USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING DOGS. 239 



USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING DOGS 



Buying Dogs. — In buying a dog, first be sure that you are dealing with 

 some recognized breeder who will not send a dog C. O. D., and you will al- 

 ways get a dog just as represented. No legitimate breeder or dealer can 

 afford to act any way but fair and square with you, as it would get him 

 into serious trouble with the American Kennel Club, and for wrong doing 

 he would be punished and disqualified, which means that he could not 

 exhibit any of his dogs at any Bench Show held under their rules, nor 

 could he register any of his dogs in their stud book while disqualified. So 

 you can see how safe you are in buying a dog and sending your money on 

 in advance, if you are sure first that you are dealing with a breeder of 

 note and reputation, as you are protected by the American Kennel Club 

 of New York. 



Very few legitimate breeders will ship a dog C. O. D. for many good 

 and sufficient reasons. It is harder on the dog, as coming collect, he ne- 

 cessarily has to go through a lot of red tape business, and this delays his 

 delivery in most every instance, going from train to uptown city office, a 

 delay here of course to check up and fix way bills, books, etc., and gen- 

 erally then delivered after all this delay by another wagon. 



Select a good breeder to buy from and write him for a full description 

 in detail as to all points of the dog and its price, then send him a money 

 order or draft for the dog with orders to ship on the guarantee that the dog 



is to be exactly as described and represented. Now, when you get him 



after he feels at home, recovered from his trip, and acts and looks himself 

 — then compare dog with description you have had, and my word for it 

 your dog will fill the bill. 



If dissatisfied for any cause don't be hasty about returning him, but 

 wait a day or two, give the dog a chance to rest up, taking good care of him 

 meanwhile, and then write to the dealer, and he can, and will, no doubt, 

 straighten the matter up so that you are satisfied. Unless the buyer is a 

 judge of the breed ordered (which the seller is), it might happen that 

 as good or even a better specimen had been sent than was promised, 

 and yet not come up to the expectations of the buyer according to his 

 erroneous ideas, or, it didn't "look like Mr. So-and-So's dog," etc., and 

 here is the chance for the seller to explain and put you right, as to what 

 constitutes a good and correct specimen, which is really what you want, 

 only you don't know it. These are rare cases, of course, the exception 

 and not the rule. Bench shows are educating people on dogs, and a good 

 many could now fairly judge the dog they had ordered. 



Always go to headquarters to buy anything, and here I want to say 

 a few words as to buying a dog from bird stores. They are, as a rule, 

 a poor place to buy a dog — a much better place to buy a bird or bird seed! 



Being only dealers and only having a scant general idea of dogs, the 

 dealer may be honest enough, yet deceive his customer as to a dog, simply 

 because the seller fooled him when he bought the dog to sell again. This 

 is often the case in a bird store buying a litter of puppies. They look cute 

 as puppies, but often turn out to be curs when grown up, because the 

 mother of them had a mishap, got out, and was bred to some outside dog 

 of another breed, so the owner packs them up in a basket and sells them 

 for almost any price to the bird store. He puts them in his window at a 



price lower than the genuine article could be sold for; people see them 



they look cute — you buy one, thinking you got a great bargain. You raise 

 this puppy and, of course, become attached to it, but gradually it develops 



