The little toy bitch must be petted and taken good care of

The little toy bitch must be petted and taken good care of

The little toy bitch must be petted and taken good care of

Once mated, the little toy bitch must be petted and taken good care of: not over-fed, but given plenty of good, nourishing food, and systematically exercised. If she is in pup it will become evident about the fifth to the seventh week. Some dogs show it much more than others; whether she has puppies or not, she will have the natural provision of milk for them. If she does not pup, she may very likely come in season again in half the usual time. A failure to prove in pup is generally evidenced by a time of great heaviness and dullness, the bitch sleeping a great deal, getting very fat, and decidedly stupid; under these circumstances give her extra exercise and one or two small doses of sulphate of magnesia in food, to ward off skin irritation, a not uncommon correlative. People are far too apt to decide that "missing" is the bitch's fault; certainly she is apt to miss if she is too fat at the time of mating, and Nature often, and very sensibly, arranges that she shall do so when she has been regularly bred from at her seasons for a number of times; but outside these occasions it is quite as often the dog's fault as not.