270 REARING, ETC. 



week, as already described, much of this difficulty will be 

 overcome, as the stomach is gradually prepared for the change. 

 I have already directed that at the sixth week at latest the 

 bitch should be entirely removed, and the whelps fed four 

 times a day, viz. at six in the morning, again at eleven, at 

 four in the afternoon, and again at nine in the evening. If 

 not fed so often as this they soon fall away in flesh, because 

 they are so voracious at the time of feeding as to overload 

 their stomachs, causing all sorts of mischief, such as flatulence, 

 diarrhoea, and all the other concomitants of disordered nutrition. 

 It is well to feed them at six and four with new milk, thickened 

 with oatmeal, and with a very little sugar in it, or, if at all 

 relaxed, with rice boiled in it for at least two hours instead 

 of the oatmeal, and at the other two periods with sheep's head 

 boiled down to form good broth, and thickened with fine wheat 

 flour to the consistence of cream, adding a little salt, which 

 all animals are the better for having. One head per day will 

 make about enough broth for six whelps till they are nine 

 or ten weeks old. Up to this time, whether in town or coun- 

 try, a loose box is the best place for the whelps, and there 

 is no occasion to do more than keep them rigidly clean, taking 

 care that the whole box is well littered down with short straw, 

 which should be changed partially every day where required, 

 and entirely once a week. Cleanliness is one of the most 

 important points, at all stages of the greyhound's life. If the 

 whelps keep in good condition, feeding well, and though not 

 covered with 'milk fat,' yet hearty and strong, they may 



