The animal subsequently requires little attention

The animal subsequently requires little attention

The animal subsequently requires little attention

The animal subsequently requires little attention, beyond a change of bed and a fair supply of nutritive food. She does best when least noticed; but it is well to see that she takes a sufficiency of exercise. On the following day she should be taken out; and on every day after that she ought to be about pretty much as before. Some bitches, however, are such devoted mothers as to sacrifice health, and occasionally life itself, to enjoy the pleasure of being with their young ones. This excess of affection must be controlled; for if not checked it will seriously injure both parent and offspring. All animals, however, are not thus distinguished. Some bitches cannot be induced to suckle the pups they have given birth to; and others, though less frequent, will eat their progeny. The disposition to desert or destroy their young seems to prevail among the parentage of this world. In the female of the dog the maternal instinct is most powerful; but under certain conditions of the animal's body, the natural impulse seems to be perverted, and she takes the life she would else have perished to preserve.