GREYHOUNDS. 
41 
she should be taken out regularly, or suffered to be at large. 
Nothing is of so much consequence as this. You can never 
expect a healthy offspring from a fat, dyspeptic mother, and 
confinement will as surely produce disease in the dog as in 
the human subject. This exercise should be continued as 
usual up to the end of the seventh week, after which time 
care should be taken that the bitch is not induced to overleap 
or strain herself by following others in their play. It is 
better, therefore, to lead her in a strap, if with other dogs, or 
to give her her entire liberty by herself in some quiet farm- 
yard or cottage garden. 
“ It generally happens that towards the end of her time the 
bitch becomes very thin; she should then be better fed than 
before ; but it is more desirable that she should be somewhat 
low in flesh than too fat, as this only leads to fever, and con- 
sequently to a stoppage in the secretion of her milk. 
“ If possible, she should have a roomy loose box, or some 
similar place, for her accouchement , and she should be sepa- 
rated from other dogs for the last week, for fear of injury by 
fighting. There should be plenty of clean straw, and if 
possible, a boarded floor for her to make her bed on, as the 
whelps are sure in sucking to scratch all the straw away, 
and afterwards lie on the bricks or stone. If, however, a 
boarded floor is not to be had, get a piece of old carpet, and 
put it on some litter, and then put more straw upon that, by 
which means you prevent the w T helps from scratching away 
more than that lying above the carpet, and they are conse- 
quently kept dry and warm. Care should be taken that the 
bowels are regularly open, and, if necessary, a little castor 
oil should be given, with plenty of broth afterwards. As the 
milk begins to fill the teats some days before whelping, it is 
well to give more sloppy food than usual, and a portion of 
milk, if easily obtained, is of service, as it is highly desirable 
that the secretion of milk should be fully established by the 
time the whelps are born. To do this effectually the food 
should be nutritious and sloppy, but not so heating as to 
produce fever. In making this change regard should be had 
to the previous diet of the bitch. If she has been fed upon 
much flesh it w r ill not do to take it away entirely and 
substitute milk and flour, but whatever the food has been, 
let your change be somew hat to a lighter, a more nutritious, 
and a more liquid kind. For instance, if much flesh has 
previously been given, then substitute good meat broth for a 
part of it, taking care to thicken the broth with the same 
kind of meal she has been accustomed to. It is astonishing 
how 7 often the health of greyhounds is upset by a thoughtless 
XXVI. 6 
