A toy which is properly looked after at home ought to be always

A toy which is properly looked after at home ought to be always

A toy which is properly looked after at home ought to be always

The first thing to be thought of where exhibiting is contemplated is getting the dog, or dogs, up to their very best form. A toy which is properly looked after at home ought to be always, more or less, in show condition, that is, as far as Nature's arrangements for the shedding of coat, etc., permit; but a little extra care for a few weeks before a show is desirable. Short-coated dogs, which, par parenthèse, should never be washed at all if it can be helped, must certainly not be washed for at least a fortnight beforehand, but the least possible trace of vaseline or cocoa-nut oil may be applied to their jackets and polished off with a clean handkerchief; while brushing and hand-rubbing the right way of the hair get up a beautiful gloss and sheen upon their coat, and a little milk to drink daily helps this effect. Eyes should be washed, and if noses are, as some, unfortunately, are too prone to be, dry, a little vaseline well rubbed in with the finger twice a day will remedy the defect.

Preparing the dog for exhibition

Preparing the dog for exhibition

Exhibiting and preparing for exhibition.

Although the profits to be obtained from exhibiting are of a secondary nature, and relative simply to the influence exercised on sales and the way in which showing them brings dogs into public notice, it is well worth the while of the dog owner who has a really good little toy to exhibit it sometimes for the fun of the thing. At a show one can learn more about breeds and points, and all the little details which interest doggy folk, than is possible otherwise; compare notes with other owners, and obtain many useful hints. I am sorry to say that we can also see a good deal going on which would be well suppressed, and get glimpses of the less attractive side of human nature which keen competition and rivalry are apt to call forth, and which the socialistic mixture of all classes composing "the dog fancy" encourages. "Faking" dyeing pale tan bright, pulling out coat, or tweaking white hairs, dusting disguising powder into the stained jackets of white dogs, training ears to fall or stand erect (temporarily) in the desired way, with other little improvements, such as clipping the hair from the edges of Poms' ears and from their paws and legs, are all practices nobody would own to, but which nevertheless exist; while even perfectly honest owners are able to bring their dogs to the front by legitimate methods which are unknown to the novice, and which she can learn from the initiated. As to the "cruelty" of showing, which Ouida so strongly deprecates, a word may be said. It is certainly not kind to send a little petted toy, accustomed to regular ways and the constant society of its owners to a show "on its own," unattended, and with no care but such as the show officials may feel disposed to bestow upon it often of a perfunctory character. On the other hand, if its owner takes it to the show, establishes it in its pen, visits it from time to time, feeds it, and takes it out of the show at evening time to spend the night with her, as can always be arranged, I fail to see the slightest cruelty in the matter in fact, many dogs enjoy being exhibited, and it is quite the exception to see a melancholy face in the rows of pens devoted to the well-cared-for toy section.

Preparing the dog for exhibition

Preparing the dog for exhibition

Exhibiting and preparing for exhibition.

Although the profits to be obtained from exhibiting are of a secondary nature, and relative simply to the influence exercised on sales and the way in which showing them brings dogs into public notice, it is well worth the while of the dog owner who has a really good little toy to exhibit it sometimes for the fun of the thing. At a show one can learn more about breeds and points, and all the little details which interest doggy folk, than is possible otherwise; compare notes with other owners, and obtain many useful hints. I am sorry to say that we can also see a good deal going on which would be well suppressed, and get glimpses of the less attractive side of human nature which keen competition and rivalry are apt to call forth, and which the socialistic mixture of all classes composing "the dog fancy" encourages. "Faking" dyeing pale tan bright, pulling out coat, or tweaking white hairs, dusting disguising powder into the stained jackets of white dogs, training ears to fall or stand erect (temporarily) in the desired way, with other little improvements, such as clipping the hair from the edges of Poms' ears and from their paws and legs, are all practices nobody would own to, but which nevertheless exist; while even perfectly honest owners are able to bring their dogs to the front by legitimate methods which are unknown to the novice, and which she can learn from the initiated. As to the "cruelty" of showing, which Ouida so strongly deprecates, a word may be said. It is certainly not kind to send a little petted toy, accustomed to regular ways and the constant society of its owners to a show "on its own," unattended, and with no care but such as the show officials may feel disposed to bestow upon it often of a perfunctory character. On the other hand, if its owner takes it to the show, establishes it in its pen, visits it from time to time, feeds it, and takes it out of the show at evening time to spend the night with her, as can always be arranged, I fail to see the slightest cruelty in the matter in fact, many dogs enjoy being exhibited, and it is quite the exception to see a melancholy face in the rows of pens devoted to the well-cared-for toy section.

The latter must be the kind which is not over-sweetened

The latter must be the kind which is not over-sweetened

The latter must be the kind which is not over-sweetened

The latter must be the kind which is not over-sweetened, and not the kind which has had the cream separated. Up to six weeks I find my puppies do best on milk only; when their little teeth are through, and their mother forsakes them, get them on to solids. A puppy loves to gnaw a lump of stalish sponge cake, or suck a rusk; it comforts him to use his sharp little needlepoints feeds and amuses him at once. Let him then have milk for breakfast and tea; an Osborne biscuit broken up, a rusk of the kind known as "tops and bottoms," just softened with a little drop of milk, not made into a slop, or a bit of sponge cake, for his dinner and supper. At four weeks he may have a little minced chicken or boiled fish for dinner, or shredded boiled mutton; at two months he may be fed like his elders, but with no big lumps of meat. All meat given to puppies should be cut up finely, until they are six months old. As to bones, a big bone is good for a puppy to suck and gnaw; but he must not have any kind of bone which he can swallow in whole or part. For grown-up toys any bones, but those of chicken, game, and fish, are a permissible treat, one at a time, and that time at least a week from the next or the last.

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.