Title: A Manual of Toy Dogs - How to breed, rear, and feed them
Author: Williams, Mrs. Leslie
Language: English
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Illustration: MISS MURRAY'S BLACK PUGS. _Frontispiece_



  A MANUAL OF TOY DOGS HOW TO BREED, REAR, AND FEED THEM

  BY MRS. LESLIE WILLIAMS

  THIRD EDITION THIRD IMPRESSION

  LONDON EDWARD ARNOLD 41 & 48, MADDOX STREET, BOND STREET, W. 1919



  _Copyright 1904 All rights reserved_



PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION


This little book, in its earlier editions, met with so uniformly kind
and gracious a reception, that I am encouraged to hope it may still make
new friends on this, its third appearance. It has given me the greatest
pleasure to hear from correspondents in many countries that they have
found it as helpful as I hoped a manual drawn entirely from actual
personal experience might prove to be.

In the years which have elapsed since I first wrote upon dogs, there has
been a wonderful advance in veterinary science and practice. Operative
surgery under anæsthetics has become nearly as confident in relieving
our pets as in abating our own miseries. Much disease, however, is still
present among dogs for which there is no warrant in Nature, and which
might be entirely conquered in the course of a few generations, could
the prejudice against natural and rational diet be completely abandoned.
To persuade dog-owners to give meat-feeding a trial--one honest
experiment has never in my experience failed to convince the most
sceptical--has been my constant endeavour, and I cannot let the "Toy Dog
Manual" go forth on another journey without once more laying emphasis on
the fact that the really successful dog-owner's secret is a very simple
one, spelt in the four letters--MEAT. I have to thank numerous kind
friends for help in providing the illustrations, nearly all pictures of
actual present-day winning dogs, and examples not only of beauty and
show points, but of perfect health. I am also greatly indebted to _The
Illustrated Kennel News_ for the loan of blocks and for other kind
courtesies, as also to _The Ladies' Field_, a paper devoted in its
kennel columns to the best interest of dogs.

                                     M. L. WILLIAMS.

  SWANSWICK, BATH,
  _May 5th, 1910._



CONTENTS


                                                               PAGE

  TOY DOGS FOR PROFIT                                             1

  ON BREEDING                                                     5

  THE TOY BITCH WHEN PUPPING                                      9

  ON REARING PUPS                                                14

  ON FEEDING TOYS                                                19

  EXHIBITING AND PREPARING FOR EXHIBITION                        23

  THE CHOICE OF BREEDS                                           30

  AILMENTS AND ILLNESSES                                         42

  CLUB STANDARDS, DESCRIPTIONS AND POINTS OF VARIOUS TOY BREEDS  80

  INDEX                                                         105



MANUAL OF TOY DOGS



CHAPTER 1

TOY DOGS FOR PROFIT


Perhaps the question which is most frequently asked anent toy dogs is
whether the keeping them as a pleasure and hobby can be combined with
profit by means of breeding them and selling the puppies. To such a
query it is very hard to give a definite reply, for this reason--whether
or not toy dog breeding can be made profitable depends, firstly, on the
character of the enterpriser, and, secondly, on that inscrutable
factor--Fate. Some of us devote ourselves to our dogs, take endless
trouble for them, and spend money on them freely, with the poorest
possible return; others, while not making nearly so much fuss about
their pets, manage to turn out healthy litters at regular intervals, and
sell them at remunerative prices. All that can be done is to put before
the novice "how _not_ to do it," and leave to each individually the
chances called luck, for which their star is answerable. Taking one year
with another, and presupposing patience, perseverance, affection for the
dogs, and some business-like qualities in the aspirant, I am of opinion
that toy dogs can be made to pay their expenses, and leave a margin of
profit; this in the case of non-exhibitors. Where exhibiting is
contemplated, the luck element is still more to the front, and a degree
of experience, both local and general, is essential to success. If
success, however, in winning prizes is once attained, the sales of
puppies become much more assured, and higher prices are naturally
obtainable.

As a means of eking out a small income, dog breeding is occasionally
successful, supposing the breeder to possess advantages in the way of
proper quarters, and plenty of time to spare, natural aptitude not being
wanted; but I should greatly hesitate to suggest to a poor lady, without
experience in dogs, that she should embark capital in such a venture.
Many people seem possessed with the idea that they have only to buy a
female dog, or dogs (generally the latter, since the novice is always
inclined to split upon the rock of overcrowding and overstocking at
first), and get it mated with some well-known sire, to ensure a fine,
healthy litter of pups, which can be immediately sold at high prices,
having in the meantime been fed on dog biscuit and attended to, more or
less, by any one who happens to be at home. No greater mistake! If you
want to succeed with toy dogs, you must, at any rate until you have
considerable experience and, in addition, the ability to direct others
and make them understand, which is never an easy task, look after the
pets yourself, not spasmodically, but regularly; see that they have
exercise and proper food in proper quantity and variety, and at fixed
and regular hours; you must have an eye always open to notice the
smallest beginnings of illness--a watchfulness servants, for example,
never can comprehend, still less practise; and lastly, you must set an
aim before you and keep to it with perseverance, even though you may,
and probably will, often feel impatient and despairing. Then, too, you
must be prepared to nurse the dogs properly if, or when, they are ill.
Nobody can expect to be exempt from illness, dog or man, and good
nursing is as needful in the one case as in the other. A sick toy dog
must be kept clean, petted, sat with, talked to, and tempted with nice
things, like a sick baby, for the little spirit has much to do with the
tender frame, and pain and weakness need sympathy, and respond to it
eagerly. A little toy bitch, accustomed to fly to her owner at every
impulse, cannot be left to have puppies all alone--though her fussy
preparations, which may last all night, are rather wearisome. Some one
must stay with her and comfort her until her troubles are over;
otherwise, she will fret and worry until, when the pups do appear, she
has no milk for them.

All these little requirements and necessities may seem absurd to those
who think a dog is a dog and nothing more; but we have bred generation
after generation of toys to be in our constant company, and made them
almost humanly intelligent, while, naturally, their small brains have no
human balance; and that a nervous toy dog _does_ need such consideration
will be granted, I am sure, by all successful breeders. At the same
time, I am by no means advocating the silly system of over-petting and
over-feeding, whereby dogs can be made a nuisance to themselves and
every one else. Because a child must be taken care of, it does not
follow that it need be spoiled: we ought to put a hat on its head when
it goes out in the sun, but we need not walk beside it, holding an
umbrella over it; and so with our small dogs--they must be watched and
cared for, but they need not, and should not, be coddled and made silly.

I have no opinion of a dog which will not go out because it is raining,
preferring to make itself objectionable in the house; or of one which
leaves the small proportion of biscuit in its dinner and comes round
scratching your arm for more meat; or of one which rushes back to the
fire when a walk is suggested on a chilly day. Dogs like this have not
been properly cared for; it is not affection for them, seeking their
well-being, but downright silliness, which is responsible for their
self-indulgent ways. Thanks be that toy dogs of this kind are becoming
much less common, and indeed, in the case of any person desiring to keep
them with an idea of profit, such ways would be discouraged by
self-interest, for pampered dogs are not those which breed freely and do
their puppies justice.

Where it is necessary that the dogs shall pay their way, it is of the
first necessity that the inevitable expenses of starting and gaining
experience shall be carefully considered. It is not a bad plan to get a
little cheap dog, and see it through a litter before embarking in a
"paying" breed, as where these are concerned it is useless to expect
return unless a really good price has been paid for valuable stock to
begin with. One does occasionally see such toys as Japs and Poms
advertised very cheaply; and I have known people who studied these
advertisements with rosy visions of "picking up" a bitch from an
excellent strain, at a guinea or two--with some slight fault, like a few
white hairs, to cheapen her--of breeding show stock from her and making
a little fortune. Chances like this seldom come in the way of the
novice. The best start a would-be breeder who is without any experience
can have, is by placing herself in the hands of some one who has been
successful, buying a young bitch which comes of a winning strain, though
it may possess some fault, at a fair price--which will not be a small
one--and taking the breeder's advice as to mating, etc. Or it is by no
means a bad plan to buy a brace of unrelated young puppies and rear
them. Of this, more in the chapter on breeding.

To buy imported or pedigreeless small toys for breeding is a complete
lottery. Foreign breeders are extremely careless with regard to their
strains, and purity of blood can never be depended on. Another point
which must be insisted upon in relation to profitable toy breeding is
the necessity for health in the kennel. I say kennel because it is a
useful word, but am far from suggesting that toys of any kind should be
kept in the way understood by "having a kennel" among larger dogs. The
breeder who succeeds best is invariably the one who keeps one or two, or
even four or five, _pet_ bitches, running about the house enjoying full
liberty and all the happiness of personal favourites, with, it may be, a
dog also of the party. The breeder who is most troubled with skin
complaints, distemper, lengthy vet's bills, and all the expenses, such
as sick diet, which eat up profits, is the one who has built or fitted
"kennels," no matter at what expense, and filled them with dogs.



CHAPTER II

ON BREEDING


Very small bitches, and especially those belonging to certain breeds
which are known to be "shy," are not only often reluctant to breed at
all, but are not infrequently very indifferent mothers, while there are
great risks to the bitch in pupping where the sire is larger than
herself, or where larger dogs occur in the immediate ancestry on either
side. For these reasons, brood bitches are always wisely chosen of
medium size, and mated to very tiny dogs. In all the breeds which come
under the head of toys, smallness is a desideratum, but the practice of
inbreeding which has been extensively resorted to cannot be too highly
condemned; while the equally mistaken idea of attaining this end by
under-feeding puppies has also contributed to the weakliness of
constitution which is an immense drawback to some breeds. Reckoning size
by weight is another faulty practice much against the true interests of
toys, which we want to be small and healthy at the same time; for a very
tiny dog, if compact and sturdy, may weigh much more than a leggy
specimen which, to the eye, seems half as large again.

A bitch from 5 lbs. to 7 lbs., if, as I said before, of a small strain,
may be safely used for breeding, and the smaller the dog the better,
provided he is healthy. The plan of sending away bitches to a stud dog
saves the expense of buying a dog of one's own; the sire's wins help to
sell the puppies very materially, and the good offices of his owner may
generally be reckoned upon to assist the novice; but there are other
facets to the question.

These tiny dogs, which are frequently exhibited, are often very
unreliable sires; they work too hard, and their owners are sometimes
very indifferent as to whether the visiting bitches are satisfactorily
attended to. True, the terms always do, or certainly always should,
include a second visit free if the first proves fruitless, but there is
the loss of time, the disappointment to the owner, and sometimes to the
little bitch herself, who may have been quite anxious to breed and not
have had a fair chance, and the trouble and expense of travelling for
her. On the whole, I am much inclined to advise the novice to, at any
rate, _begin_ by rearing up a male puppy of such breeds as Pekingese and
Griffons, or the scarcer toy Bulldogs, and using it for the home stud;
for the other plan is less likely to result in disappointment when a
little knowledge has been gained of the kennel world in general. This,
of course, unless the whole thing is gone into under the ægis of some
experienced owner, as before suggested. Some little bitches are
exceedingly capricious, and will not take the least notice of a strange
dog, where they would willingly mate with one they knew and liked;
others are so upset by a journey and a strange place as to be useless
_pro tem._; others, again, instead of being ready to breed twice a year,
as is the usual habit of female dogs, may only come in season once in
twelve months, and then but fugitively. In such cases it is a positive
necessity to have a dog on the spot. Where a sire must be chosen from
among strangers, his points should correct any in which the bitch is
deficient; your toy pug may have too small a head, with little
wrinkle--you must look for a dog with good head properties as her mate;
your Pom may be long in back, and you must seek a male with the opposite
quality, and a plume well over and touching his frill.

The first puppies of two young dogs are generally larger than the
parents, but I do not believe the theory often advanced that the first
litter is always the best. Puppies by a very old sire are usually small.

A toy bitch, if sent away, should be carefully packed in a roomy, warm
basket; the provision of draughty, tumble-to-pieces baskets is false
economy, both for show and breeding purposes. If possible, a toy dog of
either sex should have a cosy little basket kennel, with a door, which
it can use at home as a sleeping-place, and in which it can travel; the
basket can be fitted with an outer case of wood for greater security,
but the dog will stand the journey much better if it is in a familiar
basket. Something with a peaked or rounded top should be chosen; the
ventilation being safer in this, as flat-sided and flat-topped packages
may be so crowded upon with others in a guard's van as to suffocate the
inmate.

Illustration: GRIFFON BRUXELLOIS. _"Sparklets," the property of Miss
Johnson._

The usual period of willingness to breed in a toy bitch is, more or
less, one week. This is preceded by about a fortnight's preparation, a
week or so of gradual enlargement of the parts concerned, and a week of
a coloured discharge from the uterus and vagina. Either or all of the
stages may last a longer or shorter time; but three weeks is generally
accepted as the period. No attempt at mating the bitch should be made
during the first two stages; it is when the discharge begins to cease
that she is ready, and the correct judging of this time is what chiefly
puzzles amateurs, though after they have once been through it they will
not find any difficulty. As a rule, bitches are sent away too soon, and
as the conveniences for keeping them at the stud dog's house are often
few, they are cooped up for day after day, and may become quite "stale"
and dull before the real mating time comes--a poor prospect. If the two
dogs are in the house together, the male should be kept entirely away
from the female from the very beginning of her attraction for him, until
she is ready, otherwise he will worry her incessantly and become himself
ultimately indifferent and useless in the matter. Toy dogs should never
be left to themselves in breeding matters; it is highly dangerous to do
so, especially if they are young and inexperienced, and I strongly
advise the beginner either to get some experienced breeder to overlook
matters and give advice, or failing this, when the female is ready, to
send the two dogs for a few hours to some kind and sensible veterinary
surgeon. They should be allowed to be together twice, either on
consecutive days, or with a day between.

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.

A question which is frequently asked is as to the desirability or
otherwise of giving a toy bitch worm medicine, or an aperient, while she
is in pup or just before her babies arrive. It is as well to give one
mild dose of worm medicine about the end of the third week, if the bitch
is known to be troubled with these parasites to any great extent; but it
would be much better to have dosed her before her breeding time came on.
As to the aperient before pupping which we often see advised, it is a
totally unnecessary interference with Nature, and when castor oil, a
violent irritant to dogs, is employed, it is a sheer piece of cruelty,
likely to have very bad effects.



CHAPTER III

THE TOY BITCH WHEN PUPPING


Too much interference is generally alternated in the case of dogs with a
disregard of their natural feelings where the arrival of puppies is
concerned. It is quite natural that the little bitch, feeling distressed
and uneasy, should claim a great deal of notice and attention, and if
she has been made a pet of she will expect, and deserve, to be allowed
to have her puppies in her mistress's dressing-room or some similar
luxury; in which she should be indulged. But once she has got over the
preliminaries, which I will presently describe, she should, if possible,
be left to herself as far as manual assistance goes. Nature will bring
the puppies into the world far better than our clumsy hands, and the
merest little tyro of a year-old bitch generally possesses the
marvellous instinct teaching her to put her babies comfortably afloat
on the sea of life. The disregard of a pet dog's feelings at which I
have hinted may take the form of sending a tiny bitch out to the stable
to pup under the care of a coachman or groom, and this may or may not be
cruel according to whether she has any affection for the man or any
knowledge of her temporary quarters; personally, I should consider it an
unkind thing to do under any circumstances.

The beginning of the toy bitch's trouble is apparent to her owner almost
as soon as to herself. She pants, and runs about excitedly, scratching
here and there, making wildly impossible and absurd nests for her
puppies in all kinds of unsuitable places. This may last for days, but
is generally only done for a few hours before the puppies arrive, which,
by the way, will be nine weeks after mating. Some bitches shriek in a
very distressing way before they pup, and, as a rule, food is refused,
and the little mother that is to be is often sick. No anxiety, however,
need be felt. As soon as she really means business she will quiet down
and settle in the place prepared for her, which by choice should be a
big, deep arm-chair, with a white blanket--any old thing will do that is
clean--folded in the seat of it, and over this an old cotton sheet,
likewise folded, and so secured that the bitch cannot scrabble it up in
the foolish endeavour to improve human bed-making which always possesses
dogs, and, if indulged, lands them in desperate discomfort on the top of
a kind of volcano of rags!

In nine cases out of ten a bitch chooses to pup in the night, and the
hours often seem very long, while she may lie and sleep in evident
uneasiness, getting up every now and then to make her bed, and panting
as if exhausted. It is quite safe to leave her in this condition for
twelve hours, but if by that time she seems to be getting weaker and no
puppies have come, the vet's services should be requisitioned. Probably
she will not eat, but she may be offered a little cold milk. On no
account give her anything hot, externally or internally, and do not be
tempted to do anything whatever to her; the only interference which is
ever excusable is the application of a very little sweet oil or vaseline
externally, which she will lick off, and which does no harm and no good,
in my experience.

If help is called for at all, it must be the skilled aid of a surgeon;
any other is worse than useless.

Illustration: FRENCH TOY BULLDOG. _"La Reine des Roses," owned by Mrs.
Townsend Green._

The puppies are born singly, and if a bitch has a large litter they
generally come in twos and threes, with a very short interval between
the items of each brace or trio, and a long rest between the batches.
The first services the mother has to render her babies are to free them
from the bag of membranes in which they are born, and to bite the cord
which joins each puppy to the afterbirth--a fleshy substance which comes
away with or shortly after it. All animals intensely dislike being
watched while they perform these operations; but every bitch who is
anything at all of a mother will manage them perfectly. Next comes the
licking of the puppies, which have been enclosed each in its membranous
bag full of liquid (the _liquor amniæ_), and are consequently dripping
wet. Here is the crucial test: a good mother licks her babies until they
are warm and dry, then feeds them, and snuggles down with them into a
contented heap of intense happiness. A bad mother, on the contrary,
leaves her poor infants to dry as best they can, a process which
invariably ends in their developing a kind of infantile skin complaint,
which appears like a scab of cheesy substance attached to the roots of
the hair. It grows away with the hair by degrees, and gets well without
treatment, but is ugly and disfiguring for the time being, and a sad
evidence of incompetence on the part of the mother.

When the family have settled down, and the puppies are dry and
comfortable, it is time to give them a little attention. Have a saucer
full of nice, warm milk-gruel, made with patent groats as daintily as
for an invalid, and let the mother drink it, which she will be sure to
do with gratitude; she may have more at intervals during the first day.
Then roll away the soiled folds of sheet from under her and the litter,
which can now be done without disturbing them, and leave them cosily
ensconced on the clean, warm blanket, which has been all the time
underneath.

A little later the mother may be put out into the garden for a few
minutes, not more than two or three; but she must not be allowed to get
chilled. After the first day she should go out for a little walk morning
and afternoon, the time of her absence to be gradually lengthened as the
puppies grow older.

Until they begin to crawl, valuable toy puppies are much safer and
better upstairs in a big chair as described, or in a flat basket with a
folded blanket at the bottom set upon the chair, than they can possibly
be in any stable or in the kitchen premises, for, no matter how warm,
such places are draughty too. There is absolutely nothing about a
litter of little toys, if healthy, to be in the least offensive
anywhere, and a good mother will keep them in the very pink of
perfection for nearly a month under such circumstances.

Where a poor or weakly mother is concerned, and where the puppies are
restless, squall, and seem damp and comfortless, it is another matter.
By constant attention as to the changing of the bed, partial
hand-feeding from a small old silver spoon with cream and hot water, and
Plasmon or Lactol, half and half (better than milk, though _warm_ milk
will do), and a great deal of patience, the mother may be helped out and
the puppies saved; but where they are not valuable it is better to
destroy all but one or two; and where they are so, a good foster-mother
offers them by far the best chance of life and health. There are people
who make it their business to supply fosters, and one of these should be
applied to as soon as possible; taking pains to ensure, by careful
examination on arrival, that the stranger has no skin disease and is
free from objectionable insects.

