SOME COMMON AILMENTS OF DOG AND THEIR TREATMENT

The experienced dog-owner has long ago realised that cleanliness,
wholesome food, judicious exercise and a dry, comfortable and
well-ventilated kennel are the surest safeguards of health, and that
attention to these necessaries saves him an infinitude of trouble and
anxiety by protecting his dogs from disease. On the first appearance
of illness in his kennels the wise dog-owner at once calls in the
skill of a good veterinary surgeon, but there are some of the minor
ailments which he can deal with himself whilst he ought at least to be
able to recognise the first symptoms of the dreaded Distemper and give
first aid until the vet. arrives to apply his remedies and give
professional advice.

DISTEMPER.

Although more than one hundred years have elapsed since this was
first imported to this country from France, a great amount of
misunderstanding still prevails among a large section of dog-breeders
regarding its true nature and origin. The fact is, the disease came to
us with a bad name, for the French themselves deemed it incurable. In
this country the old-fashioned plan of treatment was wont to be the
usual rough remedies--emetics, purgatives, the seton, and the lancet.
Failing in this, specifics of all sorts were eagerly sought for and
tried, and are unfortunately still believed in to a very great extent.

Distemper has a certain course to run, and in this disease Nature
seems to attempt the elimination of the poison through the secretions
thrown out by the naso-pharyngeal mucous membrane.

Our chief difficulty in the treatment of distemper lies in the
complications thereof. We may, and often do, have the organs of
respiration attacked; we have sometimes congestion of the liver, or
mucous inflammation of the bile ducts, or some lesion of the brain or
nervous structures, combined with epilepsy, convulsions, or chorea.
Distemper is also often complicated with severe disease of the bowels,
and at times with an affection of the eyes.

_Causes_--Whether it be that the distemper virus, the poison seedling
of the disease, really originates in the kennel, or is the result of
contact of one dog with another, or whether the poison floats to the
kennel on the wings of the wind, or is carried there on a shoe or the
point of a walking-stick, the following facts ought to be borne in
mind: (1) Anything that debilitates the body or weakens the nervous
system paves the way for the distemper poison; (2) the healthier the
dog the more power does he possess to resist contagion; (3) when the
disease is epizootic, it can often be kept at bay by proper attention
to diet and exercise, frequent change of kennel straw, and perfect
cleanliness; (4) the predisposing causes which have come more
immediately under my notice are debility, cold, damp, starvation,
filthy kennels, unwholesome food, impure air, and grief.

_The Age at which Dogs take Distemper_--They may take distemper at any
age; the most common time of life is from the fifth till the eleventh
or twelfth month.

_Symptoms_--There is, first and foremost, a period of latency or of
incubation, in which there is more or less of dullness and loss of
appetite, and this glides gradually into a state of feverishness. The
fever may be ushered in with chills and shivering. The nose now
becomes hot and dry, the dog is restless and thirsty, and the
conjunctivae of the eyes will be found to be considerably injected.
Sometimes the bowels are at first constipated, but they are more
usually irregular. Sneezing will also be frequent, and in some cases
cough, dry and husky at first. The temperature should be taken, and if
there is a rise of two or three degrees the case should be treated as
distemper, and not as a common cold.

At the commencement there is but little exudation from the eyes and
nose, but as the disease advances this symptom will become more
marked, being clear at first. So, too, will another symptom which is
partially diagnostic of the malady, namely, increased heat of body
combined with a rapid falling off in flesh, sometimes, indeed,
proceeding quickly on to positive emaciation.

As the disease creeps downwards and inwards along the air-passages,
the chest gets more and more affected, the discharge of mucus and pus
from the nostrils more abundant, and the cough loses its dry
character, becoming moist. The discharge from the eyes is simply mucus
and pus, but if not constantly dried away will gum the inflamed lids
together, that from the nostrils is not only purulent, but often mixed
with dark blood. The appetite is now clean gone, and there is often
vomiting and occasional attacks of diarrhoea.

Now in mild cases we may look for some abatement of the symptoms about
the fourteenth day. The fever gets less, inflammation decreases in the
mucous passages, and appetite is restored as one of the first signs of
returning health. More often, however, the disease becomes complicated.

_Diagnosis_--The diagnostic symptoms are the severe catarrh, combined
not only with fever, but speedy emaciation.

_Pneumonia_, as we might easily imagine, is a very likely complication,
and a very dangerous one. There is great distress in breathing, the
animal panting rapidly. The countenance is anxious, the pulse small
and frequent, and the extremities cold. The animal would fain sit up
on his haunches, or even seek to get out into the fresh air, but
sickness, weakness, and prostration often forbid his movements. If the
ear or stethoscope be applied to the chest, the characteristic signs
of pneumonia will be heard; these are sounds of moist crepitations,
etc.

_Bronchitis_ is probably the most common complication; in fact, it is
always present, except in very mild cases. The cough becomes more
severe, and often comes on in tearing paroxysms, causing sickness and
vomiting. The breathing is short and frequent, the mouth hot and
filled with viscid saliva, while very often the bowels are constipated.
If the liver becomes involved, we shall very soon have the jaundiced
eye and the yellow skin. _Diarrhoea_ is another very common
complication. We have frequent purging and, maybe, sickness and
vomiting. _Fits_ of a convulsive character are frequent concomitants
of distemper. _Epilepsy_ is sometimes seen, owing, no doubt, to
degeneration of the nerve centres caused by blood-poisoning. There are
many other complications, and skin complaints are common after it.

