THE DOG 



51 



grip his throat, slipping your stick through his 

 collar. He will let go immediately for want of 

 air. But if you are the one the dog has bitten, 

 send at once for the doctor. 



X. Birth and Early Youth 

 If a person owns a well-bred female dog and 

 desires to reproduce the breed, or if he owns 

 a male and desires to have pu])s which later 

 will have a money value, let him never lose 

 sight of the following ma.xim : " Marry gold 

 to gold or silver to gold." The male and the 

 female can never be too good. The selection 

 should be left to 

 an experienced 

 breeder, taking 

 care to put in 

 writing the condi- 

 tions of the trans- 

 action. 



When the time 

 comes for the 

 pups to be born 

 the mother should 

 be kept in perfect 

 repose. For some 

 weeks previous 

 she should not be 

 allowed to take 

 fatiguing walks Matrrn 



or to jump and 



bound. A place should have been already 

 prepared for her, apart from the other dogs. 

 It is best not to put too much straw in it, or 

 the pups cannot be dried fast enough by the 

 mother's licking. The mother will choose for 

 herself the best side of the kennel or barn. It 

 is well that she should be habituated to the 

 place some time in advance, or it might hajJiJen 

 that her new residence would n(jt please her, 

 and then, at the last moment, an anxious 

 mother will give birth to her pups in some 

 unexpected place which may be injurious to 

 them. It is needless to say that nature ought 

 to be left to itself, but the present s}stem of 

 breeding has put many dogs into a state that is 

 unnatural. It is not surprising, therefore, that 

 some mothers crush their progeny, or, in the 



agitation of the moment, do not know what td 

 do with the wet and whimpering pups ; and 

 thus whole litters are sometimes lost. It is 

 not superfluous to take |)recautions. 



Among iither precautions a large box or case 

 should be provided, with vertical partitions about 

 six inches high, where the mother can give birth 

 to her young. In it should be laid a second 

 wooden floor, carefully planed, with small holes 

 pierced through it, by which the moisture can 

 di-ain off. This floor should be covered with 

 peat dust. There should also be four trans- 

 versal laths placed along (jne interior side of 



the box, under 

 which the juips 

 can lie without 

 danger of being 

 pressed upon by 

 t h e m o t h e r. 

 These laths must 

 not have sharp 

 edges that might 

 wound the 

 mother's breast. 

 If the weather is 

 cold an e m p t }• 

 sack or a piece of 

 old carpet might 

 be nailed over the 

 opening, which 

 arrangement is 

 always excellent to close a dog's retreat, because 

 it excludes cold, and yet the animals can easil)- 

 pass in and out by pushing aside the portiere. 



Nature has provided that the mother can 

 feed all the offspring that she brings into the 

 world ; but our system of breeding, no doubt 

 unintentionally, has put a spoke in her wheel, 

 and very large litters are nearly always a fail- 

 ure. The strongest of the newborn quickly 

 choose the best places under the mother's 

 teats, and push aside the weaker ones ; so that 

 when the litter is large some of the pups get 

 little nourishment, while others get none at all, 

 and die. It is cjuite a risk to leave six with the 

 mother. Breeders usually try to lea\-e four or 

 five. The best and strongest can soon be dis- 

 covered ; but in ex'ery litter there is usually 



\L Cares 



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