(1.) The Kind Of Food

Flesh meat is the dog's natural food, although he can digest and assimilate vegetable food also. An exclusive diet of flesh tends to grossness of body, and, as a consequence, to diseases of an inflammatory character, and also to cutaneous disorders. Horse flesh is largely used as dog's meat, and it is a highly nutritive aliment, fitter for dogs that are much exercised than for those that have little or no exercise; in the latter case it is likely to induce foulness of the system and mange. No dog should be allowed to eat the flesh of a diseased horse. Mutton is a good, but expensive food, and may be given even to house-dogs, occasionally and in small quantities. Paunch and tripe are proper foods, and their continued use is not likely to be followed by evil consequences. Lean meat is at all times more wholesome than fat. Liver is another good article as an occasional meal; it has a laxative property, and may for that reason be sometimes given to dogs troubled with constipation from torpidity of the liver. But the liver and entrails of sheep and oxen are objectionable for this reason, - they are frequently the seats of the bladder-form of the tape-worm, which becomes fully developed into the mature Tenia in the dog's intestines. Boiling would destroy the vitality of these parasites; but it also removes the laxative property of the secretion of the liver, and renders the liver itself an indigestible aliment. Soft bones, which are easily chewed, and therefore do not injure the teeth, are nutritive, and need not be withheld; but hard bones, unless when large and covered with scraps of meat, should not be given, as they are injurious to the teeth when the dog attempts to crunch them. Fish and poultry bones are apt to break up into splinters, which may stick in the throat and cause choking, - hence they are bad. Picking a large* bone now and then has this other advantage - the action of a tooth-brush. For domestic dogs, meat of whatever kind is better boiled than raw.

Dogs do best on a mixed bill of fare, - dogs that are not much worked. Oatmeal and Indian meal - the latter subjected to prolonged boiling - are excellent food; bones slightly covered with flesh may be boiled up with either meal. This is an economical and nourishing dish, which most dogs relish highly. "Greaves"* may be used in lieu of meat, and should be well boiled before adding the oatmeal. Sweet milk or butter-milk may be allowed to the oatmeal porridge; a small portion of fatty matter or gravy is also a savoury and beneficial addition. Kitchen refuse, such as bones and meat, well boiled into a soup, and then thickened with potatoes or meal, is another mode of providing a suitable meal. The liquor in which salt-meat has been boiled is objectionable. House dogs of diminutive size may be fed on biscuits, previously softened by having boiling milk or gravy poured over them. Vegetables should be boiled once or twice a-week with the broth; in fact, the rule for all other dogs, save sporting dogs, is to give a mixed diet, neither exclusively animal nor exclusively vegetable. The diet should also be varied, as the dog tires of one particular article of food. Butter, cakes, sugar, and other things that are sometimes given to favourite dogs are decidedly hurtful.

* This is objected to by some, on the ground that it sets up a tendency to jaundice.

A special dietary is necessary for sick dogs. An exclusive vegetable diet is often necessary, when, from over-feediug, the dog is troubled with skin-diseases, or is loaded with fat, or is in too plethoric a condition. In all inflammatory diseases, supposing the desire of eating be retained, the food should be reduced in quantity and richness of quality. On the other hand, diseases that have induced debility and exhaustion, from their severity or long continuance, should be met dietetically, by giving the patient some kind of nutritious food. An occasional meal of vegetables, or of liver, is of great service in constipation, and far better than purgatives. Kitchen physic for dogs should be fresh, untainted, without any kind of unpleasant smell, irreproachably clean, and nicely cooked; otherwise the patient may turn up his nose at it. Sometimes he may fancy a bit of flesh, or bacon, or pork; and one or other may be preferred raw.* To avoid the alternative of compelling the dog to swallow what he will not voluntarily take, it is sometimes advisable to give way to these partialities. In disease, the appetite sometimes requires to be coaxed by unusual foods. When the dog is exhausted from disease, and when he cannot or will not take food, then concentrated fluid nutriment must be put into the stomach through a tube passed down the throat; or carefully administered by spoon; or even thrown up the rectum, if necessary. Beef-tea, either alone or mixed with powdered biscuit or ground rice, is indispensable in these cases. Arrowroot and gruel axe good as a change.

(2.) The Quantity Of Food

No rule can be laid down on this point, as age, breed, work, and such-like circumstances, must necessarily regulate the amount of food which a healthy dog ought to be allowed to consume. There is a rule founded on size, - Give a dog one ounce of food daily for every pound of his weight; but this rule is open to many exceptions. Dogs that are idle, confined, and out of exercise or work, should of course have less food than those that are placed the other way, unless we wish to induce obesity and a host of attendant evils. In proportion to the waste of tissue consequent on exertion should be the amount of food. Much also depends on quality; because it is clear that there is more actual nutriment in a small quantity of flesh meat than in a large quantity of vegetable food. As dogs, if permitted, invariably eat more than is sufficient for the requirements of healthy action, it is important not to allow them to continue eating until appetite is fully satisfied, but to take away the remains of the meal as soon as they begin to be less eager than at first. Almost all house-dogs gorge themselves with food; it will therefore be safe and salutary to reduce the usual amount. No titbits should be given between regular meal times.

* "Measly" pork should not be given raw, because it contains embryonic tape-worms, which become mature parasites in the intestines of the eater, whether canine or human.

The quantity for sick dogs depends so much on the nature and stage of their disease, that no specific rule can be given. Great care is necessary during convalescence to prevent cramming.

(3.) The Frequency Of Meals

It may be stated as a physiological fact, that the dog's stomach in health cannot digest a full meal of flesh under twenty-four hours. Sporting dogs are found to flourish on one daily meal. Dogs can bear many hours' abstinence without injury, but such abstinence, if frequently repeated, is followed by stomachic disorder. One meal in the twenty-four hours is quite sufficient for strong healthy dogs; but a supplementary evening repast may be added in the case of delicate or weakly animals. Nothing is worse for dogs than giving them scraps of food during the day.

In the case of sick dogs, it may be necessary to offer, or to administer nourishment, in small quantities, three or four times a-day.