_Treatment_--This consists firstly in doing all in our power to guide
the specific catarrhal fever to a safe termination; and, secondly, in
watching for and combating complications. Whenever we see a young dog
ailing, losing appetite, exhibiting catarrhal symptoms, and getting
thin, with a rise in temperature, we should not lose an hour. If he be
an indoor dog, find him a good bed in a clean, well-ventilated
apartment, free from lumber and free from dirt. If it be summer, have
all the windows out or opened; if winter, a little fire will be
necessary, but have half the window opened at the same time; only take
precautions against his lying in a draught. Fresh air in cases of
distemper, and, indeed, in fevers of all kinds, cannot be too highly
extolled.

The more rest the dog has the better; he must be kept free from
excitement, and care must be taken to guard him against cold and wet
when he goes out of doors to obey the calls of Nature. The most
perfect cleanliness must be enjoined, and disinfectants used, such as
permanganate of potash, carbolic acid, Pearson's, or Izal. If the sick
dog, on the other hand, be one of a kennel of dogs, then quarantine
must be adopted. The hospital should be quite removed from the
vicinity of all other dogs, and as soon as the animal is taken from
the kennel the latter should be thoroughly cleansed and disinfected,
and the other dogs kept warm and dry, well fed, and moderately
exercised.

_Food and Drink_--For the first three or four days let the food be
light and easily digested. In order to induce the animal to take it,
it should be as palatable as possible. For small dogs you cannot have
anything better than milk porridge. [1] At all events, the dog must,
if possible, be induced to eat; he must not be "horned" unless there
be great emaciation; he must not over-eat, but what he gets must be
good. As to drink, dogs usually prefer clean cold water, and we cannot
do harm by mixing therewith a little plain nitre.

[1] Oatmeal porridge made with milk instead of water.

_Medicine_--Begin by giving a simple dose of castor oil, just enough
and no more than will clear out the bowels by one or two motions.
Drastic purgatives, and medicines such as mercury, jalap, aloes, and
podophyllyn, cannot be too highly condemned. For very small Toy dogs,
such as Italian Greyhounds, Yorkshire Terriers, etc., I should not
recommend even oil itself, but _manna_--one drachm to two drachms
dissolved in milk. By simply getting the bowels to act once or twice,
we shall have done enough for the first day, and have only to make
the dog comfortable for the night.

On the next day begin with a mixture such as the following: Solution
of acetate of ammonia, 30 drops to 120; sweet spirits of nitre, 15
drops to 60; salicylate of soda, 2 grains to 10. Thrice daily in a
little camphor water.

If the cough be very troublesome and the fever does not run very high,
the following may be substituted for this on the second or third day:
Syrup of squills, 10 drops to 60; tincture of henbane, 10 drops to 60;
sweet spirits of nitre, 10 drops to 60, in camphor water.

A few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid should be added to the dog's
drink, and two teaspoonfuls (to a quart of water) of the chlorate of
potash. This makes an excellent fever drink, especially if the dog can
be got to take decoction of barley--barley-water--instead of plain
cold water, best made of Keen and Robinson's patent barley.

If there be persistent sickness and vomiting, the medicine must be
stopped for a time. Small boluses of ice frequently administered will
do much good, and doses of dilute prussic acid, from one to four drops
in a little water, will generally arrest the vomiting.

If constipation be present, we must use no rough remedies to get rid
of it. A little raw meat cut into small pieces--minced, in fact--or a
small portion of raw liver, may be given if there be little fever; if
there be fever, we are to trust for a time to injections of plain
soap-and-water. Diarrhoea, although often a troublesome symptom, is,
it must be remembered, a salutary one. Unless, therefore, it becomes
excessive, do not interfere; if it does, give the simple chalk mixture
three times a day, but no longer than is needful.

The discharge from the mouth and nose is to be wiped away with a soft
rag--or, better still, some tow, which is afterwards to be
burned--wetted with a weak solution of carbolic. The forehead, eyes,
and nose may be fomented two or three times a day with moderately hot
water with great advantage.

It is not judicious to wet a long-haired dog much, but a short-haired
one may have the chest and throat well fomented several times a day,
and well rubbed dry afterwards. Heat applied to the chests of
long-haired dogs by means of a flat iron will also effect good.

The following is an excellent tonic: Sulphate of quinine, 1/8 to 3
grains; powdered rhubarb, 2 to 10 grains; extract of taraxacum, 3 to
20 grains; make a bolus. Thrice daily.

During convalescence good food, Virol, Spratts' invalid food and
invalid biscuit, moderate exercise, fresh air, and protection from
cold. These, with an occasional mild dose of castor oil or rhubarb,
are to be our sheet-anchors. I find no better tonic than the tablets
of Phosferine. One quarter of a tablet thrice daily, rolled in tissue
paper, for a Toy dog, up to two tablets for a dog of Mastiff size.

BRONCHITIS.

Dogs that have been exposed to wet, or that have been put to lie in a
damp or draughty kennel with insufficient food, are not less liable
than their masters to catch a severe cold, which, if not promptly
attended to, may extend downward to the lining membranes of bronchi or
lungs. In such cases there is always symptoms more or less of fever,
with fits of shivering and thirst, accompanied with dullness, a tired
appearance and loss of appetite. The breath is short, inspirations
painful, and there is a rattling of mucus in chest or throat. The most
prominent symptom, perhaps, is the frequent cough. It is at first dry,
ringing, and evidently painful; in a few days, however, or sooner, it
softens, and there is a discharge of frothy mucus with it, and, in the
latter stages, of pus and ropy mucus.

_Treatment_--Keep the patient in a comfortable, well-ventilated
apartment, with free access in and out if the weather be dry. Let the
bowels be freely acted upon to begin with, but no weakening discharge
from the bowels must be kept up. After the bowels have been moved we
should commence the exhibition of small doses of tartar emetic with
squills and opium thrice a day. If the cough is very troublesome, give
this mixture: Tincture of squills, 5 drops to 30; paregoric, 10 drops
to 60; tartar emetic, one-sixteenth of a grain to 1 grain; syrup and
water a sufficiency. Thrice daily.

