WEANING. 193 



of scissors answers equally well ; and the same may be said of the 

 dew-claw. If, however, the nail only is to be removed, which 

 always ought to be done, the teeth serve the purpose of a pair of 

 nippers, and by their aid it may be drawn out, leaving the 

 claw itself attached, but rendered less liable to injury, from having 

 lost the part likely to catch hold of any projecting body. 



WEANING. 



When weaning is to be commenced, which is usually about the 

 fifth or sixth week, it is better to remove the puppies altogether, 

 than to let the bitch go on suckling them at long intervals. By 

 this time their claws and teeth have become so sharp and so long, 

 that they punish the bitch terribly, and therefore she does not let 

 them fill their bellies. Her milk generally accumulates in her 

 teats, and becomes stale, in which state it is not fit for the whelps, 

 and by many is supposed to encourage worms. The puppies have 

 always learned to lap, and will eat meat, or take broth or thick- 

 ened milk, as previously described; besides which, when they 

 have no chance of sucking presented to them, they take other food 

 better, whereas, if they are allowed to suck away at empty teats, 

 they only fill themselves with wind, and then lose their appetites 

 for food of any kind. But, having determined to wean them, there 

 are several important particulars which must be attended to, or 

 the result will be a failure, at all events for some time. That is to 

 say, the puppies will fall away in flesh, and will cease to grow at 

 the same rate as before. In almost all cases, what is called the 

 " milk-fat " disappears after weaning, but still it is desirable to keep 

 some flesh on their bones, and this can only be done by attending 

 to the following directions, which apply to dogs of all kinds, but 

 are seldom rigidly carried out, except with the greyhound, whose 

 size and strength are so important as to call for every care to pro- 

 cure them in a high degree. In hounds, as well as pointers and 

 setters, a check in the growth is of just as much consequence ; but 

 as they are not tested together as to their speed and stoutness so 

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