592 



THE NEW BOOK OF THE DOG. 



are weakened, the heart is slowed, and the 

 brain is rendered 'dull. It is from amongst 

 dogs who are kept constantly in the house 

 or in badly-ventilated kennels that most 

 ailments originate. 



3. Impure water is the cause of many 

 diseases, including skin complaints, and 

 some forms of internal parasites, whose 

 larvas may have found their way into such 

 water. 



4. Cleanliness of the dog's coat is essen- 

 tial to health. There is no rule as to how 

 often a dog should be washed. As a 

 general thing, say, once a month or three 

 weeks. It should be done very thoroughly 

 when it is done; the best of soap is essen- 

 tial. Spratt's Patent have all kinds, and 

 I know they are good, but their finer sorts 

 should be used for Toy and other house 

 dogs. Good drying, without too much 

 rubbing, a bit of food immediately after 

 the washing, then a run on the grass, 

 another rub down, and off to kennel and 

 to sleep. 



5. Prevent disease also by keeping the 

 dog-dishes, the dog's bedding, his collar, 

 his clothing, and even his leading-strap 

 scrupulously clean. 



6. Prevent it by extra care when at a 

 dog show. See that the bench is clean, 

 and those adjoining his. Many a splendid 

 specimen contracts a fatal ailment at such 

 shows, and this, perhaps,- from no fault 

 of those in charge of the benches. Don't 

 let your specimens make acquaintance with 

 any strange dog while leading him in or 

 out of the show hall or round the exercise 

 ground. Don't cuddle strange dogs your- 

 self, or you may bring distemper to your 

 own at a show. 



7. Prevent disease by open-air exercise. 

 Swimming is one of the best forms of this. 

 So is racing or chasing on the grass after 

 a piece of stick or a ball. 



8. Prevent disease (going thin, worms, 

 etc.) in puppies by seeing to it that the 

 dam's whelping bed is perfectly clean, and 

 that she herself has been washed in tepid 

 water and rinsed with tepid water (not cold) 

 a week before her time. A single flea or 

 dog-louse (in which some species of worms 

 spend their intermediate stage), if swal- 

 lowed by a puppy, may cost the little thing 

 its life or its constitution. The worms so 



bred suck the blood or juices of the in- 

 testines, the puppy gets thin, and is liable 

 to rickets and many other troubles, of 

 which skin ailments, though bad enough, 

 are not the worst. 



9. Prevent disease in puppies after they 

 are weaned by feeding five times a day at 

 least early in the morning and last thing 

 at night on well selected diet, and always 

 boil the milk they drink, because a flea 

 or louse drowned in it might give rise to 

 worms, and, independently of this, milk 

 may be laden with evil germs. A Spratt's 

 puppy biscuit given to gnaw will do good 

 when the pup is old enough it helps the 

 milk teeth. Biscuits should be given dry 

 to all dogs, if they will take them, and 

 hunger is sweet sauce. Dry biscuits clean 

 the teeth. 



10. In the prevention of diseases the sun 

 is a most powerful agent. You cannot 

 keep a dog healthy unless you arrange his 

 kennel so that he can have a sunshine bath 

 as often as possible. Dogs delight to bask 

 in the sunshine and fresh air. 



n. Rabies, or canine madness, is an un- 

 known disease when dogs have freedom 

 and are never muzzled. This was never 

 more completely exemplified than during 

 the mad dog scare in England a few years 

 ago. In Edinburgh and other northern 

 cities, where dogs were free to roam un- 

 muzzled, there was no rabies, spurious or 

 real, and no panic among the people. 



12. Prevent disease by bedding the out- 

 door dog well and giving shelter summer 

 and winter, and by never chaining a dog 

 under a cart in motion, or letting him run 

 after a bicycle. 



Poisons and their Antidotes. Whether 

 as the result of accident or by evil design, 

 dogs are exceedingly liable to suffer from 

 poisoning. Independently of either acci- 

 dent or design, the animal is sometimes 

 poisoned by his owner unwisely adminis- 

 tering to him drugs in too large doses. 

 Poison is often put down to rats and mice, 

 and in a form, too, which is usually just 

 as palatable to the house-dog as to the 

 vermin. There are so many ingenious 

 traps nowadays sold for the catching of 

 mice and other vermin that really the 

 practice of poisoning rats should seldom be 

 resorted to. 