We may give a full dose of opium every night. In mild cases carbonate
of ammonia may be tried; it often does good, the dose being from two
grains to ten in camphor water, or even plain water.

The chronic form of bronchitis will always yield, if the dog is young,
to careful feeding, moderate exercise, and the exhibition of cod-liver
oil with a mild iron tonic. The exercise, however, must be moderate,
and the dog kept from the water. A few drops to a teaspoonful of
paregoric, given at night, will do good, and the bowels should be kept
regular, and a simple laxative pill given now and then.

DIARRHOEA,

or looseness of the bowels, or purging, is a very common disease among
dogs of all ages and breeds. It is, nevertheless, more common among
puppies about three or four months old, and among dogs who have
reached the age of from seven to ten years. It is often symptomatic of
other ailments.

_Causes_--Very numerous. In weakly dogs exposure alone will produce
it. The weather, too, has no doubt much to do with the production of
diarrhoea. In most kennels it is more common in the months of July and
August, although it often comes on in the very dead of winter. Puppies,
if overfed, will often be seized with this troublesome complaint. A
healthy puppy hardly ever knows when it has had enough, and it will,
moreover, stuff itself with all sorts of garbage; acidity of the
stomach follows, with vomiting of the ingesta, and diarrhoea succeeds,
brought on by the acrid condition of the chyme, which finds its way
into the duodenum. This stuff would in itself act as a purgative, but
it does more, it abnormally excites the secretions of the whole
alimentary canal, and a sort of sub-acute mucous inflammation is set
up. The liver; too, becomes mixed up with the mischief, throws out a
superabundance of bile, and thus aids in keeping up the diarrhoea.

Among other causes, we find the eating of indigestible food, drinking
foul or tainted water, too much green food, raw paunches, foul kennels,
and damp, draughty kennels.

_Symptoms_--The purging is, of course, the principal symptom, and the
stools are either quite liquid or semi-fluid, bilious-looking,
dirty-brown or clay-coloured, or mixed with slimy mucus. In some cases
they resemble dirty water. Sometimes, as already said, a little blood
will be found in the dejection, owing to congestion of the mucous
membrane from liver obstruction. In case there be blood in the stools,
a careful examination is always necessary in order to ascertain the
real state of the patient. Blood, it must be remembered, might come
from piles or polypi, or it might be dysenteric, and proceed from
ulceration of the rectum and colon. In the simplest form of diarrhoea,
unless the disease continues for a long time, there will not be much
wasting, and the appetite will generally remain good but capricious.

In bilious diarrhoea, with large brown fluid stools and complete loss
of appetite, there is much thirst, and in a few days the dog gets
rather thin, although nothing like so rapidly as in the emaciation of
distemper.

_The Treatment_ will, it need hardly be said, depend upon the cause,
but as it is generally caused by the presence in the intestine of some
irritating matter, we can hardly err by administering a small dose of
castor oil, combining with it, if there be much pain--which you can
tell by the animal's countenance--from 5 to 20 or 30 drops of laudanum,
or of the solution of the muriate of morphia. This in itself will
often suffice to cut short an attack. The oil is preferable to rhubarb,
but the latter may be tried--the simple, not the compound powder--dose
from 10 grains to 2 drachms in bolus.

It the diarrhoea should continue next day, proceed cautiously--remember
there is no great hurry, and a sudden check to diarrhoea is at times
dangerous--to administer dog doses of the aromatic chalk and opium
powder, or give the following medicine three times a day: Compound
powdered catechu, 1 grain to 10; powdered chalk with opium, 3 grains
to 30. Mix. If the diarrhoea still continues, good may accrue from a
trial of the following mixture: Laudanum, 5 to 30 drops; dilute
sulphuric acid, 2 to 15 drops; in camphor water.

This after every liquid motion, or, if the motions may not be observed,
three times a day. If blood should appear in the stools give the
following: Kino powder, 1 to 10 grains; powder ipecac., 1/4 to 3
grains; powdered opium 1/2 to 2 grains. This may be made into a bolus
with any simple extract, and given three times a day.

The food is of importance. The diet should be changed; the food
requires to be of a non-stimulating kind, no meat being allowed, but
milk and bread, sago, or arrowroot or rice, etc. The drink either pure
water, with a pinch or two of chlorate and nitrate of potash in it, or
patent barley-water if the dog will take it.

The bed must be warm and clean, and free from draughts, and, in all
cases of diarrhoea, one cannot be too particular with the cleanliness
and disinfection of the kennels.

CONSTIPATION,

more commonly called costiveness, is also a very common complaint. It
often occurs in the progress of other diseases, but is just as often a
separate ailment.

Perhaps no complaint to which our canine friends are liable is less
understood by the non-professional dog doctor and by dog owners
themselves. Often caused by weakness in the coats of the intestine.
_The exhibition of purgatives can only have a temporary effect in
relieving the symptoms_, and is certain to be followed by reaction,
and consequently by further debility. Want of exercise and bath common
cause.

Youatt was never more correct in his life than when he said: "Many
dogs have a dry constipated habit, often greatly increased by the
bones on which they are fed. This favours the disposition to mange,
etc. It produces indigestion, encourages worms, blackens the teeth,
and causes fetid breath."

_Symptoms_--The stools are hard, usually in large round balls, and
defecation is accomplished with great difficulty, the animal often
having to try several times before he succeeds in effecting the act,
and this only after the most acute suffering. The faeces are generally
covered with white mucus, showing the heat and semi-dry condition of
the gut. The stool is sometimes so dry as to fall to pieces like so
much oatmeal.

There is generally also a deficiency of bile in the motions, and, in
addition to simple costiveness, we have more or less loss of appetite,
with a too pale tongue, dullness, and sleepiness, with slight redness
of the conjunctiva. Sometimes constipation alternates with diarrhoea,
the food being improperly commingled with the gastric and other juices,
ferments, spoils, and becomes, instead of healthy blood-producing
chyme, an irritant purgative.

