40 



OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS 



often winners at bench shows, — ought to sell for 

 a just price. A breeder does not seek to make 

 great profits, but it is natural that he should 

 wish to cover his costs fully. If a dog of any 

 kind is wanted, without regard to pedigree, it 

 is well enough to go to the professional dealer 

 or to the market ; but if a high-bred dog is 

 desired, one on whom the eye can rest with 

 pleasure, who has a good chance of winning 

 prizes and of making a posterity worth double 

 his own price, then the purchaser must apply 

 to some well-known kennels. 



What is meant to-day by a high-bred dog .' 

 It is a dog which, mated with another that 

 differs from him only in se.x and belongs to the 

 same breed as himself, can produce young 

 which are in all respects like their parents. 

 The type of the race is characterized by the 

 shape of the skeleton, particularly of the skull. 

 This is transmitted from generation to gener- 

 ation, so that a pair of dogs of the same breed 

 can produce none but dogs of pure race, and 

 could not themselves be of pure race if their par- 

 ents, and their predecessors, had not belonged 

 to the same race. In dog " sport " (of which we 

 shall speak later) it is essential to have a genea- 

 logical tree of seven couples of ancestors of pure 

 blood. Considered superficially, the breeding 

 of races would not be difficult according to 

 this theory. Provided Adam and Eve were 

 dogs of pure blood, the rest would follow of 

 itself. Practice, however, teaches us very differ- 

 ently. The breeder must intervene continually, 

 for the enigmatic code of the heredity of the 

 animal species has not yet been made clear. 

 There may be countercurrents, and pairs of 

 dogs of pure race may have young that do 

 not show the characteristics of their ancestors. 

 This is usually seen in the hair and in the 

 color. There may also be degeneration when 

 things have been left to chance. In that case 

 new blood must be infused, which is sometimes 

 borrowed from a wholly different breed. At 

 the end of a certain time the products of these 

 crossbreedings are fit to propagate a pure race. 

 Besides the crossbreeding of different spe- 

 cies breeders take pains to propagate a sin- 

 gle family of the same race without admi.xture. 



Crossbreeding is necessary not only for the 

 refreshing of the blood but also for obtaining 

 new breeds ; but by the propagation of a single 

 family certain cjualities and shapes are obtained 

 from parents, children, and grandchildren in a 

 short time, and more constantl)' and surely. 

 Nevertheless, this system is very dangerous, 

 for the constitution of these animals becomes 

 impaired, and though a nobler race is doubt- 

 less obtained, it is also weaker and more deli- 

 cate, and ends by disappearing. Pairs of dogs 

 are not multiplication tables ; and while it is 

 true that by the repeated mating of two speci- 

 mens of high-bred dogs we obtain specimens 

 still more magnificent, yet sviall defects and 

 blemishes are multiplied exceedingly. 



A " noble " dog, however, may very well not 

 be the product of inbreeding. When the lines 

 of the body are beautiful and the body itself 

 muscular and well-proportioned, the legs strong, 

 the countenance energetic, the expression in- 

 telligent, the stride rapid, and the color and 

 coat pleasing, a dog may justly claim the appel- 

 lation " noble." A dog which has no blood can- 

 not be noble ; we baptize him with the name 

 of "street cur." These latter form the great 

 majority, no matter what care and what cost 

 are expended on the ennobling of the canine 

 races. We must find the reason of this fact 

 in the general ignorance the simplest rules of 

 breeding, and of the best means of bringing 

 up and taking care of dogs and making them 

 either useful or agreeable. Here follow some 

 information and advice on those subjects. 



VII. The Kennel 

 A wooden box, in which a suitable opening 

 has been made, turned upside down upon the 

 earth, may serve as a kennel. A barrel, well- 

 cleaned and purified as much as possible, raised 

 a little above the earth and supplied with a 

 layer of straw, is also a cheap dwelling for a 

 dog. We still see, here and there, these primi- 

 tive kennels, and dogs seem none the worse 

 for living in them. On the contrary, the inhab- 

 itant of the box has air in abundance and a rain 

 bath gratis ; while he of the barrel keeps dry, the 

 joints of that construction being impermeable. 



