1 68 THE MASTER OF HOUNDS 



in their later education. I know that when a lady has 

 agreed to "walk a puppy" she receives with the puppy 

 written instructions as to how she ought to treat him, 

 and I also know that those instructions are often dis- 

 regarded. The lady can hardly be expected to treat 

 the puppy during his infantile maladies and rub him 

 with dressings which, to say the least, do not resemble 

 Eau de Cologne. The treatment is entrusted to the 

 head groom, who entrusts it to the second groom, who 

 entrusts it in his turn to a stable lad. On the other 

 hand, the farmers and their wives or their daughters, 

 as a rule, take a pride and a personal interest in sending 

 the young hounds home well grown and well fed. 

 These young hounds during their puppyhood have 

 had the run of the farm, where they could not do much 

 damage. They have not been alternately petted by a 

 lady and bullied by a gardener, and their diet is likely 

 to be more regular at the farmhouse than at the 

 mansion. 



"Scrutator" regarded the "walking of puppies" 

 from a commercial point of view. In " Horses and 

 Hounds" he wrote: "Giving premiums, also, is an 

 encouragement to have the young hounds well kept, 

 and I found it paid wonderfully ; for the best dog £^f 

 second £t„ third £2, fourth £1, and the same for 

 bitches." He prefaces this statement with the remark 

 that " some little acknowledgment ought to be made to 

 the farmer's wife." I may be asked by a Master, 

 " what has the ' walking of puppies ' to do with the 

 followers of hounds ? " It has a good deal to do with 

 them, if the Master asks them to " walk a puppy " 



