DOG LORE

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 235, 9 February 1911, Page 6

DOG LORE

(By "Laverack"). All our art i.s how to use what the good God provides u.s with. There is water enough; we have only to shape aqueducts to bring it to our door. Yet how many dog-owners supply their pets each day with fresh, clean water? Impure water is the cause of many diseases, including skin complaints and some forms of internal parasites whose larvae may have found their way into such water. There is air enough. We must only so build that it shall ventilate the house. Yet how often do we see our faithful friend jambed in a poorly-constructed box placed where the air is full of foul smells. The food is assimilated or taken up by the absoi bents as chyle and poured directly into the blood; but it must be properly oxygenised, for if it is not it will not nourish. If it is but partially purified, owing to the air breathed being foul, digestion is hindered, nerves are weakened, the heart is slowed, and the brain is rendered dull. It is from amongst dogs which are kept constantly in the house or in badly-ventilated kennels that most ailments originate. So with man's education. There is truth enough; only open the mind's door and straighten the passages. Y'et how often do we hear (after a kennel show), "If I only had put my dog in he'd have done nothing to that lot that were there. Work! Y'ou ought to see him work. Why, I believe Edison got his idea of the phonograph from seeing his work. He absolutely talks. Well, never mind, the thunder of his good qualities will be heard all over the Dominion when I do show him. I don't know when I will." Property hath its duties, and it is unkind —not to say positively cruel—for anyone to buy and keep a dog unless he is able to devote that attention to him which is needed to keep the animal healthy, happy and in good spirits. Never worry a sick dog by talking too much to him or giving him undesirable attentions or petting. Do not worry yourself, either. Simple skin diseases usually yield to an application of a home-made lotion, composed of one part of paraffin, two parts of salad oil, mixed with sufficient powdered sulphur to form a cream. In the correspondence columns of the canine press one often comes across references to the influence of a previous sire. A bitch forms an alliance with a dog of another breed than her own. Her whelps arc, of course, mongrels. But does the alliance affect her future offspring by a sire of her own breed ? This is a question that has been frequently discussed. The majority of dog-breeders declare that there is no subsequent effect. Scientific zoologists, however, aver that the influence of the male extends beyond his own immediate progeny, and there is the well-known example quoted as a proof by Darwin of the mare and the zebra. Her foal by the zebra was distinctly marked, which was to be expected; ,but afterwards, when she was mated with stallions of her own kind, the zebra stripes were still obvious, although in diminishing degrees, in all ner successive offspring. There is closer affinity between the various breeds of dogs than between the zebra and the horse, and the influence of a previous sire is far less apparent. But it is against the tenets of science to declare, as many do, that there is no influence whatever. At the same time, the bearing of telegonous progeny is so rarely detectable in the dog that the possibility need not seriously be considered, and if a purebred bitch should have connection with a mongrel it is a misfortune, hut she need not for that reason be rejected for future breeding operations. It is the experience of many observers that the first whelps born in a litter aro the strongest, largest and healthiest. If the litter is a large one, the last-born may be noticeably puny, and this disparity in size may continue to maturity. The wise breeder will decide for himself how r.:any whelps should be left to the care of their dam. Their number should be relative to her health and constitution, and in any case it is well not to give her so many that fhey will be a drain upon her. A bitch having twelve will bring up nine, very well; one having nine will rear seven without help; and a bitch having seven will bring up five better than four. Any of my readers who have gratuitously offered themselves as a vehicle of conveyance for the A. and C. certificates from the show secretary to the raihvaystationmaster have my sincere and heartfelt sympathy, If the Rontgen-eyed'

station official fondly imagines for one moment that all is not well, to try and smooth things over a bit. in po.nting out the diminutivencss of the mistake, is about equal to attempting to lly in the face of Providence with a damaged aeroplane, but let the corpulency of an error protrude itself and life's dog dream is o'er. Adjustment will be found more difficult than the detachment of a. katipo spider from the head of a treacled nigger.