276 USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING DOGS. 



Don't wait until disease has gotten so secure a hold that it cannot be 

 quickly eradicated. This is a weakness characteristic of a great many dog- 

 owners. The "go off and eat grass and get well" theory doesn't hold good 

 in this latter day civilization. 



Don't administer liquids to dogs while the mouth is open. Close the 

 mouth tightly, hold the hand over his nose and lower jaw, and by making 

 a funnel of the side lips, keep the head erect and pour the liquid through 

 the teeth. 



Don't because you can trust your house pet not to abuse your confi- 

 dence, keep him shut up in the house for hours. Some dogs are so refined 

 in their habits that they will suffer agonies rather than take advantage 

 of your thoughtfulness. 



Don't forget that where a number of dogs are kept, regularity and 

 system should prevail. Insist that your kennelman have a certain hour 

 for exercising, grooming, and especially feeding. Slip-shod methods are 

 just as productive of non-success in dog-breeding as in any other business 

 undertaking. With regular hours for different work, the dogs become set- 

 tled in their habits, are not continually restless and on the move; con- 

 sequently there is little noise and the neighbors are not disturbed. 



Don't, if you can help it, cook the kennel food in the same building 

 occupied by the dogs. The aroma of cooking unsettles them and the spirit 

 of anxious expectancy is often the forerunner of a fight, when a number 

 of dogs are kept in one compartment. 



Don't feed cornmeal day in and day out, as many kennelmen unfor- 

 tunately do. It is handy to cook and cheap, you say. It may be, but its 

 constant use heats the blood, lowers the system and eczema and mange 

 too often follow as a natural consequence. Never feed it in hot weather. 



Don't allow your very young puppies to run with the old dogs. Be- 

 sides the danger from injury in romping with heavier dogs there is also 

 a danger of the older dogs snapping at the youngsters and giving them 

 a nip that will scare the life out of them for a week or longer. 



Don't, in your eagerness to show off the gameness of some two or 

 three months old terrier enter him at a rat. A nip from the rodent, that 

 he does not understand, will sometimes ruin a very young dog for future 

 ratting. 



Don't throw a dog into water because he does not plunge in at com- 

 mand. If you do, ten to one you will spoil his future as a water dog. 

 Coax him to walk in by degrees, but better still, if possible, let him see 

 some other dog swim out for the stick; if not an inveterate coward he will 

 soon enter into the fun of the thing — and the water. 



Don't feed liver and lights to your dogs if you value their health. Such 

 Btuff may fill an aching void for the time being, but there is no flesh pro- 

 ducing substance in it. The liver will disarrange the internals and you 

 may as well feed so much sponge as the leathery indigestible lights. 



Don't forget the bones. Dogs kept in kennels have not as a rule a very 

 merry time of it at best and a good big knuckle bone will serve to while 

 away an odd hour or two, besides cleaning the teeth and inducing a healthy 

 flow of saliva. But use discretion, avoiding chicken bones and small bones. 



Don't throw in one bone for two dogs. Reason obvious. . Neither give 

 a bone to bitches suckling or running with puppies. The maternal instinct 

 is strong but the mother while gnawing the bone is not to be depended 

 upon and may give a too venturesome and confiding puppy an ugly bite. 



Don't provide high sleeping benches for bitches in whelp, the lower 

 the better so that they may be no danger of incurring a strain which may 

 cause a miscarriage. Have the entrance to the brood bitch kennel as wide 

 as possible and easy of access, with no corners to run round, when running 

 in or out in a hurry the bitch is liable to bump herself. And above all 

 things avoid swinging doors. 



Don't neglect ventilation in the kennels. Arrange this so that there 

 is no direct draught on the dogs. A good plan is to have openings under 

 tie eaves of the kennel and inside nail a board the size of the aperture 



