146 EVERYTHING ABOUT DOGS. 



have a special biscuit prepared with the proportion of meat doubled or trebled, 

 or feed fresh meat in add-'tion to the regular biscuit. 



"The number of meals a dog should be given daily is a matter frequently 

 discussed. I prefer tjo give a light meal in the morning (fed dry), such as two 

 or three dog biscuits or their equivalent, and a full meal at night. The morning 

 meal should be given at least one hour before the dog is put down in the field, 

 so as to enable the stomach juices to partially digest it. Under no circumstances 

 should a dog be worked directly after feeding a full meal. The stomach, like 

 all muscles and organs, requires during action an increased blood supply. During 

 exercise the blood is drawn from the stomach and other internal organs to 

 other parts of the body and the food, instead of being digested, lies as a heavy 

 load with a liability to ferment and produce a diarrhea or dysentery that will 

 incapacitate the animal. Table, scraps and "pick ups," if clean and fresh, free 

 from fat and grease (they seldom are), may be tolerated for house or pet dogs, 

 but the sportsman who attempts to take his dog through a hard sea-son's hunting 

 on such food is blind to his own and his dog's interests." 



FEFDIXO PUPPIES. Now as to feeding of puppies. As soon as they are weaned, 

 which should be done gradually, and which you will find under head of "Breed- 

 their food should consist of boiled or scalded milk (never feed raw milk to 

 l- a, >/,!/) in which soak some bread. Potatoes and gravy, bread and gravy, and 

 soups with plenty of vegetables in, such as carrots, turnips, beets and rice. 

 Chicken gravy or the gravy from stewed giblets in which some flour has been 

 added, is a very nourishing and favorite food for puppies. If the scalded milk 

 is found to be too constipating, add some oatmeal porridge to thicken it. When 

 he is cutting his teeth, crumbs of toast, hard cracker or crusts of stale bread are 

 needed. No one cares to eat the outside slice of a loaf, so that may be made 

 stale, hard, and broken up for the little dog, well soaked in the soup or milk. 

 Spratt's Patent makes a special puppy biscuit that is very good to feed to the 

 youngsters as soon as their teeth will admit of chewing same, which biscuit 

 should be broken up into small pieces. You can also feed this softened in soup. 

 When the puppy is about up to three months old, I would then give this biscuit 

 for one meal a day, fed dry but broken into small pieces. A very little cooked 

 beef and mutton, cut up very fine can now be given mixed in with the>ir other 

 foods, and some of the mush of stale bread (see article on FEEDING) will be all 

 right to give them, in which you can mix thoroughly the finely cut up meat, 

 but not too much meat until a little older. Puppies up to three months of age 

 should be fed four times a day and then gradually cut down to three meals a 

 day, which will generally be often enough to feed until they get to be from four 

 to live months old. At six months old, or about there, I put them on the regular 

 bill of fare with the grown dogs, excepting that their portion of cooked meat is 

 not so liberally dealt out at supper, but the large bones they have free access 

 to with the, older dogs. I don't believe in keeping a puppy on a milk diet too 

 long, and think it best to break them off from this when they get along to be 

 three or four months old and let water be their drink. 



Burn all your chicken, turkey and fish bones or any small bones like those 

 from a lamb chop. Small bones are dangerous. Dogs chew them up rapidly and 

 being tender, make slivers of them, and if one of these small slivers gets into a 

 dog's throat the wrons way or fails to pass through without any detention it's 

 generally a case of "good-bye dog." Many do'gs have died from this alone. 



Avoid sharp bones, especially fish and chicken bones, as you would poison, 

 for they frequently are more effective in killing a dog than is strychnine or some 



