The Dog in the House 37 
The object of placing the kennel on a slight eminence is to secure 
drainage. At any rate it should not be built in a hollow, or the dogs will 
always be liable to rheumatic and other troubles, induced by dampness and 
cold. Having selected the location, the next thing to do is to decide upon 
what is wanted. If the kennel is a modest one of half a dozen terriers, 
which the owner is to look after himself, a suitable structure would be one 
of twelve feet square, with an elevation of six feet at the eaves and about 
eight feet in the.centre. This will admit of a centre passageway of as much 
as four feet in width, and three four-feet-square divisions on each side, or 
enough to accommodate from six to nine terriers or anything up to setter 
size. Light can best be obtained by having tilting. windows at either end, 
and these also afford necessary ventilation from the sheltered side in winter 
or with a clear, through draught in summer. In most kennels the indoor 
compartments are boarded up for about four feet between the kennels, but 
we have tried with success good wire-netting, and the dogs seem quieter 
and more comfortable than when in solitary confinement. Certainly with 
the netting there is less accommodation for vermin in crevices and cracks. 
The kennel looks lighter and airier and thus gains in appearance. 
Of course the netting must be small enough in the mesh and stout enough 
to keep quarrelsome dogs apart, but there is not so much anxiety to get at 
one another among terriers who see each other all the time. The com- 
partment doors should either open inward or slide to one side, and for two 
reasons: not taking any passage space, and never giving way when pushed 
against by the dogs. We prefer the sliding-door set to run down a slight 
incline and catch when it runs down. The sleeping-bench should not be 
too high, and must be entirely detached, so that it can be taken out, washed 
with some parasite-killer and sun-dried. Bedding is unnecessary in sum- 
mer, and in winter it is better to have boxes inverted on the sleeping-benches, 
part of the front being taken off and a strip of sacking nailed along the top 
front to drop down in excessively cold weather. Such a box, if put on the 
summer sleeping-bench with a layer of paper beneath the straw, makes 
as comfortable a sleeping-place for a dog as can be provided, and obviates 
the need of a fire for anything but sensitive dogs. 
No matter what lumber is used for the sides and roof of the kennel, you 
cannot get too sound and too good material for the flooring. This: ought 
to be put down to be as tight as a drum and with just the least little bit of 
incline in the laying of it, so as to have it dry quickly when washed. How 