Small toy bitches sometimes have but little milk at first, but by giving
warm food only for the first few days, and plenty of milk to drink, it
generally comes all right, and so long as the pups seem fairly content,
all is well; the flow is sure to increase. Both before and after pupping
there is generally a little diarrhoea, which is of no consequence; but
if it goes on beyond the second day after pupping, get the bitch on to
her usual diet, with a little cold milk to drink, and stop all sloppy
foods. Oatmeal, as gruel or otherwise, should never be given after the
second day. A discharge, of mucus mixed with blood, is usual after
pupping, and may continue for several weeks in gradually lessening
amount.



CHAPTER IV

ON REARING PUPS


An indispensable adjunct in the rearing of valuable toy puppies, which,
as a general rule, do far better in the house than in any stable or
out-of-door premises, is one of Spratt's or Boulton and Paul's little
houses and runs. As personal and vicarious experiences are all that any
writer can adduce to support theory, I may be allowed to describe the
procedure which has been found successful with my own puppies--born,
bred, and reared in house and garden as they are.

Directly they leave the basket of their infancy (in which, _par
parenthèse_, I must say, I think them more delightful, helpless little
soft morsels, than even when they begin to run about, show intelligence,
and need feeding) they are introduced to one of these useful abodes,
comprising a sleeping house, provided with a cosy blanket, freely
washable and often changed, and a little wired-in run about 4 ft. by 2
ft. The bigger this the better, of course; and if it has a floor, as
some have, pierced with small holes and draining into a removable tray
to be kept full of earth, or sawdust, it will be well. Mine is a humbler
affair, floorless, and stands on a piece of oilcloth, covered with a
large sheet of brown paper, which can be daily renewed; yet it answers
its purpose very well. In this, with outings two or three times a day,
for variety, the puppies live until they are seven weeks old; the
mother, loose about the house, visiting them at her inclination and
sleeping with them. At between three and four weeks old they must be
taught to lap, which is easy enough with some pups and difficult with
others. Warm, boiled milk should be the only addition to what the mother
gives them until they are over a month old: it is a mistake to hurry
puppies on to patent foods, bread and milk, and the like. Do not let
them have a saucer and upset it, tumbling into it and getting
themselves in a mess, to dry all sour and disagreeable, but hold their
little heads one by one as they lap, for they _will_ nod into the saucer
and send the milk flying.

As soon as the puppies are strong on their legs, they need more exercise
and fun than the run can allow them, and now is the time to take them
off the carpets, which they will never respect in after life if they
have been allowed to treat them evilly as elderly babies. It is not a
bad plan to let them live in the kitchen from this time forth, various
things being provisional. One is, that the presiding genius will see to
their little meals under your supervision; that is, you feed them four
times a day, and she or he undertakes to see that no one else does so.
Another, that the kitchen opens into the, or a, garden, and that the
puppies can run there in the sunshine, in warm weather, and so
insensibly learn manners; yet another, that it is a warm, draughtless
place, with a nice corner for their sleeping basket. Some folks, whose
lower regions do not answer this description, or whose servants are not
amenable, may have an occupied stable at command, where the puppies can
have a loose box or stall. This plan I do _not_ recommend, for toy pups
do far better in constant human companionship; but it, or the
alternative one of keeping them in a room with an oilcloth floor, are
all that offer themselves, failing the desirable kitchen. I have known
toy pups do splendidly in a sunny little room, floored with cork carpet,
provided with cosy sleeping boxes, and opening into a terrace-walk,
where on all fine and sunny days they were allowed to play; but they
were not too much left to themselves, and their apartment was carefully
looked after, and brush and sawdust-pan kept going, just as, in my
kitchen, the servants hasten to remove any unbecoming traces of their
presence. This period, while toy pups are too young to be trained, too
old for their mother to clean them up, and also so young as to require
warmth and constant watching, is the troublesome one in their lives and
the one in which so many of them die. Neglect, or dirty surroundings,
are fatal to these little delicate atoms, which really call for the same
attention we should give a baby; monotony--being kept shut up in one
small room for hours or days--and lack of fresh air, carry off many;
while sour milk, meals left about in odds and ends, irregular feeding,
and lying to sleep in draughts, are all elements of danger. We want to
give them warmth and dryness, without stuffiness and overheating; we
want to give them sweet, tempting, _clean_ little meals, regularly, four
times a day, just as much as they can eat eagerly and no more; we want
to give them a cosy day-bed to go to sleep whenever they feel
inclined--which will be often--and, lastly, to let them have all the
fresh air and out-of-door sunshine they can get without fear of chill.
Thus it is that summer puppies, born in the spring, with all the best
weather before them, do so much better than those which have the
critical teething period to pass through in winter time.

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.

Illustration: POMERANIAN PUPPY. _At the ugly age._

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.

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.



CHAPTER V

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.

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.

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.

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 diarrhoea;
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!

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.

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.



CHAPTER VI

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 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.

Long-coated dogs, of course, need much more attention. They must have
extra combing and brushing, and, if dirty or flat in coat, but not
otherwise, should receive a tub about forty-eight hours before
appearing in the ring. For this, use _soft_, warm water, with, in the
case of Poms, whose jackets ought to stand out well, a teaspoonful of
powdered borax and a quarter of an ounce of dissolved gelatine to each
two quarts of water. The soap used should be carefully chosen, and of
the best--Vinolia or E. Cook & Son's Toilet Soap for choice; common
soaps are most unsuitable. Many people also use and much like this
firm's Improved Dog Soap. These stiff, stand-out coats are encouraged by
habitually brushing the wrong way of the hair, and this is advisable,
too, for the manes of Schipperkes. Flat-coated dogs, like Yorkshires and
toy spaniels, often spend their lives, the former especially, in the
intervals of shows, like summer fire-irons, "in grease"--that is, their
coats saturated with oil. To such an extent as this, the preparation may
be left to the professional exhibitor (with whom, it is as well to
remark, few inexperienced amateurs have much chance, as far as the
Yorkshire terrier is concerned); but a little cocoa-nut oil, with the
merest trace of cantharides, well rubbed into the roots of the hair for
some weeks beforehand, encourages the coat to look its best. Great care
is needful in washing white dogs, and only the best of soap should be
used; also soft water, with a little borax in it, and a squeeze of a
blue-bag in the rinsing-water, to prevent the hair from showing a yellow
tinge. Yorkshire terriers must not be rubbed up and about anyhow in
their bath; neither must Maltese nor toy spaniels; the hair so carefully
kept parted down the middle of the back in the two former breeds must be
sponged downwards from the parting, while hot towels and warmed, soft
brushes should be used for drying, in such a way as to preserve the
habit of growth, which is such a point in these dogs. Rubbing "all over"
also encourages curliness--a fatal fault in the breeds mentioned--and
this is an additional reason for care. In washing dogs great pains
should be taken to dry the insides of the ears thoroughly, and the bath,
which most dogs so detest, will be robbed of half its terrors if the
head is not soaped or soused; it can be effectually washed with a
sponge, thus avoiding the miseries of soap in nose and eyes. Washing,
however, as an habitual thing, is most injurious to coat and skin, ruins
the colour of black dogs, and should never be made a practice. Daily
grooming with brush and comb will keep any properly-fed dog perfectly
sweet and clean.

Illustration: BLACK PUG. _"Fiji," owned by Miss Hyde._

Poodles are, perhaps, as troublesome to prepare for show as any dogs.
There are, as yet, no corded toy poodles to speak of, but the curly toys
are very delightful little dogs, deserving much more than their present
popularity. Their shaving or clipping is, of course, an ever-recurring
task, which must at no time be neglected, and is necessary once a month;
but, after the first time or two, it is not at all difficult to manage.
The shaved parts should be gone over, the dog having been washed the
day before, with one of Spratt's Patent Poodle Clippers, a little
machine exactly like a small horse-clipper, always working against the
trend of the hair from the tail along the back to the middle of the
body, and from the feet upwards. A pair of scissors, with curved-up
points, will be needed for the face and toes, which are the most
troublesome parts to do; but actual shaving with a razor is only done as
a finishing touch just before a show. It makes the skin rather tender
and is the one part of the toilet, not needful for everyday attire,
which calls for expert aid. After clipping, the skin should be well
rubbed with a very little white vaseline oil, which brings up a nice
gloss and prevents the dog from taking cold. There are various
professional poodle clippers in London, among them a lady, who will
visit dogs at their own homes for the modest charge of five shillings;
but country exhibitors are generally obliged to resort to home talent
for the operation.

The long hair is now fashionably arranged in a fluff, teased out with a
comb, and well brushed until it stands out; the forelock is tied up on
the top of the head with a big satin bow, and _voilà, la toilette de
monsieur est fini_!--the indispensable bracelet and smart collar being
alone wanting.

Entering dogs for a show is a simple enough matter. Having ascertained
what show you intend to patronise, send a card to the secretary, whose
address will be found with the advertisements of the show in the doggy
papers, asking for a schedule. On receiving it, read the rules
carefully, and also the matter relating to specials, and enter the dog
according to the form enclosed; if the show is held under Kennel Club
rules, exhibits must first be registered with that body. If merely under
Kennel Club licence, this is unnecessary. Occasionally, the reply to, or
acknowledgement of, such registration, which is made on a form always
sent with schedules and stud entry forms, and accompanied by an
indispensable half-crown, is so much delayed that the novice-exhibitor
trembles with fear lest her exhibit should be disqualified; but such
terrors are groundless--so long as the entry has been sent in before the
date of the show, all will be well.

The next question is the burning one of escort. Personally I should not
like to send little toy dogs to a show without some trusted attendant,
and I cannot, therefore, advise anyone else to do otherwise.

Taking them oneself, with maid or man in reserve to leave in charge, is
the most pleasant way, for all parties, of arranging matters, and the
paraphernalia accompanying is somewhat as follows:--

    A warm and comfortable travelling basket for each dog--preferably a
    little house in which it can sleep at night.

    A campstool for the attendant. Standing about at shows is killing
    work, and chairs are not always obtainable.

    Coats for the dogs if the weather is at all cold, for exhibition
    buildings are almost invariably draughty. The Petanelle coats (sold
    by Spratt's), of French pattern, with storm collars, are specially
    warm and smart, and are also aseptic, and the Petanelle cushions are
    charming in every way.

    Some suitable food. Toy dogs will seldom eat what the show
    authorities provide, and are often too excited to take anything but
    what is specially dainty. A lunch-basket tin of small pieces of
    chicken or meat, ready cut up, with the dog's own little plate, will
    be found useful. Milk at shows is not always reliable, and if any is
    wanted it should be taken in a bottle, especially for litters.

    A brush and comb. A warm, large shawl. I say nothing about the
    millinery with which people often hang their pens, the satin
    cushions, etc., with which I can but say the dogs are often made to
    look extremely silly, but unless there is any rule in the schedule
    to the contrary, exhibitors are at liberty to provide anything which
    appeals to their taste in this line. The shawl, or blanket, is often
    useful for draping round wire pens to keep away draughts, and as
    such things cannot be got without much trouble once the show has
    begun, it is as well to be provided beforehand.

Taking dogs out of the show at night can always be managed, usually on
payment of a deposit; and the trouble is quite worth while, for fatal
colds are apt to be the result of leaving delicate toys to shift for
themselves in the colder hours of dark and dawn.

Leading into the ring is, of course, the crux of the exhibitor's
anxiety, for now comes the critical moment--will the dog show or not?
Some dogs are born showers--brisk up, look smart and knowing, accept the
judge's overtures graciously, and generally exhibit themselves to the
best advantage. Others are variable, and cannot be depended upon; will
sometimes show well, and at other times--if they are a little out of
sorts, for instance, or do not like the look of their rivals in the
ring--will not do themselves justice. Others, again, obstinately, lower
tail and ears, crouch and cringe, or, worst of all, roll over on their
backs. If a dog, after several attempts at showing him, persists in such
conduct, it is generally best to give him up as far as exhibition is
concerned. But a good deal may be done beforehand to teach little dogs
how to show themselves. They may be made accustomed to being led about
in a chain, and encouraged to strain from the collar after a ball, etc.
Also, they should be taught to receive attention from strangers affably.

Just one word as to the exhibitor's own conduct in the ring may not be
amiss. Sometimes old hands at showing are by no means polite to
new-comers, sad to say, and will very probably endeavour to screen the
novice, if good enough to be a rival, from the judge's eye, by thrusting
themselves and their exhibits forward; while, terrible to relate, such
incidents as a sly poke with the foot, administered to a rival's shy
dog, or the intentional treading on a toe, are not altogether unheard
of. The novice should keep her dog well to the fore, disregard what
other exhibitors are saying or doing, so far as strict politeness and
good feeling allow, and, while not obtruding her exhibit on the judge's
eye, try to get him to notice it in all legitimate ways.

Speaking to a judge in the ring, and while acting, is a great breach of
etiquette, unless some question is asked by him, which should be replied
to audibly; but most judges are quite willing to give reasons for their
decision, or a candid opinion, if asked to do so when the judging is
over. It is, of course, needless to warn gentlewomen against any show of
feeling at being overlooked, etc.; but the fact that lamentable
exhibitions of disappointment do occasionally take place is one not to
be denied, while, of course, strict justice is occasionally lacking.
Still, taking things for all in all, a very little experience will
enable the novice to take her proper place in the show world, where she
will be sure to meet with much kindness and unselfish help--such, at
least, is my experience; while exhibiting adds a zest to dog owning
unobtainable by any other means.

The principal shows where toy dogs are catered for are the Kennel Club
Show, in October; the Toy Dog Shows and Cruft's, generally held in
February, at the Agricultural Hall; with the shows arranged by the
Ladies' Kennel Association, the best of which, from a toy owner's point
of view, usually takes place in the summer, and with the provincial
fixtures, such as Birmingham, Manchester, and Bristol, and numerous
licence shows in all parts of the country, at all of which there is
generally a fair classification for toys. All shows may be found
advertised in the _Illustrated Kennel News_ and other dog papers.



CHAPTER VII

THE CHOICE OF BREEDS


The choice of a breed to take up is generally dictated by personal
preference, and fashion has a large spoke in the wheel. Just at present,
the fashionable breeds among toys are certainly Pomeranians, or Spitz
toys--commonly known as "Poms," Japanese spaniels, Pekingese or Chinese
spaniels--sometimes called Chinese pugs, toy bulldogs, and Griffons
Bruxellois. Of the choice of a breed for profit I have spoken before,
and will now consider the question from the point of view of a lonely
dame seeking a pet, or pets, and having no preconceived prejudices.

The Pom, then, is a little dog, hard to get good, but really valuable
when so secured. A good toy Pom means one as small as possible,
certainly under 8 lbs., and preferably under 6 lbs., not long-legged and
weedy, but short-backed and compact; with tiny erect ears, a
fine-pointed muzzle, small dark eyes, tail--or plume, as it should be
called--well over the exact median line of the back; small, fine, and
delicate legs and feet, covered with short hair; and last, but far from
least, a profuse coat standing out well all over the body, and amplified
about the neck with the characteristic frill, and at the backs of the
hind legs with the crinière. Bright brown and chocolate are very much
more common than they were a year or two ago, when either was scarce and
much desired, but blacks are always favourites. Black-pointed sables
(wolf-coloured Poms) seldom have good stiff coats, and, like the
beautiful orange sables, are apt to be flat-coated, thus are not so
popular; while parti-coloured dogs depend for attraction upon their
quality otherwise. Blues, which, unless large, generally have hairless
ears, are very charming, and carry excellent coats, but are
comparatively seldom seen. The usual faults of toy Poms are
"apple-headedness"--a term which explains itself--scarcity of coat,
coarseness in head or leg, tails badly carried, big ears, or protuberant
eyes, legginess and weediness, or curliness. A wave in the coat spoils
some from a show point of view, and though washing with borax and water,
and combing out with a comb dipped in a weak solution of gelatine, will
temporarily remedy the defect, it spoils the desirable bushy look of a
Pom to a great extent.

Poms are capital little companions, faithful, exceedingly sharp and
intelligent, and generally devoted to one person; they are good with
children if brought up with them; but they are fussy and excitable
little things, bark a great deal, and have nerves. I do not consider the
character some people give them of snappishness at all justified by
facts; but here and there a sharp-tempered Pom may be found. Their
quality of disdain towards strangers is one which ought to be considered
a virtue in all pet dogs. They are not of the easiest dogs to train to
the house, especially when kept in numbers, and are not always reliable
in this way, mainly on account of their quick, nervous disposition; but
for cleverness, affection, and beauty, they have few, if any, equals
among toy dogs, and they are never likely to lose their popularity; a
really good toy Pom is always immensely admired and courted wherever it
is taken. Puppies are not now so easily saleable at high prices as was
formerly the case, as so many people took them up that they have become
plentiful: and it is not worth while to breed second-raters; but a good
Pom will still sell.

Illustration: SCHIPPERKE. _"Fandango," owned by Dr. Freeman._

Next to toy Poms I will mention toy Schipperkes, because, though they
are not as yet so fashionable, and probably never will be, they resemble
Poms in many ways. As house dogs they are eminently desirable,
wonderfully clean and well-mannered, and like the Pom in cleverness and
fidelity to one person, while they are much hardier and easier to rear
and keep in good condition. They are not at all nervous dogs; but wildly
full of life and greedy for exercise; their incessant activity vying
with that of the merry little Spitz. They are decidedly "barky" and
exceedingly inquisitive, good travellers, and dogs which settle
themselves down anywhere, and are content so long as they are with the
favourite "human" they specially possess. Schipperkes are extremely
heavy dogs for their size, and quite a wee one will weigh four times as
much as a Pom which hardly looks smaller. Both breeds require a meat
diet and plenty of good food, which they work off by their active ways;
but the bulk of the Schip's meals should be larger. As a rule, Schips
are very good-tempered dogs, and, like Poms, sharp followers at heel.
They are, however, pugnacious little things, and have only the grand
forbearance of bigger dogs to thank for the prevention of many a
tragedy due to uppish self-assertion. Black is their colour, and
taillessness their most intimate quality; some, we are told, are born
tailless, most--are not! Brown and fawn Schips are common enough in
Belgium, the home of the race; and we have now not infrequently classes
for them over here; while whites, which are really fawns, exist,
occurring in litters now and then from a throwing back to some distant
ancestor, and are really pretty dogs, though I confess the piquancy and
charm of the blacks, with their sharply-pricked, thin ears, their
rounded-off flank, hard, shiny coats, and dense masses of mane and
_culotte_, the Schip's distinctive points, are to me lost in an
"off-coloured" dog. Their faults, as toys, are soft, silky coats, toyish
or apple or badly-shaped heads (that universal stumbling block),
"Pommy," quality of coat (there is no blemish on a Schip's escutcheon
greater than a putative cross with a Pom), white hairs or markings, ears
which are rounded at the tip instead of pointed, too big, or badly
carried, short faces, unlevel jaws, spread feet, crooked or distorted
legs, and long backs. The whole appearance of the dog should be very
smart and cobby, intensely alert, and altogether clean and well put
together, qualities difficult to describe, but which "_sautent aux
yeux_."

Toy bulldogs are yearly becoming more popular. They are absolutely ideal
dogs as to temper and all the other qualities necessary for a pet and
companion, and almost uncannily intelligent, but alas! they are delicate
beyond denying. They are hard to breed, and hard to rear; few of the
bitches are good mothers, while their babies have little stamina; they
are shy breeders moreover, and altogether need incessant care and
watchfulness. If they can have this, well and good, and their puppies
will sell immediately; so that, as a source of profit, they may be
recommended, always provided luck and a capacity for taking much
well-directed pains are on the owner's side. The prices obtained for
these dogs, if really small and of good strain, are somewhat high for
the ordinary amateur, while a small bulldog bred from bigger ones, such
as can be most cheaply obtained, in the way of a toy, is but a poor
speculation, since her first litter will probably kill her. The limit of
weight at which a toy bulldog ends and the bulldog proper begins, has
been matter of controversy, and the original limit of some 20 lbs. was
found to present so many difficulties that many breeders desired to have
it altered. An equal, or even greater, amount of discussion raged round
the question of drop, rose, or bat ears--that is, of upright or falling
ones. Finally the sensible decision of having two clubs, one for toys in
all respects like the large English bulldogs, and one for dogs of French
origin, though now of English breeding, with upright or "bat" ears, to
be called French toy bulldogs, was arrived at. The English type is now
known as the Miniature Bulldog.

