26 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



and when the inevitable desire to attempt to reproduce the 

 species is reached the beginner has the means at once available. 



It is always difficult for the uninitiated to select what is 

 likely to be a good dog from the nest. In choosing a puppy 

 care should be taken to ensure it has plenty of bone in its 

 limbs, and these should be fairly short and wide ; the nostrils 

 should be large and the face as short as possible. The chop 

 should be thick and heavily wrinkled and the mouth square. 

 There should be a distinct indent in the upper jaw, where the 

 bone will eventually curve, whilst the lower jaw should show 

 signs of curvature and protrude slightly in front of the upper 

 jaw. The teeth from canine to canine, including the six 

 front teeth, should be in a straight line. 



See that the ears are very small and thin, and the eyes set 

 well apart. The puppy having these properties, together 

 with a domed, peaked, or " cocoanut " shaped skull, is the one 

 which, in nine cases out of ten, will eventually make the best 

 headed dog of the litter. 



The breeding of Bulldogs requires unlimited patience, as 

 success is very difficult to attain. The breeder who can rear 

 five out of every ten puppies born may be considered fortu- 

 nate. It is frequently found in what appears to be a healthy 

 lot of puppies that some of them begin to whine and whimper 

 towards the end of the first day, and in such cases the writer's 

 experience is that there will be a speedy burial. 



It may be that the cause is due to some acidity of the milk, 

 but in such a case one would expect that similar difficulty 

 would be experienced with the remainder of the litter, but 

 this is not the usual result. Provided that the puppies can be 

 kept alive until the fourth day, it may be taken that the 

 chances are well in favour of ultimate success. 



Many breeders object to feeding the mother with meat 

 at this time, but the writer once had two litter sisters who 

 whelped on the same day, and he decided to try the effect 

 of a meat versus farinaceous diet upon them. As a result the 

 bitch who was freely fed with raw beef reared a stronger lot 



