THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 31

THE KENNEL.

Bi Tebbob. Fancieri tB.l bueiltri of dojctar* cordially InTlKd to c*v. trlbuu liemi te Llila column. " Terror " will endeavour t* unit kit department si inter«iMß( ssd np-10-iUte »• posilble, but In k«o<.-e ht trusti this inflation will be chterfullj responded toj! —Mr Lucy, of Montague road, NorthEast Valley, has a very nice pup bred from his own bitch, mated with Wishaw Jock, j The dam being of Mr Rennie's breed, and \ the eire the renowned dog mentioned, the < pup will doubtless fulfil the expectations of i its owner. — Spratt's shipping- department has, wo (Home paper) learn just arranged despatch to the colonies of Mr W, E. Mason's well known stud dog, Southport Caledonia, and the bitch, Southport Spinster, accompanies . him. Both animals should cause a stir in their new home. Ac Mr Cowburn's dog, Blackburn Fox, is about the only dog of . note by Caledonia, Igft behi&d. is tfra Old

Country, there should be an increased • demand for iis services, the toll for. which, we notice, has been reduced by his owner in order to give the humblest breeder an opportunity of securing them. — An idea of what may be won in hard cash at a dog show in Great Britain can be formed when it is read that the amount ! of prize money won by Mr F. Redmond at • the recent Fox Terrier Club show at Cheltenham (Eng.) was close on £300. This won with fox terriers alone. Although undoubtedly a record, there are other instances where the prize money won by one e:JiibitGr at a show has often run into three figures. — Three thousand pounds for an exhibition building! At the general meeting of the Pretoria Club, the chairman said he felt ; sure, and hoped that a great future was 'in store for the club, and, touching upon I the question of a new building, he remarked ( that it was going to cost something like / £3000. He had been in touch with genile- ! men who had money, and he did not despair. He believed they would get it, and ; when the time came he would be prepared to do his share towards it. 'No braver words were ever spoken to a South African Kennel Clvb — indeed, I have no knowledge of any kennel" club undertaking so great a. . project. If the money is subscribed it will be a really wonderful achievement, and success would mean such a reward as would be ample return for the labour of a great effort. —We often receive inquiries (says Our Dogs) as to the best methods of feeding dogs, and although it is not possible to lay down any hard and fast rules applicable to all the numerous breeds, large and small ' alike, it will perhaps be useful if we gi\e two or throe suggestions which will be applicable to mest of them. The old idea that anything is good enough lo throw to the dogs is rapidly dying out ; the market is overflowing with good, wholesome foods, | which can be bought at very moderate prices, and there is no excus* for not providing dogs with ample variety in the way of food nowadays. Variety is, of course, essential— within reasonable limits. Coming to different kinds of food, it may be said ( 1 that raw meat is good for all dogs. It is the natural focd of a dog— and we eanuoc | go wrong if we follow Nature as closely as possible. Horse-flesh should be given only ; • under careful precautions — that is to say, j ' it is desirable that the owner should 6atisfy i ■ himself that the carcase from which it has , been taken is that of a healthy animal, j Many animals are slaughtered which are , suffering from disease, and this is apt to be communicated to our canine friends. Upon this topic it is worth while to turn aside and remark upon the danger of giving "lights" as food to cats and dogs. The lungs of cattle are, of course, not infrequently the &eat of tubercular disease, and although they may appear tc be quite j ■ healthy, it is possible that germs of disease j may be there— that is the ,most likelj part of the body to harbour' sueh^— and so there ' is a certain degree of "risk in giving this ! as food. f — As we have already said, a change ot j diet is most necessary to the health of dogs. It needs, also, to be kept in mind that the diet must also depend to tome » extent upon the amount of exercise taken— • whether the dog is kept in the house ov whether he is a field-worker, for example ■ A dog fed upon raw meat needs plenty of exercise— otherwise he will become very gross. Boiled sheep's head, to provide a. soup, which may be thickened with cat- ■ meal or rice or hound meal, is excellent i for all dogs. Now and then a boiling of bullock's liver is useful too. This acts as a j sort of natural aperient, preventing constipation, from which dogs suffer frequently; I and here let it be said further that green j • foods are good for dogs, and =hould be ; cooked up in the soup or bioth which forms the basis of food. Milk is good foi young ; dogs, but too much is 'not good for adult : dogs; in the country milk i« generally plentiful, and the dogs share it with the pigs, which is all right so long as they have hard" ' work to do. Brown bread is one of the ! " best of dog foods ; the coarse meal of which it is made seems to ha\e an oxcellent '. mechanical effect, keeping the system quue regular. We generally recommend that dogs be fed twice a day. In the morning begin with a dry dog biscuit, and follow this with oatmeal oi rice made up into "pudding" form, and some raw meat afterwards. In the evening a good boiled stew, 1 made ira with hound meal and vegetables, will answer very well. But, as we said, the food must depend upon the dog. Delicate ' pet dogs need exceptional care, and the ) same may be said of invalid dogs. j i — The New Zealand football team, while j I passing through the States, played a match \ at Brooklyn against fifteen of all New York. It should be explained that the Rugby gair.c •is practically unknown here, while the ' American game i% a rough-and-tumble affair | that is uncouth, unscientific, and growing | into disfavour because of its brutality. The Maorilanders had matters as they liked although the New Yorkers played ■ six of the Fern countrymen, just to make j something like a match. Athletics have, of course, no place here, but this is mentioned , merely to point out that a great many 1 Englishmen and Australians were among the crowd of spectator^. Among the dog men wore Mr R. F. Mayhcw and Mr Willoughby Mitchell, .both extremely interested (in fox terriers. One of the linckeepcrs was '. Mr Malcolm Gordon-Lennox, who was as- ' sistant secretary of the Bryn Mawr Pa., Kennel Club, and perhaps the most beautiful one-day outdoor show m America. It is < held in the grounds of the Haverford Cricket Club. Among the Australians I met Jlr Gould who ueed to show Great Danos in Sydney, his Harlequin Acrobat being quite successful. After the South African war (he was' in the Imperial Bushmen) he wen., up to the West Coast and into the interior hunting big game, enjoying tremendous sport. -It is needless to state that the colonists wer« splendidly received, and that the evening papers are full of their prowesi, beautiful passing, physique, and speed. — Child Saved by a Dog.— A remarkable story of how a dog saved a child's life comes from Ireland. Several children were returning from school in the neighbourhood of Milford, County Donegal, when they stopped to play on a grassy knoll near the } summit of a steep cliff. One, a boy about nine, missed his footing, and toppled over ; the edge of the precipice. The cliff is a i gradually sloping one for the first 30ft, below which it dips abruptly to a depth of about 60ft. Just sts the child reached the perpendicular point a dog owned by tftfc boy's father rushed 1 to the spot, and, seizing the child by part of his wearing . apparel, held him fast until he was rescued from his perilous position. The animal is of a mongrel breed, and had apparently ; gone to meet the children returning from ' cchqol,