Illustration: PEKINGESE. _"Foo-Kwai of Newnham," owned by Mrs. W. H.
Herbert._

Japanese spaniels are quite one of the _derniers cris_ of fashion.[1]
With them I include Pekingese, as although the latter are hardier dogs
altogether, and easier to manage, they are also Eastern, so making
things even. Japs are pretty little dogs, of average intelligence and
affection, if not quite equal in these respects to the first two breeds
discussed. Up to the present "distemper" has been their chief scourge,
and keeping them in numbers seems to be an invariable invitation for a
visit from some pest, to the contagion of all which they seem peculiarly
susceptible. Griffon breeders say that if a Griffon feels ill it dies,
and this is in some measure applicable to Japs also. There is no reason
why it should be so, for in their native country they are hardy enough,
and the cause is traceable to inbreeding, occasioned by the difficulties
put in the way of their importation both by the Japanese authorities and
our own, and resorted to with the idea of keeping them small; the
delicacy caused by the hardships of the voyage, which they stood very
badly; to the pioneers of the race over here, and the rush for small
sires, often too much used, and over shown. If breeders would buy young,
unrelated puppies, feed them on meat, bring them up healthily, and so
found fresh strains, this delicacy could surely be overcome with
comparative ease. In appearance, Japs are extremely fascinating. Their
colours are black and white, red and white, and yellow or lemon and
white--the latter two combinations being the rarest; their coloured
ears, like butterfly wings, the short-faced head between forming the
body, their heavily fringed feet, and their plumed tail making up a
charming and piquant _tout ensemble_. They are frequently confounded
with Pekingese, which are whole coloured, red or yellow, with black
markings, and whose ears are not set on at the same angle. A Pekingese
pup is perhaps the _very_ prettiest puppy going, before it reaches the
lanky stage, which breeders of all toys, except perhaps pugs and Schips,
know means the utter indifference, even scorn, of the uninitiated
public. The prices of Japs rule fairly high, and a good puppy cannot be
obtained, unless by special luck, for less than £10 10s.; a larger
female pup for a trifle less perhaps--but such, if good in points, are
quickly snapped up for brood bitches. Japs have the same toy weight
limit as Poms--8 lbs.--and the over toy weight dogs are far hardier and
easier to breed than the midgets.

    Footnote 1: _Japanese Spaniels._--The five rules of Japanese spaniel
    beauty, according to the _Delhi Morning Post_, are these: (1) The
    butterfly head; (2) the sacred V; (3) the bump of knowledge; (4)
    vulture feet; (5) the chrysanthemum tail. To attain the "butterfly
    head" and the "sacred V," a Jap must own a broad skull with a white
    V-shape up it (the body of the butterfly), the small, black,
    V-shaped ears forming the butterfly's wings. The "bump of knowledge"
    is a small, round, black spot between the ears. The hair on the
    "vulture feet" feathers to a point in front, but must not widen the
    slender foot, and to the eye of faith the beautiful, silky, plumed
    tail, tightly curled over the back, presents the semblance of the
    national flower, the chrysanthemum.

Griffons Bruxellois are quaintness personified, and their funny little
characters, full of dignity and self-sufficiency, are indicated by their
no less funny little exteriors. The characteristics of a good Griffon
are smallness, hardness of coat, deep, rich red colour, huge black eyes,
_à fleur de tête_, the shortest possible black-ended nose, as flat as
may be with the face (this appearance generally aided by the breeder,
who presses the baby cartilage upwards at every opportunity), and fine
and sound legs and feet. The tail is docked, but the ears may not now be
interfered with--a righteous rule. An undershot "monkey face" is the
desideratum, and though sometimes shy breeders, these little dogs are
well worth having, and make the best of house pets.

Of black-and-tan toy terriers there is not much to be said, for the
simple reason that they are at present quite out of fashion. A vague
idea still, I believe, prevails that the bare and leathery, not to say
mangy, appearance some of the former little creatures present about
their appleheads and big ears, is a sign of good breeding; indeed, I
have often been seriously invited to consider the high claims of a
spidery, ill-shaped atom so affected to distinction on the score of
aristocratic descent.

In the show-ring things like this are not tolerated, and the really
well-bred black-and-tan is not like the little abortions sold--but
seldom now, though frequently of old--by itinerant vendors whose
characters were far from being above suspicion, and by dog-dealers, as
the _crême de la crême_ of pet dogdom. The show black-and-tan toy is
like a miniature Manchester terrier--glossy of skin, long and neat in
head, with small, dark eyes, oval, not round and goggling; fine,
well-made limbs, with the correct pencilling of deep, rich tan on the
toes. There must be no tan down the backs of the hind legs, and the ears
must be neat and well carried; the tail a whip.

Illustration: YORKSHIRE TERRIER. _"Trixie," owned by Miss O'Donnell._

Yorkshire terriers, if small and well coated, always find a sale, and
will never be without friends. I like them much as single pet dogs, but
a kennel of Yorkshires is a life's work, and only the enthusiast can
give them all the care they need. A Yorkie _must_ be brushed (lengthily)
every day: it _must_ be rubbed with oils and washes, especially when its
hair is breaking, the process which turns the short-coated black-and-tan
puppy into the full-blown blue-and-tan beauty of mature age. If the coat
is to be done justice to, the puppy must, when necessary, be most
carefully washed (though washed as little as possible), restrained from
scratching by having little wash-leather socks kept upon its hind feet,
and dieted with every attention directed towards the prevention of any
skin disorder. No dog can carry a heavy coat unless well nourished, and
the old idea that farinaceous foods sufficed for this is exploded. To
avoid anæmia, keep the blood pure and rich, and give strength, a Yorkie
must have the nourishment of meat. Withal, it is a merry little soul,
and if its coat can be to some extent sacrificed, a good companion, fond
of outdoor life, very barky and lively, and tolerably affectionate; but
a really lovely show Yorkie is not a being for every day. The breed does
not suffer much from "distemper," and, strange to say, in spite of
generations of coddling and fussing, and breeding for smallness and
coat, is a decidedly healthy one. The white Yorkshires, a new variety
some folk have tried to push, is, I think, in no way especially
desirable--the Maltese can do all that is necessary in that line; while
the attempt to make "silver" Yorkshires popular, too, simply means that
bad-coloured dogs without any tan (paleness of tan is the
stumbling-block in many a Yorkshire's career), are classed by themselves
and offered prizes.

Toy pugs are, I think, invariably fascinating to those who have a liking
for pug kind; they are big pugs in little, and everyone knows the points
of a pug. My own toy fawn pugs loved their comforts too much to be
perfect dogs for companioning a person of active outdoor habits, but
they were sweet-tempered, gentle things, and, as such, to be commended.
Pugs as a race seem strangely apt to skin trouble, and the toys are no
exception. I have not seen many really good and very small fawn toys,
but there are some, and where a pug is to be bought, a toy is really
most desirable. They make good house dogs, and are seldom or never
noisy, while those of a comparatively active strain, bred to plenty of
outdoor fun, and not indulged in the greediness which, alas! is
generally a feature in their character, need by no means acquire the
stout, snoring wheeziness which some folk think an elderly pug cannot
escape. All the same, I can but say that I prefer the black variety on
the whole, for they unite the sweet temper, faithfulness, and gentleness
of the fawns with an untiring energy, to my mind one of the best
qualities a dog can possess. They are also hardier, less subject to
"distemper" and kindred ills, and very alert and intelligent. One merit,
if such it be, they do not share with the fawns--the latter are not
expensive dogs, for they are almost always good mothers and prolific
breeders. Not that the blacks fail in these respects, but as yet they
are comparatively dear--that is, the really good ones. Head properties
make much of their value just now, for a good-headed black pug, with a
broad skull, large eyes, and plenty of skin and wrinkle, is not in every
litter, and narrow skulls are much disliked, though Nature, with
characteristic contrariety, seems to rejoice in producing them.

Pugs cannot stand heating foods any more than Yorkshires, which agree
with them in doing better upon boiled rice as an addition to meat to
make needful bulk, than upon any other farinaceous food. Next to it in
value comes wheat meal; oatmeal and Indian corn meal will surely bring
skin disaster. Lean meat, underdone for choice, fish, and chicken, may
be varied to make the meals, with a small amount of the needful staple
as bulk.

Toy spaniels in general are not difficult dogs to deal with. They are
faithful and extremely affectionate dogs, and the Blenheims make good
country pets, having often a considerable amount of sporting instinct,
even when they come of stock which has been kept for show only for many
years. The Marlborough Blenheims are, of course, examples of the
sporting Blenheim, though they are not correct in show points; and there
is no reason why one of these dogs, toys though they be, and fit to win,
should not be a good little country companion. For towns, white
long-haired dogs are not to be recommended, because of the occasional
washing, which is a vexation alike to dog and owner. The colouring of
the Blenheims is very taking, and one with all the show points, spot on
the head included, is sure to be admired; but toy spaniels, as a race,
the Jap and Pekingese excepted, are very much in the hands of
professional exhibitors, and but seldom now seen as pets. The
black-and-tan King Charles is inclined to be rather a silly dog,
pretty enough, but not "brainy"; a loving little thing, but
unintellectual--such, at least, is my experience of him. The faults of
both breeds are generally too much leg, long heads and noses, instead of
the big round skulls desired; small eyes, and curliness--the latter a
direful mistake. The Prince Charles, or Tricolour, is the King Charles
over again in three colours--black, tan, and white; and the Ruby is, as
its name implies, all red; rather scarce, this is, to my mind, the
prettiest of the toy spaniels. All are very susceptible to damp and
cold, and should be carefully dried, especially as to the feet, after
being out in rain or mud. They are sweet dogs in skin, and seldom smell
"doggy"--a great virtue.

Maltese have a good many friends. These are the oldest of all lap dogs,
and a good specimen, with perfectly straight hair--which is, however,
but seldom found--is really a thing of beauty. They should be treated
like Yorkshire terriers, except that some of the ever-recurring tubs may
be avoided by dusting flour or violet powder (pure starch) into the coat
and well brushing it out again. They are often spoiled by brown noses,
which are a great handicap, and also by the brown marks caused by
running of the eyes, which are a great disfigurement in a white dog.
Here I may break off to remark that these marks would also spoil white
toy Poms, but for the fact that white toys of that breed are scarce.
Breeders have done their best to get them, and a good many small
ones--under 6 lbs.--have been bred, but the tiny whites shown are
generally deficient in some point. Of toy whites, over 6 lbs. and under
8 lbs., there are now many, and good; especially in a certain
west-country kennel; but some of the best are dangerously near the limit
of weights.

The "tear-channels" which led to this digression can be helped _not_ to
exist by using a boracic acid lotion to the eye; but the stains are
often ineffaceable.



CHAPTER VIII

AILMENTS AND ILLNESSES


=Anæmia=--a condition of general depression in health, with
impoverishment of the blood--is of all serious diseases the most common
among dogs. It is this condition that causes dogs to have worms; it is
this deficiency in the blood supply, both in quantity and quality, which
brings about ninety out of every hundred cases of skin disease. The
original cause of the disease in toy dogs was the way in which they
were, and unfortunately often still are, kept, fed, and housed. A number
of dogs kept together in some artificially-heated building, confined in
small pens, obliged to breathe impure air, and fed on Indian meal,
biscuits, oatmeal, and other cereals, with little or no meat--this is
kennel life, and a splendid foundation for anæmia. We all know how worms
and eczema and other skin troubles beset toys kept "in kennels," but not
until the knowledge has caused people to give up keeping them thus, and
handing on hereditary eczema and hereditarily vitiated blood to their
puppies, shall we get rid of the inherited tendency to poverty of blood
which makes so many toy dogs possessions of anxiety rather than sources
of satisfaction to their owners.

If a law could be passed obliging all dogs to receive a suitable daily
allowance of good, fresh, underdone meat, and abolishing farinaceous
feeding altogether, even for five years, it is not too much to say that
at the end of this time eczma in its more common forms would have died
out, worms be the infrequent exception rather than the rule, and
"distemper" would have ceased to be a thing of terror.

It is extraordinary how ignorant educated people, otherwise well
informed, can show themselves on this subject. I have repeatedly
received letters in which, after detailing a diet of milk puddings,
oatmeal porridge, vegetables, bread and gravy, and so on, the writer
gravely adds the assurance--"But I have never given a farinaceous diet!"
Green vegetables and such starchy vegetables as potatoes are absolutely
useless to dogs, and so indigestible as only to rank second to absolute
poisons, like carrots and turnips. No dog can get the mineral salts
necessary to healthy blood out of oatmeal, Indian corn meal, or any
other meal, nor out of a little iron-hard, dried gristle or some similar
substance, such as appears in some so-called "meat" foods. It can only
get these substances out of its natural and proper food--meat. Puppies
fed on meat from the time their teeth can bite it do not have anæmia,
and are consequently free from skin trouble: their blood is rich and
pure, and they do not harbour worms. I only ask any reader who doubts
these statements to try the very simple experiment of separating a
litter at seven weeks, and feeding half the pups on meat, of course
varied, cut up small, and given in moderate quantity three times, and
subsequently twice, a day, with a very small proportion of wheaten
flour-stuff given merely as a treat and variety, in the form of small
sweet biscuits or sponge cake, to afford the needful bulk to the meals.
No gravy, milk, vegetables, nor any liquid but water to be given. The
other pups in the litter can be fed on the old, artificial, unnatural
plan of constant, large, sloppy meals of milk food. If the conditions
are otherwise equal--plenty of fun, sunshine, and exercise being
given--the difference between the two sets of pups will probably be
quite sufficiently marked to uphold my argument, with the further
addition that the meat-fed puppies will be found a good deal less
objectionable in the house before their education begins, and infinitely
easier to train, than their brethren on farinaceous diet.

In cases of anæmia, as shown by skin trouble, bareness round the eyes,
poor or capricious appetite, languor, unpleasant breath, thinness, and a
general look of unthriftiness, a liberal meat diet is the first
essential, and plenty of fresh air--not necessarily hard exercise, for
which the patient is generally unfit--the next. A tonic is always
desirable, and iron the most suitable. There are several forms of this
useful drug. Reduced iron can be given in very small dosage; sulphate of
iron is cheap and useful in pill form: both of these have a tendency to
constipate. The saccharated carbonate of iron is a beautiful preparation
that does not constipate--is, indeed, a little laxative in action. It is
a powder, tasteless except for sweetness, and will be taken readily
enough if sprinkled on meat, or it can be made into pills with the
addition of a tonic bitter, as in the form of the Kanofelin tonic pills.
It is the most expensive of the forms of iron, but that is not saying
much, as all are absurdly low in price. The dose for a toy is from two
to four grains twice a day, in, or immediately after, food. Cod liver
oil is a useful medicine in bad cases of anæmia, especially where, by
reason of having or having inherited, this habit of body, a long-haired
toy is always poor in coat. Some dogs never grow coats, merely because
they have not the strength to do so, and others inherit sparseness of
hair. But if there is any hair in reserve, a course of cod liver oil
will help it on, and better far than plain cod liver oil is its
preparation with malt. Cheap cod liver oil, however, is horrid, and
should never be given. It will only act as a purgative, and be worse
than useless. Nor should a dog ever be forced to take this substance if
he has a dislike to it. But if the anæmic, scantily-coated patient will
take it readily, a teaspoonful of some good brand of cod liver oil and
malt extract, besides three grains of saccharated carbonate of iron
twice a day, with meat diet, will make a most marvellously different dog
of him in six weeks' or two months' time.

It is quite useless to give any tonic for a week or ten days, or
irregularly. It must be given for a long time and with perfect
regularity, or it does no good whatever: it must have time to be
absorbed into the system, to permeate it, and be taken up by the blood.


=Bad Teeth.=--The existence of canker in dogs' teeth is generally
another consequence of bad rearing and farinaceous feeding. Meat-fed
pups, from meat-fed parents, have conspicuously good sound teeth,
whereas among kennelled dogs it is not at all uncommon to find specimens
of mouths cankered throughout, and this condition is certainly sometimes
transmitted to the offspring. The teeth look deep yellow, or brown, the
dental enamel is soft, and in bad cases they drop out. The gums are soft
and spongy and pale. The disease being constitutional, little or nothing
can be done to arrest the decay of the teeth, which luckily seems
painless. The dog should be carefully fed on the most nutritious
underdone meat, and the mouth may be washed out daily with a very weak
solution of permanganate of potash: just enough of the crystals to tinge
warm water pink being used. The best way to perform this little
operation--one to which most dogs object very strongly--is to get
someone to hold the head, with the nose pointing downwards, over a
basin, and to introduce the nozzle of a gutta-percha ball syringe
between the lips at the back of one side, letting it enter that spot in
the jaw where there is a hiatus between the lower teeth. Two or three
squeezes of the ball will then wash out the mouth pretty effectually.

This cankered condition of dogs' teeth may be brought about by the
absorption of mercury into the system. A dog which had been troubled
with very obstinate recurrent eczema, known to be inherited from
ill-reared parents, was apparently cured as by magic when sent to a
veterinary surgeon, who dressed him all over with mercurial ointment.
The improvement in his condition continued for about three months, when
it was discovered that he ate with difficulty. His mouth being examined,
the teeth, previously sound, were found to be like so much dark,
yellow-brown leather, and the gums sore. The next development was in the
form of a cancerous growth in the posterior nares, and so the poor
animal died, a victim to a cruel "fate," for which the surgeon had
obtained the credit of a cure. Such cases are not at all uncommon.


=Dental Caries=, such as affects our own teeth when they decay and have
to be stopped, occasionally, though luckily not often, distresses dogs.
They may bruise the dental pulp inside a tooth by biting very hard on a
bone, or by playing too roughly, and more especially by carrying stones,
a very bad practice. The only thing to be done is generally to extract
the tooth under chloroform, since it is difficult to find dog-dentists
who will stop a decayed tooth. A dog with toothache, rubbing his face on
the ground and crying, is a pitiable sight.


=Abscesses between or on the Toes= are a form of eczema, and should be
treated constitutionally, as suggested under the heading of Anæmia,
eczema's usual cause. Dogs will worry these sores, and must be prevented
from doing so by having the foot encased in a sock made of strong washed
calico, tied round the leg with tape. Before putting on the sock, dress
the sore with iodoform powder or zinc ointment.


=Docking Puppies.=--Being docked is not an ailment nor an illness, but
as a very sad conclusion may be put to a valuable pup's life by the
operation carelessly performed, it is as well to say a word about it.
Docking should never be left until the eyes open and the nervous system
is fully organized. At such an age it is a piece of gross cruelty and
the risk of hæmorrhage is enormously increased. Unless puppies are very
weakly, they should be docked at five days old at latest. Happy is the
owner whose Poms or Pugs require no such improvement! The Schipperke
owner has been especially commiserated or vituperated, as the case might
be, but as a matter of fact there is, in the hands of a competent
surgeon, used to operate on these and other dogs, not one iota more risk
or more pain or more difficulty than in dealing with a terrier. Docking
should be done by a skilled veterinary surgeon, with proper antiseptic
precautions. His hands and the strong scissors used are first made
thoroughly antiseptic by washing in carbolic or some other antiseptic
solution, and the operation can be done without the pup's losing any
blood at all to speak of. The wounds are dressed with iodoform powder
and tannic acid powder, mixed, and in one hour the mother, who should be
sent out for a walk while the surgeon is in the house, will be admitted
to them, and they will be sucking as if nothing had happened.
Occasionally, owing to some idiosyncrasy of the individual, a puppy may
bleed after docking, and therefore a careful watch must always be kept.
If there is any hæmorrhage, bathe with very cold water in which alum has
been dissolved, and apply a styptic, as tannic acid or perchloride of
iron. But it is always well to ask the operator to remain for an hour or
so, until all risk is over. The blood vessels very quickly seal up at
their ends (to use untechnical language), and the tongue of the mother,
when re-admitted after the necessary interval, will do no harm. Though
docking is neither dangerous nor cruel when properly done on puppies so
young that they have little or no sensation in their undeveloped nerves,
it is a barbarism to let any ignorant person, as a groom or coachman, do
it; and the dog owner who will not sacrifice her own possible repugnance
sufficiently to co-operate with the skilled surgeon in seeing it
properly done, at least owes it as a duty to her dumb dependents to pay
him to take all reasonable care, and bring an assistant to hold them,
and stay until they are quite safe and comfortable.


