M WITH BOAT AND GUN IN THE YANGTZE VALLEY. 



Could anything be better than the common native bamboo bench, a comfort the dog greatly 

 appreciates but seldom gets ? Better than the fixed, unmovable floor common to most kennels 

 would be a strong bamboo bed raised 3 or 4 inches from the ground over which the bottom- 

 less kennel could be lifted, and which could be removed daily for cleansing purposes. Such 

 an arrangement would do away with wet litters, unpleasant odours and their attendant ills. 



FEEDING. 



" Infinite variety " is a short way of describing the nature of the food most suitable to 

 the dog in China. Biscuits, Indian corn meal, table scraps, stale bread, garlic, sweet 

 potatoes, turnips, and dandelion when up country, vegetables of all kinds well boiled, and 

 good strong soup poured over them. Oatmeal and rice may be occasionally offered, but 

 the former is rather a scouring diet and the latter some say contains too little nourishment. 

 Still many animals get little else. Rice and curry, not too highly seasoned, is a dish dogs 

 will often eat when they will partake of no other, especially in summer time when there is a 

 disposition to be dainty. Once a fortnight the meal might consist of raw beef chopped 

 rather fine. Remember that the natural food of the dog is flesh. Large bones, especially if 

 eaten on the ground, are useful both as teeth cleansers and as stimulating the digestive organs. 

 Excellent, wholesome and very desirable changes of food are to be found in the two native 

 products f^ '}(9 M, i^ ^ -f" and 'j^ ^ which may be bought any day in any part of China. 

 The former is the well known twisted corn flour roll fried in bean oil, a favourite article of diet 

 with the lower classes. For a dog in poor condition it is a capital restorative for the nourishing 

 and fattening virtues of beans are common knowledge. The latter is simply Chinese 

 bread. It is a cheap and good food, and dogs have been seen to show as great a liking 

 for it as for Spratt's costlier article. 



Two meals a day — a light one in the morning and a heavier one in the evening — will 

 be found necessary for dogs in work; but one meal a day is sufficient for any dog during 

 the summer, when he takes but little exercise. Salt with food is a sine qud non and a 

 constant supply of clean, cold water is de rigueur. A dog should be allowed to eat as much 

 as he can at the evening meal, but the dish should be immediately removed when once he 

 has left it. If very tired on his return to the kennel after a heavy day's work it is a good 

 plan to offer the dog food after he has slept for an hour or two— in other words, do not let 

 the dog go hungry during the night and then expect him to be fresh in the morning. Strict 

 regularity in the hours of feeding ought to be observed, and the food, not actually cold, 

 should be offered in an absolutely clean dish. 



GROOMING. 



There is all the difference in the world in the style, carriage and appearance of a dog 

 that is carefully combed and brushed every day and the one that has to take its chance of 

 an occasional rtib down. A nice kind skin and coat are induced by a daily grooming, 

 which is the best preventive of skin diseases; and "the brush is a far better promoter of a 

 glossy jacket than nitre, sulphur, antimony or arsenic." An occasional washing with any 

 of the well known dog soaps, Spratt's for choice, will be found to be trouble well repaid. 

 Carbolic soap should be used with great caution as it is readily absorbed in the skin, 



