FEEDING AND GROOMING 37 



It is impossible to offer any advice as to the 

 quantity required at each meal. Some dogs will 

 thrive and get fat on very little, others will look 

 thin with double the weight. The individual needs 

 of each animal must be considered, and he must 

 be fed accordingly. If he is of the unthrifty kind, 

 a substantial meal twice a day will be helpful. Never 

 allow a dog to get fat, for by doing so you are only 

 paving the way to innumerable ills. A constant 

 supply of fresh water should always be available, 

 and the drinking and feeding tins should be kept 

 scrupulously clean, unless one challenges an outbreak 

 of disease. The cooking utensils also should be 

 thoroughly cleansed every day. When we consider 

 the horrible garbage that some dogs will pick up 

 when out at exercise, we are apt to think that it 

 is immaterial whether the food is somewhat tainted 

 or not, but the time may come when we pay very 

 dearly for this error. I well remember mixing a 

 little soup from the house that had slightly turned 

 with the food of a valuable Bloodhound one night ; 

 he was dead in less than twelve hours with ptomaine 

 poisoning, and I have never forgotten the lesson. 

 Nothing that we could do was effectual in saving the 

 poor animal's life. 



All dogs should be exercised daily. If for show 

 or working purposes, four or five miles a day would 

 not be deemed excessive, for the more muscle you 

 put upon the dog the better he will look, and one 

 would stand but a poor chance in a show if he were 

 crooked at the pasterns and his feet were open and 

 splayed. For the larger and less active varieties, 

 nothing beats plenty of walking on the hard road. 

 Gun dogs require a lot of work if they are to be 



