TRA VEILING — TRIMMING 



Sloppy food, provided that it is made so by good strong 

 broth, is preferable to dry, as it tends to reduce the dog's 

 thirst, and the less water they get the better, as it is bad 

 for the wind of a dog in training. It may here be observed 

 that many greyhomids which are regularly fed on sloppy 

 food will drink next to no water, and sometimes none 

 at all. 



On coming in from exercise the feet of the dogs should 

 be carefully examined, lest they should have been cut, and 

 then washed. It is also most essential that a dog in training 

 should be well groomed each day to keep his skin in good 

 condition. In conclusion, it may be pointed out that there 

 is no unvarying rule for regulating the amount of food and 

 exercise which each animal should be allowed, as individual 

 dogs differ very widely in appetite and constitution ; so that 

 food and exercise which would be far too much for one 

 dog would not nearly suffice for another. (See Clothingy 

 Exercising y Feeding y Grooming.) 



Travelling. (See Journeys^ 



Trimming is so nearly allied to the nefarious practice 

 of faking, that it may honestly be said that there is very 

 little distinction that can be drawn between the two. 

 Trimming, however, has more by custom than by right 

 come to be regarded as a minor form of faking, which is 

 winked at by persons who would throw up their hands 

 in horror at the bare idea of an exhibitor dying his dog's 

 coat, though they themselves do not scruple to employ a 

 professional ^^ handler " to pluck the coats of their long 

 or wire-haired dogs if they should be too profuse, and 

 their own servants are not proficient in the art. It 

 is, in fact, safe to assert that the coats of almost half of 

 the wire-haired fox terriers and Irish terriers which are 

 exhibited are more or less plucked and trimmed before 

 they are shown, and in the case of Bedlington terriers 

 matters are even worse ; yet exhibitors of the latter are 



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