298 KENNEL SECRETS. 



certainty how she will develop. And even if he who 

 follows this sells all his dog puppies he will know whether 

 . or not he is breeding judiciously. 



To make good, judicious selections from large litters 

 within the first week is impossible in most instances, for 

 puppies often undergo rapid changes, and not infrequently 

 the one which appears the least robust becomes the strong- 

 est ere the weaning is reached. Considering this, in 

 every case where the litter is too large for the mother to 

 nurse safely and it must be weeded, he who is in doubt 

 should try to nourish artificially what appears to him to be 

 the poorest of it. 



As for minor defects, they sometimes remain concealed 

 until the victims are well on towards maturity. In fact, in 

 not a few instances what has seemed to be the best puppy 

 in the litter has fallen off between the sixth and eighth 

 months and ultimately proved one of the poorest. In some 

 instances, also, the least promising has even at a later age 

 taken a tremendous stride in the way of improvement and 

 jumped to the front rank. 



Manifestly, therefore, to make judicious selections early 

 will never be easy, and oftentimes impossible except in the 

 presence of deformities or decided feebleness, or on the 

 basis of color and markings. However, he is not likely 

 to fall into many and grievous mistakes who is influenced 

 by the condition of health and outward appearance, and 

 gives the preference to the best-looking as well as the 

 hardiest and most active puppies. 



Some fanciers sell their poorest puppies first and keep 

 their best until the last. This rule does not conflict with 

 that laid down in the foregoing, — never allow bad speci- 

 mens to go out at any price, — and it can wisely be adhered 

 to in the absence of contract, for in order to make breed- 

 ing successful in a monetary sense it is necessary to put. 



