ROUNDING PUPPIES. 113 



of tlic disabled and vicious, and supplying their places 

 with a new entry of recruits, which may be either of 

 liis own breedino: or from the drafts of other kennels. 

 The young hounds are generally sent in from tlieir 

 quarters by tlie end of March ; few farmers being 

 prevailed on to keep them even to so late a period, 

 on account of their lambs and young poultry. Some- 

 times they shut them up close in a small pigsty or out- 

 house, where their limbs become deformed, and by con- 

 stantly sitting on their hams, watching to escape, they 

 grow sickle-hocked and weak in their quarters ; when a 

 puppy is discovered to be treated in so brutal and 

 unfeeling a manner, the sooner he is rescued from his 

 dungeon the better, as by good food, and being allowed 

 the free use of his limbs, he may still recover after coming 

 into the kennel.* By the first week in April, however, 

 we may conclude that they are not only all come in, 

 but that out of the whole body, those which are to form 

 the entry for the ensuing year have been selected to be 

 " put forward," from those which, on account of their size 

 not matching with the rest, or from inferiority in 

 symmetry, power, colour, and general appearance, arc 

 drafted from the kennel. The first thing to be done 

 after the requisite number have been selected, is to 

 round them, as, by the time the soreness of their ears 

 has recovered, and the natural timidity and wildness, 

 arising from the novelty of their new mode of living, 

 has gradually worn off, they will become sufficiently 



• The reason for confiuinp puppies is sometimes on account of their hunting 

 in tlie fields and disturbing tlie neighbouring preserves ; this however may be 

 easily prevented l)y soudiug over a whipper-in to round tlieir ears whilst at 

 quarters, which will effectually put a stop to their rambling propensities for at 

 least a month or five woeks. 



