20 KENNEL SECRETS. 



than they are during the three following, consequently 

 even were they able properly to digest large quantities of 

 meat soon after the weaning they must not be given them 

 lest their blood and systems be rendered impure thereby. 

 But as they grow older and exercise more, and by this means 

 more quickly eliminate the waste from their bodies, the 

 proportion of meat can be safely increased, although in all 

 instances it must be done gradually, and in some it will 

 be found that the increase required from month to month 

 need not be very great. 



It is absolutely impossible, therefore, to fix a rule to 

 govern the proportion of meat for puppies. Considering 

 them as a whole, however, also the quantity of milk that 

 they generally take and the number of meals they have 

 daily, it can safely be accepted that about one-fourth is 

 near right for them after they are three or four months 

 old. But as already intimated it should be larger where 

 they are of the largest breeds, provided always the increase 

 is well borne and the growth more rapid and sturdy under 

 it. On the other hand, the proportion should be less for 

 smaller breeds, many of which will thrive and keep healthy 

 and strong on a diet in which meat only appears occasion- 

 ally and then in small quantities. 



For excess in animal foods there are fixed penalties, 

 and under some conditions of life they are more severe 

 than for those of excess in vegetable foods. While the 

 latter tends to the production of obesity, which in itself is 

 a very serious matter, as with brood bitches, and to dis- 

 eases especially of the skin, as eczema, the former strikes 

 deeper, and lessens greatly functional activity and leads 

 to an accumulation of impurities within the system. 



These effects were well illustrated in two mastiffs, bred 

 by the writer, which a few years ago excited much interest 

 in breeders of their variety, for the reason that they were, 