_Treatment_--Hygienic treatment more than medicinal. Mild doses of
castor oil, compound rhubarb pill, or olive oil, may at first be
necessary. Sometimes an enema will be required if the medicine will
not act.

Plenty of exercise and a swim daily (with a good run after the swim),
or instead of the swim a bucket bath--water thrown over the dog.

Give oatmeal, rather than flour or fine bread, as the staple of his
diet, but a goodly allowance of meat is to be given as well, with
cabbage or boiled liver, or even a portion of raw liver. Fresh air and
exercise in the fields. You may give a bolus before dinner, such as
the following: Compound rhubarb pill, 1 to 5 grains; quinine, 1/8 to
2 grains; extract of taraxacum, 2 to 10 grains. Mix.

FITS.

Whatever be the cause, they are very alarming. In puppies they are
called Convulsions, and resemble epileptic fits. Keep the dog very
quiet, but use little force, simply enough to keep him from hurting
himself. Keep out of the sun, or in a darkened room. When he can
swallow give from 2 to 20 grains (according to size) of bromide of
potassium in a little camphor water thrice daily for a few days. Only
milk food. Keep quiet.

SKIN DISEASES.

In the whole range of dog ailments included in the term canine
pathology there are none more bothersome to treat successfully nor
more difficult to diagnose than those of the skin. There are none
either that afford the quack or patent-nostrum monger a larger field
for the practice of his fiendish gifts. If I were to be asked the
questions, "Why do dogs suffer so much from skin complaints?" and "Why
does it appear to be so difficult to treat them?" I should answer the
first thus: Through the neglect of their owners, from want of
cleanliness, from injudicious feeding, from bad kennelling, and from
permitting their favourites such free intercourse with other members
of the canine fraternity. Overcrowding is another and distinct source
of skin troubles.

My answer to the second question is that the layman too often treats
the trouble in the skin as if it were the disease itself, whereas it
is, generally, merely a symptom thereof. Examples: To plaster
medicated oils or ointments all over the skin of a dog suffering from
constitutional eczema is about as sensible as would be the painting
white of the yellow skin in jaundice in order to cure the disordered
liver.

But even those contagious diseases that are caused by skin germs or
animalcules will not be wholly cured by any applications whatever.
Constitutional remedies should go hand in hand with these. And, indeed,
so great is the defensive power of strong, pure blood, rich in its
white corpuscles or leucocytes, that I believe I could cure even the
worst forms of mange by internal remedies, good food, and tonics, etc.,
without the aid of any dressing whatever except pure cold water.

In treating of skin diseases it is usual to divide them into three
sections: (1) The non-contagious, (2) the contagious, and (3) ailments
caused by external parasites.

(1) The Non-Contagious.--(a) Erythema.--This is a redness, with slight
inflammation of the skin, the deeper tissues underneath not being
involved. _Examples_--That seen between the wrinkles of well-bred Pugs,
Mastiffs, or Bulldogs, or inside the thighs of Greyhounds, etc. If the
skin breaks there may be discharges of pus, and if the case is not
cured the skin may thicken and crack, and the dog make matters worse
with his tongue.

_Treatment_--Review and correct the methods of feeding. A dog should
be neither too gross nor too lean. Exercise, perfect cleanliness, the
early morning sluice-down with cold water, and a quassia tonic. He may
need a laxative as well.

_Locally_--Dusting with oxide of zinc or the violet powder of the
nurseries, a lotion of lead, or arnica. Fomentation, followed by cold
water, and, when dry, dusting as above. A weak solution of boracic
acid (any chemist) will sometimes do good.

(b) Prurigo.--Itching all over, with or without scurf. Sometimes
thickening.

_Treatment_--Regulation of diet, green vegetables, fruit if he will
take it, brushing and grooming, but never roughly. Try for worms and
for fleas.

(c) Eczema.--The name is not a happy one as applied to the usual
itching skin disease of dogs. Eczema proper is an eruption in which
the formed matter dries off into scales or scabs, and dog eczema,
so-called, is as often as not a species of lichen. Then, of course, it
is often accompanied with vermin, nearly always with dirt, and it is
irritated out of all character by the biting and scratching of the dog
himself.

_Treatment_--Must be both constitutional and local. Attend to the
organs of digestion. Give a moderate dose of opening medicine, to
clear away offending matter. This simple aperient may be repeated
occasionally, say once a week, and if diarrhoea be present it may be
checked by the addition of a little morphia or dilute sulphuric acid.
Cream of tartar with sulphur is an excellent derivative, being both
diuretic and diaphoretic, but it must not be given in doses large
enough to purge. At the same time we may give thrice daily a tonic
pill like the following:--

Sulphate of quinine, 1/8 to 3 grains; sulphate of iron, 1/2 grain to 5
grains; extract of hyoscyamus, 1/8 to 3 grains; extract of taraxacum
and glycerine enough to make a pill.

_Locally_--Perfect cleanliness. Cooling lotions patted on to the sore
places. Spratts' Cure. (N.B.--I know what every remedy contains, or I
should not recommend it.) Benzoated zinc ointment after the lotion has
dried in. Wash carefully once a week, using the ointment when skin is
dry, or the lotion to allay irritation.

(2) Contagious Skin Diseases.--These are usually called mange proper
and follicular mange, or scabies. I want to say a word on the latter
first. It depends upon a microscopic animalcule called the _Acarus
folliculorum_. The trouble begins by the formation of patches, from
which the hair falls off, and on which may be noticed a few pimples.
Scabs form, the patches extend, or come out on other parts of the body,
head, legs, belly, or sides. Skin becomes red in white-haired dogs.
Odour of this trouble very offensive. More _pain_ than itching seems
to be the symptomatic rule. Whole body may become affected.

