If those who find toy puppies difficult to rear thus

If those who find toy puppies difficult to rear thus

If those who find toy puppies difficult to rear thus

If those who find toy puppies difficult to rear thus, would forsake slops and feed them rationally, they would, I think, share the success of a number of breeders, whose toys are noted for their health and beauty, and whose methods I rely upon to back up my contention. Up to the time the puppy can use its first teeth, give it nothing but milk, pure, sweet, fresh, and warm mixed with plasmon or any other good dried milk powder; cold milk will give the baby colic. Teach it to lap from a saucer of warm milk; either good cow's milk, if you can rely on getting it free from boracic acid; pure cream and hot water to the thickness of milk; goat's milk, best of all; or, in the last resource, condensed milk, thinned with hot water.

Has made a miserable creature of one that would have been happy

Has made a miserable creature of one that would have been happy

Has made a miserable creature of one that would have been happy

I write, as I feel, strongly on this subject; for many a time have I been vexed to see how obstinacy in compelling a dog to live on utterly unnatural food, has made a miserable creature of one that would have been happy, properly fed; and the same applies to many a litter of puppies.

It has long been a common habit to feed puppies on sloppy, farinaceous food, even up to the time when they are well on in getting their permanent teeth; if this is a mistake with larger dogs, it is a grievous folly with toys. People feed their pups four or five times a day on watery bread and milk, Indian corn meal and oatmeal, and powdered biscuit, all slopped with milk; they may even leave it about all day. Some of the puppies, the greedy ones to wit, nearly burst themselves, whereupon Nature rebels and relieves the pressure by means of diarrhœa; others, dainty feeders, are sickened after one or two doses, and can hardly be got to feed at all. They loathe their food, and getting them on is a constant worry; presently they begin to be often sick (this is the stomach's protest against being constantly distended with liquid food) and if they have, as most puppies have, the ova of worms inside them, these are immensely encouraged to develop, and lose no time in doing so. A nice preparation for the critical period of teething!

But it is a perfectly just one

But it is a perfectly just one

But it is a perfectly just one

It is quite a modern theory that the sins formerly laid to the charge of meat are all unproven, but it is a perfectly just one. Not only do skin complaints arise from malnutrition, or from improper feeding, or a too large amount of starchy food, but a cure for them is frequently found in changing the diet to one of raw or underdone meat only. This is modern veterinary practice, as set forth by the cleverest man of the day Mr. Sewell and others whose ability is unquestioned; in the olden times the vet's invariable dictum, whether he understood the case or not and generally he was in dense ignorance as to whether mange, eczema, or erythema was the trouble was "No meat!" This idea, like others primarily due to ignorance, dies hard, and these are still to be found people who, ignoring the way a dog's teeth are formed, pronounce his proper diet to be farinaceous, notwithstanding the fact that he was created among the carnivora. Of course, we cannot keep a house pet, altered by centuries of evolution, just as Nature kept him, on raw flesh for one thing, because he is not living the same sort of life; but the conditions are not so different as to have turned a flesh-eating animal into a graminivorous one.

But it is a perfectly just one

But it is a perfectly just one

But it is a perfectly just one

It is quite a modern theory that the sins formerly laid to the charge of meat are all unproven, but it is a perfectly just one. Not only do skin complaints arise from malnutrition, or from improper feeding, or a too large amount of starchy food, but a cure for them is frequently found in changing the diet to one of raw or underdone meat only. This is modern veterinary practice, as set forth by the cleverest man of the day Mr. Sewell and others whose ability is unquestioned; in the olden times the vet's invariable dictum, whether he understood the case or not and generally he was in dense ignorance as to whether mange, eczema, or erythema was the trouble was "No meat!" This idea, like others primarily due to ignorance, dies hard, and these are still to be found people who, ignoring the way a dog's teeth are formed, pronounce his proper diet to be farinaceous, notwithstanding the fact that he was created among the carnivora. Of course, we cannot keep a house pet, altered by centuries of evolution, just as Nature kept him, on raw flesh for one thing, because he is not living the same sort of life; but the conditions are not so different as to have turned a flesh-eating animal into a graminivorous one.

