THE KENNEL.

Otago Witness, Issue 2955, 2 November 1910, Page 35

THE KENNEL.

By Terrob. y»&c;eis and "breeders 01 dogs are cordially !!V Tlted to contribute to this column. " Terra* " will endeavour to make this department aa interesting and up-to-date as possible, but in order to do thU he must have the co-operation of his readere. hence he trust! thiß invitation will be ch*er£u!ly TC-pouilt-d to. An interesting- little par in an Australian contemporary is:—"What counts in a terrier ; s beyond fiugres, too much for words, and not to be expressed in a photograph." Too true, and vet there arc advocates of "point judging" ! Th,= following paragraph from the same

periodical refarred to above is responsible for the following reference to New Zealand dogs—all the dogs mentioned are New Zealand-bred:—"Mr E. Henley, of AuckI land, is sending over his New Zealand win- ! niag collie, Puketami Adamant, for competition at the K.C. and N.S.W. show From | what we hear, howevjr, we fear the local I dogs to be shown against him will be but | few, and those of moderate quality only, for Mr Cowlishav informs us that he has ' no intention of showing Roslyn Rustic at ; the show na.-nad", and Mr Carling is show- : ing nothing cither, so unless Mr Dobson is sending Roslyn Napier from Newcastle we do not know where good ones arc to come from." —lt is reported that Mr Harrnan P. Fir.nemore Cooner. who is now in Sydney, still has Wishaw Jock hale and hearty, but —and fanciers will regret to hear this — j has no intention of taking up again with the fancy. This is a serious loss to colliedom. I The form which rheumatism generally ! takes with sporting dogs is that known as chest-founder. It is so called because it affects the muscles of the fore parts—the ; shoulders in fact. This complaint is, of course, not confined to sporting dogs, but if is common amongst them for the reason just given, and, in a general way. because they are liable to e'xposuro to cold, wet weather. Hot baths are a good remedy for this trouble, the object being to stimulate the muscle 3 into activity; and for this purpose various liniments have been recommended, of which the "turpentine" compound liniment of the British Pharmacopceia is to be specially relied upon. Internal medicines may also be tried, the most effective being iodide of potassium (well known for its effects in human medicine for rheumatic affections), and frequent doses of aperient pills or something of that sort. Dogs .which are well rubbed down vith a rough towel after being out in the rain or in wet grass are far less likely to be affected in this way than others are. Cramp in various forms attacks sporting doge, especially as has been indicated already, in the rheumatic form. But there is another type of cramp, and a very serious one, that results from plunging, when very hot, into a pool of cold water. This is stomachic crimp, and it sometimes ends in inflammation of the bowels. Any symptoms of bowel trouble after an incident such as this should be regarded as serious, and special treatment should be resorted to at once. This will consist in giving warm semi-liquid food with a stimulant, and if there be a stoppage use clysters of soap and water to get the bowels evacuated. Follow this up by a subsequent dose of castor oil or tome other aperient, the dog being kept warm and quiet, and dieted only on things like milk and barley-water, oatmeal gruel, - and anything similar. Stoppage or inflammation of the bowels is extremely fatal, and many a good dog has fallen a victim to it simply through immersion, when overheated, in a cold stream. Inflammation about the claws, through hunting about in gorse. heather, and hedge-row; and inflammation of the earflaps {sometimes turning to ear-canker) from the same cause, are two more of the common troubles of sporting dogs. Roth can be dealt with, and to a large extent prevented, if the dog be overhauled night after night vhen he returns home. Tnc best remedy 'or soreness and inflammation often sen about the claws of /logs (and household pets are also very subject to the s;,:me), is the lead and opium lotion, which any chemist will supply if aeked to do so. It is not much use • applying -ointment, as the dog will simply lick it off, but in tioublesonie -cases the foot may be dressed with carbolised va-eline, and then be bandaged up with strips of lint or ordinary surgical "bandage. Needless to add, this dressing should be removed every few hours, and the foot, or feet, be soaked for a few minutes in tepid water so as to keep the places perfectly clean, before a fresh application of ointment.

