The education of the puppies should begin as soon as they can run around.  Very much depends upon a right start.  We are admonished to “train up a child in the way he should go,” and this applies with equal force to the dog.  Treat them with the utmost kindness, but with a firm hand.  Be sure they are taught to mind when spoken to, and never fail to correct at once when necessary.  A stitch in time saves many times nine.  A habit once formed is hard to break.  Never be harsh with them; never whip; remember that judicious kindness with firmness is far more effective with dogs, as with children.  Be sure to accustom them to mingle with people and children, and introduce them as early as possible to the sights of the street, to go on ahead, and to come at your call.  Prevent the pernicious habit of running and barking at teams, etc., and other dogs.  The time to check these habits as aforesaid is before they become fixed.  If, after all these pains, you see a dog show the slightest disposition to be vicious, then do not hesitate to send him at once by a humane transit to dog heaven.  By thus continuously breeding a strain of dogs with an affectionate nature and the elimination of any that show the least deviation from the same, in a short time kennels can be established whose dogs will not only be a source of supreme satisfaction to the owner, but will be the best advertisers of said kennels wherever they go.

It will readily be admitted by all who have given the matter any consideration that a dog of an affectionate nature, whose fidelity has always been constant, and whose devotion to its owner has always under all circumstances been perfectly sincere and lasting, makes an appeal to something that is inherent in human nature.  The fact of the case is that the love of such a dog is imbedded in the soul of every normal man and woman who have red blood in their veins.  I think it is instinctive, and has its foundation in the fact that from the beginning of time he has ministered to man’s necessities, and has accompanied him as his best friend on man’s upward march to civilization and enlightenment.  “There may be races of people who have never known the dog, but I very much question if, after they have made his acquaintance, they fail to appreciate his desirable qualities, and to conceive for him both esteem and affection.”

[Illustration:  Champion Lady Dainty]

[Illustration:  Champion Todd Boy]

CHAPTER VIII.

BREEDING FOR A VIGOROUS CONSTITUTION.

I think there never was a time in the history of the breed when this particular feature needed more thoughtful, systematic and scientific attention devoted to it than now.  For the past few years breeders have been straining every nerve, and leaving no stone unturned, to produce small stock, toys, in fact, and everyone realizes, who has given the question thoughtful consideration, that this line of breeding has been at the expense of the vigor, and indirectly largely of a beautiful disposition, of the dog, to say nothing of the financial loss that must inevitably ensue.