224 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG 



so that the ground can be changed every 

 few days. Never keep puppies on stale 

 ground ; and place inside the enclosure or- 

 dinary big dog kennels to provide shelter 

 for them. They may begin this out of door 

 life directly they are weaned, and even 

 before, if there is sufficient space for the 

 mothers to be out too ; they should not be 

 put out until the dew gets off the grass, 

 but may remain out until sunset in summer. 

 It is a good plan to have their night 

 kennel so situated that every time the 



LORD HOPETOUN'S WINIFRED AND ARTFUL 

 Photograph by C. Beid, Wisham. 



puppies are taken to bed and brought out 

 in the morning they have to pass through 

 a yard where the grown hounds are ; it 

 gives the puppies confidence, and takes all 

 fear away. The earlier they learn kennel 

 ways the better it will be for them in after 

 life ; habits of discipline thus early instilled 

 will never be forgotten. Let them lie on low 

 hound benches (not boxes) and gradually 

 heighten these as the puppies grow larger. 

 They are much more airy and healthy for 

 them than an enclosed thing like a box. 

 Be very careful in your choice of walks, 

 and when you have puppies going out to 

 walk, make it thoroughly understood that 

 the first symptom of distemper be reported 

 to you at once. The life of many a valuable 

 young hound has been lost through not 

 taking the proper steps in time. And 

 so the months pass by, and the time 

 arrives for them to come back to kennel. 



The restraint of this new life must be most 

 irksome at first, but the young hounds soon 

 get accustomed to it. Of course fighting 

 in kennel must be watched for during the 

 first few weeks. Never check a " song." 

 It is easy enough to discern between 

 "chiming" and fighting, and the former 

 seems to give them vent for their feel- 

 ings, and to keep them happy and con- 

 tented. The listener will get joy out of 

 such singing if he will only listen atten- 

 tively. 



Let us pass on now to the time when 

 the corn is cut and the harvest is gathered, 

 for young hounds must now be entered, 

 and the veterans got to work. Only a 

 huntsman quite knows the intense pleasure 

 of seeing hounds busy again as ths season 

 comes round, and it is a splendid sig it to see 

 the puppies copy the old hounds when the 

 latter are feathering on a line. The}' will 

 join in lustily for a few minutes, and then 

 up go their heads, and they will be " on- 

 lookers " for awhile. But there are ex- 

 ceptions to these ordinary tactics of a 

 beginner, and I can call to mind some few 

 hounds that began to be workers from the 

 first day they were out, taking their own 

 initiative, and even once or twice putting 

 the pack right when at fault. You may be 

 very certain a huntsman never forgets such 

 incidents, and that he keeps a tender spot 

 in his heart for that puppy, and will tell 

 you with much pride "He was born to it. 

 He took a line as true as steel on his first 

 day." 



It is wonderful how steady a pack can be 

 on the opening early morning. What must 

 it feel like to them to be allowed to go, after 

 four or five months' inactivity ? But inac- 

 tivitv only in respect to hunting, for they 

 will have been at exercise with horses along 

 by-roads soon after sunrise for many weeks 

 past, getting their feet hard and themselves 

 generally fit for the dawning of that glorious 

 autumn morning, with the air laden with 

 sweet scents. 



It is better to get a hare walked up if 

 possible, because they sit too close at this 

 time of the year, and are so liable to be 

 chopped. Let her get well ahead before you 



