s it; though the difference of name given to
such recreations may, to weak eyes, invest them with very opposite
attractions.

At this place it is not intended to enter at length into the plan to be
pursued in rearing the pups; but the method in which they ought to be
weaned must be pointed out. Some persons remove the entire litter at a
stated period; various dates being fixed by different individuals when the
young ones can do for themselves. A pup can survive if taken from the
mother at the expiration of the third week; but it must be a strong
animal, or it will feel such an early separation from the source of its
natural nourishment.

The stronger the pup, the more attached is the bitch to it; and I have
known these animals to pine and neglect the rest, when the favorite has
been taken from her. If, however, the healthy are beloved, the weakly, in
almost a stronger degree, are the objects of dislike. In many breeds where
the value is regulated by the lightness of the weight, the one most prized
by the owner is the one that too frequently dies. The causes of this
disappointment are many. Pups have neither politeness nor generosity. They
scramble at their meals; and the one that is not able to contest for his
share is certain to get the least. Thus the debilitated hope of particular
litters comes but badly off. It is pushed aside by its brothers and
sisters, whose vigorous greediness appears to endear them to their mother.
For the boisterous gluttons she will accommodate her position, and fondly
lick them in return for their energetic appetites; but to the poor sickly
thing she has given life to, she lends no assistance, and bestows no
attention upon. She seems to be ashamed of, and disgusted with, its
degeneracy and while the others grow fat and sleek from positive
repletion, it becomes thin and dirty from actual starvation. Where,
therefore, it is desirable to rear the smallest of the litter, the
proprietor must take care to see it properly fed. The bitch may need to be
held, in order that the little one may suck her; and often have I placed
her under such restraint.

In order that the small one may be nurtured, some persons have taken away
from the mother the rest of the family; but this practice, though
successful with regard to the life, generally disappoints with respect to
the diminutiveness, which made the existence precious. Upon the abundance
which such single blessedness secures, the growth is generally ra