BREEDING AND WHELPING 319 



themselves with annoying persistency. Furthermore, breed- 

 ing between animals closely allied in parentage is prone to 

 lead to degeneracy, physical weakness, and mental stupidity, 

 while impotence and sterility are frequent concomitants, and 

 none but experienced breeders should attempt so hazardous 

 an experiment. Observation has proved that the union of 

 father with daughter and mother with son is preferable to an 

 alliance between brother and sister. Perhaps the best 

 union is that between cousins. For the preservation of 

 general type, however, it ought to be sufficient to keep to one 

 strain and to select from that strain members who, while 

 exhibiting similar characteristics, are not actually too closely 

 allied in consanguinity. To move perpetually from one 

 strain to another is only to court an undesirable confusion of 

 type. 



In founding a kennel it is advisable to begin with the posses- 

 sion of a bitch. As a companion the female is to be preferred 

 to the male ; she is not less affectionate and faithful, and she is 

 usually much cleaner in her habits in the house. If it is 

 intended to breed by her, she should be very carefully chosen 

 and proved to be free from any serious fault or predisposition 

 to disease. Not only should her written pedigree be scrupu- 

 lously scrutinised, but her own constitution and that of her 

 parents on both sides should be minutely inquired into. 



A bitch comes into season for breeding twice in a year ; 

 the first time when she is reaching maturity, usually at the 

 age of from seven to ten months. Her condition will readily 

 be discerned by the fact of an increased attentiveness of the 

 opposite sex and the appearance of a mucous discharge from 

 the vagina. She should then be carefully protected from the 

 gallantry of suitors. Dogs kept in the near neighbourhood 

 of a bitch on heat, who is not accessible to them, go off their 

 feed and suffer in condition. With most breeds it is unwise 

 to put a bitch to stud before she is eighteen months old, but 

 Mr. Stubbs recommends that a Bull bitch should be allowed to 

 breed at her first heat, while her body retains the flexibility of 



