120 THE AMERICAN HUNTING DOG 



course, he does not want to seclude himself in the 

 kennel during the day. Then is the time he wants 

 to be up and doing, barking at passers-by, handy 

 for a pet or a caress from his master or the chil- 

 dren, and generally ''in" everything. If he is a 

 hunting dog then is the time he must be tied up 

 according to the laws of many States, and it is up 

 to his owner to provide him with a suitable resting 

 place. The straw mattress also commends itself 

 without argument as much preferable to plain 

 straw, for the mattress can be taken out and aired 

 and sunned every day, while the straw bed can 

 neither be aired nor cleaned, and, therefore, be- 

 comes a breeding place for fleas (for they do not 

 breed on the animal himself). To get such a mat- 

 tress either into or out of the ordinary kennel, 

 with its one opening in the end, is impossible, and, 

 therefore, the mattress itself is one of the most 

 powerful arguments for abandoning such a kennel 

 in favour of one whose whole side can be opened 

 on hinges. 



In view of the low cost of this kennel we shall 

 not waste much space in discussing the oil-barrel 

 kennel, which costs about as much to buy, and has 

 all the disadvantages of the box kennel, besides 

 being too small for hunting dogs to stretch out in 

 when lying on their side. 



