190 KENNEL SECRETS. 



generally deemed the first essentials. The questions 

 naturally suggest themselves, Are not successes on the 

 bench often much too dearly bought ? and are not frequent 

 exhibitions prejudicial to the health of the animals shown ? 

 Do they not lessen their value as breeders ? 



To the large non-sporting dogs of both sexes there is 

 certainly danger if they appear often or are kept long 

 on the bench, for as a matter of fact many of the most 

 noted prize-winners among them are comparatively worth- 

 less for breeding purposes. Upon these varieties the 

 hardships of shows and journeys in the cars seem to tell 

 the most sorely ; moreover, it is not only not easy to 

 keep them in condition, but extremely difficult to bring 

 them back after they have much fallen off. 



But one of the reasons why shows prove so injurious 

 to these varieties appears in the common method of con- 

 ditioning by means of drugs. Such methods, perhaps, 

 prove satisfactory with most dogs for about a year — 

 possibly a little longer — and they show up in good form. 

 Sooner or later, however, the fact dawns upon their owners 

 that to put flesh on them is more difficult than it once 

 was, and thereafter "treatment" is begun earlier in the 

 season, and much larger doses of medicine are given. 

 But at last there comes a time when nature rebels or is 

 no longer able to respond. Overfeeding first weakened 

 the digestive system ; soon it became disordered or dis- 

 eased ; and with these changes every important organ 

 declined in power. Then nutrition suffered and the blood 

 became rapidly impoverished ; and this point once reached 

 the evidences of decay are too plain to be mistaken. 



The poor dogs' winning days over they are retired from 

 the bench, but not from the stud, for which they are now 

 well-nigh worthless. From the day that the cramming 

 system commenced their value lessened steadily, and long 



