74 The Dog Book 



that this man may have in the course of a season he is unhkely to keep more 

 than one or two from any Htter, and then gradually disperses these as he 

 sifts out the best for home keeping. If then you buy puppies you get what 

 are his cast-offs. Our advice is to begin where he is at by getting such of his 

 brood matrons as he will spare; and if they have already been bred you are 

 starting your kennel on a level with him so far as his judgment goes m 

 deciding upon the mating. The purchase of a dog may well be left alone, 

 for it is a drawback to have but one, it not being probable that he is suitable 

 for a variety of matrons, and it is much better to be entirely untrammelled in 

 seeking the best possible sire. A good enough dog to place at the head of a 

 kennel costs a great deal of money, and it is not only more advisable on the 

 score of suitability to go outside, but more economical as well. 



If the intention is to purchase a show dog, then there are two plans 

 to suggest. One is to buy a dog that is making a good record, but it will 

 be found to be somewhat expensive to do so, unless the owner has an idea 

 that his dog is going off and has another to supply its place. Now to buy 

 a dog that is going off is the very thing that must be avoided by all means. 

 It is the most unsatisfactory experience a beginner can have, to buy a dog 

 that has won a number of prizes and then find that he can do so no more. 

 The buyer is apt to think, if he does not actually say, that the change of 

 ownership has all to do with the change in the dog's position; but that is 

 hardly fair, for young dogs especially change materially and begin to show 

 faults which soon put them back in the prize-lists. The seller probably 

 paid for his experience in detecting the signs of a dog going wrong, and if 

 the dog is being honestly shown the buyer has every opportunity to form 

 his own conclusion, as to the dog's future. 



The second plan is to pick up a dog with a possibility of improving, 

 or that has not been shown yet and looks like making a winner. If the pur- 

 chaser can do this of his own knowledge he needs no coaching, but the likeli- 

 hood is that he does not know sufficient to warrant his undertaking the task, 

 and in such a case the only thing to be done is to get some one of experience 

 to act for him. There is one thing such a buyer must remember, and that is 

 that good dogs cost money and are not to be picked up as bargains except 

 by those who have expert knowledge. No one expects to purchase a lot 

 on upper Fifth Avenue, facing Central Park, for the price of one below 

 Fifty-ninth Street, nor to get a stylish park-horse or a two-ten trotter for the 

 price of a grocery wagon puller. Yet when it comes to dogs the same people 