=Bilious Attacks.=--A slight chill, in east-windy times of year, or from
any undue exposure to cold, will sometimes bring on a liver attack in
dogs, while some are habitually subject to sick-headache after the
manner of their owners. A bilious dog shivers, looks miserable, brings
up a little yellow liquid or some froth, after a good deal of retching,
and refuses to eat. Such an attack is always easy to diagnose, because
the nose remains, as a rule, cold and moist, while there is no rise in
temperature. The same symptoms, with feverishness, would probably mean
commencing serious illness, necessitating skilled advice; but without
rise of temperature are not important, unless they resist treatment and
continue for longer than about twelve hours. The patient should be kept
warm, covered up before the fire if the weather is severe, and given a
soft pill of three grains of carbonate of bismuth and one grain of
bicarbonate of soda, every four hours, until appetite returns.


=Loss of appetite= is a symptom which should never be disregarded. It
may be quite right for the owners of sporting dogs to use the phrase so
frequently heard: "Oh, if he won't eat, he's better without it," but
want of appetite in a toy dog should never be a matter of indifference
to the owner. It may, of course, arise only from previous over-eating,
and over-fed dogs are certainly subject to bilious attacks which do not
call for much sympathy; but it is always desirable to assure oneself
that nothing more serious is the matter before dismissing the subject.
In cases where loss of appetite is the precursor and accompaniment of
illness, as in distemper, it would be most unwise to leave the dog to
itself, and by allowing it to go without food, pull down the vitality
and give the disease a firmer hold. As a general rule, a dog may be
allowed to miss one meal without much anxiety; but, if a second is
refused, inquisition should be made, and the temperature be taken,
without loss of time. A clinical thermometer is a most useful adjunct in
the dog-room, and any temperature over 100 degs. or 101 degs.--the
former the dog's normal one--is suspicious. The easiest way of taking it
is by inserting the instrument between the thigh and the body, and, as
it were, holding these together, over it. Puppies will often refuse food
simply because their gums are sore from teething, and here, again, it
would be extremely foolish to let them go on in a state of
semi-starvation. When a puppy is seen to pick up his food with his front
teeth, shake each piece, and turn it over indifferently, it is a pretty
sure sign that he cannot eat comfortably; if the natural process of
cutting the teeth is in fault, all that need be done is to give minced
meat and soft though dry food--a sponge cake will nearly always be
willingly negotiated--and keep a watch to see that he gets enough to
maintain him in good condition and pull him through the critical time;
if, as is sometimes the case with an older dog, a too-lingering first
tooth is setting up irritation and needs extracting, the vet's services
must be requisitioned, as it is not advisable for any amateur to try his
hand at canine dentistry. The main characteristic of the "new" or
Stuttgart disease, or of gastritis, by the way, is inability to take
food, the mouth being ulcerated, in addition to stomach complications;
and here, again, commencing loss of appetite must be regarded with
suspicion. Simple biliousness is not common among properly-fed dogs, but
is sometimes brought on in individuals by what I may be so technically
medical as to call idiosyncrasy--to wit, inability to digest certain
foods. Many toy dogs cannot eat vegetables, which of course are to all
unnatural and very indigestible, and others are invariably sick if they
are given milk, and the dog can no more help these peculiarities than
human beings similarly afflicted. Biliousness, brought on either by
over-eating, a chill on the liver, or some unsuitable food, is easily
recognized, and here abstinence for a while _is_ advisable. The patient
will be chilly, probably having cold paws, and may be sick several
times, producing only a little yellow froth; most dogs eat grass and
soon feel better, requiring no medicine; but if appetite does not return
quickly, give a bismuth-and-soda pill every four hours, the proportion
being three grains of bicarbonate of soda to one grain of carbonate of
bismuth.


=Indigestion= is by no means uncommon among toy dogs, and frequently
leads to the odious habit of eating horrible things in the street, about
which dog owners sometimes complain, and with reason. The presence of
worms leads up to this habit, too, and where it exists they may be first
suspected; and then, if their existence is disproved, indigestion comes
in as the likely factor. Its treatment is not difficult, but the owner
must make up her mind to persevere, and to feed her dog herself--no
servant, no matter how careful, possesses judgment enough to deal with a
case of this kind. Absolute regularity in feeding is necessary; the
meals must be small, yet very nourishing, and the dog should not be
allowed to drink immediately after eating. A digestive tonic containing
nux vomica is almost invariably useful, but it is not a medicine which
can be prescribed at large, for nux vomica is in itself a dangerous
drug, and acts much more freely upon some dogs than upon others, making
it most unwise to prescribe "so much" for all dogs alike. With this
proviso, I will give a prescription intended for a Yorkshire terrier
weighing about 6 lbs., which may be safely tried upon toys between 5
lbs. and 8 lbs. weight, the quantity of this particular ingredient being
reduced by one-half for dogs between 4 lbs. and 5 lbs. and by two-thirds
for toy puppies, upon whom its administration must be watched with extra
vigilance: Rx pulv. nucis vom., 1/2 gr.; pulv. radix gentianæ, 1 gr.;
carb. bismuthi, 4 grs.; bicarb, sodii, 1-1/2 grs.; ferri carb. sacch., 3
grs. M. H. D. Exhib. cum cib. bis vel ter die. A pill somewhat similar,
but in some respects superior to this, is sold as one of the Kanofelin
remedies.

The symptom of too great susceptibility to the action of strychnine (nux
vomica) will be, in bold language, twitching and nervousness, and where
these are observed to follow a dose it must be diminished or stopped
altogether, and in this latter case the powder without the first
ingredient may be tried.


=Disagreeable Breath and Eructation.=--Beta-naphthol, given in pills
containing 1/2 gr. each, is a valuable drug in cases of indigestion
where eructation and disagreeable breath are noticeable. For toys under
5 lbs. 1/4 gr. pills must be given; one pill in either case to be given
about ten minutes after each meal. The effect of the drug is simply to
check the fermentation of the food and the consequent formation of foul
gases in the stomach. Where this form of indigestion is accompanied by
diarrhoea, salol may be given instead of naphthol, in the same doses;
but it and naphthol do not suit all dogs alike, though neither can do
any harm, and if the patient is sick after a dose, the sign has been
given that marks the treatment as unsuitable to his individuality. As in
the case of human patients, the dog doctor may have to try several
methods of treatment before he hits upon the cure. Pills are often
troublesome to give, which fault cannot be found with powdered vegetable
charcoal, to which few dogs make any objection when it is sprinkled upon
their food and lightly covered with a few tiny bits of something very
dainty; but where the owner prefers to give medicine apart from the
food, enclosure of powder in a capsule is always practicable. A simple
and tasteless powder is included among the Kanofelin Remedies, and may
always have a trial, given with the food, in cases of indigestion.


=The Bad Doer.=--Want of appetite for no particular reason, except
general debility of the stomach, is the annoying characteristic of the
kennel-man's horror--the "bad doer," who is characterised by thinness
and bad coat. Here and there we find a thin little dog that nothing
will fatten; hardly ever hungry, and dainty to the distraction of his
owner; a dog who will not eat in a strange place or from an unusual
plate, and who only grows the thinner and more miserable for what he
_does_ eat. He is an unenviable possession, but we must make the best of
him, coax him with small and frequent meals, for he will often accept a
teaspoonful of raw meat minced, or a tablespoonful of cream, where he
would not even look at an ordinary dog's meal, and get him up as well as
we can for show with a daily new-laid egg, beaten up in a very little
milk, and that useful and valuable dog-owner's aid, cod liver oil and
malt. Most dogs will take this with a little tempting meat to help it
down. Of course it must not be pushed at first, but given, to begin
with, in very small doses, and gradually increased until our usefully
typical 6 lb. dog is taking a full teaspoonful twice a day. It is a
wonderful hair producer. Cod liver oil alone, without the malt, is of
much less use, and cheap preparations of either or both are to be
sternly avoided; in the nature of things, such a medicine cannot be
cheap, if it is to be thoroughly good. And here, I may remark, that
because we are _only_ dealing with a dog is no reason why we should put
cheap drugs of any kind into him. His system is just as beautiful and
delicate in its balance as that of a human being, though his teeth and
his digestion may be stronger--such is not invariably the case by any
means--and the administration of impure or adulterated medicine is just
as great a cruelty to it as to the human machinery. To give a toy dog
crude cod liver oil, imperfectly purified, because it is cheap, is like
expecting to do fine carving upon oak with a hatchet, because it _is_
oak and not satin-wood.


=Internal Parasites.=--In no case has modern progress in knowledge
disclosed more fallacies, held formerly as firm beliefs, than where the
internal parasites--which for our present purpose, this being only a
popular manual, may be classed as tape-worms and round worms--of the
dog are concerned. Only a few years ago, if a dog suffered from skin
disease in any one of its several forms, "worms" were at once cited as
the cause. Now we know--or rather, those among us know, who either have
some understanding of canine anatomy and physiology or will take the
word of the scientist for it--that worms cause nothing: they are not a
cause, but an effect. They are a symptom of anæmia; and as skin trouble
almost invariably accompanies any severe degree of anæmia in dogs, skin
trouble and worms are usually found together. We cannot, therefore, cure
dogs of harbouring worms by giving expellent doses, no matter how
glowingly advertised and boomed, of the various irritant drugs which act
as vermifuges. We can only by this means temporarily drive out the
enemy, which is certain to return, because the conditions prevailing in
an anæmic intestine suit it perfectly, and encourage its increase,
whereas in the healthy intestine it more or less shares the fate of food
on being digested, and is incapable of rapid or sustained increase. The
effect of an anæmic or vitiated condition of the blood-supply to the
villi, or, in non-scientific language, digesting pores which exist all
over the mucoid lining of the intestinal tract, is to prevent their
throwing out those strong juices or digestive fluids which they normally
produce. Their secretions are altered and weakened, and have no
injurious effect on the parasites, which then increase rapidly. When,
therefore, it becomes evident, by the appearance of short
yellowish-white segments, generally about an inch long, and varying in
breadth from a mere line to about a quarter of an inch, dropped about by
a dog, that tape-worm exists; or it is seen by his vomiting them up or
otherwise, that he has round worms, which somewhat resemble earth-worms,
what we have to do is to alter that condition of the general health
which allows these pests to exist. In brief, we have to treat the dog
for anæmia, which subject has been already discussed. It is, of course,
occasionally possible for a healthy, meat-fed dog to become
accidentally infected by swallowing tape-worm ova, and in such a case a
few of the parasites may be harboured for a considerable time, not
increasing, but now and then making their presence manifest. Infection
is possible by the swallowing of fleas, which are intermediate hosts of
tape-worm, or by eating the insides of rabbits, which usually swarm with
these creatures, or, in the opinion of some authorities, by sniffing the
ova up through the nasal passages and subsequently swallowing them. As,
however, one cannot always be certain that the apparently healthy dog is
not a trifle below par, it is always well to treat him with a course of
iron, giving the powders or tonic pills advised for anæmia for a month,
and at the expiration of that period, when the system is toned up so
that the worms' position is almost untenable, and their expulsion will
be final, one or two vermifuge doses may be given. All sorts of quack
remedies have been praised and boomed as infallible, but many are
exceedingly drastic, and some positively dangerous. Areca nut, so
frequently advised, is a most violent irritant, actually poisonous in
its effects on young puppies, and a very cruel remedy in all cases.
Wormseed oil, an American preparation, possibly from one of the inulas,
a family of plants known in English gardens, is sometimes an ingredient;
also such highly unsuitable, inert, useless, or dangerous substances as
sulphate of magnesia, salt, or cowhage, with strong doses of santonine,
a drug that should never be given in unknown quantity. A violent
purgative action often accompanies these secret remedies, adding to
their danger. The intelligent dog owner should know what he is giving,
and to some extent understand its action; but in a country where quack,
much-advertised medicines are largely given to children, I suppose it
will be difficult to prevent their being also administered to dogs. In
any case, no worm medicine whatever, of any sort or kind, other than an
iron tonic, should be given to young puppies, no known drug possessing a
stronger action than iron upon the parasites being safe for toy pups
under three months old. After that age it is safe to give very small
doses of oil of male-fern and absolutely minute ones of santonine. These
are best combined in a capsule, in which form they can be given without
distressing the patient, and a perfectly safe capsule after this formula
is, among the Kanofelin remedies--which are not secret, but are
compounded after recognised formulæ, and equally suitable for dogs or
children in the purity of their drugs and safety of their action. If any
of the popular advertised remedies are used for adults, experiment
should be made at first with much smaller doses than are cited, and
safety thus assured, for a microscopic dose will often act quite
severely enough for the toy dog owner's purpose, and dogs are as
variously sensitive to drug action as we ourselves.

In very young puppies the bringing up by the mouth of round worms is not
at all unusual, especially when they are pups born of "kennel" parents,
dogs crowded together in numbers, insufficiently fed (although possibly
upon an excessive quantity of oatmeal and Indian corn meal), denied
meat, and leading a completely unnatural life in every respect. It is
rather a shock to an amateur when this occurs, but as a rule little
anxiety need be felt, for if the puppy is properly fed upon small dry
meals of a very digestible and nourishing nature, say two tablespoonfuls
of good underdone rump-steak, or the same quantity of roast mutton,
three times a day for a dog the size of a pug, and given a one-grain
dose of iron with two of these meals, he will be pretty sure to grow out
of his troubles. In any such case great attention must be paid to
keeping up the strength of the patient, in order to tide him over the
time when by reason of youth and his very tender little stomach, it is
impossible to give him any stronger medicine with safety.

Extreme thinness and loss of coat are sometimes attributed to that
wonderful power worms, in old-fashioned eyes, possessed. Both of these
symptoms are those of an anæmic condition, as is foetor of the breath.
Finally, the treatment of that over-rated bugbear in the way of
diseases, "Worms," is easily summarised thus--Meat feeding; an iron
tonic; a vermifuge after the tonic course, and not before.

After male-fern capsules it is quite unnecessary to give any aperient.
Most inventors of "worm pills" and the like order castor oil to be given
after their boluses, a terrible aggravation both to operator and
patient.


=Aperients.=--Some people have an idea that it is desirable to dose dogs
periodically, on the quaint old "spring-medicine" principle, extended
over all the year. No greater mistake can be made. A dog should never be
given drugs of any kind unless really ill, and this it will never be in
the direction indicated, if it is properly fed and regularly exercised.
A dog's natural and proper food is meat; but the stimulus of distension
must be given to the intestine by adding some bulk of innutritious food
to the meat. We cannot give quite enough meat to afford this stimulus
constantly, because by doing so we should overload the system. In a
state of nature dogs ate the fur and skins of their prey, like other
carnivora: now we must give them a certain proportion, but only a small
one, of biscuits made of wheat (not of oatmeal or Indian corn meal,
which are too indigestible) or of brown bread, to provide bulk without
nourishment. They may, if any aperient be absolutely necessary, have a
meal of boiled liver, a teaspoonful or two of pure olive oil poured over
a little meat, or given from a spoon, or some cod liver oil, which may
be voluntarily taken, and is equally efficacious. Milk is very laxative,
and sometimes, where there is no biliousness, a small saucerful makes a
good aperient. Always take a dog for his run at the same time of day,
wet or fine, and never lose sight of the fact that a well-behaved clean
little house-pet may bring upon itself a dangerous attack of
constipation by its good manners if its appeal for a walk is ignored.

Illustration: TYPICAL JAPANESE SPANIEL.

=Distemper.=--As a matter of actual fact, there is no such disease as
distemper. There are two diseases, or two groups of diseases, both more
or less contagious, which, for want of skilled diagnosis, are
indifferently so named, but their popular designation is so firmly
rooted that "distemper" will be with us to the end of the chapter, and
so long as the disease is properly treated it matters little whether we
call it bronchial catarrh, gastro-enteritis, typhoid, or distemper.
Perhaps, in a manual not intended for the learned, it will be most
useful, as it is certainly most simple, and, I think, practical, to
speak of "two forms of distemper," since the chest and lung diseases of
the dog all call for one sort of home treatment, and the more ordinary
diseases of the intestinal tract can with safety be lumped together as
needing another fairly uniform style of treatment. Further than this the
non-medical dog owner is not wise to venture, since it is quite as
necessary that a canine patient should have skilled advice as that it
should be called in for his master--that is, if his recovery is desired.

Roughly speaking, then, there are two kinds of distemper--that which
affects the nose, throat, and chest, and in slight cases may pass as
being only a very bad cold, and that which affects the intestinal canal,
involving the whole alimentary system. This latter is certainly the more
troublesome for an amateur to treat, and decidedly the more fatal; but,
fortunately, the former is the more common. It is very easy to tell when
a dog is the subject of distemper in the catarrhal form, and when in
this state he is, I think, much more likely to do well if carefully
nursed at home; but in the typhoid form it requires skilled nursing to
do the case justice, and the physical conditions are such that if--it is
a big "if"--the right sort of vet can be found, the dog has a better
chance with him.

The symptoms of catarrhal distemper are shivering,
feverishness--temperature generally not very high at first, but a degree
or two over the normal--profuse discharge from the eyes and nose, and,
in short, all those of a bad, feverish cold; and the treatment may be
exactly that which we should give a child under the same circumstances.
The great thing, in both forms, is to keep up the strength from the very
beginning; this is far more important than giving medicine of any kind,
and if the patient will not eat, he should be given food forcibly. I do
not by this mean that a large quantity of food should be forced upon the
unwilling animal; he should have about two teaspoonfuls of some invalid
nourishment every two hours, and this should be as varied as possible,
and kept as sweet and dainty as if for a human patient. A raw egg beaten
up with the smallest possible quantity of milk; a little good beef-tea,
made by cutting lean, raw beef into small cubes, and slowly drawing all
the goodness out of it in an earthenware jar, tightly covered, in the
oven, only two tablespoonfuls of water to the pound of meat being
added; veal broth similarly made; arrowroot, with a few drops of the
juice of raw meat added; strong chicken tea, with a little rice boiled
in it and strained out--all these may be rung upon for change. Some dogs
will eat solid food all through the disease, and this simplifies matters
immensely. Where there is no appetite, liquids or semi-liquids must be
given. Concentrated foods and other invalid preparations, though useful
on occasion, very soon pall and sicken the patient, and while it saves
trouble to use things like this, they have not the same effect in
keeping up the strength as good, honest home-cookery. The necessity for
thus dieting and feeding is the same in either form of distemper, and
the dog must not be left all night without attention, but fed at
intervals then also. Warmth and evenness of temperature come next in
importance. A little flannel jacket or cross-over, made of thick, new
flannel, is as good as poultices, and should be put, and kept, on well
into convalescence, when, of course, it must not be left off too
suddenly. I do not say anything about medicine, actual poulticing, etc.,
because a distemper patient, in view of the complications which are
always apt to arise in this disease, should be nursed under skilled
veterinary direction. I only insist on the need for feeding up and
warmth.

Distemper patients cannot go out of doors, in cold weather, unless there
is to be no regard to the great risk they run in such a change of
temperature; therefore, as soon as the disease declares itself, it is
well to settle the patient somewhere where a tray of earth can be
provided, absolute quiet maintained, and an even warmth kept up, and
here let the disease run its course.