Which has a biscuit at breakfast time

Which has a biscuit at breakfast time

Which has a biscuit at breakfast time

A toy dog of 5 lbs. or 6 lbs., which has a biscuit at breakfast time, a varied and tempting meal of meat or fish at lunch, and a piece of stale sponge cake in the evening, is being reasonably fed, and should have a healthy appetite. It is a mistake to feed only once a day, as such treatment is only suitable for dogs so far in a state of nature that they can gorge themselves to their fullest and sleep for hours afterwards; and then take hard exercise.

On feeding toys

On feeding toys

On feeding toys

In feeding toys, variety is essential, and it is also desirable to give them food which will nourish and support the constitution without fattening them unduly, or heating the blood. It is far better to give a toy a very small dinner, as far as bulk is concerned, of roast meat cut up; or a little boiled mutton and rice; or a bit of cutlet minced, than to give a much larger dinner of rice and biscuit flooded with milk or soup. Big, sloppy meals are most undesirable, and the last meal at night, above all, should be dry. Half a penny sponge cake makes an excellent supper for a toy dog, or a couple of Osborne biscuits. Toy dogs should never be given any biscuit containing oatmeal or Indian corn meal, or peameal. These two are much used in dog-biscuit making, on account of their cheapness, and they are both too heating for toy dogs, and, in quantity, indigestible, although oatmeal is occasionally valuable, as in the form of groats, to be made into milk gruel and given to bitches after confinement. Rice, well boiled, is used as a staple, to give bulk to meals, by all breeders of Yorkshire terriers, and it is a valuable food, for this purpose, for it does not fatten, and is as easily digested as any cereal can be. Although I advocate small, dry meals as against large, sloppy ones, I do not mean to say that a certain amount of bulk is not desirable it is, for without it there would not be the natural stimulus of distension to the intestinal canal. But although the dog has a very large gullet and can swallow, and wishes to swallow, very large quantities as compared to its size, its stomach is not so very large in proportion, and the juste milieu enough and not too much is easy to ascertain. Eating between meals is quite as bad for dogs as for babies. They should be fed regularly, and restrained from picking up bits out of doors which may be poisoned, and are sure to be unwholesome. Many dogs have a shocking habit of scavenging, which often means that they are anæmic and harbour worms; if a tonic and worm dose does not mend matters, a muzzle will.

Some breeds of toys are much easier to teach than others

Some breeds of toys are much easier to teach than others

Some breeds of toys are much easier to teach than others

Some breeds of toys are much easier to teach than others; personally, I have found Poms comparatively difficult dogs to train to the house, and black-and-tan terriers are seldom altogether reliable; while fawn pugs are generally averse to going out of doors in wet or very cold weather; but patience and perseverance will do it in almost all cases. On the other hand, some little dogs take to the house at once, and give no trouble at all from the very first. A dog just off a journey, or strange to a place, is not generally well-behaved just at first, so that the buyer of a puppy, warranted trained, ought to give it a little law before deciding that its education is not properly complete. I am sometimes asked if there is not some magical preparation which cures dogs of untidy habits, but am compelled to own that, in the present state of our knowledge, such a thing not only does not exist, but does not seem likely to be discovered! Small puppies, under three or five months, are physically incapable of resisting any impulse, therefore it is quite useless to attempt to train them too soon. Comparison between the sexes in this matter is sometimes made; some preferring males as house dogs, and others females. I fancy there is not the least difference, and certainly, given a promising and intelligent individual, a little boy pup is as easy to teach manners to as a little girl, and per contra. Much depends upon character; here and there we find some toy dogs which have mean, cringing spirits, and these are generally the ones which won't go out in rain. They may be vulgarly described as "sneaks," and I would not keep a dog of this description. Mere timidity is a different thing altogether, and can be eradicated by kindness and judicious petting. The "sneak" is no companion, and should not be bred from. It will not follow well out of doors, is seldom a good mother, and is apt to transmit its faults of disposition to its offspring.

The two diseases usually so described

The two diseases usually so described

The two diseases usually so described

Distemper, that is, the two diseases usually so described, are a bugbear, but it is enough to say that no puppy ought to have them. If he does, it is because some one has allowed him to get the contagion, by accident or carelessness; left to himself, he could not indulge in it, for it is not, cannot be, spontaneous.

