made with half milk and half water, should be given, and repeated. at intervals of two or three hours. Nothing cold is to be allowed for the first two or three days, unless it is in the height of summer, when these precautions are unnecessary, as the ordinary temperature is generally between 60° and 70° of Fahrenheit. If milk is not easily had, broth will do nearly as well, thickening it with oatmeal, which should be well boiled in it. This food is continued till the secretion of milk is fully established, when a more generous diet is gradually to be allowed, consisting of sloppy food, together with an allowance of meat somewhat greater than that to which she has been accustomed. This last is the best rule, for it will be found that no other useful one can be given; those bitches which have been previously accustomed to a flesh diet sinking away if they have not got it at this time, when the demands of the puppies for milk drain the system considerably; and those which have not been used to it being rendered feverish and dyspeptic if they have an inordinate allowance of it. A bitch in good health, and neither over-reduced by starvation nor made too fat by excessive feeding, will rarely give any trouble at this time; but, in either of these conditions, it may happen that the secretion fails to be established. (For the proper remedies see Parturition, in Book III.) From the first day the bitch should be encouraged to leave her puppies twice or thrice daily to empty herself, which some, in their excessive fondness for their new charge, are apt to neglect. When the milk is thoroughly established, they should be regularly exercised for an hour a day, which increases the secretion of milk, and

indeed will often bring it on. After the second week, bitches will always be delighted to leave their puppies for an hour or two at a time, and will exercise themselves if allowed to escape from them. The best food for a suckling bitch is strong broth, with a fair proportion of bread and flesh, or bread and milk, according to previous habits.

DESTRUCTION OR CHOICE OF WHELPS AT BIRTH.

Sometimes it is desirable to destroy all the whelps as soon as possible after birth, but this ought very seldom to be done, as in all cases it is better to keep one or two sucking for a short time, to prevent milk fever, and from motives of humanity also. If, however, it is decided to destroy all at once, take them away as fast as they are born, leaving only one with the mother to engage her attention, and when all are born, remove the last before she has become used to it, by which plan less cruelty is practised than if she is permitted to attach herself to her offspring. Low diet and a dose or two of mild aperient medicine, with moderate exercise, will be required to guard against fever, but at best it is a bad business, and can only be justified under extraordinary circumstances.

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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 Management.-Cropping, Branding, and Rounding.

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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, however, 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 puppies than she has good teats, that is, teats with milk in them, the weak ones are starved, unless the strong ones are kept away in order to allow them access, so as to fill themselves in their turn. To manage this, a covered basket, lined with wool if the weather is at all cold, should be provided; and in this one third or one half of the puppies should be kept, close to the mother, to prevent either from being uneasy, but the lid fastened down or she will take them out in her mouth. Every two or three hours a fresh lot should be exchanged for those in the basket, first letting them. fill themselves, when they will go to sleep and remain contented for the time fixed above, thus allowing each lot in its turn to fill itself regularly. At the end of ten days, by introducing a little sweetened cow's milk on the end of the finger into their mouths, and dipping their noses in a saucer containing it, they learn to lap ; and after this there will be little difficulty in rearing even a dozen; but they will not, however carefully they may be fed in aid of the mother, be as large as if only a small number were left on her, and therefore greyhound breeders limit their litters to five, six, or at most seven; destroying the remainder, or rearing them with a foster-nurse.

CHOICE OF WHELPS.

To choose the whelps in the nest which are to be kept, most people select on different principles, each having some peculiar crotchet to guide himself. Some take the heaviest, some the last born; others the longest of the litter; while others again are entirely guided by colour. In toy dogs, and those whose appearance is an important element, colour ought to be allowed all the weight it deserves, and among certain toy dogs the value is often affected a hundred per cent. by a slight variation in the markings. So also among pointers and setters, a dog with a good deal of white should be preferred, on the score of greater utility in the field, to another self-coloured puppy which might otherwise be superior in all respects. Hounds and greyhounds are however chosen for shape and make, and though this is not the same at birth as in after life, still there are certain indications which are not to be despised. Among these the shoulders are more visible than any others, and if on lifting up a puppy by the tail he puts his forelegs back beyond his ears, it may be surmised that there will be no fault in his shape in reference to his fore quarter, supposing that his legs are well formed and his feet of the proper shape, which last point can hardly be ascertained at this time. The width of the hips, and shape of the chest, with the formation of the loin, may also be conjectured, and the length of the neck is in like measure shadowed forth, though not with the same certainty as the shoulders and ribs. A very fat puppy will look pudgy to an inexperienced