THE KING CHARLES SPANIELS. 



439 



for profit, exhibition, or pleasure, when 

 price is an object for consideration, is often 

 better advised to purchase a healthy puppy 

 from a breeder of repute rather than to 



MRS. RAYMOND MALLOCK'S 



RUBY CH. ASHTON MORE BARONET. 



BY SAILOR LAD TOPSEY. 



be deluded with he notion that a good 

 adult can be purchased for a few pounds, 

 or to be carried away with the idea that 

 a cheap, indifferently bred specimen will 

 produce first-class stock. It takes years 

 to breed out bad points, but good blood 

 will tell. 



When you are purchasing a bitch with 

 the intention of breeding, many inquiries 

 should be made as to the stock from which 

 she comes. This will influence the selection 

 of the sire to whom she is to be mated, 

 and he should excel in the points in which 

 she is deficient. It is absolutely necessary 

 to have perfectly healthy animals, and 

 if the female be young, and small stock is 

 desired, her mate should be several years 

 her senior. A plain specimen of the right 

 blood is quite likely to produce good re- 

 sults to the breeder ; for example, should 

 there be two female puppies in a well-bred 

 litter, one remarkable as promising to 

 have all the requirements for a coming 

 champion, the other large and plain, this 

 latter should be selected for breeding pur- 

 poses as, being stronger, she will make 

 a better and more useful mother than her 

 handsome sister, who should be kept for 

 exhibition, or for sale at a remunerative 

 price. 



The modern craze for small specimens 



makes them quite unsuitable for pro- 

 creation. A brood bitch should not be 

 less than 9 Ib. in weight, and even heavier 

 is preferable. A sire the same size will 

 produce~small and far more typical stock 

 than one of 5 Ib. or 6 Ib., as the tendency 

 is to degenerate, especially in head points ; 

 but small size can be obtained by suitably 

 selecting the parents. 



The early spring is the best season for 

 breeding, as it gives the puppies a start 

 of at least six months in which to grow 

 and get strong before the cold weather sets 

 in, although, of course, they can be bred 

 at any time, but autumn and winter puppies 

 are more troublesome to rear. It is always 

 wise to administer occasionally, both to 

 puppies and adults, a dose of worm medi- 

 cine, so as to give no chance to internal 

 parasites the most troublesome ill with 

 which the dog owner has to wrestle, causing 

 even more mortality than the dreaded 

 scourge of distemper. 



The rules of hygiene cannot be over- 

 looked, as upon them hangs the success of 

 the breeder ; plenty of fresh air, light, and 

 sunshine are as necessary as food. Puppies 

 of this breed are essentially delicate, and 

 must be kept free from cold and draughts, but 



THE HON. MRS. LYTTON'S 



CH. THE SERAPH. 



they require liberty and freedom to develop 

 and strengthen their limbs, otherwise they 

 are liable to develop rickets. Their food 

 should be of the best quality, and after 

 the age of six months, nothing seems more 

 suitable than stale brown bread, cut up 