Relapses from distemper are even more serious than the first attack, and
they are very apt to occur where the patient is allowed to go out, or
move about too soon or too much. Stimulants--brandy and port wine--are
very useful where the weakness is great, and champagne will often be
kept down where water or broth would be rejected.

The "new" disease, commonly called the Stuttgart disease, which has
created so much excitement among dog owners during the last year or two,
and is of the nature of gastritis, or inflammation of the lining
membrane of the stomach, spreading upwards and downwards, calls in some
ways for quite a different treatment to that of the typhoid form of
distemper. They are alike in this: that a teaspoonful or so of iced
champagne or iced soda and milk, will sometimes be retained where
nothing else will, but in gastric catarrh, or gastritis, the patient
must not be allowed to drink water, or to make the slightest exertion.

It may, perhaps, be as well to state what, I suppose, is not yet known
to all dog owners--namely, the fact that it is by no means a necessity
for a toy, or any other dog for that matter, to have distemper. Like
scarlet fever in the human subject, distemper may occur in a dog's life,
or may not. The child takes scarlet fever if it has been in the way of
infection, and the dog distemper if the contagion has been conveyed to
it either by some person who has been near an affected dog, by that dog
itself, or by some article on which infected discharges of any kind have
been deposited.

The one quarrel we all have with shows is that they certainly offer
opportunities of spreading distemper to people who do not consider its
existence in their kennels a sufficient reason for withholding entries,
and carry the contagion with them, although the dogs they exhibit may be
in themselves unaffected. An old-fashioned piece of advice in distemper,
and one always given, was that at the outset of the disease a dose of
castor oil, or some other aperient, should be administered. I have no
hesitation at all in saying that whereas castor oil--to the dog a
violent irritant purgative--has carried off many and many a puppy and
delicate adult that, if not so weakened just when all the reserve forces
of strength were most needed, might have pulled through, this practice
is a most mistaken one, to say the least of it. If there is any
probability of there being any collection in the intestine which needs
clearing away, pure olive oil will do all, and more than castor oil, and
will neither cause the pain at the time nor the subsequent constipation,
which will be the inevitable results, if there are no worse ones, of the
stronger, and, I must call it, vile, drug. Another fallacy is the
supposed desirability of constantly washing the eyes and nose with warm
water. This is often not properly dried off, and chill results, while
all the fuss and worry is quite needless and does no good. A little bit
of old linen rag may be torn up and the fragments used to clean off the
discharges and at once burnt. Once, or even twice, a day a sponge damped
with boracic lotion can be used, but very sparingly.

The watchword in distemper, as I said before, is nursing--good nursing
alone will pull most dogs through--and I deliberately refrain from
giving any prescriptions, because, as each case varies according to
circumstances and the patient's constitution, each should be prescribed
for on its merits.

For far too long we have gone on in a rough-and-ready rule-of-thumb
method of dosing dogs all in the same way, without regard to
idiosyncrasy, which all the time has been as marked in them as in human
kind--and the sooner we change all this and study each dog after its
kind, the better for them and for us.


=Skin Troubles.=--The most annoying thing about the skin complaints
which occasionally beset toy dogs is the difficulty to the amateur of
diagnosing them correctly. Even veterinary surgeons are sometimes hazy
in this respect, and it is therefore well when a skin trouble refuses to
yield to simple remedies, incapable of doing harm, to consult a man
really experienced in toys, and not some uninterested, and even rather
contemptuous, practitioner, who may even commit such a cruel barbarity
as I have heard of, in the advising of _sheep dip_!

The most common form of skin disease in adult dogs is eczema, which for
purposes of rough, or popular, classification, may be divided into two
forms, wet and dry. Weeping eczema is decidedly uncommon, but is the
only form of skin disease offering open sores and raw surfaces likely to
affect comparatively well-cared-for toy dogs. In this, as in the dry,
severer forms of eczema, it is useless to attempt cure by mere outward
applications. The mischief is in the blood, and until the blood is put
right the external symptoms will continue, unless, indeed, strong
mercurial lotion or ointment be used, which may fatally drive the
disease in, and by clearing up the skin and so depriving the body of the
safety-valve of outward lesions, eventually kill the animal. Such a
proceeding is occasionally resorted to by unscrupulous persons whose
only desire is to sell their mangy or eczematous dogs, for the immediate
effect of dressing with mercurial ointment is often almost miraculously
good to the eye. Therefore, my advice to the amateur is, under no
circumstances to purchase a dog which is known to have suffered from any
severe form of skin disease. Even if the complaint has not been doctored
in the way described, and has been cured by honest methods, it may
always break out again, for it is in the constitution. I must, of
course, except cases in which contagious eczema has been given to the
victim by some other dog, but in dealing with strangers, shops, or
professional dealers, it is wisest to avoid a purchase where skin
disease has existed.

Some breeds are very much more subject to skin trouble than others, and
all long-haired dogs are apt to suffer from simple eczema and erythema,
the latter especially when young; while distemper of a severe kind is
often followed by a disease of the skin, closely resembling mange, for
which it is often unfortunately mistaken. It should be simply treated
with a mild antiseptic ointment, while the constitutional weakness is
the focus for attention.

Puppies often teeth with a rash, called puppy-pox, which shows as
general redness of the skin, generally on the bare parts of the body,
under the forelegs, etc., and here and there groups of pustules, each of
which contains a drop of thin pus. This is a complaint allied to
chicken-pox in children, and by no means dangerous--in fact, a puppy
which teethes with such a rash has generally the making of a strong and
healthy dog. At the same time, whenever either this trouble, or bare
patches about the legs and face, are seen on puppies, the teeth should
be looked to, for it is probable they are in some way irritating the
system.

The existence of too many worms in puppies generally accompanies skin
trouble in the form of bare patches, which may be well rubbed daily with
a sponge dipped in an extremely simple, safe, and useful lotion, which I
can recommend to be given a trial in all forms of skin disease, as in no
case can it do harm, while in many cases it will effect a cure so far as
any outward application is capable of doing. It is known as the
Kanofelin lotion, a preparation of phenyl, which is not irritating, or
in any way poisonous or disagreeable to the nose, but has a taste which
prevents dogs from licking it off; should they do so, however, it will
not harm them. The lotion, after being applied and well rubbed in with
the sponge to smooth, bare places, where the skin is not broken, should
be wiped off with a towel or handkerchief, as it is not wise to leave
the dog wet. It should be used twice a day, and where the skin is
broken, very gently with a soft sponge, and, of course, no rubbing in.

Some dry and scaly skin eruptions, of which pityriasis is the most
common, need different treatment. Where-ever bare places appearing on
the toy dog look scurfy, and scales fall off, do not use any lotion, nor
rub, but lightly dab on a little zinc ointment if the dog is not given
to licking the parts; if he is, use a plain, rather thin, sulphur
ointment: Sublimated sulphur, 1 oz.; vaseline, 4 ozs. This latter may
also be used in cases where the Kanofelin lotion is useful, and then be
well rubbed in; but the rule is no rubbing when scales or scurf are
present. The Kanofelin ointment is harmless and useful in all cases.
Applications can be much varied to suit cases, and where violent
irritation is present, it is sometimes necessary to use a more complex
preparation than those mentioned. The poisonous nature of some of the
ingredients, included in the most efficacious of them, however, makes it
very undesirable to use them otherwise than under the advice of a
skilled surgeon. The following cream is a most useful application for
use in cases where the skin is not broken, where great irritation and
redness of the skin are present, and where the affected parts either
cannot be reached by the patient, or the latter can be muzzled during
treatment. It is, however, poisonous, on account of the carbolic acid
and lead it contains: Liquor plumbi diacet., 4 drs.; liquor carbonis
detergens, 40 mns.; boracic acid powder, 1 oz.; new milk, to 4 ozs.
Shake well before use, and apply frequently with a bit of sponge. Label:
_Poison_.

In the treatment of medicated baths, usually composed of that most
evil-smelling compound liver of sulphur and water--in professional
language, "a sulphuretted potash solution"--I own I have little or no
faith. A plain sulphur ointment is twice as efficacious, far easier to
apply, and has no disagreeable smell; while, if well rubbed into the
skin, as it and other skin ointments should be, and not left in the
hair, it is not in any way unpleasant.

In all cases where skin trouble is accompanied by a strong and most
unpleasant smell, mange (either follicular, or, more commonly,
sarcoptic), may be suspected. The latter is easier to cure than many
forms of eczema, but it is absolutely needful to keep the patient
smothered in a dressing of sweet oil and sulphur, than which there is
nothing better, for several days, then to wash and dress again; and such
cases are not suitable for home treatment, although no veterinary
surgeon should be permitted to apply strong dressings like paraffin,
mercurial ointment, or tar (otherwise creosote) to delicate toys.
Mercurial dressings, in all cases, are rank poison, the absorption of
the drug into the system having fatal effects for the future.

Follicular mange, in which the insect causing the trouble burrows deep,
is a horrible disease, about the worst a dog can have, and here skilled
veterinary assistance cannot be dispensed with. But it is safe for the
amateur, in all cases of commencing skin trouble, where there is no
smell and the bare patches do not spread rapidly, to use the phenyl
lotion or sulphur or Kanofelin ointment, according to the state of the
skin, and to begin the more important internal treatment by a complete
change of diet.

A very dry or confined diet, certain meals, as oatmeal or Indian corn
meals, either in biscuits or otherwise; too little food; more rarely too
much; absence of meat from the dietary, or too little of it; as before,
but very rarely too much--these are all incentives to skin trouble,
while heredity has much to say to a tendency thereto.

A dog which has not been having much meat, but has been chiefly fed on
dog biscuit, may, on the appearance of skin irritation, be given plenty
of good, underdone meat--roast mutton, sheep's head, and bullock's
heart, all being very suitable. In no case of skin disease should either
oatmeal or Indian corn be given; and sea air should be avoided, as it is
always aggravating to skin troubles. Tripe is nourishing and very
digestible, and fresh fish suits most of the invalids very well.
Together with the entire change of diet--the hours for meals need not,
of course, be altered--a course of iron and cod liver oil is always well
worth trying. Personally, I pin my faith to the following method, which
I have known most successful in difficult cases, and which, as I can say
of the other remedies advised in this little book, can do no harm.
Powerful drugs are often a source of danger in inexperienced hands, and
a good many of the medicines one sees advised are, so to speak,
extremely speculative.

Get, then, a bottle of cod liver oil and malt, and 1 oz.--or more, if
you please--of saccharated carbonate of iron. In your pet's dinner mix,
at first, well covered over with cut-up meat of extra daintiness, a
scant half-teaspoonful of the solution with a dust of the iron, which is
a sweet powder. Nearly all dogs will take this without any trouble, and
soon get very fond of the oil, even if they object to it at first; but
they must not see the dose introduced into the meal. Let them think it
an accident, or at any rate, in the natural way of things, and they are
far less likely to object than if they see you making a parade of mixing
and covering. The dose, given twice a day, in meat dinner and supper,
should be gradually increased, until a dog of 6 lbs. is taking a full
teaspoonful of the solution twice a day, with 3 grs. of iron to each
dose; and patience will be needed, for, to do any good, this dosing must
go on for at least a month. It may then be left off gradually, and
resumed again if necessary. In obstinate cases of skin disease, arsenic
is a most valuable remedy, and may with most effect be combined with the
system of cod liver oil, malt extract, and saccharated carbonate of iron
just described. Fowler's solution, which is generally recommended,
should not be used, because it contains oil of lavender, which is very
offensive to dogs, and sickens them; the British Pharmacopoeia solution
should be the one used. Of this the dose is from one drop twice a day,
to be gradually increased up to four drops twice a day for toys; the
best way is to get the B.P. solution from your chemist, mixed with such
a quantity of distilled water as that there are four drops in each
teaspoonful. This may be given with iron and without the cod liver oil,
or with cod liver oil without the iron, or alone, in food--it is
tasteless--but is far better given in combination with the two. Mr.
Appleby, Argyle Street, Bath, puts up the iron and arsenic together in a
very easily used form, known as the "Kanofelin Blood Mixture," This, my
own formula, I generally advise to my readers whose dogs do not or
cannot take cod liver oil; he also, _inter alia_, puts up the worm
capsules to my prescription as mentioned for the use of toy dog owners;
and it is sometimes an advantage to get your medicines ready made.

Arsenic is what is known as a cumulative drug; it produces no special
effect until a good deal is stored up in the system. When enough has
been given, the said system revolts, and now, when the dog's eyes begin
to look watery, and the mucous membrane lining the mouth may be a little
red, you have given enough, and must cease; for a time only if the
disease is not subdued--in permanence if it be. One last word--arsenic
is the _dernier ressort_, and should not be used until other means have
failed, whereas some people fly to it when a much simpler treatment
would have done all that was necessary.

Another skin complaint which, is much more common than is generally
supposed, is ringworm. I have often seen this diagnosed as eczema,
whereas it really is very easy to tell its true nature, as it has very
marked characteristics.

It begins with tiny, round, bare spots, about as large as the head of a
pin, which usually escape notice at first, but gradually spread round
the edges, not always in a circular form, but sometimes as irregular
patches, the skin appearing greyish, but not unhealthy. On looking
closely it will be seen that the hairs have been broken off short, close
to the skin, but are clearly visible, which is the chief feature of the
disease and the infallible sign. Ringworm may be caught at any time,
most frequently from a visit to some infested stable, but occasionally
from chance contagion in the streets. Horses are subject to the same
form of the complaint, and dogs generally catch it from them; it is
sporadic, and the spores may, of course, fall about anywhere from an
infected horse or another dog. It is extremely capricious in its
inception; dogs in the same house may or may not catch it from one
another, and sometimes a whole kennel will be infected, with the
exception of one or two dogs apparently immune. There is, however, no
excuse for allowing it to spread, as it is easy to cure. Some of the
strongest tincture of iodine available should be well soaked into the
spot, and round the edges thereof, using a little ball of cotton wool
tied on to the end of a tiny stick, or an aural sponge, and rubbing the
iodine somewhat in with this. Two applications will generally kill the
spores--the disease is a parasitic fungus--and should be made at an
interval of a couple of days. For some time fresh spots are likely to
appear, and should be touched up at once. The muzzle, legs, and chest
are generally most affected. If left quite alone the complaint would
disfigure the dog terribly, but would, after a time, die out of its own
accord. I have not found that human subjects were infected with this
disease from the dog. A little iodide of potassium ointment may be put
on the patches once or twice, to hasten the complete cure, or they may
be washed with the phenyl lotion, in which the proportion is 1 in 40.
The hairs are weakened, and take some little time to grow properly
again, but the disease is by no means a serious one, and it is not
necessary to use any such stronger and dangerous remedies as carbolic
acid, as sometimes suggested.

Erythema, a general redness and rash, most often seen over the inside of
the thighs, and sometimes all over a dog's least hairy parts, is about
the only skin disease--if we except the curious and rare condition,
"hide-bound"--from which dogs very occasionally suffer, that, in a
common way, arises from over-feeding. It is best treated by change of
diet, _small_ nourishing meat meals, and the avoidance of any heating,
farinaceous substances, milk, or greasy food of any kind. A small dose
of sulphate of magnesia twice a week in food--as much as will lie, not
heaped, on sixpence for a 6-lb. dog--is often all the medicine needful.
Want of exercise is a frequent producer of skin disease. Dogs not
sufficiently exercised, or kept much shut up in hot rooms, have inactive
livers, whence all kinds of evils.

I have never seen but one case of "hide-bound" in a house-dog, and that
not in a toy. The skin was thickened and hard. Although the complaint is
an interesting one from its rarity, that same fortunate quality renders
it unnecessary for me to enter into the question--a veterinary surgeon
must undertake such a case.


=The Ears.=--The ears in toy dogs are often the seat of a slight
congestion which has no particular cause, but is more common in some
individuals than others, and generally occurs at intervals in those
subjects which have once had it. If taken early, the cure of an attack
is very simple; but if neglected, the congested state may increase and
culminate in inflammation of the middle ear, otitis, and the bugbear
"canker," of which we hear so much, and which is really extremely rare.
There are many stages of the trouble, from the slightly hot and red
external ear, which causes the dog to put two claws in the passage and
try to scratch it, and sometimes succeed in making a sore place thereby,
through the phases of rubbing the side of the head on the carpet or
ground, groaning and shaking the head violently, and other
manifestations of pain, up to the existence of real canker, when there
is much soreness and redness externally, with swelling of the meatus, or
passage, a profuse and very dark brown discharge, and a very
disagreeable odour.

There is always a slight characteristic smell about a "bad ear," which
any experienced person can recognise in an instant, often before any
other sign of trouble is seen. Some dogs--most, in fact--need watching
in this respect. The moment the toy is seen to be a little one-sided as
to head, or evinces any disposition to scratch his ear, a small lump of
boric ointment should be put in the meatus, pushed in with the little
finger, and worked about until it melts down into the passage and
convolutions. Next day the ear may be cleaned out with the tip of the
little finger covered with a very soft handkerchief, and the ointment
again used, and this, in slight cases, will effect a cure. Never
attempt to put any hard instrument, or, indeed, any instrument at all,
other than the soft suppleness of a feeling finger, into a dog's ear.

If the trouble has gone on a good while, and there is much brown
discharge, it will be necessary to use a lotion. First of all use the
ointment, as described, and clear away as much of the softened discharge
as possible by this means, being, of course, exceedingly gentle in your
manipulation, for these, at best, are very tender parts. Then take the
following lotion: Warm water, 1/2 pt.; Goulard's extract of lead, 1
tablespoonful; powdered boracic acid, 1/2 dr. The boracic powder to be
added to the water first, and the Goulard after, and the whole on no
account to be used otherwise than nicely warm, or it will cause pain.
The bottle can, of course, be filled at once, and a little of the
contents warmed for use as needed. Lay the patient down on the sound
side, with the bad ear uppermost, and get someone to hold him firmly.
Then gently pour about half to one teaspoonful of the warm lotion into
the ear, and work it about from outside. Keep him lying still for three
or five minutes, then let him go, and fly! For he will shake the
superfluous lotion all over you if you are not cautious. A great deal of
remonstrant ploughing about generally follows, but the application does
not really cause any pain, and will soon cure if persevered with--twice
a day for a week or so. Such frightful and almost, if not quite,
incurable cases as one sometimes meets with in sporting dogs, where the
ears have become thoroughly diseased from, in the first place, getting
wet and dirty, and being subsequently neglected, are, I rejoice to say,
unknown among well-cared-for toys.

People are sometimes alarmed because their puppies' ears do not stand
erect when they should, or are pointing in all directions but the right
when they should drop. This is a common thing enough during teething,
and will generally come quite right later on. If it does not, no active
remedy--by operation--is permissible if the dog is to be shown, but a
good deal can be done by oiling the ears and manipulating them
constantly in the desired direction by massage, while, in the case of
youngish puppies, two or three thicknesses of horses' leg bandage
plaster, cut to fit the inside and point of the ear, will either, if
stuck in by warming it, help the ear to drop or to stand up, as is
desired. This is a legitimate "fake," I may remark. But, of course, the
process must not be used with any idea of deception, though it is
allowable to aid Nature in the way she should go.


