Mr. Vyner gives an interesting account of the young hounds' kennel:
"This building," he says, "should be as far from the other
lodging-rooms as the arrangements of the structure will allow. There
is also an additional court, or grass-yard, an indispensable requisite
in the puppies' kennel. The size must be regulated according to the
waste land at the end of the building; but the longer it is, the
better. At the farther end of the grass-court is a hospital for such
young hounds as are distempered, so contrived as to be remote from the
other kennels, and, at the same time, within an easy distance of the
boiling-house, whence it is apparently approached by an outside door,
through which the feeder can constantly pass to attend to the sick
hounds without disturbing the healthy lots. Although this lodging room
is warmed by the chimney of the boiling-house, it must be well
ventilated by two windows, to which shutters must be attached;
ventilation and good air being quite as necessary to the cure of
distemper as warmth."
KENNEL LAMENESS.
We now proceed to a most important and ill-understood subject--the
nature and treatment of 'kennel lameness'. It is a subject that nearly
concerns the sportsman, and on which there are several and the most
contrary opinions.
This is a kind of lameness connected with, or attributable to, the
kennel. According to the early opinion of Mr. Asheton Smith, who is a
good authority, it was referable to some peculiarity in the breed or
management of the hounds; but, agreeably to a later opinion, it is
dependent on situation and subsoil, and may be aggravated or increased
by circumstances over which we have no control. Some kennels are in low
and damp situations, yet the hounds are free from all complaint: and
others, with the stanchest dogs and under the best management, are
continually sinking under kennel lameness.
Mr. R. T. Vyner was one of the first who scientifically treated on this
point, and taught us that 'clay is not by any means an objectionable
soil to build a kennel upon', although so many pseudo-sportsmen are
frightened by the very name of it.
He enters at once into his subject.
"I am thoroughly convinced," says he, "from my own experience, and, I
may add, my own suffering, that the disease of kennel lameness arises
only from one cause, and that is an injudicious and unfortunate
selection of the spot for building. The kennel is generally built on a
sand-bed, or on a sandstone rock, while the healthiest grounds in
England are on a stiff clay, and they are the healthiest because they
are the least porous. Although this may be contrary to the opinion and
prejudice of the majority of sportsmen, it is a fact that cannot be
contradicted.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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