— Dog Fashions.— There has long beeS. an "entente cordiale" in fashions. - Parisian men can scarcely be distinguished from London club men, and the eniart Englishwoman is a Parisienne to the tips of her dainty gloves. There has now begun an interchange of civilities in dog fashions. The dog outfitter in Burlington Arcade who created a mild sensation at Christmas tima by displaying dogs' boots, tailor-made coats, collars, and footwarmers, in his ■window, is now receiving orders from Paris for ".smart tweeds." The dogs' coats made in Paris are a little too fanciful, and the French ladies who own "bulldogues" have developed a taste for tweeds and shepherd's plaids with which to dress their pets. They have discovered that even a toy "bulldogue" feels deeply humiliated at having to .appear in public in a bright scarlet coat lined with satin, and providedwith a pocket from which peeps a tiny handkerchief. The manager informed an Express representative that a growing busine&s "was being done in waterproof coats for dogs, and also those stuck-up collars and ties which look so well on a smart pug. They range in price from 2s 6d to 5s 9d. Poodles' -bangles are sold at ss"6cl. and medallions for the whole canine world at from Is to Is 6d. — Still in Time. — A North-country miner, late ona autumn, was imprisoned "while at work" by the fall of a huge block of coal. With tl.e greatest "energy his friends set to work tc liberate him. This, though, proved to be a task of enormous difficulty. On account of the position of the holo and the nature of the fall, it was five full days tafore they readied their comrade. When finally a passage had Imjoii made, the manager put in his head and called : "Jack, how arc yp?" ''AH righi " wn«s tl-s ronly. "What day is it?" "Monday.' "Good. Then I'm in time for the dog - show."