Chapter XV: Part 15

"The kennel should be located in a shady spot during the summer; in winter it should be sheltered from the wind, and so placed as to enable the dog to enjoy the sunshine at will. Above all things, never chain a dog where he cannot screen himself from the sun's rays. He must have the option of sunshine or shade. He should not be allowed to drink water that has been standing in the sun, or is otherwise damaged. If you should chance to forget to feed him for forty-eight hours, he would not run as much risk of injury, as during three hours of thirst in hot weather. There should be a piece of joist under each end of the dog-house, to keep it off the ground, in order to avoid dampness. In summer an excavation, two or three feet in depth, should be made under it, and left open at both ends, that the animal may have a cool retreat during the heat. Those who do not object to a trifling expense, may have the house posted on a large paving-stone, with an excavation under it, as before recommended. All burrowing animals seek the earth in hot weather. Everything on the surface is heated; their own instinct dictates the most reasonable method of sheltering themselves from the heat, at the same time absorbing the cool exhalations from the ground. In southern climates, especially, this method is all important. In this manner I have kept dogs from the polar regions, in comparative comfort, whilst many native-born and neglected have been scalded into fits, paralysis, rabies, or hydrophobia.

"In the hot season, with young dogs, raw meat should be avoided, except it be quite fresh, and then they should not be over-fed, especially if debarred of abundant exercise, and excluded from their own natural medicine, grass. A dog will often thrive better on raw meat than on any other food, and will grow larger; but he should be fed with discretion, and his health attended to, should his diet visibly disagree with him.[V] He will grow fatter and be more healthy on moderate meals than if overgorged. The better plan is to ascertain his average consumption, and then allow him a little less. Keep his digestion in good order, and disease will rarely trouble him. His coat and ribs will generally indicate whether he be sufficiently cared for, whether he be sick or sound in his digestive organs; feed him always in the same place, and at the same hour: once a day is sufficient, if he be over six months old. By being fed only once a day he is less choice, and will consume what he might refuse, if his appetite were dulled by a previous meal.

"Should you require your dog to be watchful at night, feed him in the morning; if you would have him quiet at night, feed him late, and don't leave him bones to gnaw. Dogs are pretty quiet, during the digestive process, when left to themselves, and should not have much exercise after a heavy meal. They should only be lightly fed before training-lessons, or on sporting days; on the latter occasions a little refreshment may be administered as occasion may require. Those kept in-doors should be allowed to run a little after meals, when they generally require an evacuation.

"If a dog be regularly exercised he will seldom even soil around his kennel, and a healthy house pet is rarely troublesome, except after eating. If a dog be uncleanly in the house, he should decidedly be broken of it, although it would be useless to correct him unless he has a fair opportunity of avoiding it. He should be invariably taken to the spot, be sufficiently twigged there, and unceremoniously scolded into the yard. The punishment will be far more justly administered if the animal be let out at regular intervals; this being done he will not attempt to infringe the law, except in cases of dire necessity.

"I am satisfied as a general rule, that a well-amalgamated mixture of animal and vegetable is the most healthful diet for dogs of all ages, breeds, and conditions. Dogs living in the house should on no account be fed on raw meat, as it gives them a very offensive smell, and is in other respects very unsuitable."

FOOTNOTES:

[A] Daniel's "Rural Sports."

[B] Daniel's "Rural Sports."

[C] Thornton's "Instincts."

[D] "Sportsman's Cabinet."

[E] Ballet, in his "Dissertations sur la Mythologie Francaise," shows that this popular story of the dog of Montargis is much older than the time of Charles V.; and that Albericus, an old monkish chronicler, records it as happening in the reign of Charlemagne, anno 780.

[F] See the entire poem in Tomkins' "Beauties of English Poetry." 18mo. 1847.

[G] "I fear this is a sad geological anachronism; however, I cannot but hope that the Irish wolf-dog will yet be found in some cavern, associated with the prototypes of Ireland's earliest heroes who peopled the land soon after it emerged from the deep,

'Great, glorious, and free,
First flower of the earth and first gem of the sea.'"

[H] O'Keefe, "Wicklow Gold Mines."

[I] A similar instance of canine intelligence will be found in p. 51 of the present volume.

[J] "The Sportsman's Cabinet."

[K] Tenbeia portus est Cambriae meridionalis, ubi Belgarum colonis a rege, ut fertur, Henrico primo locata est. Horum posteri a circumjacente Celticae originis populo lingua etiam nunc omnino discrepant.

[L] Infinitivo, quem vocant, hoc in ier desinente solus credo, inter, melioris notae, quos habemus, elegorum scriptores usus est Catullus: sed qualis ille Poeta! sed quantus in omni genere Latini carminis et artifex elegantiae et magister!

[M] His master's pocket-book, with which Tippo, the only living creature saved from the wreck, came ashore.

[N] See Bewick's "Quadrupeds," p. 306, 1st ed.

[O] A celebrated portrait painter, and Secretary to the Scottish Academy of Painting. This gentleman also excelled in the portraits of animals.

[P] "Sometimes the members or domestics of the convent have been sufferers in their efforts to save others. On the 17th of December, 1825, three domestics of the convent with two dogs descended to the vacherie, on the Piedmontese side of the mountain, and were returning with a traveller, when an avalanche overwhelmed them. All perished except one of the dogs, which escaped by its prodigious strength, after having been thrown over and over. Of the poor victims, none were found until the snow of the avalanche had melted in the returning summer, when the first was discovered on the 4th of June, and the last on the 7th of July."

[Q] Mrs. Grosvenor, now of Richmond, Surrey.

[R] For other instances of speaking dogs see _ante_, p. 49.

[S] In p. 147 a similar anecdote has been recorded of a Newfoundland dog and a spaniel; and in p. 221 an instance is given of the revenge taken by a Colley on a tailor's dog.

[T] Or if the weather be fine and warm they may run out and dry themselves.--Ed.

[U] Sea-air, however, especially during long sea-voyages, perhaps in connexion with salt meat, has been known to produce the distemper in dogs.--Ed.

[V] House-dogs fed on raw meat, bones, and liver, soon become offensive neighbours; the more so in proportion to their want of outdoor exercise.--Ed.

INDEX.

PAGE

BAN DOG 479
BEAGLE 438
BLOODHOUND 250
BULL DOG 454
BULL-DOG TERRIER 16

COACH DOG 459
COLLEY (SCOTCH) 185
CUR DOG 466

DALMATIAN 459
DANISH DOG 463
DEER-HOUND 119

ESQUIMAUX DOG 353

FOXHOUND 421

GREYHOUND 367
GREYHOUND (PERSIAN) 380

LURCHER 475

MASTIFF 440
MATIN (FRENCH) 465

NEWFOUNDLAND DOG 67, 133

OTTER TERRIER 361

POINTER 383
POODLE 331
PUG DOG 412

ST. BERNARD DOG 240
SETTER 400
SHEPHERD'S DOG 185
SPANIEL 77, 300
STAG-HOUND 116

TERRIER 20, 264
TURNSPIT 418

WATER SPANIEL 300
WOLF DOG (IRISH AND HIGHLAND) 85, 107

London:--Printed by G. BARCLAY, Castle St. Leicester Sq.