DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 89 



touch upon some of those matters which are essential to 

 its health. It will, however, be understood that I do not 

 here pretend to treat of hounds, which for the most part 

 are well attended to, and fed, exercised, &c., according 

 to the judgment of the individual entrusted with the 

 superintendence of the kennel. Little probably could be 

 written which would materially amend the condition of 

 these creatures ; but petted and housed dogs are com- 

 monly treated after a fashion with which judgment has 

 nothing to do. Persons are indulgent to their animals, 

 and imagine that they are also kind, when too often they 

 oppose the dictates of their reason to gratify the weak- 

 ness of their momentary impulses. A little reflection 

 will convince such people that humanity does not consist 

 in the yielding to every expression of desire. The dog, 

 in a state of nature, being carnivorous, and obliged to 

 hunt for its food, in all probability would not feed every 

 day ; certainly it would seldom make more than one 

 meal in twenty-four hours. When the prey was caught, 

 it would be torn to pieces, and with the flesh much earth 

 would be swallowed. The animal, however, is now to be 

 regarded as subjected to man ; but while so viewing it, 

 nothing will be lost by keeping in sight its primitive 

 habits. 



The dog can fast for a great number of days. Absti- 

 nence for forty-eight hours seldom injures it ; but it is a 

 practice which ought not to be too frequently adopted, as 

 by its repetition the digestion is weakened. One meal, 

 however, is sufficient, in every case, for the twenty-four 



