DISEASES OF DOGS. 



IZTTBODUGTORT,— It is sadd that eveiy man forty years of 

 age should be his own doctor, and there is, I think, stLU more reason 

 why every man who owns a dog, even without having attained the 

 age of forty, should be, in aU simple cases, his own dog doctor ; 

 indeed, there is no one so well qualified as the master, for he best 

 knows the peculiarities of habit and temperament of his favourite, 

 and is therefore in the best position to administer to his ailments 

 when "out of sorts." Home treatment may be successfully prac- 

 tised if a few fundamental facts are borne in mind and a few ruling 

 principles of action observed. 



It should never be forgotten that health is the natural state, and 

 that when disease is present, in nine cases out of ten it is the 

 master's fault ; and before making the poor beast the receptacle for 

 a lot of nasty physic, it should be aaked whether his treatment iz 

 governed by that wisdom and care his devoted obedience and fidelity 

 have a right to demand. The young gentleman who practises on 

 the wonderful self-sacrificing obedience of Neptime, by repeatedly 

 sending him into the water in cold weather to swim after nothing- 

 need not be astonished if he afterwards finds him curled up in his 

 kennel suffering the agonies of rheumatism ; and when darling Fido 

 so frightens his mistress with that low moan, succeeded by that 

 painful and prolonged howl, with his back arched, his feet tucked in 

 towards each other, and vainly toying every possible posture to 

 escape the pain, he is merely paying the penalty of that last 

 lump of sugar. True, Fido may have had sugar frequently with 

 out suffering in this way, but the last lump is the straw that 

 breaks the camel's back ; and no surprise need be felt if persistence 

 in the kindly meant but objectionable practice induces repeated 

 attacks of colic, ending in inflammation, and possibly in death. 



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