286 REARING. 
average bull-terrier will rear three, her weight being about twenty- 
one pounds, and smaller dogs in proportion. When the substitu- 
tion.is to be made, the plan is to proceed as follows :—Get a warm 
basket, put in it some of the litter in which the bitch and her 
whelps have been lying, then take away all her own progeny, and, 
together with the whelps to be fostered, put all in the basket, 
mixing them so that the skins of the fresh ones shall be in contact 
with the bitch’s own pups and also with the litter. Let them 
remain in this way for three hours, during which time the bitch 
should be taken out for an hour’s walk, and her teats will have 
become painfully distended with milk. Then put all the pups in 
her nest, and, carefully watching her, let her go back to them. In 
ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, she will at once allow them all 
to suck quietly, and if she licks all alike she may be left with them 
safely enough ; but if she passes the fresh ones over, pushing them 
on one side, she should be muzzled for twelve hours, leaving all 
with her, and keeping the muzzle on excepting while she is fed, or 
watched till she is observed to lick all alike. On the next day, all 
but one of her own puppies may be withdrawn, with an interval of 
one hour or two between each two, and taking care that she does 
not see what is done. After two days the last may also be taken 
away, and then she acts. to her foster-puppies in every way the 
same as to her own. Some people squeeze a little of the bitch’s 
milk out of her teats, and rub this over the puppies, but I have 
never seen any advantage in the plan; and, as I have never had 
any difficulty in getting puppies adopted, I do not recommend any 
other than that I have described. In most cases the foster-bitch 
is strange to those about her, having been brought from her own 
home, and in that case a muzzle is often required for the safety of 
the servants watching her as well as for the whelps ; but if she seems 
quiet and good-tempered, it may be dispensed with even here. | 
FEEDING BEFORE WEANING. 
The food of whelps before weaning should be confined at first to 
cow’s milk, or, if this is very rich, reduced with a little water. It 
is better to boil it, and it should be sweetened with fine sugar, as 
for the human palate. As much of this as the whelps will take 
