ANIMAL FOODS. 3 1 



food for dogs of all ages, and beyond its supportive 

 effects it has an admirable action on the skin and coat. 

 And really no more solid rule can be fixed than to let all 

 dogs make their breakfasts on it, either alone or thick- 

 ening slightly with some of the starchy foods. 



Skimmed milk, as all must know, is simply milk that 

 has parted with a certain amount of its oleaginous matter 

 or cream, while its tissue-building materials have all been 

 retained. It is therefore nourishing, and merely lacks the 

 force-producing elements of the milk. 



As for buttermilk, this also contains all of any value 

 except the fatty matter, while, like skimmed milk, it is 

 scarcely less refreshing and nutritious than new milk ; 

 and those who cannot afford the latter should by all 

 means, in summer certainly, be well supplied with one 

 of the others — the cost of which is but a trifle compara- 

 tively — and give it to their dogs in generous quantities 

 for breakfast. 



The difference between the skimmed and the new is not 

 likely to be noted ; but buttermilk is at first less agree- 

 able to the taste, yet a fondness for it is generally soon 

 acquired, and it can always be gratified, for this milk 

 is no burden to digestion, nor is it at all likely to affect 

 the bowels unpleasantly, as many think it inclined 

 to do. 



Some dogs take kindly to sour milk, and if so it can 

 safely be allowed them in reasonable quantities, but 

 breeders will do well to withhold it from very young 

 puppies, although within the experience of the writer it 

 only occasionally does harm. As for its anthelmintic 

 powers, which are generally thought to be considerable, if 

 it possesses any such they are of small account. 



This list of animal foods would be far from complete 

 were eggs not included, for in conditioning the well and 