_Treatment_--Dress the affected parts twice a week with the
following:--

Creosote, 2 drachms; linseed oil, 7 ounces; solution of potash, 1
ounce. First mix the creosote and oil, then add the solution and shake.
Better to shave the hair off around the patches. Kennels must be kept
clean with garden soap and hot water, and all bedding burned after use.
From three months to six will be needed to cure bad cases.

Mange Proper is also caused by a parasite or acarus, called the
_Sarcops canus_. Unlike eczema, this mange is spread from dog to dog
by touch or intercommunication, just as one person catches the itch
from another.

_The Symptoms_--At first these may escape attention, but there are
vesicles which the dog scratches and breaks, and thus the disease
spreads. The hair gets matted and falls off. Regions of the body most
commonly affected, head, chest, back, rump, and extremities. There may
not be much constitutional disturbance from the actual injury to the
skin, but from his suffering so much from the irritation and the want
of rest the health suffers.

_Treatment_--Avoid the use of so-called disinfectants. Most of those
sold as such are simply deodorisers, and, applied to the skin, are
useless. Nor are they of much use in cleaning the kennels. Nothing
suits better for woodwork than, first, carbolic wash, and then a
thorough scrubbing with hot water and garden soap.

Some ointment must be used to the skin, and as I am writing for laymen
only I feel chary in recommending such strong ones as the green iodide
of mercury. If you do use it mix it with twice its bulk of the
compound sulphur ointment. Do over only a part or two at a time. The
dog to be washed after three days. But the compound sulphur ointment
itself is a splendid application, and it is not dangerous.

(3) Skin Complaints from Vermin.--The treatment is obvious--get rid of
the cause.

_As their diagnosis is so difficult, whenever the dog-owner is in
doubt, make certain by treating the dog not only by local applications
but constitutionally as well_. In addition to good diet, perfect
cleanliness of coat, kennel, and all surroundings, and the application
of the ointment or oil, let the dog have all the fresh air possible,
and exercise, but never over-exciting or too fatiguing. Then a course
of arsenic seldom fails to do good.

I do not believe in beginning the exhibition of arsenic too soon. I
prefer paying my first attentions to the digestive organs and state of
the bowels. The form of exhibition which I have found suit as well as
any is the _tasteless Liquor arsenicalis_. It is easily administered.
It ought to be given mixed with the food, as it ought to enter the
blood with the chyle from the diet. It ought, day by day, to be
gradually, not hurriedly, increased. Symptoms of loathing of food and
redness of conjunctiva call for the cessation of its use for two or
three days at least, when it is to be recommended at the same size of
dose given when left off.

There are two things which assist the arsenic, at least to go well
with it; they are, iron in some form and Virol. The latter will be
needed when there is much loss of flesh. A simple pill of sulphate of
iron and extract of liquorice may be used. Dose of _Liquor arsenicalis_
from 1 to 6 drops _ter die_ to commence with, gradually increased to 5
to 20 drops.

Dandruff.--A scaly or scurfy condition of the skin, with more or less
of irritation. It is really a shedding of the scaly epidermis brought
on by injudicious feeding or want of exercise as a primary cause. The
dog, in cases of this kind, needs cooling medicines, such as small
doses of the nitrate and chlorates of potash, perhaps less food.
Bowels to be seen to by giving plenty of green food, with a morsel of
sheep's melt or raw liver occasionally. Wash about once in three weeks,
a very little borax in the last water, say a drachm to a gallon. Use
mild soap. Never use a very hard brush or sharp comb. Tar soap
(Wright's) may be tried.

PARASITES--INTERNAL.

WORMS.

We have, roughly speaking, two kinds of worms to treat in the dog:
(1) the round, and (2) the tape.

(1) _Round-worms_--They are in shape and size not unlike the garden
worm, but harder, pale, and pointed.

_Symptoms_--Sometimes these are alarming, for the worm itself is
occasionally seized with the mania for foreign travel, and finds its
way into the throat or nostrils, causing the dog to become perfectly
furious, and inducing such pain and agony that it may seem charity to
end its life. The worms may also crawl into the stomach, and give rise
to great irritation, but are usually dislodged therefrom by the
violence accompanying the act of vomiting.

Their usual habitat, however, is the small intestines, where they
occasion great distress to their host. The appetite is always depraved
and voracious. At times there is colic, with sickness and perhaps
vomiting, and the bowels are alternately constipated or loose. The
coat is harsh and staring, there usually is short, dry cough from
reflex irritation of the bronchial mucous membrane, a bad-smelling
breath and emaciation or at least considerable poverty of flesh.

The disease is most common in puppies and in young dogs. The appearance
of the ascaris in the dog's stools is, of course, _the_ diagnostic
symptom.

_Treatment_--I have cured many cases with santonin and areca-nut
powder (betel-nut), dose 10 grains to 2 drachms; or turpentine, dose
from 10 drops to 1-1/2 drachms, beaten up with yolk of egg.

But areca-nut does better for tape-worm, so we cannot do better than
trust to pure santonin. The dose is from 1 grain for a Toy up to 6
grains for a Mastiff. Mix it with a little butter, and stick it well
back in the roof of the dog's mouth. He must have fasted previously
for twelve hours, and had a dose of castor oil the day before. In four
or five hours after he has swallowed the santonin, let him have a dose
of either olive oil or decoction of aloes. Dose, 2 drachms to 2 ounces
or more. Repeat the treatment in five days. Spratts' cure may be
safely depended on for worms. [1]

[1] Many dog owners swear by the preparation called Ruby, which can be
recommended as a cure for worms.--Ed.

The perfect cleanliness of the kennel is of paramount importance.

