THE ENGLISH BLOODHOUND. 255 



Within the last two years, we have imported, bred, and 

 sold over seventy Bloodhounds in America, and have ex- 

 hibited a kennel of them at our principal shows during 

 that time. They have gone to California, Mexico, and 

 Texas, and in the East have been taken principally by 

 ladies as companions, and have become a fashionable house- 

 hold dog. 



To be a successful breeder means more than the rearing 

 of many dogs. There would have been no Maud S. , Sunol, 

 or Axtell had their breeders followed the hap -hazard style 

 of mating practiced by many dog fanciers. There is as 

 much science in the production of a high-class dog as in the 

 breeding of a great trotter. Strains properly united pro- 

 duce champions as well as great trotters. The rearing of 

 healthy puppies depends largely upon the sire and dam, 

 both before and after breeding. Their age, hereditary con- 

 stitutions, and the frequency of breeding of the dam must 

 all be looked to in order to obtain the best results. Once a 

 year is as often as any bitch should be bred. 



My aim is to keep my dogs in the most perfect show 

 condition at all times more particularly my stud dogs and 

 breeding bitches. They have their morning lesson on the 

 trail, for an hour or so, besides a large yard connected with 

 their kennels supplied with running water. They are well 

 groomed every day, and the kennels are kept clean at all 

 times. 



After the bitch has been bred, I make no change in her 

 treatment for a month or so; then I begin gradually to 

 reduce the amount of her exercise, and to feed more liber- 

 ally, with a greater variety of food. I probably feed more 

 meat at all times than most breeders. The bitch is trans- 

 ferred to her temporary whelping quarters long enough 

 before the time she is to whelp to have her feel at home 

 there. I have ^her keeper, or someone whom she is famil- 

 iar with, remain with her while whelping, in order that he 

 may render her or her puppies any assistance necessary. 



Most bitches are very sensitive at this period, and must 