Small skin troubles, such as puppy pox, in which the skin in the under parts of the body is red, and small pustules form and suppurate, after the manner of chicken pox though puppy pox is not catching often affect the strongest puppies; and a pup which "teethes with a rash" is generally thought by breeders to be one which, if in the way of contagion, will not take "distemper" very badly, if at all, though whether there is any foundation for this opinion I cannot undertake to say. Personally, my puppies never have distemper, simply because they never have a chance; but where other dogs from the house are going to and fro to shows they are almost certain, sooner or later, to bring it home to the babies. Some day we shall have a crusade for stamping these horrible diseases out, or discover prophylactics, no doubt; at present they must be looked upon as ill-luck which may never come our way. The training of puppies to the house is a task which is most easily accomplished by bringing them in from the kitchens, or wherever they live in a general way, to some sitting-room for a short time daily, and by degrees teaching them that each offence is instantly followed by dismissal to the garden, or out of doors. Beating little dogs is useless and unkind, but a mild scolding may be given and the infant be carried out by the scruff of its neck. The great thing is to make this sequel invariable, as dogs have a great sense of justice, and soon learn that they have done wrong in this case; whereas, if they are allowed to do a thing three times and beaten for it on the fourth occasion they quite fail to understand the reason of the rebuke.

The two diseases usually so described

The two diseases usually so described

The two diseases usually so described

Distemper, that is, the two diseases usually so described, are a bugbear, but it is enough to say that no puppy ought to have them. If he does, it is because some one has allowed him to get the contagion, by accident or carelessness; left to himself, he could not indulge in it, for it is not, cannot be, spontaneous.

Small skin troubles, such as puppy pox, in which the skin in the under parts of the body is red, and small pustules form and suppurate, after the manner of chicken pox though puppy pox is not catching often affect the strongest puppies; and a pup which "teethes with a rash" is generally thought by breeders to be one which, if in the way of contagion, will not take "distemper" very badly, if at all, though whether there is any foundation for this opinion I cannot undertake to say. Personally, my puppies never have distemper, simply because they never have a chance; but where other dogs from the house are going to and fro to shows they are almost certain, sooner or later, to bring it home to the babies. Some day we shall have a crusade for stamping these horrible diseases out, or discover prophylactics, no doubt; at present they must be looked upon as ill-luck which may never come our way. The training of puppies to the house is a task which is most easily accomplished by bringing them in from the kitchens, or wherever they live in a general way, to some sitting-room for a short time daily, and by degrees teaching them that each offence is instantly followed by dismissal to the garden, or out of doors. Beating little dogs is useless and unkind, but a mild scolding may be given and the infant be carried out by the scruff of its neck. The great thing is to make this sequel invariable, as dogs have a great sense of justice, and soon learn that they have done wrong in this case; whereas, if they are allowed to do a thing three times and beaten for it on the fourth occasion they quite fail to understand the reason of the rebuke.

A toy puppy grows more quickly than

A toy puppy grows more quickly than

A toy puppy grows more quickly than

A toy puppy grows more quickly than, for instance, a terrier, and, of course, is adult far sooner than a big dog; the short-haired varieties, again, coming to maturity sooner than the long-coated ones. A Yorkshire terrier is adult at a year, but does not get his full beauty of coat until he is two years old, or thereabouts. A toy Schipperke is, so to speak, grown-up at ten or eleven months, but goes on thickening and improving in shape, and probably increasing and hardening in coat for another year at least. A Pom's jacket gets grander at each moult until he is three years old. As a general rule it may be laid down that the dog is a puppy no longer at ten months, when his teething is almost always entirely completed. This same teething is a tiresome process, comprising the change of the first set of wee ivories for the permanent forty-two which are to carry the owner through life. Nearly every puppy suffers more or less in the process, some from fits, some from skin irritation, some from colds in the head and eyes, some from general feverishness; but the troubles are ephemeral, and generally subside between whiles, returning as each big tooth is cut. What makes the worst trouble is when the first teeth are severally not shed, but remain in situ, a second tooth forcing itself up at one side of the lingering intruder. This condition is pretty sure to mean teething fits, of which more anon. Dentition begins about the fourth month, and once safely over, the dog may be considered well reared.

POMERANIAN PUPPY. At the ugly age.