In kennel management Lady Gifford takes the keenest interest, and her
system appears so excellent, that all engaged in hound breeding may find
something to learn from it. "I always think," writes Lady Gifford, "that
when hounds are in work, they are often given their food too wet. This,
I am sure, is a mistake. I give my hounds the best oatmeal that can be
got, and too much care cannot be given to the making of the porridge. It
must be boiled just right, or it is worse than useless. There is a
biscuit known as bread biscuit, which I find extremely good for hounds,
though it is a little difficult to get. It is made, I understand, from
the dinner rolls and bread left at London parties, and so you may be
sure it is made of the best meal. I always find, however, that my meal
merchant is anxious for me to have _any_ kind of biscuit except this.
The washing and grooming of hounds is, I think, a point in the kennel
not sufficiently thought of. All the summer months I have my hounds
thoroughly washed with soap and warm water, and of course thoroughly
dried, and though no doubt this takes a long time, the result well
repays you. If hounds are well groomed every day, they will keep twice
as healthy, and their coats will have a shine like satin, exactly like
a well-groomed horse. As to exercising, I take them out on the road
every morning about six o'clock, for two hours, and in consequence they
never really get out of condition, but by the time August comes round
they are quite ready for 'cubbing' so to speak."
Another point on which Lady Gifford gives information which others may
find valuable, is concerning a cure for that "kennel dread," distemper,
which she learnt from the great veterinary surgeon, Professor Pritchard.
She advises a preparation of coffee and milk in equal parts, exactly as
you would have it made for your own consumption, then to drench the
puppy continually with it, allowing him to touch nothing else, and while
the treatment lasts to keep the puppy in an even temperature. The
results of this treatment, in Lady Gifford's kennel, has been all that
could be wished, and though previously she had had heavy losses from
this cause, she has never since lost one that she has tried it on. Is it
possible that as this simple remedy becomes better known, we may find
that cruel scourge, distemper, disarmed of its terrors?
[Illustration: _MRS. PRYSE-RICE'S KENNELS._
_ALDENHAM BITCHES._]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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