152 KENNEL SECRETS. 



Obviously the matter of exercising is one that requires 

 knowledge, judgment and care. It will certainly be neces- 

 sary to understand the natures of dogs thoroughly, the 

 peculiar work for which they were constructed, their 

 limits of endurance, etc., and to study them intelligently, 

 for the purpose of determining where they are weak 

 and need development. Then, and then only, in many 

 instances can exercise be judiciously applied. 



It is well to advert here to the belief which is widely 

 entertained that dogs can be conditioned quite as well by 

 medicine as by hygienic methods ; and that the utter 

 absurdity of this view may appear at once the physiologi- 

 cal effects of the drugs commonly used will be briefly 

 considered. 



Arsenic, the most popular agent for this purpose, is 

 both a tonic and a deadly poison, and while in nicely 

 adjusted doses and in selected subjects that abso- 

 lutely require such a tonic, and whose peculiarities of 

 organism are perfectly understood, it might do no 

 harm, and might possibly do good, still it is singu- 

 larly prone in every instance to impair the vital- 

 ity. But only men who are skilled in the use of drugs 

 and have an intimate knowledge of anatomy and physi- 

 ology can locate the danger line, and even they must 

 sometimes pass over it because of failure to recognize 

 idiosyncrasies. And if such men are liable to fail surely 

 the average layman is not at all likely to succeed. 



But even when administered understandingly it is far 

 from being suitable for conditioning dogs, for although 

 they seem to fatten after taking it for several weeks the 

 rounding out is not occasioned by a healthy deposit of fat, 

 but is largely due to pufBness of certain tissues, or what 

 is commonly called bloating. This seeming improvement 

 can be kept up for a long time if the doses of the poison are 



