1 62 KENNEL SECRETS. 



win in the " under-five-pound class " but not good enough 

 to compete with the big ones, therefore his owner will 

 naturally strive to pull off the odd ounces and bring him 

 to the standard. In order to do this and at the same 

 time have him in show form he must feed with exceeding 

 nicety. He must bring him down to weight but he must 

 not weaken, and in fact he must improve his general con- 

 dition if possible. 



In a case like this it would seem that animal foods could 

 be largely relied upon as the least likely to fatten, but 

 Yorkshires ought not be given much meat, for it is stimu- 

 lating and quite sure to heat them up if allowed in con- 

 siderable quantity ; nor is it possible to give the amount 

 of exercise required to obviate this effect and prevent the 

 blood from becoming contaminated with the impurities 

 which result from excess of animal food. These impuri- 

 ties present, the entire system suffers, but in dogs they 

 seem to have a decided preference for the skin. There- 

 fore, once the blood is out of order a bad condition of the 

 skin may follow, the hair will then of course be affected, 

 and when that begins to come out it will fall off rapidly, 

 and the owner of the victim would likely have to wait 

 more than a year, and perhaps two years, before he 

 could show again. 



Consequently " lighter " food must be mainly relied 

 upon. But of course some meat can be given, chopped 

 very fine, and what vegetables are allowed should be those 

 that grow above ground, such as lettuce, spinach and other 

 "greens." 



While new milk is one of the most bland and least stim- 

 ulating of foods it is to some extent fat-producing, owing 

 to its cream, therefore if milk is allowed the overweighty 

 it should be skimmed milk or buttermilk, and the latter 

 for choice. But many toys do not seem to like butter- 