CANINE CHARACTERS. '(By Gerald Sidney.) To keep a kennel three thing? are needed: First, a number of (most important this; you can't have a kennel with fewer than one dog at, least); secondly, a collection of physics and worm eradicatora; and, lastly, a kennelman, to s?e that the rcdxtures are well and truly absorbed. Any firm dealing 1 in specifies far canine ailments will bear me out on the above three points. Thus we arrive at the kennelman, that fundamental pillar of dogdom Now, to explain fully', a kennchr.an is not a maker of kennels or a dweller therein, but a worthy who looketh after the wellbeing of dogs, assisted by a. medicine chest. As Burn,* wrote, In his epic on the White West Highland terrier—l refer to his "An Areca Nut's the thing for a' that," An' ilka lad wha tends wee dogs Should a' kn.aw how his i's to dot; An' whiles he works a.s kennelmnn 'Tis. braw that ho should ken a lot. Therefore we will investigate the aspect, the duties, and the mind of the kennelman. There arc kennehnen and kennelmen. Some more so than otlier.s. '. The typical cr.o is usually a sharp, alert man, a kind of cross as to clothes between a head gamek«e] er and a huntsman; throwing back to the gamekeeper as to coat and gaiters, but showing the horsey strain as to waistt-oats and hat; ami pn-haps a little overshot in the matter of tiepins, favouring oil paintings of dogs mounted in silver for thesa adornments. Always, if he lias h:s heart in his work- does t>« kr.ovr of many secret in-

fallible specifics for the ilk that affect the dogs of other people. His duties axe to look after dogs, physic them, groom 'e<m, take them for exercise, pack 'em in hampers for shows, unpack and exhibit them, and generally do them proud. He comes out strong on the question of puppies, and acts as father confessor in the matter of canine love affairs, a record 1 of which he keeps in a dairy, yclept a stud book. He it is who distributes the visiting cards of the kennel champions, and who acts as M.C. when these gentlemen meet their lady ■friends; which ladies he sees safely off the train, and perohanee bespeaks a puppy as a souvenir of the visit. Another kind of kenneiman is the handyman kenneiman, whose duties arc spiced with that variety 'which knocks an eighthour day into tits. Awaking in the dewy morn, he goes to the kennel (dresses first, of course), and rousts the beggars up for their morning grub. After this a turn at the garden, and so to grooming the family motor for an hour of so. Again at the doge, to distribute wor.m powders, and then take Master Fred to have his hair cut, returning to blythely work the kitchen mangle; and thus be fritters golden time away. Lazy life. He, like the other, is an authority on physic. I remember a man who kept a handy kenneiman, by name George Henry. One day George was left in charge of the children whilst the family went to an aviation meeting. Well, you know what kids arc — they will yell and howl. These did, and George knew that dogs howl when their machinery drops a few stitches, so he diagnosed accordingly, .end brought forth the medicine chest. "When he'd done those babes were as quiet as a sack of houndmea!. When the owner—l should say the father—came back he asked George how they'd behaved. "Well, sir," says George, "they 'owled a bit at first, so I gave 'em a dose o' distemper cure all round, and, as that didn't stop 'em, I gave Master Willie the rest, o' that bottle o' mange mixture, and Miss Jane a spoonful o' tanker ointment, an' the baby—bless 'is little 'eart—'e's full o" condition pills. They're all quiet now." The wreaths were beautiful. There is one abiding mystery about a kojinelma.n which I will explain for the first time. Kennelmen don't die —they evaporate, like jockeys, policemen, and donkeys. Who ever saw a. dead donkey? The three last, however, don't concern us. How do kennelmen leave this vale of tears and Budgets? Well, you know those sort of mincing machines you find in every good kennel for breaking up the dogs' food? They mince everything. Put two and two together—exit kenneiman.