THE FOSTER-MOTHER. 147 



exhausted, may be dangerously sick from blood-poisoning, 

 inflammation of the womb, etc. ; she may lack milk, or it 

 may act as a sort of poison. In all such cases, if the lit- 

 ter is to be saved, a foster-mother is to be secured. 



THE FOSTER-MOTHER. 



The essential qualification is the ability to take the 

 actual dam's place as completely as possible. The bitch 

 must be not only vigorous, free from skin disease, etc., 

 but, in addition, good-tempered, and able to supply at 

 once, and to continue to do so, an abundance of milk of 

 good quality. If a past history, showing that the require- 

 ments have been met by the particular animal in question, 

 can be obtained, so much the better. As a rule, a bitch 

 with a good appetite and digestion bears the strain of sup- 

 plying half a dozen hungry, growing young puppies with 

 their entire nourishment for four weeks, and with a good 

 part of it longer, and so makes the best foster-mother. A 

 dainty feeder may be at once rejected. 



If the animal be of the same or closely allied breed, so 

 much the better. Even a cat may serve for small puppies. 



If the foster-mother has just whelped, or is about to 

 whelp at once, the case is most favorable to the ready adop- 

 tion of the stranger offspring. Before introducing them 

 they may be allowed to lie awhile with her own progeny in 

 her absence, to get the scent from them, then have their 

 heads, etc., smeared with some of the foster-mother's milk, 

 and be introduced cautiously at night. However, much 

 must be left to the discretion of whoever undertakes this 

 delicate and sometimes impossible task. 



The mother herself should be removed so far away 