=The Eyes.=--The eye of the dog is an even more delicate structure than
the ear, and only skilled surgical aid should approach it in any but the
simplest ailments. Of these are the simple catarrhal ophthalmia, the
symptoms of which are redness of the lining membrane of the lids, and a
greenish discharge, turning brown and dry later, which comes from cold
and weakness of constitution. The victim of this must be kept in an even
temperature, be not allowed to lie by the fire, or look into it, or to
go out of doors in wind, hot sunshine, or cold, and be well fed with
good nourishing meat and light, digestible food. The discharge should be
wiped away from the eyes at morning and evening with a bit of sponge
dipped in a warm boracic lotion which any chemist will supply of the
proper strength; and immediately afterwards a little bit of yellow oxide
of mercury ointment, about as large as a small split pea, should be
gently introduced under the lid of the affected eye with a camel's hair
brush. Do not, on any account, accept "golden ointment," if the chemist
happens to offer you this old-fashioned remedy (I believe) for styes! It
is made of the _red_ oxide of mercury, and is a very great deal stronger
than the yellow oxide of mercury ointment, which, by the way, should be
made in the strength of 2 grs. to the ounce. This latter ointment may
also be used where, after distemper, a bluish film lingers in the eye.
Amaurosis is not uncommon in the dog. The eyes look perfectly right,
but the dog is blind. This may be an hereditary condition, but sometimes
comes in as a result of weakness pure and simple. Iron tonics, cod liver
oil, nux vomica, etc., may be given, and sometimes prove effectual. Good
living is essential. These cases are occasionally cured rather suddenly,
but as a rule are incurable.

Simple cold in the eyes--or more often, only in one--is a very ordinary
ailment, but distressing both to sufferer and owner. The affected eye
waters more or less profusely, and is kept partly closed. Within, there
is the same appearance as in catarrhal ophthalmia, but in a less degree,
and there may be fever and constitutional disturbance, in which case the
patient must be treated for a coryza, or "common cold." A boracic and
poppy-head lotion is the quickest cure for cold in the eyes, and is also
useful in the ophthalmic condition. It soothes the pain greatly, and is
best applied by means of a small all-indiarubber ball syringe. On no
account must a syringe with a bone or glass or vulcanite point be used:
the indiarubber nozzle is soft, and from it one or two drops can easily
be inserted between the eyelids. The amount of resistance the patient
makes will be proportionate to the severity of the inflammation, and as
this lessens he will endure the operation with serenity. To make the
lotion at home, buy a poppy-head, price about a halfpenny, from any
chemist, and boil it for an hour or longer in half a pint of water,
adding to this as it evaporates. When the water is sherry-coloured,
dissolve 10 grs. of boracic acid powder in each fluid ounce, allow to
cool, and use as frequently as convenient--once every hour, while the
congestion of the lining membrane of the eyelids is active.


=Sore Feet.=--Eczema, or little boils between the toes and round the
dew-claw on the front legs, is a trouble which besets some dogs.
Constitutional treatment, as laid down for eczema, is needful, and as
the dog will invariably worry the sores incessantly by licking, they
should be dusted with zinc or ichthyol powder, and then bandaged or
socked. If a dog is constantly licking its dew-claw, look at it to make
sure it is not growing in. In this case it needs to be cut rather short,
preferably by a veterinary surgeon, and the sore dressed. Dew-claws on
the hind legs should always be removed by a veterinary surgeon in
puppy-hood.


=Colds and Coughs.=--Colds, or coryza, beset dogs as they do humans, but
in lesser degree. A chest cold needs a flannel cross-over, sometimes a
hot linseed poultice (in treating dogs it is much better to use, if
possible, some dry poultice which will not leave the dog sopping after
it is removed), or a mustard-leaf. Rubbing with white vaseline oil and
ten drops of turpentine to each ounce, if vigorously done, is as good
for colds as for rheumatism. Everyone knows what a cold is, and the toy
dog's cold should be treated like one's own. The clinical thermometer
should be used, and if the temperature exceeds 100°, a pill of 5 grs. of
nitrate of potash should be given every four hours until it is normal
again, or, if it cannot be got down thus, give 1/2 gr. of sulphate of
quinine and 1 gr. of phenacetin, using the tabloids, and dividing them
as desired. The strength must be well kept up. _Coughs_--the dog's
hollow, deep-drawn brand--are a sore trial to the hearer. They sound
terrible, but are seldom of much moment. If from cold, put a little
vaseline or glycerine on the nose three or four times a day. It will be
licked off, and give relief, while some dogs will eat glycerine lozenges
if not flavoured with lemon. Vaseline, again, is an excellent thing for
bronchial wheezing, such as pugs are especially subject to, and will
always be taken if put on the nose. Cream also is soothing, and where is
the dog that does not like it?


=Chest Diseases.=--The worst-sounding coughs are often the least
important, and may pass off in a few days without treatment, but a
bronchial rattling in the throat calls for care. Bronchitis in toy dogs
must be treated exactly as in children, and, needless to say, the dog
must not go out until the acute stage is passed. Most clean dogs will go
to a box of earth in a cellar. A bronchitis kettle must be kept going in
the room, and the patient will need an invalidish diet and much petting
and amusement to carry him through the dull hours of discomfort. Dogs
have congestion of the lungs, pleurisy, pneumonia, just as people do,
and need the same careful nursing. Medicine in such cases is usually
unnecessary, because it worries the patient and can do little good. A
mild fever mixture may be prescribed by the vet, who should always be
called in the moment the breathing goes wrong. Dulness, lassitude,
shivering, and a high temperature--the clinical thermometer is of all
things needed here--with troubled breathing, are symptoms of the highest
importance, and skilled aid should be immediately called to them. The
amateur cannot diagnose these lung and chest troubles.


=Stomach Coughs.=--Very dreadful coughs are sometimes heard proceeding
entirely from the stomach. For these a little course of indigestion
treatment often does wonders. Or, again, coughing _may_ be caused by a
fish-bone or something similar in the throat, though this is the rarest
of all causes in the dog, owing to his possessing a most tremendous
gullet, quite out of proportion to his size.


=Shivering.=--Shivering is a bad trick some dogs acquire, and others
have by nature. It generally, if unaccompanied by a high temperature,
means nothing whatever, unless it be nerves. But, short of the Weir
Mitchell treatment, I imagine nothing benefits these latter more than a
mild scolding, with admonitions "not to be so silly."


=Hysteria.=--There are, most certainly, hysterical dogs, and their
temperament is that of the habitual shiverer, though very thin-skinned
toys sometimes really shiver from cold. A hysterical dog will bark
itself quite out of breath at the least disturbance, and shriek exactly
like its prototype human. Nature cannot be changed, but a tonic
sometimes does good. Excitability and nervousness are characteristic of
some breeds. Poms are, perhaps, the most excitable of small dogs, and
pugs certainly the least so.


=Obesity.=--Extreme fatness may be a disease in the dog as in the human
being, and in this case it is cruel to accuse the poor creature of
systematic over-eating, as it is everyone's impulse to do. The bromides
and iodides are useful, but cannot be prescribed haphazard. Thyroid
gland tabloids may also be tried, beginning with one once a day, and
gradually creeping up to three a day, according to the dog's size. Their
effect on the digestion is not always happy, so that the dog must be
watched to assure the owner of its toleration of them.


=Poison.=--Not an ailment, but a subject which needs a few words, is the
taking of poison by toy dogs. Unluckily, there is always risk in a town,
not only of the wilful poisoner, who apparently exists, but of the
ingestion of poisoned meat or bread and butter put for rats or beetles,
and afterwards thrown out. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred a
poisoned dog has had strychnine, this being the favourite drug of all
those who employ poison at all. Arsenic is too slow, and of other
poisons, thank Providence! the vulgar have mostly no knowledge. The
symptoms of strychnine poisoning are, firstly, excitement--the patient
runs about, and barks with a peculiar strident shriek. According to the
quantity of the poison taken and the quantity of food in the stomach at
the time, this stage occupies a longer or shorter period. Taken shortly
after a good meal, the poison seems less rapid in action than when the
stomach is empty. Presently come convulsions, and constant shrieking;
then the limbs stick out and are perfectly stiff and rigid. Even at this
stage the dog can often be saved if means are at hand. Never be without
a bottle of syrup of chloral in the house; it will keep indefinitely.
First make the dog sick. Use sulphate of zinc in water, or weak mustard
and warm water, and give plenty of this latter. The best way is by
putting it in a phial, and running it down the throat by way of a pouch
of lower lip drawn out from the teeth at the angle of the mouth. As soon
as the patient has been sick, give a teaspoonful of the syrup of chloral
in water. This is the antidote to strychnine. If you cannot wait to make
the patient sick, give the chloral at once--but give it: and the dose
may be repeated every two hours until the convulsions cease. For a tiny
pup or dog under 5 lbs. the dose may be halved. Recovery from strychnine
is very rapid, and it leaves, as a rule, no ill effects, though there is
a widespread belief, and a mistaken one, that it subsequently affects
the kidneys.

All the other kinds of poison dogs are likely to get or be given work as
irritants, and these need veterinary diagnosis. Salt, I may here remark,
is so violent and irritating a purgative to the dog that it is next door
to a poison, and the effects of castor oil in his intestine are not so
very far behind. Constant drugging is a thing as much to be avoided in
dogs as in their owners, and I cannot too strongly deprecate the foolish
practice--foolish or worse--of giving doses of castor oil after shows,
or as so-called prophylactics--preventives of illness. If a dog has been
much confined at a show, and is likely to be irregular in consequence, a
little pure olive oil with his dinner (not the nut oil often sold by
grocers as olive oil) will do no harm, although a dinner of oatmeal
gruel or boiled sheep's liver would be much more sensible and act
better; if he seems well and lively, leave him alone. Some people
actually go the length of dosing their puppies with castor oil at
intervals, for no reason that I can ascertain beyond a vague idea that
it "clears the system." So it does--of strength and the healthy mucoid
secretion of the intestine, without which natural functions cannot be
properly performed. Syrup of buck-thorn, or cascara sagrada, is another
medicine that should never be given to small dogs: it is far too
irritating and severe. When we have such excellent aperients as olive
oil, magnesia, and rhubarb among drugs, and boiled sheep's liver among
meats, we want no semi-poisonous irritant and violent drugs like castor
oil, which, in the end, produce the very condition they were supposed to
cure, and by pulling down the system, open the door to illness.


=Fits.=--Of these, epileptic fits are the most dangerous and by far the
least common. A dog suffering from epilepsy which is thoroughly
established, is practically incurable, in the present state of canine
medical science. Later, perhaps, the Röntgen rays may be beneficially
applied to this disease in dogs, as in human beings. In a popular manual
it is scarcely necessary to go further into the subject than to say that
epilepsy need not be suspected unless the convulsive attacks are more or
less recurrent, and so frequent as to exhaust the animal. Not until we
have tried such treatment as an amateur can safely give, which is quite
enough to cure ordinary teething or suckling fits due merely to some
reflex irritation affecting the brain, and found it fail, need we fear
epilepsy; and when we do fear it with any reason, skilled advice and
diagnosis is absolutely needful, since the case must be watched and
treated on its merits.

Suckling fits are exceedingly common among small, highly-organised, and
sensitive bitches. They generally begin about the end of the second week
of nursing puppies, and do not seem to be in any way caused by
overstrain; that is, a small female suckling five puppies is not more
likely to suffer from these fits than one only bringing up a brace.
Their exact cause is difficult to determine, since very healthy,
well-fed animals may have them in common with those that are weak and
miserable from under-feeding (which in this case is synonymous with
feeding on a non-meat diet) or kennel life.

Whatever the cause, the symptoms are always easy to recognise. The bitch
first loses interest in her litter, though her milk-supply is seldom, if
ever, lessened. She twitches, and her eyes look dull and filmy, or
glassy and staring. She wanders restlessly about, and sometimes pants in
the same way as she did when expecting her confinement. Now is the time
to intervene, and give one teaspoonful of syrup of chloral with an equal
quantity of water. If this is not done, the attack will proceed to
staggering, shrieking, and more or less violent convulsions. The
administration of the chloral generally causes the symptoms to subside
gradually; but should the patient be no better in two hours, repeat the
dose, and if giving bromide of potassium in 5-gr. doses twice or three
times a day, immediately after food, does not keep her right, she must
go on taking the chloral.

Neither chloral nor bromide affects the milk; if any of it passes
therein, the quantity is so very minute as to make no difference to the
puppies. It is not at all necessary to take the bitch away from her
litter; in fact, it is better to let her go on feeding them. Some will
wish to leave their babies, and these should be taken to them and shut
in with them, four times a day, and during the night. If she is
thoroughly well fed, it never does the bitch any harm to bring up her
family, and it would be a very great pity for the puppies to be lost
when it is not necessary. But it is exceedingly important that she
should be kept in a state of hyper-nutrition--that is, that she should
have as much good, underdone meat as she can digest. Bromides are
lowering, and besides this, the state of the nerves demands the highest
possible feeding. It may be expensive to feed a "fitty" bitch on good
beefsteak or roast mutton four times a day, giving her a sponge cake the
last thing at night and a little milk, or, what is much better and more
digestible, a raw new-laid egg or raw fresh cream, in the early morning;
but it is, on the whole, a cheap way of saving a litter of valuable
pups. If there are a large number of pups, some may be given to a
foster-mother; but as a rule these are difficult to get, and not often
satisfactory. Bromides should always be given immediately after food; on
no account when the stomach is empty. Chloral may be given at any time
when there is a necessity for it. The 5-gr. bromide tabloids obtainable
at any chemist's are very useful; it is unnecessary to dissolve them in
water for dogs, but, as before stated, they _must_ be given with or
directly after food.

Teething fits should be treated, as far as medicine goes, exactly as
suckling fits. Just as a badly-reared, non-meat-fed bitch who, by reason
of an anæmic habit, harbours worms, is a poor subject for the latter
trouble, so is a puppy that has been brought up on milky slops and
large, wet messes of oatmeal and bread and milk, and thus has a weakened
digestion, very likely to suffer badly from fits that in a strong young
dog would pass off with small trouble. There is usually some warning of
teething fits, as staring eyes, etc.; but sometimes, and especially if a
puppy of from six to ten months has been much excited, taken out walking
on a hot day, allowed to play in the sun, or dragged unwillingly on a
lead, they come on very suddenly. While out in hot sun, the dog may
suddenly give a shriek and begin to run with all his might, taking no
notice of calls. As a general rule, he has the sense to run home, unless
some officious person on the way imagines him mad and acts as silly
people do under such circumstances.

If it is possible to catch the runaway, he should have his head covered
to keep the light out of his eyes, and be taken home as quickly and
quietly as possible to be shut in some cool and perfectly dark place
until the fit passes off sufficiently to give him a dose of chloral.
Afterwards he should have a diet of minced, underdone meat, with bromide
of potassium to follow, for a day or two. A plunge into cold water will
often stop a fit like this, but is too heroic a remedy to be safe unless
the circumstances are very urgent. Cold sponging to the head is good,
and quiet and darkness are essential. Some times teething fits go on
increasing in frequency and severity until they merge into epilepsy, and
the dog is lost. This is occasionally caused by allowing a very young,
highly nervous, and excitable dog to be with others of the opposite sex,
when these should be in seclusion.

Fits, very much like mild teething fits, are not uncommon in run-down
dogs suffering from anæmia and the likely corollary, worms. These are
often very transient, and a course of tonic treatment, with rest from
excitement, and good feeding, will banish them.



CHAPTER IX

CLUB STANDARDS, DESCRIPTIONS AND POINTS OF VARIOUS TOY BREEDS


=Pomeranians.=--These are now divided into Pomeranians (over 7 lbs.) and
Pomeranians Miniature, and the Committee of the Kennel Club have laid
down the following standard, applying from June 1, 1909:


THE POMERANIAN.--_Appearance._--The Pomeranian in build and appearance
should be a compact, short-coupled dog, well-knit in frame. His head and
face should be fox-like, with small erect ears that appear sensible to
every sound. He should exhibit great intelligence in his expression,
docility in his disposition, and activity and buoyancy in his
deportment. In weight and size the Pomeranian varies considerably. He
must be over 7 lbs., but preferably he should weigh about 10 to 14 lbs.
_Head._--The head should be somewhat foxy in outline or wedge-shaped,
the skull being flat, large in proportion to the muzzle, which should
finish rather fine, and be free from lippiness. The teeth should be
level, and on no account undershot. The hair on the head and face must
be smooth and short-coated.


THE POMERANIAN MINIATURE--_Appearance._--The Pomeranian Miniature in
build and appearance should be a compact, short-coupled dog. His head
and face should be like a miniature fox, with small, erect, and very
mobile ears, pricked and brought well together, and in no case
lop-eared. He should be full of life, intelligent in expression, and
docile in disposition. The Pomeranian Miniature should preferably weigh
about 3 to 5 lbs., but must not exceed 7 lbs. Dogs above 7 lbs. must be
registered as Pomeranians. Dogs below 7 lbs. in weight must, at twelve
months of age or after, be registered or re-registered as Pomeranians
Miniature, and being so registered or re-registered, can never compete
in classes for Pomeranians. _Head._--The head should be wedge-shaped and
rather foxy in outline, but the skull may be rounder than the
Pomeranian.


STANDARD AND SCALE OF POINTS AS LAID DOWN BY THE POMERANIAN
CLUB.--Secretary, G. M. Hicks, Esq., Granville House, Blackheath,
London, S.E.[2] _Appearance._--The Pomeranian in build and appearance
should be a compact, short-coupled dog, well-knit in frame. His head and
face should be fox-like, with small, erect ears, that appear sensible to
every sound; he should exhibit great intelligence in his expression,
docility in his disposition, and activity and buoyancy in his
deportments.--15 points. _Head._--Somewhat foxy in outline, or
wedge-shaped, the skull being slightly flat (although in the toy
varieties the skull may be rather rounder), large in proportion to the
muzzle, which should finish rather fine, and be free from lippiness. The
teeth should be level, and on no account undershot. The head in its
profile may exhibit a little "stop," which, however, must not be too
pronounced, and the hair on head and face must be smooth or
short-coated.--5 points. _Eyes._--Should be medium in size, rather
oblique in shape, not set too wide apart, bright and dark in colour,
showing great intelligence and docility of temper. In a white dog black
rims round the eyes are preferable.--5 points. _Ears._--Should be small,
and carried perfectly erect, or pricked like those of a fox, and, like
the head, should be covered with soft, short hair. No plucking or
trimming is allowable.--5 points. _Nose._--In black-and-tan, or white
dogs, the nose should be black; in other coloured Pomeranians it may
more often be brown or liver coloured; but in all cases the nose must be
self not parti-coloured, and never white.--5 points. _Neck and
Shoulders._--The neck, if anything, should be rather short, well set in
and lion-like, covered with a profuse mane and frill of long, straight,
glossy hair, sweeping from under the jaw, and covering the whole of the
front part of the shoulders and chest, as well as flowing on the top of
the shoulders. The shoulders must be tolerably clean and laid well
back.--5 points. _Body._--The back must be short, and the body compact,
being well ribbed up, and the barrel well rounded. The chest must be
fairly deep, and not too wide.--10 points. _Legs._--The forelegs must be
perfectly straight, of medium length--not such as would be termed either
"leggy" or "low on leg"--but in due proportion in length and strength to
a well-balanced frame, and the forelegs and thighs must be well
feathered, the feet small and compact in shape. No trimming is
allowable.--5 points. _Coat._--Properly speaking, there should be two
coats, an under and an over coat--the one a soft, fluffy under coat, the
other a long, perfectly straight and glistening coat, covering the whole
of the body, being very abundant round the neck and forepart of the
shoulders and chest, where it should form a frill of long, flowing hair,
extending over the shoulders, as previously described. The hindquarters,
like those of a collie, should be similarly clad with long hair or
feathering from the top of the rump to the hocks. The hair on the tail
must be profuse and flowing over the back.--25 points. _Tail._--The tail
is a characteristic of the breed, and should be well twisted right up
from the root tightly over the back, or lying flat on the back, slightly
on either side, and profusely covered with long hair, spreading out and
flowing over the back.--10 points. _Colour._--The following colours are
admissible: White, black, blue, brown, black-and-tan, fawn, sable, red,
and parti-colours. The white must be quite free from lemon or any
colour, and the blacks, blues, browns, black-and-tan, and reds free from
white. A few white hairs in any of the self-colours shall not absolutely
disqualify, but should carry great weight against the dog. In
parti-coloured dogs, the colours should be evenly distributed on the
body. Whole-coloured dogs with a white foot or feet, leg or legs, are
decidedly objectionable, and should be discouraged, and cannot compete
as whole-coloured specimens. In mixed classes--_i.e._, where
whole-coloured and parti-coloured Pomeranians compete together--the
preference should, if in other points they are equal, be given to the
whole-coloured specimens.--10 points. Total--100 points.

