THE MANAGEMENT OF HOUNDS 



scatter over the benches, but it should be fresh- 

 ened daily and renewed entirely every few days, 

 while by body dressing and the use of insecticides, 

 constant warfare must be waged upon fleas. The 

 feeding room will need the same treatment, only 

 that its floor and troughs must be kept scoured, 

 and the troughs always set out in the sun daily 

 and never allowed to sour. Everything about 

 kennels should be, and can be, as sweet as a rose, 

 and any offensive odors pay eloquent tribute to 

 negligence and want of care, not only from the 

 kennel man, but from the master. Any man who 

 takes animals in his charge, and does not properly 

 care for them, is worse than a beast himself. 

 The extraordinary odors emanating from the 

 kennel and cook-room (and hounds themselves) 

 of some very pretentious packs are an insult not 

 only to the defenceless animals, but to all the 

 members of the hunt whom the master thus wil- 

 fully neglects. Hounds bearing traces of mange 

 and other skin disease, blear-eyed and rough- 

 coated, are also by no means uncommon. Every 

 one should receive a body dressing with a rough- 

 ish brush and a cloth " swipe " every day of his 

 life, and will learn to enjoy it as much as a horse, 

 while by this means every little abrasion of skin, 



261 



