CHOICE OF PUPPIES AFTER WEANING. 223 



CHOICE OF PUPPIES AFTER WEANING THEM. 



Puppies of all kinds vary in. form so much between tlie weaning 

 time and the period of full growth, that there is great difficulty 

 in making a choice which shall be proved by subsequent events to 

 be on reliable grounds. All young animals grow by fits and starts, 

 the proportions varying Tvith the stage of development in whicli 

 any part is at the time of examination. Thus at the fourth month 

 a puppy may look too long, but during the next month he may 

 have grown so much in the legs that he no longer looks so. 

 Again, another may be all legs and wings in the middle of his 

 growth, but he may finally grow down to a strong, low, and mus- 

 cular dog. So also with the fore and hind quarters, they may 

 grow alternately, and one month the fore quarter may be low, and 

 the next the hind. None but an experienced eye therefore can 

 pretend to foresee, after the period of weaning, what will be the 

 final shape ; but either soon after that time, or a day or two after 

 birth, a pretty good guess may be given, subject to the continua- 

 tion of health, and to proper rearing in all respects. Bad feet can 

 soon be detected, but the limbs grow into a good shape after most 

 extraordinary deviations from the line of beauty, particularly in 

 the greyhound, which is often apj)arently deformed in his joints 

 when half grown. The most unwieldy-looking animals often fine 

 down into the best shapes, and should not be carelessly rejected 

 without the fiat being pronounced by a breeder of 'experience. 