  Footnote 2: In most cases the names of the Secretaries of the
  various clubs are given, but it must be remembered that
  an annual re-election takes place.

Also catered for by the North of England Pomeranian Club. Secretary, J.
Tweedale, Valley House, Oversley Ford, Wilmslow; and the Midland
Counties Pomeranian Club. Hon. Secretary, Mrs. E. Parker, Meadowland,
Uttoxeter Road, Derby.


=Toy Spaniels= (English).--Points as defined by the Toy Spaniel Club.
Hon. Secretary, Miss M. Hall, Chalk Hill House, Norwich. _Head._--Should
be well domed, and in good specimens is absolutely semi-globular,
sometimes even extending beyond the half-circle, and absolutely
projecting over the eyes, so as nearly to meet the upturned nose.
_Eyes._--The eyes are set wide apart, with the eyelids square to the
line of the face--not oblique or fox-like. The eyes themselves are
large, so as to be generally considered black; their enormous pupils,
which are absolutely of that colour, increasing the description. From
their large size, there is always a certain amount of weeping shown at
the inner angles; this is owing to a defect in the lachrymal duct.
_Stop._--The "stop" or hollow between the eyes, is well marked, as in
the bulldog, or even more so; some good specimens exhibiting a hollow
deep enough to bury a small marble. _Nose._--The nose must be short and
well turned up between the eyes, and without any indication of
artificial displacement afforded by a deviation to either side. The
colour of the end should be black, and it should be both deep and wide,
with open nostrils. _Jaw._--The lower jaw must be wide between its
branches, leaving plenty of space for the tongue and for the attachment
of the lower lips, which should completely conceal the teeth. It should
also be turned up or "finished," so as to allow of its meeting the end
of the upper jaw, turned up in a similar way, as above described.
_Ears._--The ears must be long, so as to approach the ground. In an
average-sized dog they measure 20 ins. from tip to tip, and some reach
22 ins., or even a trifle more. They should be set low on the head, and
be heavily feathered. In this respect the King Charles is expected to
exceed the Blenheim, and his ears occasionally extend to 24 ins.
_Size._--The most desirable size is from 7 lbs. to 10 lbs. _Shape._--In
compactness of shape these spaniels almost rival the pug, but the length
of coat adds greatly to the apparent bulk, as the body, when the coat is
wetted, looks small in comparison with that dog. Still, it ought to be
decidedly "cobby," with strong, stout legs, broad back, and wide chest.
The symmetry of the toy spaniel is of importance, but it is seldom that
there is any defect in this respect. _Coat._--The coat should be long,
silky, soft, and wavy, but not curly. In the Blenheim there should be a
profuse mane, extending well down in the front of the chest. The feather
should be well displayed on the ears and feet, where it is so long as to
give the appearance of their being webbed. It is also carried well up
the backs of the legs. In the King Charles the feather on the ears is
very long and profuse, exceeding that of the Blenheim by an inch or
more. The feather on the tail (which is cut to the length of about 3-1/2
ins. to 4 ins.) should be silky, and from 5 ins. to 6 ins. in length,
constituting a marked "flag" of a square shape, and not carried above
the level of the back. _Colour._--The colour varies with the breed. The
King Charles is a rich, glossy black, and deep tan; tan spots over the
eyes and on cheeks, and the usual markings on the legs are also
required. The Ruby Spaniel is a rich chestnut red. The presence of a
_few_ white hairs _intermixed with the black_ on the chest of a King
Charles, or _intermixed with the red_ on the chest of a Ruby Spaniel,
shall carry _very great weight against_ a dog, but shall not in itself
absolutely disqualify; but a white patch on the chest, or white on any
other part of a King Charles or Ruby Spaniel shall be a
disqualification. The Blenheim must not on any account be
whole-coloured, but should have a ground of pure pearly white, with
bright, rich chestnut or ruby-red marking evenly distributed in large
patches.

The ears and cheeks should be red, with a blaze of white extending from
the nose up to the forehead, and ending between the ears in a
crescentive curve. In the centre of this blaze there should be a clear
"spot" of red of the size of a sixpence. The tricolour, or Charles the
First Spaniel, should have the tan of the King Charles, with markings
like the Blenheim in black instead of red on a pearly-white ground. The
ears and under the tail should also be lined with tan. The tricolour has
no spot, that beauty being peculiarly the property of the Blenheim.

The only name by which the tricolour, or black, white, and tan, in
future shall be recognised is "Prince Charles."

That in future the all-red toy spaniel be known by the name of "Ruby
Spaniel." The colour of the nose to be black. The points of the "Ruby"
to be the same as those of the "King Charles," differing only in colour.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  _King Charles, Prince Charles, and Ruby Spaniels._

  Symmetry, condition,
    and size             20
  Head                   15
  Stop                    5
  Muzzle                 10
  Eyes                   10
  Ears                   15
  Coat and feathering    15
  Colour                 10
                        ---
                Total   100

  _Blenheim._

  Symmetry, condition,
    and size             15
  Head                   15
  Stop                    5
  Muzzle                 10
  Eyes                   10
  Ears                   10
  Coat and feathering    15
  Colour and markings    15
  Spot                    5
                        ---
                Total   100


=The Toy Trawler Spaniel.=--This little dog, having had some classes
given for it at shows, deserves notice, and its standard and scale of
points are appended, together with some remarks made upon it by a lady
who has introduced it, and whose kennel of beautiful Toy Spaniels of all
breeds is well known. _Points._--Head small and light, with very
pointed, rather short, nose, fine and tapery, with a very slight curve
upwards of tip of nose. A curve downwards (as in the Borzoi) should be
an absolute disqualification. The "stop" well marked, and the skull
rather raised, but flat on the top, not dome-shaped. Muzzle just
finished, not overshot. Long ears, set high, and carried pricked
forwards, framing the face. Large dark eyes, set wide apart, and
showing the white when turned. They must be set perfectly straight, not
obliquely, in the head. Whatever colour the dog may be, the nose and
lips must be black. Neck arched. Back broad and short. Tail set on a
level with the back, and carried gaily, though not straight up in the
air, or curled over the back like a Pomeranian. It should be docked to
about 4 or 5 inches, and well furnished with long feathering. General
carriage very smart and gay. Legs reasonably short, and perfectly
straight, bone light, though strong. Build square, sturdy, and compact,
but never heavy. The action should be smart and prancing, coat very
curly, but not woolly. It should be rather silky in texture, and very
glossy. Liberal feathering, waistcoat, and breechings. Shape is all
important; colour a secondary matter. Best colour a brilliant black,
with white waistcoat. Next, red with white waistcoat, black and white,
and red and white. Best size from 11 to 13 inches at shoulder. Any
tendency to weediness should be carefully avoided, and the height at
shoulders should just about equal the length from top of shoulders to
root of tail. The size should not be judged by weight, but by height, as
they should weigh heavily for their size. A dog about 13 inches high
should weigh about 15 lbs. Very small specimens--_i.e._, under 9 inches
high--are only desirable if the type, soundness, compactness, and
sturdiness are unimpaired. Feet close, firm, and hard. They and the
lower part of the legs should not be too heavily feathered. The
expression of face should be very alert, and very sweet. The dogs should
be very bold and courageous. Timidity is a great fault, and should tell
against them in the ring. They are excellent ratters and rabbiters. As
to proportion of head, if the total length of head be about 6 inches,
the ears should be set about 4 inches apart. The whole head, seen from a
bird's-eye point of view, should be triangle, with the tip of nose as
apex. General appearance should be that of an exquisitely pretty little
sporting dog, very strong, and exceedingly smart and compact.

They must _not_ be confounded with Cockers, being a totally different
type.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  General appearance, including condition and smartness  12
  Coat                                                   10
  Head and expression                                    15
  Eyes                                                    6
  Curve and proportion of muzzle                          6
  Set on of ears                                          5
  Legs and feet                                           5
  Colour                                                  5
  Action and soundness of limb                           10
  Size                                                    5
  Compactness, levelness of back, and set of tail        10
  Boldness and alertness                                  8
  Soundness of teeth                                      3
                                                        ---
                                                Total   100

POINTS THAT SHOULD DISQUALIFY.

  1. A flesh-coloured nose.
  2. A downward curve of muzzle.
  3. No "stop."
  4. Hanging lips.
  5. Crooked forelegs.
  6. Light-coloured eyes.
  7. Slanting eyes.
  8. A very long body.
  9. Bad action.

POINTS THAT ARE VERY UNDESIRABLE.

  1. Timidity.
  2. A straight coat.
  3. Low set ears.
  4. Exaggeratedly short or long legs.
  5. Sluggishness.
  6. Exaggeration of any kind.
  7. Drooping tail.
  8. Showing teeth or tongue.
  9. An "apple" head.

MEASUREMENTS OF A PERFECT SPECIMEN.

                            Inches.
  Breadth of skull at eyes from each outside
    corner of eyes across head                    5
  Length of skull                                 4
  Length of nose                                  2-1/4
  Circumference of skull                         10-1/2
  Circumference of muzzle under eyes              6-3/4
  Space between eyes                              1-3/8
  Space between ears when not pricked             4-1/4
  Length of ears (leather)                        4
  Height at shoulders                            13
  Length from top of shoulders to root of tail   13
  Length of forelegs to elbow                     7-1/2
  Breadth at shoulders                            6
  Breadth at quarters                             6
  Girth                                          19
  Feathering on tail flag                         6
  Waistcoat feathering                            4

The origin of the breed is unknown, but it is supposed to be descended
from the original curly King Charles Spaniel (see Mr. Watson's "Book of
the Dog") and the old-fashioned curly Sussex Spaniel, now extinct. There
is no certainty in this. The breed exists in Italy and Holland.

Toy Spaniels also have the Northern Toy Spaniel Club. Secretary, Mrs. E.
A. Furnival, Eastwood, Mauldeth Road, Heaton Mersey, Manchester.


=Griffons Bruxellois.=--Points as defined by the Griffon Bruxellois
Club. Hon. Secretary, Miss L. Feilding, 48, Grosvenor Gardens, London,
S.W. _General Appearance._--A lady's little dog, intelligent, sprightly,
robust, of compact appearance, reminding one of a cob, and captivating
the attention by a quasi-human expression. _Head._--Rounded, and covered
with coarse, rough hairs, somewhat longer round the eyes and on the
nose, lips, and cheeks. _Ears._--Erect when clipped, semi-erect when not
clipped. _Eyes._--Very large without being watery, round, nearly black;
eyelids edged with black; eyelashes long and black, leaving the eye they
encircle perfectly uncovered. _Nose._--Always black, short, surrounded
with hair converging upwards and going to meet that which surrounds the
eyes; the break (or stop in the nose) pronounced, but not exaggerated.
_Lips._--Edged with black, furnished with moustache; a little black in
the moustache is not a fault. _Chin._--Prominent, without showing the
teeth, and edged by a small beard. _Chest._--Rather wide. _Legs._--As
straight as possible, of medium length. _Tail._--Upward, and cut to the
two-thirds. _Colour._--Red. _Texture of Coat._--Harsh and wiry, rather
long. _Weight._--Light weight 5 lbs. maximum, and heavy weight 9 lbs.
the maximum. _Faults._--Brown nose, pale-coloured eyes, silky tuft on
the head, white spot on the chest or paw.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  Hard coat              15
  Reddish colour         10
  Eyes                    7
  Nose and muzzle         7
  Ears                    3
  Legs and body           5
  Height and size         3
  General appearance     10
                        ---
                 Total   60

The Brussels Griffon Club of London (Secretary, Miss A. F. Hall, 2, Park
Place Villas, Maida Hill, London, W.) offers practically the same
standard, but makes a brown nose, white hairs, and a hanging tongue
disqualify, while as faults it cites light eyes, silky hair on head,
brown nails, and teeth showing; and its description of the typical coat
is as follows:--Texture of coat harsh and wiry, irregular, rather long
and thick.


=Schipperkes.=--The description of the Schipperke adopted at a general
meeting of the Belgian Schipperke Club, June 19th, 1888, has been
adopted by the St. Hubert Schipperke Club, and is copyright. The
Schipperke Club, England, advances the following scale of points, and
the Secretary is G. H. Killick, Esq., Moor House, Chorley, Lancashire.

_Head._--Foxy in type; skull should not be round, but broad, and with
little "stop." The muzzle should be moderate in length; fine, but not
weak; should be well filled out under the eyes. _Nose._--Black and
small. _Eyes._--Dark brown, small, more oval than round, and not full;
bright and full of expression. _Ears._--Shape: Of moderate length, not
too broad at the base, tapering to a point. Carriage: Stiffly erect,
and, when in that position, the inside edge to form as near as possible
a right angle with the skull, and strong enough not to be bent otherwise
than lengthways. _Teeth._--Strong and level. _Neck._--Strong and full,
rather short, set broad on the shoulders, and slightly arched.
_Shoulders._--Muscular and sloping. _Chest._--Broad and deep in brisket.
_Back._--Short, straight, and strong. _Loins._--Powerful, well drawn up
from the brisket. _Forelegs._--Perfectly straight, well under the body,
with bone in proportion to the body. _Hindlegs._--Strong, muscular;
hocks well let down. _Feet._--Small, catlike, and standing well on the
toes. _Nails._--Black. _Hindquarters._--Fine compared to the foreparts;
muscular and well-developed thighs; tailless; rump well rounded.
_Coat._--Black, abundant, dense, and harsh, smooth on the head, ears,
and legs; lying close on the back and sides, but erect and thick round
the neck, forming a mane and frill, and well feathered on back of
thighs. _Weight._--About 12 lbs. _General Appearance._--A small, cobby
animal, with sharp expression, intensely lively, presenting the
appearance of being always on the alert. _Disqualifying Points._--Drop
or semi-erect ears. _Faults._--White hairs are objected to, but are not
disqualifying.


RELATIVE VALUE OF POINTS.

  Head, nose, eyes, and teeth   20
  Ears                          10
  Neck, shoulders, and chest    10
  Back and loins                 5
  Forelegs                       5
  Hindlegs                       5
  Feet                           5
  Hindquarters                  10
  Coat and colour               20
  General appearance            10
                               ---
                       Total   100

The St. Hubert Schipperke Club standard is practically identical with
that of the Schipperke Club, England, the only variation being as
regards the weight limits, which this club, however, also fixes at a
maximum of 12 lbs. for small-sized dogs, while it allots 30 points to
coat and colour, and none to general appearance. They also have the
Northern Schipperke Club. Hon. Secretary, T. W. Markland, Ingersley,
Links Gate, St. Anne's-on-the-Sea.


=Pugs.=--Standard and acknowledged points:

THE STANDARD.

  Symmetry             10
  Size                  5
  Condition             5
  Body                 10
  Legs                  5
  Feet                  5
  Head                  5
  Muzzle                5
  Ears                  5
  Eyes                 10
  Mask                  5
  Wrinkles              5
  Tail                  5
  Trace                 5
  Coat                  5
  Colour                5
  General carriage      5
                      ---
              Total   100


ACKNOWLEDGED POINTS.

Illustration: BLACK PUG. _"Larchmoor Peter Pan," owned by Mrs. Lyle._

_Symmetry._--Symmetry and general appearance, decidedly square and
cobby. A lean, leggy pug and a dog with short legs and a long body are
equally objectionable. _Size and Condition._--The pug should be _multum
in parvo_, but this condensation (if the word may be used) should be
shown by compactness of form, well-knit proportions, and hardness of
developed muscle. Weight from 13 lbs. to 17 lbs., dog or bitch.
_Body._--Short and cobby, wide in chest, and well ribbed up.
_Legs._--Very strong, straight, of moderate length, and well under.
_Feet._--Neither so long as the foot of the hare nor so round as that of
the cat; well split-up toes, and the nail black. _Muzzle._--Short,
blunt, square, but not up-faced. _Head._--Large, massive, round, not
apple-headed, with no indentation of the skull. _Eyes._--Dark in colour,
very large, bold, and prominent, globular in shape, soft and solicitous
in expression, very lustrous, and, when excited, full of fire.
_Ear._--Thin, small, soft, like black velvet. There are two kinds, the
"rose" and "button." Preference is given to the latter.
_Markings._--Clearly defined. The muzzle or mask, ears, moles on cheeks,
thumb-mark or diamond on forehead, back-trace, should be as black as
possible. _Mask._--The mask should be black. The more intense and
well-defined it is the better. _Wrinkles._--Large and deep. _Trace._--A
black line extending from the occiput to the tail. _Tail._--Curled
tightly as possible over the hip. The double curl is perfection.
_Coat._--Fine, smooth, soft, short, and glossy, neither hard nor woolly.
_Colour._--Silver, or apricot fawn. Each should be decided, to make the
contrast complete between the colour and the mask and trace. _N.B._--The
points of black pugs, except as to colour, are the same as those for
fawns. The London and Provincial Pug Club. Secretary, J. Fabian, 460,
Camden Road, London, N.


=Toy Bulldogs.=--POINTS OF TOY BULLDOGS.--The general appearance of the
toy bulldog must, as nearly as possible, resemble that of the big
bulldog. The skull should be large, forehead flat, the skin about it
well wrinkled, the "stop" broad and deep, extending up the middle of the
forehead. Eyes of moderate size, situated low down on the skull, and as
wide apart as possible. Ears to be "rose," if possible; "tulip" ears are
allowable, but not to be encouraged; "button," or terrier-like ears are
a decided fault. Face to be as short as possible, nose jet black, deeply
set back, almost between the eyes. Muzzle to be short, broad, and turned
upwards. The lower jaw should project considerably in front of the upper
and turn up. Teeth not to be shown. Neck to be short, with much loose
skin about it. "Frogginess" is objectionable. Chest to be very wide,
round, and deep. Back short and strong, narrow towards the loins, and
broad at the shoulder. A roach back is desirable. Tail to be short, and
not carried above the back. Forelegs to be short in proportion to the
hindlegs. Hindquarters much lighter in proportion than forequarters. The
most desirable weight is below 20 lbs., and dogs and bitches that exceed
22 lbs. should be disqualified. The Miniature Bulldog Club. Secretary,
Miss A. Bruce, 42, Hill Street, Berkeley Square, London, W.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  General appearance and character  10
  Head                              15
  Ears                              15
  Body                              10
  Size and weight                   20
  Tail                               5
  Legs                              15
  Chest                             10
                        Total      100

Illustration: FRENCH TOY BULLDOG. _"Barkston Billie," owned by Mrs.
Townsend Green._


DESCRIPTION AND POINTS OF THE FRENCH TOY BULLDOG.--_General
Appearance._--The French bulldog ought to have the appearance of an
active, intelligent, and very muscular dog, of cobby build, and heavy in
bone for its size. _Head_ is of great importance, large and square.
Forehead nearly flat, the muscles of the cheek well developed, but not
prominent. The "stop" should be as deep as possible. The skin of the
head should not be tight, and the forehead should be well-wrinkled. The
muzzle should be short, broad, turn upwards, and be very deep. The lower
jaw should project considerably in front of upper, and should turn up,
but should not show the teeth. _The eyes_ should be of moderate size and
of dark colour. No white should be visible when the dog is looking
straight in front of him. They should be placed low down and wide apart.
_The nose_ must be black and large. _Ears._--Bat ears ought to be of a
medium size, large at the base and rounded at the tips. They should be
placed high on the head and carried straight. The orifice of the ear
looks forward, and the skin should be fine and soft to the touch. _The
neck_ should be thick, short, and well arched. _The body._--The chest
should be wide and well down between the legs, and the ribs well sprung.
The body short and muscular, and well cut up. The back should be broad
at the shoulder, tapering towards the loins, preferably well roached.
_The tail_ should be set on low, and be short, thick at the root,
tapering to a point, and should not be carried above the level of the
back. _Legs._--The forelegs should be short, straight, and muscular. The
hindquarters, though strong, should be lighter in proportion to the
forequarters. Hocks well let down. _Feet_ should be compact and strong.
_Coat_ should be of a medium density: black in colour is very
undesirable. Their Club is the Bouledogue Français Society. Secretary,
F. Everard, 11, Milk Street, London, E.C.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  General appearance and character   15
  Skull                              15
  Under jaw (special points for)     10
  Weight[3]                          20
  Body                               15
  Tail                                5
  Ears (bat)                         10
  Legs                                5
  Chest                               5
                                    ---
                          Total     100

    Footnote 3: No dog to win the maximum of points unless under 22 lbs.
    _Weights._--When three classes are provided, weights shall be as
    follows: (1) Under 20 lbs.; (2) 20 lbs. and under 24 lbs.; (3) 24
    lbs. and under 28 lbs.

