PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION 23 



mutton ; at two months he may be fed like his elders, 

 but with no big lumps of meat. All meat given to 

 puppies should be cut up finely, until they are six 

 months old. As to bones, a big bone is good for a 

 puppy to suck and gnaw ; but he must not have any 

 kind of bone which he can swallow in whole or part. 

 For grown-up toys any bones, but those of chicken t 

 game, and fish, are a permissible treat, one at a time j 

 and that time at least a week from the next or the last 



CHAPTER VI 



EXHIBITING AND PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION. 



ALTHOUGH the profits to be obtained from exhibiting 

 are of a secondary nature, and relative simply to the 

 influence exercised on sales and the way in which 

 showing them brings dogs into public notice, it is well 

 worth the while of the dog owner who has a really 

 good little toy to exhibit it sometimes for the fun of 

 the thing. At a show one can learn more about breeds 

 and points, and all the little details which interest 

 doggy folk, than is possible otherwise ; compare notes 

 with other owners, and obtain many useful hints. I 

 am sorry to say that we can also see a good deal going 

 on which would be well suppressed, and get glimpses 

 of the less attractive side of human nature which keen 

 .competition and rivalry are apt to call forth, and which 

 the socialistic mixture of all classes composing " the 

 dog fancy " encourages. " Faking " dyeing pale tan 

 bright, pulling out coat, or tweaking white hairs, dust- 

 ing disguising powder into the stained jackets of white 

 dogs, training ears to fall or stand erect (temporarily) 

 in the desired way, with other little improvements, 

 such as clipping the hair from the edges of Poms' ears 

 and from their paws and legs, are all practices nobody 

 would own to, but which nevertheless exist ; while even 

 perfectly honest owners are able to bring their dogs 



