USEFUL INFORMATION REGARDING DOGS. 27ft 



the greatest vigilance when they have bitches by them under such cir- 

 cumstances. For several days after the bitch has visited the dog, the pre- 

 cautions for isolating her must not be relaxed, or all her owner's hopes 

 may be marred by her forming a connection with a stranger. 



"Having selected a proper mate for his bitch, and sent her to him, all 

 anxiety is removed from an owner's mind for some time at least; for dur- 

 ing the first period of going with young, the bitch will require no special 

 diet or attention. During the latter portion of her pregnancy she is pecu- 

 liarly liable to chills; every care should therefore be taken to avoid any 

 risk of her taking cold, and all washing operations and violent exercise 

 must then be suspended. Our own experience has taught us that in the 

 majority of instances it is almost impossible to tell whether or no the bitch 

 is in whelp until the third or fourth week, and on many occasions we 

 have known breeders to be in doubt for a much longer period. 



"A week or so before the date on which it is expected that she will 

 whelp, the bitch should be installed in the quarters in which it is arrang- 

 ed the interesting event is to take place. The reason for this is that dogs 

 must get used to a kennel before they will make themselves at home in it, 

 and this feeling is peculiarly perceptible in the case of a bitch who has 

 recently whelped; for in many cases she will try and carry her puppies 

 (greatly to the damage of the latter) back to her old quarters rather than 

 let them remain in a kennel to which she is unaccustomed. Having got 

 her reconciled to her change of abode, the locale of which should, if possible, 

 be away from the other dogs, so as to let her have more quiet (but warmth 

 and absence of draught are even more essential than isolation in most 

 cases), and supposing the time of her whelping to be near at hand, it is 

 desirable that the bitch should be provided with a diet of a more strength- 

 ening character than that which she has been in the habit of receiving. 

 This need not consist entirely of meat or other heating foods, which can 

 only tend to increase her discomfort in parturition, but may be made of 

 scraps well boiled or stewed, with the addition of bread, meal, or rice, which 

 in their turn will absorb the gravy or soup and form, in conjunction with 

 the scraps, when the latter are chopped up, a meal which is both whole- 

 some and nutritious. A few days before the puppies make their appear- 

 ance a considerable change is usually perceptible in the bitch; the pres- 

 ence of milk can be detected and a considerable enlargement of the stomach 

 takes place. Her behavior, too, clearly indicates that she is uneasy and in 

 pain, and in many instances the appetite entirely fails, and the bowels 

 become confined. In the latter case a mild purgative of either castor, 

 linseed or sweet oil must be given. The first-named remedy is sometimes 

 too powerful an aperient for a bitch in such a condition, as, in the more 

 delicate breeds especially, it is apt to cause severe straining, which would 

 injure the puppies. Before resorting, therefore, to castor oil, an experimen- 

 tal dose of either linseed or sweet oil might be administered, which, if it 

 succeeds in acting on the bowels, will have satisfactorily accomplished the 

 owner's object; and as the lubricating power of all three oils is essentially 

 the same, the internal organs will be equally benefited by either medi- 

 cine." 



It is a good plan to treat the brood bitch thoroughly for worms be- 

 fore being put to the dog; and stud dogs should be periodically treated for 

 these pests. 