The animal's general health requires looking after, and he may be
brought once more into good condition by proper food and a course of
vegetable tonics. If wanted in show condition we have Plasmon to fall
back upon, and Burroughs and Wellcome's extract of malt.

There is a round-worm which at times infests the dog's bladder, and
may cause occlusion of the urethra; a whip-worm inhabiting the caecum;
another may occupy a position in the mucous membrane of the stomach;
some infest the blood, and others the eye.

(2) _Tape-worms_--There are several kinds, but the treatment is the
same in all cases. The commonest in the country is the Cucumerine.

This is a tape-worm of about fifteen inches in average length,
although I have taken them from Newfoundland pups fully thirty inches
long. It is a semi-transparent entozoon; each segment is long compared
to its breadth, and narrowed at both ends. Each joint has, when
detached, an independent sexual existence.

The dog often becomes infested with this parasite from eating sheeps'
brains, and dogs thus afflicted and allowed to roam at pleasure over
fields and hills where sheep are fed sow the seeds of gid in our
flocks to any extent. We know too well the great use of Collie dogs to
the shepherd or grazier to advise that dogs should not be employed as
assistants, but surely it would be to their owners' advantage to see
that they were kept in a state of health and cleanliness.

_Treatment_--We ought to endeavour to prevent as well as to cure. We
should never allow our dogs to eat the entrails of hares or rabbits.
Never allow them to be fed on raw sheep's intestines, nor the brains
of sheep. Never permit them to lounge around butchers' shops, nor eat
offal of any kind. Let their food be well cooked, and their skins and
kennels kept scrupulously clean. Dogs that are used for sheep and
cattle ought, twice a year at least, to go under treatment for the
expulsion of worms, whether they are infested or not; an anthelmintic
would make sure, and could hardly hurt them.

For the expulsion of tape-worms we depend mostly on areca-nut. In
order that the tape-worm should receive the full benefit of the remedy,
we order a dose of castor oil the day before in the morning, and
recommend no food to be given that day except beef-tea or mutton broth.
The bowels are thus empty next morning, so that the parasite cannot
shelter itself anywhere, and is therefore sure to be acted on.

Infusion of cusco is sometimes used as an anthelmintic, so is wormwood,
and the liquid extract of male fern, and in America spigelia root and
pumpkin seeds.

The best tonic to give in cases of worms is the extract of quassia.

Extract of quassia, 1 to 10 grains; extract of hyoscyamus, 1/2 to 5
grains. To make one pill. Thrice daily.

PARASITES.--EXTERNAL.

FLEAS.

Washing with Spratts' medicated soap. Extra clean kennels. Dusting
with Keating, and afterwards washing. This may not kill the fleas, but
it drives them off. Take the dog on the grass while dusting, and begin
along the spine. Never do it in the house.

TICKS.

I have noticed these disagreeable bloodsuckers only on the heads and
bodies of sporting or Collie dogs, who had been boring for some time
through coverts and thickets. They soon make themselves visible, as
the body swells up with the blood they suck until they resemble small
soft warts about as big as a pea. They belong to the natural family,
_Ixodiadae_.

_Treatment_--If not very numerous they should be cut off, and the part
touched with a little turps. The sulphuret of calcium will also kill
them, so will the more dangerous white precipitate, or even a strong
solution of carbolic acid, which must be used sparingly, however.

LICE.

The lice are hatched from nits, which we find clinging in rows, and
very tenaciously too, to the hairs. The insects themselves are more
difficult to find, but they are on puppies sometimes in thousands. To
destroy them I have tried several plans. Oil is very effectual, and
has safety to recommend it. Common sweet oil is as good a cure as any,
and you may add a little oil of anise and some sublimed sulphur, which
will increase the effect. Quassia water may be used to damp the coat.
The matted portions of a long-haired dog's coat must be cut off with
scissors, for there the lice often lurk. The oil dressing will not
kill the nits, so that vinegar must be used. After a few days the
dressing must be repeated, and so on three or four times. To do any
good, the whole of the dog's coat must be drenched in oil, and the dog
washed with good dog soap and warm water twelve hours afterwards.

DOG'S BREEDING AND WHELPING

The modern practice of dog-breeding in Great Britain has reached a
condition which may be esteemed as an art. At no other time, and in no
other country, have the various canine types been kept more rigidly
distinct or brought to a higher level of perfection. Formerly
dog-owners--apart from the keepers of packs of hounds--paid scant
attention to the differentiation of breeds and the conservation of
type, and they considered it no serious breach of duty to ignore the
principles of scientific selection, and thus contribute to the
multiplication of mongrels. Discriminate breeding was rare, and if a
Bulldog should mate himself with a Greyhound, or a Spaniel with a
Terrier, the alliance was regarded merely as an inconvenience. So
careless were owners in preventing the promiscuous mingling of alien
breeds that it is little short of surprising so many of our canine
types have been preserved in their integrity.

The elimination of the nondescript cur is no doubt largely due to the
work of the homes for lost dogs that are instituted in most of our
great towns. Every year some 26,000 homeless and ownerless canines are
picked up by the police in the streets of London, and during the
forty-seven years which have elapsed since the Dogs' Home at Battersea
was established, upwards of 800,000 dogs have passed through the
books, a few to be reclaimed or bought, the great majority to be put
to death. A very large proportion of these have been veritable
mongrels, not worth the value of their licences--diseased and maimed
curs, or bitches in whelp, turned ruthlessly adrift to be consigned to
the oblivion of the lethal chamber, where the thoroughbred seldom
finds its way. And if as many as 500 undesirables are destroyed every
week at one such institution, 'tis clear that the ill-bred mongrel
must soon altogether disappear. But the chief factor in the general
improvement of our canine population is due to the steadily growing
care and pride which are bestowed upon the dog, and to the scientific
skill with which he is being bred.

