THE PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING 35 



family of her own. You can't expect to take away from 

 her what she hasn't got ! And the enormous tax which 

 the requirements of a healthy family entails upon her 

 strength is not to be over-estimated. To cope with it 

 successfully she must be not only in the full maturity of 

 of her own powers, but specially built up and fortified to 

 undertake her heavy task. To the beginner I would here 

 lay down another guiding rule. Never breed from a bitch 

 before her third season, at the earliest. That is quite 

 soon enough. 



Of course, it is frequently argued that the fact of breed- 

 ing a litter from a very young bitch immensely enhances 

 her appearance, developing her in every respect, and 

 maturing her more quickly than could be achieved by any 

 other means. And so undoubtedly it does. But we are 

 not dealing with a mere money-making machine ; and, even 

 if we were, present gain means future loss. Nature does 

 not intend an animal to be precociously matured. For 

 simple purposes of exhibition the bitch's appearance may 

 be considerably improved, but her future as a brood bitch 

 is seriously imperilled. And the result of these experi- 

 ments has been to flood the country with indifferent stock. 



The same arguments apply, even when the bitch is 

 fully matured, against breeding from her too often ; and it 

 may be accepted as another guiding rule that one litter in 

 a year is as much as may be fairly expected of her. 



With regard to a stud dog, it may be, and generally is, 

 advisable that his services be used once when he ha 



