DIETARY FOR PUPPIES. 51 



more may be added to their allowance every second or 

 third day until the weaning commences, assuming that 

 the mother is ample support, but it goes without saying 

 that where she fails the wants of the puppies are to be 

 satisfied. 



Gradual weaning, to cover about one week, should be 

 the rule in all cases that will admit it — that is, in all 

 cases in which the mothers are secreting fairly good quan- 

 tities of milk. But the period can scarcely be prolonged 

 beyond this with safety, for when a mother is nursed only 

 once or twice in twenty-four hours her milk becomes 

 altered and might prove injurious. 



When it is decided to wean, the mother should be 

 excluded from her puppies during certain hours each day 

 and permitted to return at fixed intervals, between which 

 and at fixed times they should be fed on cow's milk. As 

 for instance, she should be let out about seven in the 

 morning, admitted about noon and allowed to nurse them, 

 then be excluded for another interval of about five hours, 

 after which she should be permitted to return and care 

 for them until the following morning. And during her 

 absence they should be fed between nine and ten in the 

 forenoon and about three in the afternoon. 



Some breeders do not exclude the mother while the 

 weaning is going on, but their course is open to the objec- 

 tion that too much or too little food is likely to be taken 

 at times ; moreover an admixture of cow's milk and 

 mother's milk is not advisable when it can be pre- 

 vented, for together they seem less well borne than 

 when given separately. 



Two full feedings of cow's milk each day are all that 

 puppies should have during the first three days of the 

 weaning, — provided always that number is quite suffi- 

 cient with the quantity of milk afforded by the mother — 



