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Practical Tips
on Dog Care |
PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT
Many people are deterred from keeping dogs by the belief that the
hobby is expensive and that it entails a profitless amount of trouble
and anxiety; but to the true dog-lover the anxiety and trouble are far
outbalanced by the pleasures of possession, and as to the expense,
that is a matter which can be regulated at will. A luxuriously
appointed kennel of valuable dogs, who are pampered into sickness,
may, indeed, become a serious drain upon the owner's banking account,
but if managed on business principles the occupation is capable of
yielding a very respectable income. One does not wish to see
dog-keeping turned into a profession, and there seems to be something
mean in making money by our pets; but the process of drafting is
necessary when the kennel is overstocked, and buying and selling are
among the interesting accessories of the game, second only to the
pleasurable excitement of submitting one's favourites to the judgment
of the show-ring. The delights of breeding and rearing should be their
own reward, as they usually are, yet something more than mere
pin-money can be made by the alert amateur who possesses a kennel of
acknowledged merit, and who knows how to turn it to account. A
champion ought easily to earn his own living: some are a source of
handsome revenue.
Occasionally one hears of very high prices being paid for dogs
acknowledged to be perfect specimens of their breed. For the St.
Bernard Sir Belvidere sixteen hundred pounds were offered. Plinlimmon
was sold for a thousand, the same sum that was paid for the Bulldog
Rodney Stone. For the Collies Southport Perfection and Ormskirk
Emerald Mr. Megson paid a thousand sovereigns each. Size is no
criterion of a dog's market value; Mrs. Ashton Cross is said to have
refused two thousand pounds for her celebrated Pekinese Chu-Erh, and
there are many lap-dogs now living that could not be purchased for
that high price. These are sums which only a competent judge with a
long purse would dream of paying for an animal whose tenure of active
life can hardly be more than eight or ten years, and already the dog's
value must have been attested by his success in competition. It
requires an expert eye to perceive the potentialities of a puppy, and
there is always an element of speculative risk for both buyer and
seller. Many a dog that has been sold for a song has grown to be a
famous champion. At Cruft's show in 1905 the Bulldog Mahomet was
offered for ten pounds. No one was bold enough to buy him, yet
eighteen months afterwards he was sold and considered cheap at a
thousand. Uncertainty adds zest to a hobby that is in itself engaging.
Thanks to the influence of the Kennel Club and the institution of dog
shows, which have encouraged the improvement of distinct breeds, there
are fewer nondescript mongrels in our midst than there were a
generation or so ago. A fuller knowledge has done much to increase the
pride which the British people take in their canine companions, and
our present population of dogs has never been equalled for good
quality in any other age or any other land.
The beginner cannot easily go wrong or be seriously cheated, but it is
well when making a first purchase to take the advice of an expert and
to be very certain of the dog's pedigree, age, temper, and condition.
The approved method of buying a dog is to select one advertised for
sale in the weekly journals devoted to the dog. A better way still, if
a dog of distinguished pedigree is desired, is to apply direct to a
well-known owner of the required breed, or to visit one of the great
annual shows, such as Cruft's, Manchester, The Ladies' Kennel
Association, The Kennel Club (Crystal Palace, in October), The
Scottish Kennel Club, or Birmingham, and there choose the dog from the
benches, buying him at his catalogue price.
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