COSTIYENESS. 127 



raising a lean and reduced do^ to lustiness, hardness, and 

 vig-our. Some sportsmen prefer the one state, and some the 

 other, to beg'in upon. If a dog* is fat, his treatment must be 

 immediately beg-un upon by physic and exercise, but not by 

 a privation of food : and it must be particularly observed, 

 that his doses of physic be mild, and often repeated. The 

 exercise should be at first gradual and slow, but long conti- 

 nued ; and at last it should be increased to nearly what he 

 will be accustomed to when hunting. If there is the least 

 foulness (t. e. if the secretions of the skin are impure) appa- 

 rent in the habit, besides physic and exercise, alteratives 

 should be given also. — See Alteratives. — Some sportsmen 

 regularly dress their dogs, before the hunting season, with 

 sulphur, even though no breaking out appears, and I by no 

 means think the practice a bad one. Others curry or brush 

 their dogs, whether any skin affection appears or not ; and, 

 to greyhounds, it is a very proper means of keeping up the 

 equilibrium of the circulation, and of promoting muscular 

 elasticity. 



When a lean dog is to be got into condition, less physic is 

 necessary ; but good flesh feeding, plenty of exercise, and a 

 due administration of alteratives, are principally to be resorted 

 to: nevertheless, one or two doses of very mild physic will 

 here also promote the condition, and even assist the accumu- 

 lation of flesh. — See Feeding and Exercise. 



-***■■*■ *v^- 



Costiveness. 



All carnivorous animals have naturally a dry constipated 

 habit. Dogs are of a mixed nature, and can live indiscrimi- 

 nately on vegetable or animal substances, although they pre- 

 fer the latter, which, as it is more congenial with their habit 

 of hunting, is not to be wondered at. Dogs have, therefore, 

 very frequently a tendency to a costive habit ; which tendency 

 is increased or lessened according as they are supported, wholly 



