DOGS. 



ON THE 



BREEDING AND TREATMENT OF DOGS. 



IN breeding dogs, the principal care to be exerted 

 is in the choice of the parents; on no account 

 should a cross be permitted, unless as an experi- 

 ment, with a view to obtain some improvement; but 

 even in this case, the dogs should be true to their 

 respective breeds. 



Dogs should not be allowed to couple till they 

 have attained the age of two years; their progeny 

 will be much the better for it: the female, prior to 

 this, should be carefully watched, and when in heat, 

 locked up, and a little cooling medicine given her. 

 Breed from the best-shaped and healthiest animals; 

 this is a rule which should never be departed from. 

 When the female has admitted the dog, care should 

 be taken to keep all other dogs from her; for unless 

 she be restrained, she will admit several others, to 

 the very great deterioration of her progeny. 



The period of gestation, in dogs, is about nine 

 weeks; the litter usually consists of from three to 

 seven at a birth: the young ones are born blind, and 

 do not obtain their sight till about ten or twelve 

 days. In about two months, their peculiar faculties 

 begin to exhibit themselves. At the age of six 

 months, their first teeth are replaced by others; and 

 from that period till they are twenty months old, 

 they continue to grow: at tw r o years of age, they are 

 usually considered to have arrived at their full vigour. 



