I 14 KENNEL SECRETS. 



wise they will fall below the standard of health and be 

 frequent victims of disease. It can safely be accepted 

 also that among all the conditions of health in a kennel 

 there are none more imperative than an abundant supply 

 of pure water. 



Breeders generally fail to appreciate the fact that water 

 is quite as indispensable to the welfare of young puppies 

 while on the so-called sloppy foods as to those further 

 advanced in life, it being assumed that milk, broths, por- 

 ridges, etc., are capable of satisfying thirst and furnishing 

 all the water required to meet the wants of the system ; 

 and for this reason it is rarely put before them until they 

 are six or seven weeks old. 



This must often prove a serious mistake. Puppies are 

 notoriously gourmand and when allowed to do so will eat 

 until abdominal rupture seems threatened, but if taught 

 early to drink water and encouraged to take it freely and 

 often, their capacity for food will be narrowed and the 

 danger of overeating greatly lessened ; moreover, by means 

 of it digestion will be greatly favored. 



Now, for two or three months after weaning, these little 

 ones are very liable to have colic, diarrhoea and other 

 stomach and intestinal disorders which frequently result 

 fatally, and even if recovery takes place the victims have 

 had such a set-back their futures are prejudiced and they 

 fail to thrive and mature well. But that such attacks are 

 common is not surprising considering how puppies are 

 fed. If the food is well chosen — which is far from the 

 rule — they are generally allowed to overeat, and in con- 

 sequence their stomachs are soon dilated and weakened, 

 and the lining membrane more or less irritated. Beyond 

 this, digestion is sluggish ; one meal is not disposed of 

 before another is eaten, and most of the time there are 

 food remnants in the stomach undergoing decomposition 



