104 . THE DOG IN HEALTH. 



of cases. On the other hand, to feed a house-dog on flesh 

 entirely is simply to invite the onset of disease. 



However, as we should suppose, no dietary for the dog 

 can ever be considered complete from which meat or its 

 equivalent is wholly excluded. Such practice ignores 

 completely the origin of this animal. But between these 

 two extremes lies that territory in which there is the 

 greatest room for discretion in fact, the closest observa- 

 tion and study, especially when several dogs of different 

 breeds are kept together. 



Even under identical circumstances all the dogs of a 

 kennel must not be fed alike ; and it is the failure to per- 

 ceive these differences for breeds, and especially for indi- 

 viduals, that is the fertile source of so much wretchedness 

 for dogs ; for certainly more than one half of all cases of 

 skin disease, diarrhoea, etc., arise from dietetic errors. 



"We find breeders of experience advocating the most 

 opposite kinds of feeding. One all meat, the other little 

 or none ; one abundance of milk, another condemning it 

 as the source of disease ; one plenty of vegetables, another 

 opposing them as unnatural ; one advocating corn-meal 

 as cheap and wholesome, another declaring it unfit for the 

 dog under any circumstances ; one flesh in the raw state, 

 another only when it is cooked, etc. 



"We think these divergent views can be reconciled. 

 So long as any diet meets the conditions set forth above, it 

 may vary in many respects and yet prove suitable under a 

 different environment ; in a word, it must ever be borne 

 in mind that the food must vary with the environ- 

 ment. 



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Now, if we apply that principle on which we have 



