194 REARING. 



closely as greyhounds are, the slight defects produced in puppy- 

 hood are not detected, and, as a consequence, the same attention is 

 not paid. Nevertheless, as most of these points require only care, 

 and cost little beyond it, they ought to be carried out almost as 

 strictly in the kennels of the foxhound and pointer as in those de- 

 voted to the longtails. These chief and cardinal elements of suc- 

 cess are, 1st, a warm, clean, and dry lodging ; 2ndly, suitable 

 food ; 3rdly, regularity in feeding ; and, 4thly, a provision for suf- 

 ficient exercise. 



NECESSITY FOR WARM AND DRY LODGING. 



All puppies require a dry lodging, and in the winter season it 

 should also be a warm one. Greyhound whelps, up to their third 

 or fourth month, are sometimes reared in an artificial tempera- 

 ture, either by means of a stove, or by using the heat of a stable, 

 the temperature chosen being 60 of Fahrenheit. Beyond this 

 age, it can never be necessary to adopt artificial heat in rearing 

 puppies, because for public coursing they are required to be whelp- 

 ed after the last day of the year, and four months from that time 

 takes us on to May, when the weather is seldom cold enough to re- 

 quire a stove ; then during the summer months they are gradu- 

 ally hardened to the vicissitudes of the weather, and as they be- 

 come older their growth is established, and they are no longer in 

 .danger of its being checked. It is true that some few breeders 

 always keep their kennels at 60; but on the whole, as we shall 

 hereafter find, the plan is not a good one, and need not be consid- 

 ered here. But far beyond the warmth, dryness is essential to suc- 

 cess. Dogs will bear almost any amount of cold if unaccompanied 

 by damp, provided they have plenty of straw to lie in ; but a damp 

 kennel, even if warm, is sure to lead to rickets or rheumatism, if 

 the puppies escape inflammation of some one or more of the inter- 

 nal organs. Take care, therefore, to give a dry bedstead of boards, 

 lined with the same material towards the wall (the cold of which 

 strikes inwardly and gives cold), and raised somewhat from the 



