THX DOG. 



now TO TEED THE DOG. 



Not one among our catalogue of Home Pets stands so likely 

 a chance of being " killed by kindness " as the domestic dog ; 

 the gentle murder being rendered more easy of accomplishment 

 through the creature himself being only too happy, not only to 

 accept the " forbidden fruit," but most pertinaciously to solicit 

 it. I have heard the fair owners of " lap " dogs — those un- 

 fortunate canine wretches whose diminutive size, or the fashion- 

 able colour and texture of their coats, render fit and proper 

 occupants of the parlour and drawing-room — justify their 

 treatment of them in the most amusing ways : one persisting 

 that an animal of such a high order of intellect as the dog 

 would never choose to eat anything hurtful to its constitution ; 

 another, that since wholesome meat and milk were beneficial to 

 human beings, they must be good for dogs; another, that 

 it might be all very well, as regarded the dog's health, to feed it 

 on such coarse and nasty food as paunch and plain rice, but 

 that it stood to sense that such feeding must tend to deterio- 

 rate the silkiness of " darling Floss's " coat, and render his 

 body gross and unbearable. 



This last, although, perhaps, the most ludicrous error, is 

 most serious, because it is most common. What, however, says 

 a sound and modem authority on this subject ? " Animals not 

 worked, but kept as favourites, or allowed only to range at 

 pleasure, should not have any meat, or be permitted to consume 

 any large quantity of fatty substances. Butter, fat, or grease, 



S17 



