ST. BERNARDS 39 



These dogs require a wonderful ampunt of liberty, but 

 are uot tit for running long distances, being very liable to 

 soreness of foot. 



They are good-tempered, affectionate, and first rate 

 watch dogs. Their besetting sins are chasing sheep and 

 stealing from butchers' shops, for which they should be 

 severely chastised. 



The coat of the St. Bernard should be kept well brushed 

 and combed, especially in their puppyhood. St. Bernard 

 pups require the greatest care ; often in a litter there will 

 be some smooth and some rough. As pups they should be 

 fed three times a day till four months old ; after that twice 

 a day till full grown, whic^h should be at fourteen months. 

 The best food for them is Spratts' biscuits soaked in 

 good gravy, meat, and vegetables, with plenty of farinaceous 

 food, the quantity being increased weekly. They should 

 have a little lime water to drink, to help make their 

 limbs strong. 



Bone-dust sprinkled over their food is good for them, 

 as St. Bernards are liable to be rickety. 



It is a good plan to give a teaspoonful of Parrish's 

 chemical food in a saucer of milk every morning for a 

 month, then discontinue for a month, then give it again 

 rather stronger for six weeks. 



For all St. Bernards oatmeal porridge is excellent, 

 combined with meat, paunch, liver, sheeps' heads, and good 

 dog biscuits. 



Mori'is, in his volume of ' Dogs and their Doings,' 

 says : ' One of this breed of dogs which had been de- 

 corated with a medal in commemoration of his having 

 saved the lives of twenty-two persons, perished in 1816, 

 while attempting to convey a Piedmontese courier to his 

 anxious family. The courier arrived at the Hospice at 

 a very stormy period of the year, striving to reach the 

 little village of St. Pierre, in the valley beneath, where his 

 wife and children dwelt. The brothers vainly attempted 

 to check this resolution. They at last gave him two 

 guides, each of whom was accompanied by a dog, of which 