Admitting that the dogs seen at our best contemporary shows are
superlative examples of scientific selection, one has yet to
acknowledge that the process of breeding for show points has its
disadvantages, and that, in the sporting and pastoral varieties more
especially, utility is apt to be sacrificed to ornament and type, and
stamina to fancy qualities not always relative to the animal's
capacities as a worker. The standards of perfection and scales of
points laid down by the specialist clubs are usually admirable guides
to the uninitiated, but they are often unreasonably arbitrary in their
insistence upon certain details of form--generally in the neighbourhood
of the head--while they leave the qualities of type and character to
look after themselves or to be totally ignored.

It is necessary to assure the beginner in breeding that points are
essentially of far less moment than type and a good constitution. The
one thing necessary in the cultivation of the dog is to bear in mind
the purpose for which he is supposed to be employed, and to aim at
adapting or conserving his physique to the best fulfilment of that
purpose, remembering that the Greyhound has tucked-up loins to give
elasticity and bend to the body in running, that a Terrier is kept
small to enable him the better to enter an earth, that a Bulldog is
massive and undershot for encounters in the bullring, that the
Collie's ears are erected to assist him in hearing sounds from afar,
as those of the Bloodhound are pendant, the more readily to detect
sounds coming to him along the ground while his head is bent to the
trail. Nature has been discriminate in her adaptations of animal
forms; and the most perfect dog yet bred is the one which approaches
nearest to Nature's wise intention.

The foregoing chapters have given abundant examples of how the various
breeds of the dog have been acquired, manufactured, improved,
resuscitated, and retained. Broadly speaking, two methods have been
adopted: The method of introducing an outcross to impart new blood,
new strength, new character; and the method of inbreeding to retain an
approved type. An outcross is introduced when the breed operated upon
is declining in stamina or is in danger of extinction, or when some
new physical or mental quality is desired. New types and eccentricities
are hardly wanted, however, and the extreme requirements of an
outcross may nowadays be achieved by the simple process of selecting
individuals from differing strains of the same breed, mating a bitch
which lacks the required points with a dog in whose family they are
prominently and consistently present.

Inbreeding is the reverse of outcrossing. It is the practice of mating
animals closely related to each other, and it is, within limits, an
entirely justifiable means of preserving and intensifying family
characteristics. It is a law in zoology that an animal cannot transmit
a quality which it does not itself innately possess, or which none of
its progenitors has ever possessed. By mating a dog and a bitch of the
same family, therefore, you concentrate and enhance the uniform
inheritable qualities into one line instead of two, and you reduce the
number of possibly heterogeneous ancestors by exactly a half right
back to the very beginning. There is no surer way of maintaining
uniformity of type, and an examination of the extended pedigree of
almost any famous dog will show how commonly inbreeding is practised.
Inbreeding is certainly advantageous when managed with judgment and
discreet selection, but it has its disadvantages also, for it is to be
remembered that faults and blemishes are inherited as well as merits,
and that the faults have a way of asserting themselves with annoying
persistency. Furthermore, breeding between animals closely allied in
parentage is prone to lead to degeneracy, physical weakness, and
mental stupidity, while impotence and sterility are frequent
concomitants, and none but experienced breeders should attempt so
hazardous an experiment. Observation has proved that the union of
father with daughter and mother with son is preferable to an alliance
between brother and sister. Perhaps the best union is that between
cousins. For the preservation of general type, however, it ought to be
sufficient to keep to one strain and to select from that strain
members who, while exhibiting similar characteristics, are not
actually too closely allied in consanguinity. To move perpetually from
one strain to another is only to court an undesirable confusion of
type.

In founding a kennel it is advisable to begin with the possession of a
bitch. As a companion the female is to be preferred to the male; she
is not less affectionate and faithful, and she is usually much cleaner
in her habits in the house. If it is intended to breed by her, she
should be very carefully chosen and proved to be free from any serious
fault or predisposition to disease. Not only should her written
pedigree be scrupulously scrutinised, but her own constitution and
that of her parents on both sides should be minutely inquired into.

A bitch comes into season for breeding twice in a year; the first time
when she is reaching maturity, usually at the age of from seven to ten
months. Her condition will readily be discerned by the fact of an
increased attentiveness of the opposite sex and the appearance of a
mucous discharge from the vagina. She should then be carefully
protected from the gallantry of suitors. Dogs kept in the near
neighbourhood of a bitch on heat, who is not accessible to them, go
off their feed and suffer in condition. With most breeds it is unwise
to put a bitch to stud before she is eighteen months old, but Mr.
Stubbs recommends that a Bull bitch should be allowed to breed at her
first heat, while her body retains the flexibility of youth; and there
is no doubt that with regard to the Bulldog great mortality occurs in
attempting to breed from maiden bitches exceeding three years old. In
almost all breeds it is the case that the first three litters are the
best. It is accordingly important that a proper mating should be
considered at the outset, and a prospective sire selected either
through the medium of stud advertisements or by private arrangement
with the owner of the desired dog. For the payment of the requisite
stud fee, varying from a guinea to ten or fifteen pounds, the services
of the best dogs of the particular breed can usually be secured. It is
customary for the bitch to be the visitor, and it is well that her
visit should extend to two or three days at the least. When possible a
responsible person should accompany her.

If the stud dog is a frequenter of shows he can usually be depended
upon to be in sound physical condition. No dog who is not so can be
expected to win prizes. But it ought to be ascertained before hand
that he is what is known as a good stock-getter. The fee is for his
services, not for the result of them. Some owners of stud dogs will
grant two services, and this is often desirable, especially in the
case of a maiden bitch or of a stud dog that is over-wrought, as so
many are. It is most important that both the mated animals should be
free from worms and skin disorders. Fifty per cent. of the casualties
among young puppies are due to one or other of the parents having been
in an unhealthy condition when mated. A winter whelping is not
advisable. It is best for puppies to be born in the spring or early
summer, thus escaping the rigours of inclement weather.

