140 THE DOG IN HEALTH. 



worms, especially tape-worms, treatment is justifiable. 

 The pumpkin-seed treatment (see page 355) is compara- 

 tively safe even during the last week. It is also well to 

 treat the bitch for worms just as she is coming into season, 

 or a little before, when the dosing should be thorough. 



The brood bitch should not be fat at any period of ges- 

 tation, but above all at its close. Such nearly always im- 

 plies lack of vigor and inability to meet the strain of 

 whelping. It moreover presents a mechanical impedi- 

 ment, as with external fat there is generally internal fat, 

 and at this time all the room possible is wanted within. 



When a bitch with a ravenous appetite tends to get fat, 

 it is well to give more meat and less starchy food. The 

 excess of fat must be removed, not by starving, which is 

 dangerous for the young, but by modification of the diet, 

 and especially by more exercise. : 



Preparation for whelping should in every case be 

 made. All forms of dirt and every kind of vermin on the 

 dam are a source of danger for the puppies. 



A bitch may be safely washed a few days before 

 whelping-time, and in nearly every case will be benefited 

 by it if done with proper care. Of course there is more 

 risk in winter ; but, except in rare cases, breeding should 

 be regulated to have the puppies whelped in spring or 

 summer. The former is the better period, as distemper 

 is often rampant in the fall, and the older the puppies, if 

 attacked by this malady, the greater are their chances of 

 survival. Naturally, the months from April to Novem- 

 ber are those permitting of that outdoor life essential to 

 the development of puppies. 



