2 THK MANAGEMENT AND DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



the reply given, when the attendant alleges his patient is 

 suffering from indigestion : " But he has had nothing to dis- 

 agree with him ; the poor little dear eats most sparingly ; a 

 morsel of buttered toast or mufSn, some tea and a lump of 

 sugar, has been doggie's only diet for months." True, and 

 therein lies the key to the mystery. The animal, contrary to 

 Nature's laws, has been educated to mimic human beings : 

 three or four meals a day, exclusive of kitchen-scraps, have 

 taken the place of the prescribed one or two, and human deli- 

 cacies substituted for the proper requirements of a carnivor- 

 ous stomach. 



Can it be wondered at, if the whole digestive machinery 

 is in consequence put out of gear : if the once glossy-coated 

 pet of cleanly habits becomes the bloated, waddling, unsightly 

 animal, so often seen, with teeth loose, discolored, and de- 

 cayed, breath foul, and excrements foetid? And all the result 

 of what ? Ignorance and mistaken kindness. Ask the human 

 mother the effect on the child of a continued diet- of pre- 

 serves, pastry, and sweet cakes, and she will tell you it is 

 much the same. 



Is it then, reasonable to suppose that the stomach of the 

 dog can properly digest and appropriate to the nourishment 

 of its body and the maintenance of health, that which man- 

 kind, for whom such is more in accordance, cannot take with 

 impunity .' 



A proper system of feeding is, therefore, one of the great 

 essentials of canine management. 



Time of Feeding. — The food should always be given, if 

 convenient, at a stated time : where only one meal is allowed, 

 at midday ; in the case of two, morning and evening. It 

 should not be given immediately before exercise or work, or S 

 the process of digestion will be interrupted, and the founda- 

 tion laid for ill health; but as soon as the animal comes ; 

 home, has had sufficient time to rest, and become cool, then \ 

 food may be proffered, and will be relished considerably 

 more. I am now alluding to dogs in health ; invalids of \ 



