14 A MANUAL OF TOY DOGS 



CHAPTER IV 



ON REARING PUPS 



AN indispensable adjunct in the rearing of valuable toy 

 puppies, which, as a general rule, do far better in the 

 house than in any stable or out-of-door premises, is one 

 of Spratt's or Boulton and Paul's little houses and runs. 

 As personal and vicarious experiences are all that any 

 writer can adduce to support theory, I may be allowed to 

 describe the procedure which has been found successful 

 with my own puppies born, bred, and reared in house 

 and garden as they are. 



Directly they leave the basket of their infancy (in 

 which, par parenthese, I must say, I think them more 

 delightful, helpless little soft morsels, than even when 

 they begin to run about, show intelligence, and need 

 feeding) they are introduced to one of these useful 

 abodes, comprising a sleeping house, provided with a 

 cosy blanket, freely washable and often changed, and a 

 little wired- in run about 4 ft. by 2 ft. The bigger this 

 the better, of course ; and if it has a floor, as some 

 have, pierced with small holes and draining into a 

 removable tray to be kept full of earth, or sawdust, it 

 will be well. Mine is a humbler affair, floorless, and 

 stands on a piece of oilcloth, covered with a large sheet 

 of brown paper, which can be daily renewed ; yet it 

 answers its purpose very well. In this, with outings 

 two or three times a day, for variety, the puppies live 

 until they are seven weeks old ; the mother, loose about 

 the house, visiting them at her inclination and sleeping 

 with them. At between three and four weeks old they 

 must be taught to lap, which is easy enough with some 

 pups and difficult with others. Warm, boiled milk 

 should be the only addition to what the mother gives 

 them until they are over a month old : it is a mistake 

 to hurry puppies on to patent foods, bread and milk, 

 and the like. Do not let them have a saucer and upset 



