BREEDING 



there should be youth on the other side if a dog or bitch of 

 four or five years old is being bred from ; but, on the other 

 hand, two middle-aged animals may be put together with- 

 out any harm coming of it. If this advice is not followed 

 there is always a chance of the puppies being weak, and 

 in the case of an old bitch, the yield of milk may be scanty 

 or deficient in nutriment. In such a case the services 

 of a foster-mother may be secured, and if so, it is neces- 

 sary that she should have whelped at about the same date 

 as the dam of the puppies, as the yield and quality of the 

 milk becomes altered as time goes on. At all events, she 

 should not have had her puppies a week or two before her 

 foster-children are born. 



The puppies come into the world blind, and remain so 

 for several days, and their noses are almost invariably pink, 

 becoming spotted at first and finally black in most cases, 

 but not always so. If the mother has plenty of milk for 

 them, the owner can easily satisfy himself upon this point, 

 and if the quality of it is good, as the condition of the 

 puppies will soon show, they will not require any extra 

 feeding at first, and the more quiet they get the better. If, 

 on the other hand, it is obvious that they are not thriving, 

 and a foster-mother cannot be procured, they may be fed 

 from an ordinary feeding-bottle on Spratt's Patent Orphan 

 Puppy Food, or Spratt's Malt Milk with excellent results. 

 In the case of the larger varieties, the services of a goat 

 may be found useful, the writer having employed these 

 animals with most satisfactory results in the case of grey- 

 hounds, by laying the goat on her side and holding her 

 down while the youngsters sucked her, two at a time. 



As the puppies become older, it is necessary that they 

 should be supplied with food by their attendant, in order 

 that they may learn to feed by themselves before they are 

 weaned, and to prevent their taxing the strength of their 

 dam too much. The best food for them in this connec- 

 tion is Spratt's puppy biscuits, given as directed, or Spratt's 

 *' Ovals " mixed with gravy or broth ; but in any case the 



30 



