CAEE AND MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS 867 



a basket for warmth. After the placenta has been removed, 

 in order to avoid the sow getting to it, the young pigs may 

 be introduced to the dam and the udder emptied. 



It may be necessary to remove the little black teeth some 

 pigs are born with, and the existence of which is so painful 

 to the dam in sucking that she refuses to allow access ; 

 these should be broken off with a pair of plyers. 



Boars should not be taken into service until eight or nine 

 months old ; they must have exercise to keep the legs and 

 feet in order. Both boars and sows must be treated gently, 

 in the case of the boar his future temperament will depend 

 upon his management and treatment when he is first used. 

 Sows should not be used for breeding purposes until they 

 are eight or nine months old. 



DOGS.* 



The breeds, varieties, and uses of dogs are so many and 

 different, that we can only touch upon a few general 

 principles here, and refer the student to the works of 

 specialists, and the literature of the so-called breed societies. 

 The management of hounds, or of dogs used for sport, will 

 necessarily differ from that accorded to the toy or fancy 

 varieties, kept merely as pets and sharing the owner's home 

 and many of his habits. 



The diseases from which they suffer are largely prevent- 

 able, if fed upon suitable food, given adequate exercise, and 

 not indulged in luxurious habits, or made to suffer hard- 

 ships when employed for sport or purposes of draught. 

 The period of greatest anxiety is that from three to eight 

 months of age, when distemper is most likely to affect 

 them. The fancy varieties are liable to abortion, and all 

 breeds to septic pneumonia, an infectious gastro-enteritis, 

 to a great variety of entozoa, and to acari. The malady 

 most to be feared, because communicable to man, and fatal 



* I am indebted to Mr. H. Leeney, M.E.C.V.S., for kindly con- 

 tributing this section on the Care and Management of Dogs. 



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