148 EVERYTHING ABOUT DOGS. 



During the latter portion of her pregnancy she is peculiarly liable to chills; 

 every care should therefore be taken to avoid any risk of her taking cold, and 

 all washing operations and violent exercise must then be suspended. Our own 

 experience has taught us that in the majority of instances it is almost impossible 

 to tell whether or no the bitch is in whelp until the third or fourth week, and 

 on many occasions we have known breeders to be in doubt for a much longer 

 period. 



"A week or so before the date on which it is expected that she will whelp, 

 the bitch should be installed in the quarters in which it is arranged the inter- 

 esting event is to take place. The reason for this is that clogs must get used to 

 a kennel before they will make themselves at home in it, and this feeling is 

 peculiarly perceptible in the case of a bitch who has recently whelped; for in 

 many cases she will try and carry her puppies (greatly to the damage of the 

 latter) back to her old quarters rather than let them remain in a kennel to 

 which she is unaccustomed. Having got her reconciled to her change of abode, 

 the locale of which should, if possible, be away from the other dogs, so as to let 

 her have more quiet (but warmth and absence of draught are even more essential 

 than isolation in most cases), and supposing the time of her whelping to be 

 near at hand, it is desirable that the bitch should be provided with a diet of a 

 more strengthening character than that which she has been in the habit of 

 receiving. This need not consist entirely of meat or other heating foods, which 

 can only tend to increase her discomfort in parturition, but may be made of 

 scraps well boiled or stewed, with the addition of bread, meal, or rice, which in 

 their turn will absorb the gravy or soup and form, in conjunction with the 

 scraps, when the latter are chopped up, a meal which is both wholesome and 

 nutritious. A few days before the puppies make their appearance a considerable 

 change is usually perceptible in the bitch; the presence of milk can be detected 

 and a considerable enlargement of the stomach takes place. Her behavior, too, 

 clearly indicates that she is uneasy and in pain, and in many instances the 

 appetite entirely fails, and the bowels become confined. In the latter case a 

 mild purgative of either castor, linseed or sweet oil must be given. The first- 

 named remedy is sometimes too powerful an aperient for a bitch in such a con- 

 dition, as, in the more delicate breeds especially, it is apt to cause severe strain- 

 ing, which would injure the puppies. Before resorting, therefore, to castor oil, 

 an experimental dose of either linseed or sweet oil might be administered, which, 

 if it succeeds in acting on the bowels, will have satisfactorily accomplished the 

 owner's object; and as the lubricating power of all three oils is essentially the 

 same, the internal organs will be equally benefited by either medicine." 



It is a good plan to treat the brood bitch thoroughly for worms before being 

 put to the dog; and stud dogs should be periodically treated for these pests. 



