Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1886-03-18
How q Dog ShOnld be Fed.

The puppy, when just weaned, should
be fed four, five, or even six times day,
and from two months to four months of
age, four times; after that three times,
to the age of ninc to twelve months, nc
cording to the breed--the smaller va
rieties reaching maturity soonest; after
that twice day is enough, full meal
being given each time, until maturity
is reachedr Regularity as to time is
important in feeding, both because it
assists health and is u considerable help
in intoxicating orderly and clearly hab-
its. Minute calculations have been
made as to the amount of food required
by dog, with the result of conflicting
statements of opinion, ranging from
one-twentieth to one-twclfth of his
own weight per day, and it is often
stated in this form-one ounce of food
for every pound the dog weighs. Ex-
pericnce convinces me that in the mat
ter of quantity of food the scales are
better dispensed with, using instead the
dogs appetite as the correct measure;
| therefore always advise that dog
should have as much at a meal as he
will eat freely, and that when he stops
to turn it over and pick out bits here
and there, the dish should be removed.
The composition and quality of the
food is the next point claiming consid-
Grafton. In reference to the first point,
l think it necessary to refer to theories
propounded by DIR. Billings, V. S., of
Boston, Massachusetts, in two lectures
delivered in that city, and reproduced
with apparent approval by that section
of the American press which specially
deals with canine matters. have not
the text before me. so cannot quote
with verbal accuracy; but, briefly stat
ed, DR.. Billings, founding his argument
on the admitted fact that the dog is a
carnivorous animal, declared he should
be fed entirely on flesh, and even went
so far as to say that farinaceous food
was poison to the dog. The English
practice for centuries-from the tim of
that excellent huntsman and discourser
on dogs and their treatment, Edmund
de Langley, of the early part of the
fourteenth century, confirmed by such
practical writers as Turberville and
Gervase Markham, of the sixteenth,
Cox, Jacobs, and others, of the seven
teenth, and all the masters of hounds,
huntsmen. game-keepers, kennel men.
and every other person who has kept "
dog since--is dead against DR.. Billings S
| theory, which, indeed, should rather be
named ''crotchet." For dogs there is
no more wholesome food than the mix
ed scraps from the table, consisting of
meat. bones, bread, and vegetables. and
when there are more dogs kept than
there are bones and scraps for, the bro
ken victuals should be taken as the
standard of the component parts of that
which has to be further provided.
In regard to pet dogs kept by ladies,
the great mistake often made is Go over
feed and feed too richly. 1t is mis-
taken kindness to feed dogs on rich. fat
producing diet; and to give sugar and
sweet cakes and buildings is to certainly
destroy the powers of the digestive and
assimilative organs; and anything that
produces excessive fairness will bring on
asthma, to which disease pugs and other
short-faced pets are especially prone.
Occasionally we meet with, in all breeds,
a dog that is dainty feeder. These
have to be coaxed to eat. little at a
time being given, and a tonic of iron
and quinine with gentian given daily for
week or two at a time.-Hugh Dalziet.
in Ldrper's Magazine.