222 KENNEL SECRETS. 



add that the custom of turning the two into a yard and 

 leaving them together for some hours is thoroughly wrong 

 and a cruelty to both. 



Where this test cannot be applied because the mating 

 must occur at a considerable distance, it is wise to ship 

 the bitch to the kennels of the dog soon after the first 

 signs of season have appeared, lest it prove one of those 

 instances in which the mating period is very short. 



Here intrudes a fact which, while of no great importance, 

 is worth recording, namely, that bitches that have been 

 successfully served have generally seemed to go out of 

 season more quickly than those in which the service was 

 unsuccessful. And in the experience of the writer this 

 has been quite constant in bitches that have passed the 

 third or fourth year and were mated at every period, while 

 the most notable exceptions were bitches that had been 

 allowed to " go by " one or more periods, or where for 

 causes unappreciable the intervals had been much longer 

 than usual. For instance, in one case for several periods 

 at which successful service occurred the bitch went out of 

 season by the third day, then a year and a half passed 

 without her coming in, and when she did so she remained in 

 season for eight days and was mated on every alternate 

 day. The services, however, proved unsuccessful. 



Perhaps it is sentiment merely that leads to the sugges- 

 tion that two perfect strangers be permitted to become 

 somewhat acquainted before they are put into the same 

 enclosure. And if allowed to run for a short time in ad- 

 joining yards, separated by a picket fence, the strange- 

 ness for the visitor — the one deserving the greatest 

 consideration — will soon wear off and subsequently the 

 desired result will be more easily attained, especially if 

 she is of nervous and timid nature. 



How many " services " are required .■' One only if 



