General Dog Care

General Dog Care. Information on taking care of your dog at home. How to feed your dog, where to let it sleep and the proper diet for your dogs.

General Dog Care

Almost every individual has his own way of treating the pets of his household, from the thoughtless master who considers "anything good enough for a dog," to the traditional fine lady who provides her pet with an apart ment of his own, containing every appliance for the toilet, and every article of adornment and luxury that can possibly be used about him, including a maid to attend to his needs. No one seems to think it involves a question of right and wrong, or that there is any moral responsibility attached to the keeping of pets ; but I maintain that there is, and, further, that no one has a right to take into the household an animal who cannot speak for himself (at least so that the careless can understand) with out giving thought and care to his comfort and health, and more to his happiness.

The middle course between the two extremes above cited is, as usual, the best. The dog as well as any other pet should be em phatically one of the family, and made as much at home, and as comfortable, according to his needs, as the master himself.

Dog Sleeping Place Dog Care

The first care should be to provide him with a regular sleeping-place, and a suitable bed and furnishings. The dog, as well as the man, enjoys the feeling of home given by a settled resting-place ; and no more than the man does he like sleeping " anywhere and anyhow," on the hard floor or the rough mat, as it happens, with no covering for cold nights. Pet dogs become accustomed to soft beds and their be longings, and learn to sleep quietly, and keep the covering over them. One whom I knew, when the cover slipped out of place in the night, used to go to the bed of his mistress, and waken her to have it replaced. One night when she was not well, and feared taking cold if she got up, she felt obliged to deny him, and he was so offended that he would have nothing to do with her for a day or two, re fused food from her hand, and even took up his abode at a neighbor's house.

For a big dog, the home with its bed is naturally in a kennel, shed, or someout-build ing. Wherever it is it should be dry, clean, and light, and protected from cold in winter. The floor should slope a little so that water will run off, and for the bed itself there should be a low bench or platform, on which is laid clean straw, fresh every few days, and covered by an old rug or bit of carpet, which is tacked down so that it will remain in position. The whole place should be kept clean and sweet by the use of whitewash or paint, and frequent ly washed out with a hose. The owner of a valuable dog will find his reward in the happi ness no less than in the good health of his pet.

A dog of the medium size who sleeps in the house, as the cocker and other spaniels, as well as the black-and-tan, and his fellow terriers, needs at least a corner of his own in a hall or empty room (never in a cellar), where his bed, a strip of carpet or something of the kind, shall be spread every night, and where, also, if he is troublesome by reason of wander ing about the house, he may be chained up for the night.

The delicate dogs, the tender greyhounds and the toys, need beds almost as soft and as well protected as our own, such as a half-cov ered dog basket, or a box of the right size with cushions and blankets. Letting a dog sleep in, or even on the bed with his master or his mistress is good for neither man nor beast, though it may be well to have him in the room, so that he can make it known if he needs attention in the night.

Diet of Dogs Dog Care

The question of the diet of a pet is, if one would keep him in perfect condition, as I'm portant as that of our own. At the same time, it is much more difficult to manage than our own, for it is almost impossible to harden the heart against the coaxings of a loving, win some creature who is accustomed to share one's joys and sorrows ; and to yield and allow him to partake of the family food is certain, sooner or later, to ruin his health. With the big out-of-doors dogs it is easy to make rules and hold to them, but the pet who follows at one's heels, who understands the call to lunch eon as well as any one, who sits up and " begs " so prettily, it requires a really Spartan firmness to resist, though it must be done or he will suffer.

Feeding Your Dog Dog Care

The best plan for feeding is to make a law, and enforce it rigidly, that a dog shall never have a mouthful from the table. Let him have his regular eating time, and not immedi ately following the family meals, so that he will be hungry and expecting it when they eat. It is said that two meals a day are enough for a dog, and just before the family breakfast, and perhaps four or five o'clock in the afternoon, are convenient hours. Care should be taken that he does not eat so much as to grow fat, and that he has the proper kind and variety of food. It is a mistake to give table scraps alone, to stuff him with raw meat, or to starve him on bare bones. He should have a little cooked meat, not highly spiced, or bread soaked in gravy, some plain vegetables, and a mush of some cereal, all mixed together, and not so much of it that he can pick out the meat and leave the rest. A bone not so hard as to spoil the teeth is good to gnaw on occasionally.

The dishes from which a dog is fed should be as clean as one's own, and never of rusty tin or iron; earthen-ware is better; and what is left on them should be at once removed.

His drinking-water should be fresh, often re plenished, and always where he can get it. The care required to insure all these things will be amply repaid by the health and spirits of the animal, and the mistress should at least oversee it herself, for the creature who cannot complain is apt to be imposed upon. The tiny pets require even more attention, and these it is never safe to leave to careless hands. Lean scraps from the table, with broken bread and potatoes or other vegetables, and a little gravy are admissible for them. The York shire, and other long-haired dogs, must either be fed from the hand or have their locks tied back to prevent soiling. In no case should these dainty pets be allowed candy, sugar, cake, pastry, or other rich food. They like them, of course, so does a delicate child, but they are just as unsafe for the one as for the other.

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