CHOICE OF PUPPIES AFTER WEANING THEM. 269 
puppies above four or five months old as well as for adult dogs. 
For shooting dogs those made with 25 per cent. of meat are far 
too strong; 10. per cent. is quite enough.* 
GENERAL TREATMENT. 
During the whole time of growth thé only general management 
required is, firstly, a habit of obedience, the dog being taught his 
kennel name, to follow at heel, and to lead. Some breeds require 
more than thi: as, for instance, the pointer and setter, which will 
be mentioned nade the head of breaking. Secondly, great clean- 
liness in all respects, the kennel being kept scrupulously clean by 
washing the floor, and at least once a year lime-washing the walls, 
while the skins are freed from any vermin which may be found 
by the means described in the Third Book. In the summer a 
straw bed is seldom required, but in the winter it must be given 
for the sake of warmth, and changed once or twice a week. Physic 
is not needed as a regular practice, if feeding is conducted on the 
above plan and the exercise is sufficient; but if the puppies are 
dull a dose of castor-oil occasionally will do good. 
CHOICE OF PUPPIES AFTER WEANING THEM. 
Puppies of all kinds vary in form so much between the weaning- 
time and the period of full growth that there is great difficulty 
in making a choice which shall be proved by subsequent events to 
be on reliable grounds. All young animals grow by fits and starts, 
the proportions varying with the stage of development in which 
any part is at the time of examination. Thus at the fourth month 
a puppy may look too long, but during the next month he may 
have grown so much in the legs that he no longer looks so. 
Again, another may be all legs and wings in the middle of his 
growth, but he may finally grow down to a‘strong, low, and 
muscular dog. So also with the fore and hind quarters, they may. 
grow alternately, and one month the fore quarter may be low, and 
the ‘next the hind. None but an experienced eye, therefore, can 
* Spratt’s Patent Company also make biscuits and food epeetally intended for 
puppies, but I prefer the articles before mentioned, 
