296 GENERAL MANAGEMENT. 



a good gallop in their play dries them in a few minutes, and no 

 ill consequences result, so that there is a great advantage, with- 

 out any attendant evil, in adopting the plan of swimming them 

 in the summer months. 



ENTERING TO HIS GAME. 



With regard to the time at which the greyhound puppy should 

 be entered to his game there is a great difference of opinion ; one 

 party maintains that it is better to let the sapling learn his trade, 

 whilst the other holds that this only does harm, and that 

 it is better to wait till he has arrived at puppyhood. I should 

 here remark, for the benefit of the tyro, that the young 

 greyhound is called a sapling till he is a year old, after which 

 he becomes a puppy till two years old, or till the end of each 

 season respectively. My own opinion is, that puppies reared 

 well and of moderate size are fit to see a hare if bitches, at ten 

 months old, and if dogs at twelve ; but the best test of the 

 fitness of the dog is the cocking of the leg upon urining. 

 As soon as he begins to do this he is acquiring the fire and 

 strength of the adult animal, and is fit to exert himself in 

 a moderate course without injury ; but prior to this his joints 

 are unset, his muscles are soft and flabby, and he only injures 

 himself without gaining any advantage, not generally being 

 able to get blood from want of strength and tact. Care should 



