94 DOGS ! THEIR MANAGEMENT 



food is given than is the diet which has been allowed the 

 many previous weeks. 



Regularity in the hour of feeding should equally be 

 observed ; and if this matter be generally attended to, 

 there will be no danger of its being forgotten, since dogs' 

 stomachs are excellent time-keepers, and the brutes are 

 not by any delicacy of feeling restrained from asking. 

 The hour, after a little while, will always for the sake of 

 peace be kept, and the animals will soon learn the rules 

 to which they are subjected. 



For home-kept dogs there is no possibility of stating 

 the quantity of food that ought to be allowed. No two 

 animals in this respect are alike. One eats much, and its 

 fellow consumes but little ; yet the small feeder in most 

 cases thrives the best even where neither is stinted. The 

 quantity, therefore, cannot be measured. The only rule 

 to be observed is, that there be enough placed before the 

 animal at a stated hour. Let him eat of this till the slacken- 

 ing of the jaws' movement and the raising of the head in- 

 dicate that hunger has been for the present appeased. So 

 soon as this is remarked the food ought to be withdrawn. 

 On no account should the creature be allowed to gorge 

 to repletion, or eat after its healthy craving has been 

 satisfied. While the dog eats it should therefore be 

 watched ; and this custom works well, as the failure of 

 the appetite often gives to the attendant the earliest in- 

 dication of disease. 



The dog that neglects its day's allowance should not 

 be coaxed to feed, but ought to be left alone for some 



