THE DOG 



49 



dangerous to man. They must absolutely be 

 prevented from licking plates and dislies used 

 in the kitchen, or any utensil used for was/iitig 

 the face, especially that of a child. After each 

 vermifuge a dose of castor oil should 

 be given, in a quantity propor 

 tioned to the size of the 

 animal, befrinning with 



a teaspoonful and in 

 creasing until the 

 maximum of a tabli-- 

 spoonful is reached. 



Here is anothci 

 piece of serious 

 advice to those who 

 have young dogs : 

 never fatten them. The 

 Chinese and some tribes of 

 negroes in Guinea consider ddi; 



flesh a delicacy, but as long as it j^^ ought never to 

 does not appear on the dinner lists have too much to eat 

 of America there is no object in 

 giving dogs excessive nourishment, which 

 undoubtedly shortens their lives. 



The care given to dogs for bench shows 

 differs considerably, as we shall see later, from j 

 that which they receive in private families. 

 Among the latter external care is, unhappily, 

 so neglected that the animals finally acquire 

 skin diseases, which make them objects of dis- 

 gust to every one, and they exhale an odor 

 which is very hard to remove. All dogs which 

 a family desires to keep in good health (for 

 their own sake as well as the dog's) should be 

 freed at least once a week from dust and all 

 other impurities that have collected on their 

 skin and in their hair. This ought, by rights, 

 to be done daily, and it is not a really difficult 

 matter, with leather gloves and a good brush. 

 A few strokes of the brush in the direction in 

 which the hair lies will suffice to give another 

 aspect to the coat of a short-haired dog. Long- 

 haired dogs must be combed after massage with 

 the gloved hand. The dead hair should be care- 

 fully removed. During the period of shedding 

 the hair it is wise to proceed carefully, as the 

 skin is very sensitive at such times. All combs 

 and brushes used upon the animal should be 



cleaned at once, and preferably with a disin- 

 fectant. Besides dust and dirt the hair of 

 a dog frequently hides vermin, but if he is 

 cleaned daily he will have few or none. 



It is not bad to wash and bathe dogs, 

 though this is often done to 

 excess. They may be 

 allowed to swim from 

 time to time, but 

 there is a great dif- 

 ference between 

 swimming and a 

 bath for cleanli- 

 . ness. A dog should 

 have a bath once a 

 month, and should 

 then be luet to the skin. 

 After rubbing him well with 

 soap and warm water, every particle 

 of soap must be rinsed off and the 



dog allowed to shake himself vigor- 

 ously. He should then be dried with 

 towels and taken on the chain for a short walk ; 

 if this is not done he almost always takes cold, 

 or else he goes and dries himself against a dirtv 



A Good Combing 



