598 BRITISH DOGS 



returned to the mother, until she is again unable or too busy to 

 attend to them. Finally, when all are born, they must have a clean, 

 warm bed, and the mother be well fed with warm gruel and milk. 

 If she is a good mother, she will soon be settled with her family 

 comfortably nestled up to her, after which she will sleep for a 

 considerable time. A little watching is necessary to see that a stray 

 pup is not laid upon, and that they all suck properly ; sometimes 

 weak puppies require to be prompted, especially if the mother is 

 young and inexperienced. 



When three weeks old the puppies may be taught to lap, 

 commencing with a little warm, slightly sweetened milk and water, 

 given two or three times a day, the mother being gradually ac- 

 customed to leave them for longer intervals. After a month has 

 passed, the puppies may be fed on Mellin's or Ridge's Food, and when 

 six weeks old they may be quite weaned, and will readily eat 

 bread and milk, soaked biscuits, etc. ; should they require a special 

 food, a hard-boiled egg chopped fine with breadcrumbs is excellent. 

 Some care and discretion is necessary in weaning puppies ; but 

 perhaps the greatest danger to them is worms, which cause many 

 deaths. We advise that every puppy, when five or six weeks old, 

 should be treated for this with medicine which is effective without 

 being injurious; but at such a tender age great care is necessary 

 in the selection of remedies. Docking the tails of puppies to the 

 length of from 3|in. to 4in. should be done within a fortnight 

 of birth. 



In the selection of a puppy for show purposes it is best to 

 choose that with the largest head. The muzzle should be broad 

 and much inclined to turn up at the end. With puppies the nose 

 always appears longer than when full grown, because the frontal 

 and cranial development matures as they grow older, and causes 

 a shortening of the face. The puppy with the softest nose develops 

 the shortest face. This may be easily determined by gently pressing 

 the nose with the thumb, when it will yield backwards ; the harder 

 nosed ones offer more resistance to pressure. The markings are 

 the next consideration : these should be determined according to 

 the standard of points and general remarks already given. The 

 largest and darkest eyes, set wide apart, usually grow into the 

 shortest faces, and the best show dogs. If required for breeding 

 purposes, the largest and strongest puppies should be selected, and, 

 if well bred, the markings are of less importance than in those 

 selected for the show-ring. 



When all the difficulties of breeding and rearing the Toy Spaniel 

 are taken into consideration, together with the rarity of obtaining a 

 really perfect specimen, it is not surprising that these little pets are 

 often worth from ,50 to .150, and that many of their owners would 

 not sell them for any money consideration. 



