275 ) 



CHAPTER II. 



REARING. 



Management in the Nest— Choosing— The Foster-Nurse— Feeding before 

 Weaning— Choice of Place for Whelping— Removal of Dew-Claws, &c — 

 Weaning— Lodging— Feeding— Exercise — Home Rearing v. Walking- 

 Food — General Treatment — Choice of Puppies after Weaning — Cropping, 

 Branding, and Rounding. 



THE MANAGEMENT OF WHELPS IN THE NEST. 



This, till they are weaned, does not require much knowledge or 

 experience beyond the feeding of the mother, and the necessity 

 for removing a part when the numbers are too great for her 

 strength to support. For the first fortnight, at least, puppies are 

 entirely dependent upon the milk of their dam or a foster-nurse, 

 unless they are brought up by hand, which is a most troublesome 

 office, and attended also with considerable risk. Sometimes, how- 

 ever, the bitch produces twelve, fourteen, or even sixteen whelps, 

 and these being far beyond her powers to suckle properly, either 

 the weak ones die off, or the whole are impoverished, and rendered 

 small and puny. It is better, therefore, especially when size and 

 strength are objects to the breeder, to destroy a part of the litter, 

 when they are more than five or six in the greyhound, or seven or 

 eight in the hound or other dog of that size: In toy-dogs a small 

 size is sometimes a desideratum, and with them, if the strength 

 of the dam is equal to the drain, which it seldom is, almost any 

 number may be kept on her. For the first three or four days, the 

 bitch will be able to suckle her whole litter ; but if there are more 



