RE A KING FOX-TERRIER PUPS. 293 



months old to the dog if the season of the year were suitable. I have known good pups so 

 bred, and in many cases the process is beneficial to the bitch's temper and appearance, and 

 also, I think, to the next litter. To let a bitch remain a maiden beyond her second heat is, 

 in my opinion, dangerous, as likely to make her a shy breeder hereafter. I need hardly say 

 that March, April, and May are the best months for puppies to come in ; September and October 

 the worst. Indeed, it is only under exceptional circumstances that I should ever breed an autumn 

 litter. 



It may perhaps be well to supplement these generalities by some more detailed advice. 

 If any one wishes to establish a kennel of Fox-terriers in the easiest and least expensive 

 way, I should recommend him to set about it as follows : Let him get two bitches of good 

 blood, and free from positive defects. The better-looking they are doubtless the better his chance, 

 but let him be sure they are healthy and game. It is difficult to assign exactly the different 

 share which each parent has in influencing the offspring, and I am inclined to think that most 

 of the theories which have been put forward on this point rest on no solid basis. But this 

 much may be taken for granted, that temper and constitution are largely determined by the 

 mother, and that if we would have healthy offspring we must have a healthy dam. Let the 

 breeder, then, give these bitches a fair chance, mating them carefully, and discarding none 

 of their pups till he is sure they are worthless. Even then, if he can, he will do well to keep 

 his eye on them. Every pup we breed is the result of an experiment from which something 

 may be learnt, and in this respect one's failures may be the stepping-stones to future success. 

 Suppose, for example, that there is one good bitch in a litter, while the rest have all bad 

 shoulders. If the breeder keeps sight of these he will know that he must be on his guard 

 against that fault in breeding from their sister. If, as is too often the case, he troubles 

 himself about nothing beyond the individual animal, he will be astonished at the appearance in 

 the next generation of a fault from which both parents are free. By such a system as I 

 have indicated a breeder will get a thorough familiarity with the hereditary peculiarities of all 

 his stock he will, in a word, know the material with which he his working. 



Having thus started our inexperienced breeder on his career, it may be well to say a 

 few words about the management of his young stock. There are some people who tell us 

 that they can infallibly pick out the best puppy of a litter. If a breeder can learn the 

 art, "happy man be his dole." For my part I am content to keep all that do not show 

 any very pronounced defect, in the belief, based on experience, that the least promising of the 

 litter may often be the one prize in it. The only defects in my opinion that justify one 

 in actually condemning a puppy are a fine coat and very large ears. Crooked legs may 

 come straight, an undershot jaw may grow level (at least up to four or five months old), 

 and a big overgrown puppy will sometimes stop growing with extraordinary suddenness, 

 while a small weedy one, especially a bitch, will occasionally thicken and furnish wonder- 

 fully when well on in her second year. One bit of advice I would give every breeder, to 

 keep a careful record of his pups, and to write down at the time of weaning or earlier his 

 opinion of their merits. This will be the best means of testing his own powers of judging 

 their promise. 



As to rearing pups, my own belief is, that when reared in numbers they should be 

 walked out at farmhouses and cottages. A number of pups kept together must either suffer 

 from want of exercise or else constantly lead one another into muchief. Moreover, if dis- 

 temper gets among them it runs through the whole lot, and probably disorders the older dogs. 

 Pups kept out at walk get more liberty, their intelligence is more developed, and they are 