    When only two classes are provided, weights shall be as follows: (1)
    Under 24 lbs.; (2) 24 lbs., not exceeding 28 lbs.

    These weights are subject to alteration.


_Yorkshire Terriers._--Points of the Yorkshire Terrier, as laid down by
the Yorkshire Terrier Club. Secretary, Mr. F. W. Randall, "The Clone,"
Hampton-on-Thames. _General Appearance._--Should be that of a
long-coated pet dog, the coat hanging quite straight and evenly down
each side, a parting extending from the nose to the end of the tail. The
animal should be very compact and neat, the carriage being very upright,
and having an important air. Although the frame is hidden beneath a
mantle of hair, the general outline should be such as to suggest the
existence of a vigorous and well-proportioned body. _Head._--Should be
rather small and flat, not too prominent or round in the skull, nor too
long in the muzzle, with a perfectly black nose. The fall on the head to
be long, of a rich golden tan, deeper in colour at the sides of the head
about the ear roots, and on the muzzle, where it should be very long.
The hair on the chest a rich bright tan. On no account must the tan on
the head extend on to the neck, nor must there be any sooty or dark hair
intermingled with any of the tan. _Eyes._--Medium, dark, and sparkling,
having a sharp, intelligent expression, and placed so as to look
directly forward. They should not be prominent, and the edge of the
eyelids should be of a dark colour. _Ears._--Small V-shaped, and carried
semi-erect or erect, covered with short hair, colour to be of a very
deep rich tan. _Mouth._--Perfectly even, with teeth as sound as
possible. An animal having lost any teeth through accident not a fault,
providing the jaws are even. _Body._--Very compact, and a good loin.
Level on the top of the back. _Coat._--The hair on body as long as
possible, and perfectly straight (not wavy), glossy like silk, and of a
fine silky texture. Colour, a dark steel blue (not silver blue)
extending from the occiput (or back of skull) to the root of tail, and
on no account mingled with fawn, bronze, or dark hairs. _Legs._--Quite
straight, well covered with hair of a rich golden tan, a few shades
lighter at the ends than at the roots, not extending higher on the
forelegs than the elbow, nor on the hindlegs than the stifle.
_Feet._--As round as possible, and the toe-nails black. _Tail._--Cut to
medium length; with plenty of hair, darker blue in colour than the rest
of the body, especially at the end of the tail, and carried a little
higher than the level of the back. _Tan._--All tan hair should be darker
at the roots than in the middle, shading to a still lighter tan at the
tips. _Weight._--Three classes: 5 lbs. and under; 7 lbs. and under, but
over 5 lbs.; over 7 lbs.


="Silver" Yorkshire.=--Points identical with those of the Standard
Yorkshire, as described above, except colouring, which should be as
follows: _Back._--Silver. _Head._--Pale tan or straw colour. _Muzzle and
Legs._--Light tan. _Ears._--A shade darker tan.


VALUE OF POINTS IN JUDGING.

  Quantity and length of coat         15
  Quality and texture of coat         10
  Richness of tan on head and legs    15
  Colour of hair on body              15
  Head                                10
  Eyes                                 5
  Ears                                 5
  Legs and feet                        5
  Tail (carriage of)                   5
  Mouth                                5
  Formation and general appearance    10
                                     ---
                          Total      100


=Italian Greyhounds.=--The Italian Greyhound is somewhat fuller in
proportion than the English Greyhound, and the nose is somewhat shorter.
In other respects this beautiful dog follows the lines of its prototype
as closely as possible, due allowance being made for difference in size.
The colour most prized is a golden fawn, then cream, or blue fawn,
followed by reds and whites; mixtures are not considered desirable.
Coat should be very fine, soft, and glossy. The best size is that of a
dog of about 8 lbs. weight.--From Rawdon Lee's "Modern Dogs." Hon.
Secretary of Club, Mrs. Scarlett, Went House, West Malling, Kent.


=Maltese.=--This is probably the oldest of the toy dogs, having been
highly prized by the ladies of ancient Greece, and doubtless of other
nations at the same time. The coat is very long, straight, and silky (in
first-rate specimens sweeping the ground), quite free from woolliness
and from the slightest curl. Colour, pure white. Nose should be black,
also roof of the mouth. Ears moderately long, the hair on them mingling
with that on the neck. Tail short and well feathered, curled tightly
over back. Size should not exceed 5 lbs. or 6 lbs., the smaller the
better, other points being correct.--Rawdon Lee's "Modern Dogs." They
have the Maltese Club of London. Hon. Secretary, Arthur Stevenson, 52,
Holloway Road, N.


=Poodles.=--Points of the perfect black poodle, as defined by the Poodle
Club. Secretary, Mr. L. W. Crouch, The Orchard, Swanley Village, Kent.
_General Appearance._--That of a very active, intelligent, and
elegant-looking, dog, well built, and carrying himself very proudly.
_Head._--Long, straight, and fine, the skull not broad, with a slight
peak at the back. _Muzzle._--Long (but not snipy) and strong; not full
in cheek; teeth white, strong, and level; gums black; lips black and not
showing lippiness. _Eyes._--Almond-shaped, very dark, full of fire and
intelligence. _Nose._--Black and sharp. _Ears._--The leather long and
wide, low set on, hanging close to the face. _Neck._--Well proportioned
and strong, to admit of the head being carried high and with dignity.
_Shoulders._--Strong and muscular, sloping well to the back.
_Chest._--Deep and moderately wide. _Back._--Short, strong, and slightly
hollowed, the loins broad and muscular, the ribs well sprung and braced
up. _Feet._--Rather small and of a good shape, the toes well arched,
pads thick and hard.

Illustration: POODLES. _Photo by J. J. Gibson, Penge._ _Champion
"Orchard Admiral" and "L'Enfant Prodigue," owned by Mrs. Crouch._

_Legs._--Fore set straight from shoulder, with plenty of bone and
muscle; hindlegs very muscular and well bent, with the hocks well let
down. _Tail._--Set on rather high, well carried, never curled, or
carried over back. _Coat._--Very profuse, and of good, hard texture; if
corded, hanging in tight, even cords; if non-corded, very thick and
strong, of even length, the curls close and thick, without knots or
cords. _Colours._--All black, all white, all red, all blue. The white
poodle should have dark eyes, black or very dark liver nose, lips, and
toe-nails. The red poodle should have dark amber eyes, dark liver nose,
lips, and toe-nails. The blue poodle should be of even colour, and have
dark eyes, lips, and toe-nails. All the other points of white, red, and
blue poodles should be the same as in the perfect black poodle.
_N.B._--It is strongly recommended that only one-third of the body be
clipped or shaved, and that the hair on the forehead be left on.

Also catered for by the Curly Poodle Club, Hon. Secretary, Miss F.
Brunker, Whippendell House, King's Langley, Herts.

VALUE OF POINTS.

  General appearance and movement                     15
  Head and ears                                       15
  Eyes and expression                                 10
  Neck and shoulders                                  10
  Shape of body, loin, back, and carriage of stern    15
  Legs and feet                                       10
  Coat, colour, and texture of coat                   15
  Bone, muscle, and condition                         10
                                                     ---
                                          Total      100


=The Black-and-Tan Terrier.=--Points and standard, as given by the
Black-and-Tan Terrier Club. Secretary, Mr. S. J. Atkinson, 184, Adelaide
Road, London, N.W. _Head._--Long, flat, and narrow, level and
wedge-shaped, without showing cheek muscles, well filled up under the
eyes, with tapering, tightly-lipped jaws and level teeth. _Eyes._--Very
small, sparkling, and dark, set fairly close together, and oblong in
shape. _Nose._--Black. _Ears._--Small and V-shaped, hanging close to the
head above the eye. _Neck and Shoulders._--The neck should be fairly
long, and tapering from the shoulders to the head, with sloping
shoulders, the neck being free from throatiness, and slightly arched at
the occiput. _Chest._--Narrow, but deep. _Body._--Moderately short, and
curving upwards at the loin; ribs well sprung; back slightly arched at
the loin, and falling again at the joining of the tail to the same
height as the shoulders. _Legs._--Must be quite straight, set on well
under the dog, and of fair length. _Feet._--More inclined to be cat than
hare-footed. _Tail._--Moderate length, and set on where the arch of the
back ends, thick where it joins the body, tapering to a point, and not
carried higher than the back. _Coat._--Close, smooth, short, and glossy.
_Colour._--Jet black and rich mahogany tan, distributed over the body as
follows: On the head the muzzle is tanned to the nose, which, with the
nasal bone, is jet black; there is also a bright tan spot on each cheek
and above each eye; the under jaw and throat are tanned, and the hair
inside the ear is of the same colour. The forelegs tanned up to the
knee, with black lines (pencil marks) up each toe, and a black mark
(thumb mark) above the foot. Inside the hindlegs tanned, but divided
with black at the hock joint, and under the tail also tanned, and so is
the vent, but only sufficiently to be easily covered by the tail; also
slightly tanned on each side of chest. Tan outside of hindlegs, commonly
called "breeching," a serious defect. In all cases the black should not
run into the tan, or _vice versa_, but the division between the two
colours should be well defined. _General Appearance._--A terrier,
calculated to take his own part in the rat-pit, and not of the whippet
type. _Weight (for toys)._--Not exceeding 7 lbs.


SCALE OF POINTS.

  Head                                              20
  Eyes                                              10
  Ears                                               5
  Legs                                              10
  Feet                                              10
  Body                                              10
  Tail                                               5
  Colour and markings                               15
  General appearance (including terrier quality)    15
                                                   ---
                                        Total      100

Illustration: PEKINGESE. _"Yen Chu of Newnham" owned by Mrs. W. H.
Herbert._


=Japanese and Pekingese Spaniels.=--Points of the Japanese spaniel, as
set forth by the Japanese and Pekingese Club. This Club is now divided
into the Japanese Chin Club and the Pekingese Club, the Secretary of
both being Mr. E. T. Cox, 65 and 66, Chancery Lane, London, E.C.
_General Appearance._--That of a lively, highly-bred little dog, with
dainty appearance, smart, compact carriage, and profuse coat. These dogs
should be essentially stylish in movement, lifting the feet high when in
motion, carrying the tail (which is heavily feathered) proudly curved
or plumed over the back. In size they vary considerably, but the smaller
they are the better, provided type and quality are not sacrificed. When
divided by weight, classes should be for under and over 7 lbs.
_Coat._--The coat should be long, profuse, and straight, free from curl
or wave, and not be too flat; it should have a tendency to stand out,
more particularly at the frill, with profuse feathering on the tail and
thighs. _Colour._--The dogs should be either black-and-white or
red-and-white--_i.e._, parti-coloured. The term "red" includes all
shades of sable, brindle, lemon, and orange, but the brighter and
clearer the red the better. The white should be clear white, and the
colour, whether black or red, should be evenly distributed patches over
the body, cheek, and ears. _Head._--Should be large for size of dog,
with a broad skull, rounded in front; eyes large, dark, set far apart;
muzzle very short and wide, and well cushioned--_i.e._, the upper lips
rounded on each side of the nostrils, which should be large and black,
except in the case of red-and-white dogs, when a brown-coloured nose is
as common as a black one. _Ears._--Should be small, set wide apart, and
high on the dog's head, and carried slightly forward, V-shaped.
_Body._--Should be squarely and compactly built, wide in chest, "cobby"
in shape. The length of the dog's body should be about its height. _Legs
and Feet._--The legs should be straight and the bone fine; the feet
should be long and hare-shaped. The legs should be well feathered to the
feet on the front legs and to the thighs behind. The feet should also be
feathered.

The points of Pekingese (as given by the same club). _General
Appearance._--That of a quaint and intelligent little dog, rather long
in body, with heavy front chest, and bow legs--_i.e._, very much out at
elbow--the body falling away lighter behind. The tail should be carried
right up in a curve over the animal's back, but not too tightly curled.
In size these dogs vary very much, but the smaller the better, provided
type and points are not sacrificed. When divided by weight, classes
should be for under 10 lbs. and over 10 lbs. _Legs._--Should be short
and rather heavy in bone, but not extravagantly so, as coarseness is to
be avoided in every point; they should be well out at elbow, and the
feet turned outwards also. Both legs and feet should be feathered.
_Head._--Should be of medium size, with broad skull, flat between ears,
but rounded on the forehead, muzzle very short (_not_ underhung), and
very wide. The face should be wrinkled and nostrils black and full. Eyes
large and lustrous; ears set high in the head, and V-shaped; they should
be moderate in size (the tips never coming below the muzzle), and should
be covered with long, silky hair, which extends much below the leather
of the ear proper. _Colour._--These dogs should either be red, fawn,
sable, or brindle, with black masks, face and ear shadings, or else all
black. White patches on feet or chest, although not a disqualification,
should not be encouraged. _Coat._--Should be long, flat, and rather
silky, except at the frill, where it should stand out, like a lion's
mane. The feathering on thighs and tail should be very profuse, and it
is preferable that it should be of a lighter colour than the rest of the
coat.

There is also the Pekin Palace Dog Association. Secretary, Miss L. C.
Smythe, 115, Delaware Mansions, Sutherland Avenue, London, W.


  Some other clubs are as follows (but it is in many cases usual to
  change the Secretary annually, so that these addresses are not all
  permanent, though letters generally find their mark):

  Halifax and District Yorkshire Terrier Club (Secretary, T. Whiteley,
  10, High Street, Halifax).

  Manchester and District Yorkshire Terrier Club (Secretary, J.
  Hardman, 9, Richmond Street, Newton Heath, Manchester).

  Oldham Toy Dog Society (Hon. Secretary, A. E. Stansfield, 209, Park
  Road, Oldham).

  Yorkshire Pom Club (Hon. Secretary, E. Poppleton, 1, Clarendon
  Street, Wakefield).

  Toy Dog Society of Scotland (Secretary, James Cameron, 61, Lothian
  Road, Edinburgh).

  North of England Toy Dog Club (Secretary, R. Weatherhead, 14, Arctic
  Parade, Great Horton, Bradford).

  Toy Dog Society (Secretary, E. T. Cox, 65 and 66, Chancery Lane,
  E.C.).



INDEX


  Abscesses on toes,               46

  Amaurosis,                       71

  Anæmia,                          42

  Aperients,                       56

  Appetite, loss of,               48

  Areca-nut,                       54

  Arsenic,                         66


  Bad doer, the,                   51

  Bare patches,                    63

  Bat ears,                        34

  Baths, medicated,                64

  Biliousness,                     48

  Black-and-tan terriers,          37
    standard of,                  100

  Black pugs,                      40
    standard of,                   92

  Blenheims,                       40
    standard of,                   86

  Bones,                           23

  Breed, choice of,                30

  Breeding,                         5

  Bronchitis,                      74

  Bulldogs, toy,                   34
    standard of,                   93

  Buying dogs,                      4


  Canker in ears,                  69
    in teeth,                      45

  Caries, dental,                  45

  Castor oil,                      76

  Catarrhal distemper,             58

  Chest diseases,                  74

  Chill,                           48

  Clinical thermometer,            48

  Clubs, supplementary list,      104

  Coat,                            24, 44

  Cod liver oil,                   44

  Cold in eyes,                    72

  Colds,                           73

  Conditioning,                    72

  Coughs,                          73


  Dew-claws,                       73

  Digestive tonic,                 50

  Disagreeable breath,             51

  Discharge after pupping,         13

  Distemper,                       57

  Docking,                         46


  Ears,                            69
    to alter carriage of,          70

  Eczema,                          61, 72

  Entering dogs for shows,         27

  Epilepsy, 77

  Erythema or puppy-pox,           62, 68

  Etiquette of shows,              29

  Exhibiting,                      23

  Eyes,                            71


  "Faking,"                        23

  Fatness or obesity,              75

  Feeding of Toys,                 19, 42, 65

  Feet, sore,                      72

  Fits,                            77

  French toy bulldog, standard of, 94


  Gastritis,                       60

  Golden ointment,                 71

  Griffons Bruxellois,             37
    standard of,                   89


  Hysteria,                        75


  Indigestion,                     50

  Internal parasites,              52

  Iron tonic,                      44

  Italian greyhound, standard of,  97


  Japanese spaniel,                35
    standard of,                  101


  Kanofelin remedies,              63


  Maltese,                         41
    standard of,                   98

  Mange, follicular and sarcoptic, 64

  Mating bitches,                   5

  Meat diet,                       21, 42

  Mercury,                         45, 62

  Milk,                            22

  Missing,                          8


  Ophthalmia,                      71


  Pekingese spaniels,              35
    standard of,                  101

  Pityriasis,                      63

  Poison,                          75

  Pomeranians,                     31
    standard of,                   80

  Poodles,                         27
    standard of,                   98

  Preparing for exhibition,        23

  Pugs,                            39
    standard of,                   91

  Puppies, birth of,               10
    house for,                     14
    rearing of,                    14
    size of,                        6
    skin troubles of,              62
    training of,                   18

  Pupping,                          9


  Rashes,                          62

  Relapse from distemper,          59

  Requisites for shows,            28

  Ringworm,                        67

  Round worms,                     55


  Salt,                            76

  Scavenging,                      20

  Schipperkes,                     32
    standard of,                   90

  Season,                           7

  Shivering,                       74

  Shows, chief,                    30

  Shyness in ring,                 29

  Skin diseases,                   61

  Stomach coughs,                  74

  Strychnine,                      76

  Stuttgart disease,               49, 60

  Suckling fits,                   77

  Sulphur ointment,                63


  Tape-worms,                      52

  Tear channels,                   42

  Teeth, bad,                      45

  Teething,                        17
    fits,                          79

  Temperature, to take,            49

  Toothache,                       46

  Toy spaniels, standard of,       83


  Washing,                         26

  Worm medicines,                  54


  Yorkshire terriers,              38
    standard of,                   96


       *       *       *       *       *

  BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD.

       *       *       *       *       *

    =FROM MR. EDWARD ARNOLD'S LIST.=

    BY THE SAME AUTHOR.

    DARLING DOGS.

    BY MARGARET LILITH WILLIAMS.

    WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

    Price 5s. net.


    TIMES.--"An attractive book of talk, light and serious, and of
    experiences of many kinds, about dogs in the particular and in the
    abstract by an enthusiast."

    GLOBE.--"A delightful volume, especially so to dog-lovers."

    WORLD.--"That it is written by one whose heart and soul is in her
    subject is apparent in the first few pages, and for that very reason
    they go straight to the heart of every dog-lover. Altogether, a
    charming volume, excellently illustrated."

    DAILY EXPRESS.--"An account of the intimate life of certain dogs,
    and to those who make dear friends and companions of them it may be
    confidently recommended."

    EVENING STANDARD.--"Practical as well as enthusiastic."

    LADY'S FIELD.--"All women who really love dogs--and perhaps all
    those who love animals of any kind--will like to have 'Darling
    Dogs,' ... charmingly illustrated and written from the author's
    heart."

       *       *       *       *       *

    LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD, 41 & 43 MADDOX ST., W.





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