General Management. 9 



Combing and brushing in long-haired dogs is absolutely- 

 necessary to prevent the hair matting, and to preserve its 

 character. In large breeds, as the mastiff tribe, it is as 

 requisite for good appearance as in the horse. Once daily, 

 twice if possible, I have my mastiffs thoroughly groomed ; 

 they enjoy it, the sensation affords them pleasure, and the 

 dog accustomed to the practice will look for it as regularly 

 as he does his meals. The brush is a far better remedy 

 for glossy coats than nitre, sulphur, antimony, or arsenic. 



KENNEL ARRANGEMENT. 



In dealing with this subject I shall merely make a few 

 passing practical remarks on ordinary kennel-arrangement, 

 though they are not particularly applicable to one breed 

 more than another. 



The kennel should neither have an easterly unsheltered 

 aspect nor damp foundation. If dogs so placed escape 

 kennel lameness and rheumatism, it is more from mere ■ 

 ■chance or constitution, than from the sanitary condition of 

 the locality. Good air, dry atmosphere, and sunlight are 

 as essential to health and spirits in the canine as the 

 human subject. It is all very well to argue as what dogs 

 are in a state of nature and what they are in the domestic 

 state. Nature and art in kennel-management are not com- 

 patible. The South Sea Islander thrives in the hot humid 

 atmosphere to which he is indigenous, and becomes fat 

 upon the flesh of his own species; but he must be 

 artificialised, so to speak, and civilised before he can ac- 

 commodate himself to our colder latitudes and description 

 of food. So with the dog ; domestication produces in him 

 a like result ; he accommodates himself to it because he 

 is artificialised ; give him the bare ground for his bed, ex- 

 pose him to bleak cold winds, and allow no shelter 

 from wet, and disease ^vill inevitably follow. 



