4G SYSTEM OF KENNEL AND 



CHAPTER VII. 



Treatment of yoimg hounds when brought home to kennel — Going 

 out in couples — Jerusalem ponies to be especially avoided — Cur 

 dogs — Cure for exuberant spirits — Deer parks and hare warrens 

 — Distemper principiis obsta — Following the plough — Diet — 

 Extraordinary case of distemper — Remedies and prescriptions. 



The first work to be done, or wliich ought to be 

 done, with the young hounds selected for entry, is 

 to put them in couples as soon as possible and have 

 them out into the fresh air, if a few only at a time. 

 In this matter we know huntsmen are generally 

 very remiss, putting off the trouble with the coup- 

 lings to a more convenient season, when they have 

 more leisure ; yet from this neglect the very worst 

 kind of distemper is generated. The young hounds, 

 when brought into kennel, are fed highly on plenty 

 of meal and meat, the reverse of what their treat- 

 ment ought to be, and, in addition, they are denied 

 any opportunity of exercise save that of playing 

 in the grass-yard attached to their lodging-house. 

 This is precisely the same course pursued by igno- 

 rant grooms, in feeding their horses just alike 

 wliether they are in work or not ; but in this 

 case the animals under their care do get a certain 



