OUR PUPPIES 101 



mischief that a single puppy usually does, for we 

 find that a couple of whelps manage to entertain 

 each other so well at play that they are not so 

 devoted to gardening and the uprooting and trans- 

 planting of shrubs, or to the removal of stable utensils 

 and articles from the bleach-green as the single gentle- 

 man or lady for whom we provide temporary board 

 and lodging. 



It is better also, I am certain, for the puppies 

 themselves, to rear a couple than a single dog. They 

 exercise themselves twice as well, are never still, but 

 always racing and chasing one another all over the 

 grass, and very soon learn also to put their noses 

 down and use them. I do not mean to say that our 

 lamented Pitiful was immaculate, or free from the 

 besetting sins of puppyhood, which cause such com- 

 plaints from the gardeners and domestics. There 

 was that affair of the Ampelopsis Veitchii, for instance, 

 a creeper which is a great ornament to our south 

 walls here we consider, but to which Pitiful had such 

 a rooted objection that she several times endeavoured 

 to uproot the plants. We placed a heavy garden seat 

 in front of the principal stem, and when she again 

 attacked the creeper she was tied to the seat, under 

 which she had crept for protection, and beaten with 

 many stripes ; and it was long before she could be 

 induced to visit that side of the house again. 



We thought it best to send her into kennels a little 

 earlier than we had intended, and the cause which 

 led to this determination was rather curious. She 

 had never betrayed the smallest inclination to chase 

 or worry sheep, but when lambing season had 



