Puppy Foods. 227 



nine cases out of ten she will take kindly to her foster 

 child, and may be left with it, the others being placed with 

 her immediately afterwards ; when she has been seen to 

 lick and clean them ail alike, the adoption may be con- 

 sidered complete. The same when a puppy or two are put 

 to her amongst her own offspring, and which may be done 

 when your well-bred bitch has a more numerous litter than 

 she can suckle. Puppies can, of course, be reared with 

 ordinary milk given through the instrumentality of a child's 

 feeding bottle ; but this is a troublesome method, and one 

 never practised excepting when the puppies, of unusual 

 value, have been left orphans by the death of their mother, 

 and when a foster parent cannot be obtained. Spratt's 

 Patent have provided what is considered to be a good 

 substitute for milk, in the form of an " orphan puppy food," 

 which is convenient when the supply of milk from the dam 

 is not sufficient for her family. There are two or three 

 people who make a speciality of providing foster mothers, 

 and their address can usually be found in Our Dogs, an 

 excellent penny paper dealing entirely with canine matters. 

 With a possibility of the bitch, when in a certain condi- 

 tion, getting loose and contracting a cross-bred or mongrel 

 alliance, care may be taken when such puppies are born 

 in selecting one or more to keep with the bitch. Cases of 

 superfcetation are noi uncommon in the dog, and there may 

 be mongrels and pure terriers born in the same litter. I 

 was told of a particularly good fox terrier which a friend of 

 mine desired to purchase. She, however, being a great 

 favourite in the house, could not be parted with, and her 

 owner said, " She is, no doubt, very nice to look at, but 

 unfortunately her dam is a spaniel, and all her brothers and 

 sisters are spaniels, too ! " 



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