The Dog in the House 35 



There are those who will train dogs for up-to-date flat use and accustom 

 the puppy to use a box. Where a dog has once made use of a place, he is 

 prone to return. Accordingly the puppy, on being brought home or taken 

 from his travelling-box, should be put into a shallow box with sawdust on 

 the bottom of it, and kept there till he may be allowed to run about. If the 

 box is then left as it is and he can get into it unaided, he will likely tumble 

 into it in his wanderings, and the smell of the sawdust will induce him to 

 make use of the place again, and thus the habit is acquired. 



Very elaborate sleeping-baskets are furnished for house-dogs, with 

 mats, rugs, or dainty cushions. These are well enough for the tiny drawing- 

 room pet, but are out of place for a terrier or anything larger. For such a 

 dog we recommend a plain box. It may be made of hard wood or of any 

 wood painted and varnished if desired, but not upholstered. Have it of a 

 size to enable the dog to lie comfortably, and on the bottom put a layer of 

 paper — newspaper, plain wrapping-paper or, if one is fastidious, a piece of 

 fancy paper. Tar-paper may be used in the summer-time if the smell is 

 less objectionable than fleas. A dog will lie as comfortably on a piece of 

 paper as on a feather cushion, and a new bed costs nothing, while a dash of 

 boiling water around the box will kill any vermin. 



Keeping a yard-dog seems to be in many cases an excuse for never 

 letting a dog off the chain. If a little exercise is thought necessary, it is 

 attained in some cases by adding an extra length of chain strong enough to 

 hold an ox! A very simple way to give a dog exercise on the chain is to 

 hang a strong wire in such a manner that, with a chain of ordinary length 

 attached to a ring on the wire, the dog can get into his kennel. The other 

 end of the wire (supposing one end to be attached to the building near 

 which the kennel is placed) is to be fastened to anything convenient — another 

 building, a tree or post far enough away to give the dog a good run from one 

 end to the other. If one end is attached to a tree or post, put it higher than 

 at the other end. Then at a distance far enough from the post to prevent 

 the dog from going around it, fasten another piece of wire, which pass 

 through an eyelet fixed lower down on the post and pull tight — the long 

 wire may have a little slack to permit of this. You will thus stop the ring 

 from coming further than is wanted. Have the wires so stretched that, if 

 possible, one end of the run will always be in the shade, and do not forget 

 in winter to turn the kennel to face the south, putting a piece of sacking 

 over the entrance and a good bed of straw inside, on top of an old news- 