During the period of gestation the breeding bitch should have ample
but not violent exercise, with varied and wholesome food, including
some preparation of bone meal; and at about the third week, whether
she seems to require it or not, she should be treated for worms. At
about the sixtieth day she will begin to be uneasy and restless. A
mild purgative should be given; usually salad oil is enough, but if
constipation is apparent castor oil may be necessary. On the
sixty-second day the whelps may be expected, and everything ought to
be in readiness for the event.

A coarsely constituted bitch may be trusted to look after herself on
these occasions; no help is necessary, and one may come down in the
morning to find her with her litter comfortably nestling at her side.
But with the Toy breeds, and the breeds that have been reared in
artificial conditions, difficult or protracted parturition is
frequent, and human assistance ought to be at hand in case of need.
The owner of a valuable Bull bitch, for example, would never think of
leaving her to her own unaided devices. All undue interference,
however, should be avoided, and it is absolutely necessary that the
person attending her should be one with whom she is fondly familiar.

In anticipation of a possibly numerous litter, a foster-mother should
be arranged for beforehand. Comfortable quarters should be prepared in
a quiet part of the house or kennels, warm, and free from draughts.
Clean bedding of wheaten straw should be provided, but the bitch
should be allowed to make her nest in her own instinctive fashion. Let
her have easy access to drinking water. She will probable refuse food
for a few hours before her time, but a little concentrated nourishment,
such as Brand's Essence or a drink of warm milk, should be offered to
her. In further preparation for the confinement a basin of water
containing antiseptic for washing in, towels, warm milk, a flask of
brandy, a bottle of ergotine, and a pair of scissors are commodities
which may all be required in emergency. The ergot, which must be used
with extreme caution and only when the labour pains have commenced, is
invaluable when parturition is protracted, and there is difficult
straining without result. Its effect is to contract the womb and expel
the contents. But when the puppies are expelled with ease it is
superfluous. For a bitch of 10 lb. in weight ten drops of the extract
of ergot in a teaspoonful of water should be ample, given by the
mouth. The scissors are for severing the umbilical cord if the mother
should fail to do it in her own natural way. Sometimes a puppy may be
enclosed within a membrane which the dam cannot readily open with
tongue and teeth. If help is necessary it should be given tenderly and
with clean fingers. Occasionally a puppy may seem to be inert and
lifeless, and after repeatedly licking it the bitch may relinquish all
effort at restoration and turn her attention to another that is being
born. In such a circumstance the rejected little one may be discreetly
removed, and a drop of brandy on the point of the finger smeared upon
its tongue may revive animation, or it may be plunged up to the neck
in warm water. The object should be to keep it warm and to make it
breathe. When the puppies are all born, their dam may be given a drink
of warm milk and then left alone to their toilet and to suckle them.
If any should be dead, these ought to be disposed of. Curiosity in
regard to the others should be temporarily repressed, and inspection
of them delayed until a more fitting opportunity. If any are then seen
to be malformed or to have cleft palates, these had better be removed
and mercifully destroyed.

It is the experience of many observers that the first whelps born in a
litter are 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 many whelps should be left to the care of their dam. The
number should be relative to her health and constitution, and in any
case it is well not to give her so many that they will be a drain upon
her. Those breeds of dogs that have been most highly developed by man
and that appear to have the greatest amount of brain and intelligence
are generally the most prolific as to the number of puppies they
produce. St. Bernards, Pointers, Setters are notable for the usual
strength of their families. St. Bernards have been known to produce as
many as eighteen whelps at a birth, and it is no uncommon thing for
them to produce from nine to twelve. A Pointer of Mr. Barclay Field's
produced fifteen, and it is well known that Mr. Statter's Setter
Phoebe produced twenty-one at a birth. Phoebe reared ten of these
herself, and almost every one of the family became celebrated. It
would be straining the natural possibilities of any bitch to expect
her to bring up eighteen puppies healthily. Half that number would tax
her natural resources to the extreme. But Nature is extraordinarily
adaptive in tempering the wind to the shorn lamb, and a dam who gives
birth to a numerous litter ought not to have her family unduly
reduced. It was good policy to allow Phoebe to have the rearing of as
many as ten out of her twenty-one. 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.

Breeders of Toy-dogs often rear the overplus offspring by hand, with
the help of a Maw and Thompson feeding-bottle, peptonised milk, and
one or more of the various advertised infants' foods or orphan puppy
foods. Others prefer to engage or prepare in advance a foster-mother.
The foster-mother need not be of the same breed, but she should be
approximately of similar size, and her own family ought to be of the
same age as the one of which she is to take additional charge. One can
usually be secured through advertisement in the canine press. Some
owners do not object to taking one from a dogs' home, which is an easy
method, in consideration of the circumstance that by far the larger
number of "lost" dogs are bitches sent adrift because they are in
whelp. The chief risk in this course is that the unknown foster-mother
may be diseased or verminous or have contracted the seeds of
distemper, or her milk may be populated with embryo worms. These are
dangers to guard against. A cat makes an excellent foster-mother for
Toy-dog puppies.

Worms ought not to be a necessary accompaniment of puppyhood, and if
the sire and dam are properly attended to in advance they need not be.
The writer has attended at the birth of puppies, not one of whom has
shown the remotest sign of having a worm, and the puppies have almost
galloped into healthy, happy maturity, protected from all the usual
canine ailments by constitutions impervious to disease. He has seen
others almost eaten away by worms. Great writhing knots of them have
been ejected; they have been vomited; they have wriggled out of the
nostrils; they have perforated the stomach and wrought such damage
that most of the puppies succumbed, and those that survived were
permanently deficient in stamina and liable to go wrong on the least
provocating. The puppy that is free from worms starts life with a
great advantage.