CHAPTER XLIX 

 PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT 



MANY people are deterred from keeping dogs by the belief 

 that the hobby is expensive and that it entails a profitless 

 amount of trouble and anxiety ; but to the true dog-lover 

 the anxiety and trouble are far outbalanced by the pleasures 

 of possession, and as to the expense, that is a matter which can 

 be regulated at will. A luxuriously appointed kennel of 

 valuable dogs, who are pampered into sickness, may, indeed, 

 become a serious drain upon the owner's banking account, 

 but if managed on business principles the occupation is capable 

 of yielding a very respectable income. One does not wish 

 to see dog-keeping turned into a profession, and there seems 

 to be something mean in making money by our pets ; but the 

 process of drafting is necessary when the kennel is overstocked, 

 and buying and selling are among the interesting accessories 

 of the game, second only to the pleasurable excitement of 

 submitting one's favourites to the judgment of the show-ring. 

 The delights of breeding and rearing should be their own 

 reward, as they usually are, yet something more than mere 

 pin-money can be made by the alert amateur who possesses 

 a kennel of acknowledged merit, and who knows how to turn 

 it to account. A champion ought easily to earn his own 

 living : some are a source of handsome revenue. 



Occasionally one hears of very high prices being paid for 

 dogs acknowledged to be perfect specimens of their breed. 

 For the St. Bernard Sir Belvidere sixteen hundred pounds 

 were offered. Plinlimmon was sold for a thousand, the same 

 sum that was paid for the Bulldog Rodney Stone. For the 



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