240 The Sporting Dog 



well be praising blind or idiotic ancestry. Good 

 dogs may come from such an unfortunate mother, 

 but they do not start with a square chance. 



Another superstition which causes as much 

 troublous apprehension to the breeder as any, 

 is a belief that when a female is mated with an 

 undesirable male, subsequent litters by other 

 males are affected. Without going into the rea- 

 sons, it may be said conclusively that this is a 

 physical impossibility and that breeders need never 

 give it a thought. If there were anything in it, 

 the Hanover family of race-horses would not be 

 thoroughbreds, for Bourbon Belle had a trotting 

 colt before she foaled Hanover. 



One more superstition — the mad-dog scare. 

 Personally I do not believe that there is such a 

 specific disease as hydrophobia from a bite. 

 There are tetanus, meningitis, strychnine poison- 

 ing, and a rabies which can be communicated by 

 contact. In practice such things are all to be 

 dreaded. Don't be alarmed about hydrophobia, 

 but keep your eye on a dog which begins to act 

 queerly. Isolate him, give him a purgative, and 

 send for the veterinary. 



