53O THE BOOK 01- THE DOG. 



and santonine. The latter, in its crystallised form, is an excellent remedy for worms in dogs, and 

 about two grains in butter cannot be surpassed as a vermifuge for puppies of seven or eight weeks 

 old, whose parents weigh from forty to sixty pounds weight. If too strong a dose is given, san- 

 tonine has a tendency to affect the brain and cause fits, so precaution must be exercised in 

 administering this medicine. The chief difficulty in the use of areca-nut lies in getting it 

 freshly grated, as if allowed to become stale it loses its virtue as an anthelmintic. To avoid 

 this the nut should be grated on an ordinary nutmeg-grater, and given immediately in butter 

 or lard. The ordinary dose is two grains for every pound the dog weighs, but more than 

 two drachms should never be given. Spratt's worm powders are also excellent remedies, if an 

 owner has to clear his pets of these pests, and are easily procured of any chemist. 



It is useless to resort to any remedy for worms in dogs unless the medicine is administered 

 on an empty stomach. Small dogs should fast for at least twelve hours, and large powerful 

 animals for twenty-four, before the medicine is administered. It is also desirable to prevent 

 their drinking too much water during the period of their abstention, the object being to 

 deprive the worms of all sorts of food, so that the anthelmintic may have a greater chance of 

 success. Many persons give a dose of castor-oil the night before the vermifuge is given, and 

 a second one two or three hours after if it has had no effect. As long as the purgative 

 does not tax the dog's system too powerfully, these precautions materially assist the operation 

 of the medicine ; but judgment and caution must, of course, be exercised, and it would be 

 foolish to adopt such vigorous treatment with a weakly puppy. 



Crushed biscuits, oatmeal-porridge, and bread-and-gravy, with the addition of a little chopped 

 meat and vegetables, are the best diet for puppies when first away from their mother, and the 

 amount they can get through in the course of twenty-four hours is considerable. The greatest 

 care must be taken to guard against the puppies (this, in fact, applies to any dogs, but to 

 puppies especially) being given food which is sour or decomposed. A very fruitful and common 

 cause of this has only lately come to our knowledge. We are indebted for the following 

 information to Mr. F. Gresham, whose experience in feeding large dogs is very considerable. 

 This gentleman has proved by experience that food cooked in a copper or other boiler is very 

 apt to turn sour as soon as cooked, if allowed to stand and cool in the vessel in which it has 

 been prepared. Care should therefore be taken to remove it, as soon as the culinary operations 

 are completed, to a cool and clean receptacle, where it can remain until it is required for the 

 dogs, or is returned to the boiler, to be added to other meals in course of preparation. 



All draughts should be kept away from their kennel, which must be warm and dry, or the 

 puppies will not spread and grow as they should do ; and a run in a dry yard is imperative, 

 if the weather is not too cold or damp. By keeping his puppies clean and dry, an owner con- 

 siderably lessens the risk of distemper ravaging his kennels, for this fearful scourge is unquestion- 

 ably amenable to sanitary arrangements, and except on very rare occasions, when its origin can 

 usually be traced, is scarcely ever present in well-conducted establishments. In our own kennels 

 we have never experienced a single case of distemper amongst puppies of our own breeding, and 

 this has been under circumstances of great difficulty, where for over three years an average of 

 nearly fifty dogs have been kept in confined spaces. A strict attention to cleanliness, fresh air, 

 fresh water, sound food, combined with proper grooming and exercise, renders the presence 

 of distemper well-nigh impossible, and if a breeder who attends to these matters has the mis- 

 fortune to have it communicated to his stock (for distemper is contagious), he will find them 

 the better able to resist its attacks if they have been previously well looked after. 



Our own treatment in the few cases we had in cases of puppies we had bought (one or two 



