694 THE AMERICAN BOOK OF THE DOG. 



an absolute essential to their diet, they do well if vegetable 

 food is added in a limited quantity. Here it is well to say 

 that there is a popular idea that by feeding dogs meat they 

 are made savage. The great majority of dog-owners and 

 breeders say that this is not true, and yet there is a grain 

 of truth in it. A diet largely made up of meat tends to 

 develop the animal in man, and bring out his coarser quali- 

 ties of mind. It really makes him peevish and exacting, if 

 not morose. So, too, with the dog; it really does tend to 

 make him savage, but not in the degree people generally 

 suppose, nor are its effects nearly as marked as on man. 

 If a dog is' naturally ferocious, his owner is quite sure to 

 keep him much of the time chained up, and as a direct 

 consequence of the restraint he is made much worse. Feed 

 largely on meat a dog which is humanely treated and 

 allowed much liberty, and such a diet will never injure his 

 ^/disposition, even in the slightest degree. 



A puppy should be fed four times a day until he is four 

 months old. From that period until the seventh month, 

 three meals a day will be sufficient; then, until a year old, 

 he need be given food only morning and night. The last 

 meal of the day should be the heaviest. While very young, 

 milk should be his principal food. Here is a diet-table for 

 a puppy of the large breed eight weeks old : First meal, 

 7 A. M., milk, warmed. Put into it one-half a dog-biscuit 

 which has been grated fine on a nutmeg grater; this should 

 be scalded before it is added to the milk, of which there 

 should be about a cupful. Second meal, 11 A. M., milk 

 alone. Third meal, 4 p. M., well-cooked oatmeal and milk. 

 Fourth and last meal of the day, from 9 to 9.30 P. M., beef- 

 tea and bread. To prepare this, put the meat, cut fine, into 

 a tin can, or vessel shaped like one. After water in suffi- 

 cient quantity about "a pint to the pound" has been 

 added, cover and put the can into a pan of water, and set it 

 away in a hot oven, there to cook slowly. Cut two or three 

 slices of stale white bread, and keep them in the oven until 

 brown. When the time of feeding comes, pour the beef 

 onto the bread and mash it up well. After doing this, add 



