524 THE BOOK OF THE DOG. 



especially if she should fail to be in pup. In event of the latter being the case, the usual 

 practice is that the same bitch may visit the dog a second time gratuitously, or another of the 

 same owner's at half price ; but here again caution must be exercised on the part of the pro- 

 prietor of the stud dog, for instances have occurred when puppies have been born dead, and 

 he has been told there was no result from the union of the parents. Owners of stud dogs often 

 do, and always should, provide the owners of bitches which have visited them with formal 

 certificates of service; such documents are particularly useful in event of disputed pedigrees. 



THE BROOD BITCH. 



Young bitches often exhibit symptoms of an inclination to breed at the age of eight or nine 

 months, but it is undesirable to place them at the stud until they have reached the age of at 

 least eighteen months. The remarks we made above against the advisability of resorting to 

 the services of too young a sire, apply with even greater force when a youthful bitch is under 

 consideration. Stunted and puny puppies are almost sure to be produced from a young mother ; 

 and the injury they are likely to do her constitution is incalculable. It must be borne in 

 mind that for weeks before birth her system is sorely taxed to provide them with nourish- 

 ment, and after the shock of labour is gone through there is a further strain upon her until 

 they are weaned. 



The first symptom afforded by a bitch that she is likely to be soon ready for breeding 

 purposes, is a desire on her part to romp and play with any dog she meets. This may possibly 

 arise from merely exuberance of spirits, but it is always well to keep a close eye upon her 

 as soon as any undue levity is observed in her conduct. It is most desirable to use every 

 endeavour to keep the animal away from all risk of being got at by strange dogs ; and when 

 the matter is placed beyond doubt all former precautions should be doubled if possible. It 

 must be remembered that there is not only a great risk of dogs getting into the place where 

 the bitch is confined, but that she will probably be equally anxious to escape from her kennel, 

 and some bitches have performed almost incredible feats in their endeavours to do so. 



She should, if at a distance, be sent off to the kennels where the dog is standing a day or 

 two after the earlier symptoms appear, so as to be in time. If despatched by public conveyance, 

 it is imperative that she be securely confined in a box or basket from which escape is impossible. 

 The transit of dogs has been more fully treated in the chapter on exhibiting, and need not be 

 further alluded to here ; but all breeders should be impressed with the absolute necessity of 

 exercising the greatest vigilance when they have bitches by them under such circumstances. For 

 at least a week after the bitch has visited the dog, the precautions for isolating her must not 

 be relaxed, or all her owner's hopes may be marred by her forming a connection with a stranger. 



The influence of a previous sire on a subsequent litter of puppies is a subject of the 

 keenest discussion and interest amongst breeders, and a most interesting correspondence has 

 taken place in the columns of the Live Stock Journal relating thereto. Some of the state- 

 ments which have appeared from time to time in that journal upon this subject, and which have 

 been substantiated by the names of writers whose position as breeders of various varieties of 

 live stock is assured, are invested with a peculiar importance. But having carefully read and 

 considered the matter, we find ourselves driven back on the supposition that although such 

 occurrences undoubtedly have arisen, they are not by any means the matter-of-course events 

 some of the correspondents of the Live Stock Journal consider them, and in more than one 

 instance we have failed to satisfy ourselves that the influences imputed have regulated the course 



