BREEDING 23 



the little ones to a foster. As a general principle, 

 not more than five should be left with the mother, 

 but at a pinch she may suckle six, or even seven. 

 In deciding which shall remain with the mother and 

 which be given to the stranger, it is a good plan 

 to sort them into sizes, putting the smallest on to 

 one and keeping the biggest for the other. As the 

 foster-mother may not take kindly to the new 

 arrivals, she should be removed from her bench and 

 the puppies thoroughly mixed up with one or two 

 of Jier own. Take her back again, and see that 

 she allows all to suckle freely before you leave her. 

 She will need careful watching for some hours, and 

 you must also keep an eye on the real mother to 

 see that she is performing her duties properly. The 

 weaklier whelps may be forced aside, thus failing 

 to obtain their due share of nourishment. The obser- 

 vant man will notice this, and put them on the dam 

 from time to time. It is easy to tell if the puppies 

 are doing properly ; they will rest content, sleeping 

 comfortably when they are not feeding. If they are 

 constantly emitting a pitiful cry and feel clammy 

 to the touch, you may suspect that all is not well with 

 the milk, which is probably too acid. If undue 

 acidity is present it will cause colic, which will soon 

 end fatally unless remedial measures are promptly 

 taken. Should the milk turn blue litmus -paper red, 

 the puppies must at once be taken away for at least 

 twelve hours, and the breasts emptied three or four 

 times during this period. At the same time, every 

 three hours half a teaspoonful of bicarbonate of soda 

 dissolved in about half a teacupful of water should 

 be given to the mother, provided she is not one of 

 the toy varieties, in which case the quantity should 



