The reader ought now have a near idea of the dietetic treatment required by the average English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppy, which is to be found among all varieties excepting toys & others that must be kept down to certain weights, fixed by standards, in order to be able to compete in their various classes at English Bull dogs & French Bull dog shows. In other words he is a English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppy to whom size, health, strength & endurance are essentials of infinite importance.
Among the so-called toys there are some fairly robust, but taken as a whole they must be considered delicate compared with other members of their race, while some are notoriously lacking constitutionally. & this is due to the persistent efforts to get the smallest, but not, as some writers have stated, to a persistent selection of the smallest for breeding, for as a matter of fact only a very few of the smallest toys will breed.
Obviously no one rule can be fixed for these varieties, & the limits of the digestive powers must be carefully studied in every instance & the feeding be in accordance with them.
For most English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies of toy breeds new milk must be the principal food during the month after weaning, & this can be occasionally thickened slightly with bread, crackers or well-boiled rice. Mutton or beef broths can then be allowed, but in the beginning they must be as thin & as sparingly used as in cases of infants taking them for the first time.
To feed only a very little & very often must be the rule with the smallest of these, & once in an hour & a half will be near right for about a month after English Bull dogs & French Bull dog pupies weaning. Then a trifle longer intervals will be allowable, but they must be very slowly & gradually lengthened, for even when mature toys should have food several times in the day.
In feeding toys & other varieties which it is desirable to keep down in weight breeders must have before them the fact that the animal foods, milk & meat, alone & uncombined with other substances, tend to produce firmness of flesh with an absence of superfluous fat; while on the other hand vegetable foods, & particularly the starches, favor the laying on of fat. They must also bear in mind that animal foods abound in the materials for bone & muscle building; & while in moderate quantities they do but little more than meet the wear & tear of the body & keep the muscles firm & complete, if they are given in excess they tend decidedly to increase the size of the bony structure & amount of muscle or flesh.
That there may be no mistake these physiological facts are simplified & dressed for practice: Give puppies the animal foods, meat & milk, in moderate quantities only & they will be likely to keep down in bone & muscle; give them vegetable foods in large quantities & the tendency will be merely to fatten; give animal foods in large quantities & the chances are many that the puppies so fed will in consequence increase rapidly in bone & muscle.
Evidently, therefore, in order that English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies may be kept down in weight & size & still be strong & healthy their breeders must feed with exceeding nicety. They must rely largely upon milk, & the quantity of this even must be restricted as nearly as possible to the actual requirements of the body as it then stands, for excess would favor increase in the size of the frame and amount of flesh.
But even in large quantities milk does not tend to fatten if deprived of its cream, yet this is the specially force-producing part, & were milk largely depended upon, to deny very young English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies this part would be to invite weakness and frailties beyond those they inherited. Therefore it would be better to give them new milk for the first month or two, and when they are strong & active - that is for their kind - use skimmed milk or buttermilk largely; & they can generally be safely allowed these at frequent intervals. But it must be little & often even with milk, & a fairly large quantity during the day; & on no account should they be given a large quantity at any one feeding.
All this bears as well on other varieties that must be kept down in size and weight in order to be able to pass under the standard. Their food must be principally animal - milk or meat - & what starchy substances are given them must be reduced in quantity as soon as they put on too much fat; while too rapid growth in frame and muscle will call for a reduction in the quantity of animal food, & especially the meat.
As for the use of vegetables, the safest rule is to allow them only such as grow above ground, as spinach & other "greens," lettuce, nettle tops, squash, etc., for those from below the ground, as potatoes, carrots, beets & the like are decidedly fattening.
Returning to delicate toys & considering them without reference to ages, the fact appears that those with long coats, as Yorkshires & Maltese terriers, cannot bear much meat because of its stimulating properties, & when given in excess it not only tends to create internal derangement & disease but "heats up their blood." This condition in turn excites skin affections, especially those attended with intense itching, & has a ruinous effect on the coat. & the same evils of excess of meat appear in some of the short-coated toys - the black-and-tan terriers, for instance - in which such skin diseases are never easily cured.
But while toy terriers are easily injured by excess of meat they must not be deprived of this food, & although much of it may be in the form of broths or extracts, - as the "blood gravy" from roast beef or mutton - under ordinary conditions they should have one of these meats at least once a day.
New milk should constitute their breakfasts, luncheons in the middle of the afternoon, & the last meal at bedtime - late in the evening - if one is allowed them.
Fresh tripe that has been boiled in milk & then chopped fine is very acceptable to these little ones, & mixed with a small quantity of boiled barley - the same being softened with a little of the milk in which the tripe was boiled - does nicely for the feeding in the middle of the forenoon.
Bread cut thin & buttered is suitable for a change & may be given occasionally to all that like it, the slices being broken into small pieces & fed from the hand.
For the heartiest meal of the day - at about six p.m. - boiled rice should be the principal constituent. Over this should be poured a little gravy, & then should be added about one-third as much finely chopped beef or mutton as there is rice, also a small quantity of vegetables, & all the ingredients be thoroughly mixed.
For a change, bread, plain crackers, "tea sops," beef or mutton broth, & scraps from the table if they are free from grease & pungent condiments, as pepper & mustard.
Of this diet, which is as well suited to other toys which have but little out-door exercise, a more extended discussion will appear in the part devoted to "Exhibiting Dogs."
It is unnecessary to consider at length the diet of short-coated toys, as Italian greyhounds, for theirs should be much the same as terriers; but being less susceptible to meat rather more of it can be allowed them - yet not nearly the quantity which would be safe for hardier breeds.
As to the quantity of food that should be given puppies at each feeding, without considering variety, no rule can be fixed other than that already laid down - little & often. & manifestly keen observation must be backed with no small amount of common sense or one will stray at this point, for he must see that his puppies keep in good "growing flesh," he must never feed so little as to leave them crying from hunger, & he must stop while yet they might eat more.
Beginners in English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppy-raising should start with the conviction that the tendency of almost every inexperienced person is to overfeed; also, that the appetite of English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies cannot be considered a safe indication of the quantity of food actually required by them. Appreciating these facts they must study their charges closely, & if they do so intelligently, afterward apply judiciously what they have learned, feed always little & often, stop before there is any distention of the abdomen, & keep their English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies on their legs & moving about as much as possible, they will not be at all likely to make any grave mistakes in this part of their duty.
When thick foods are given them & their yards are flagged or concreted & frequently flushed & kept clean, puppies - no matter how young they are should be made to work for their meals by the following method :
Measure out the quantity of food which is to be allowed two English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies for that meal. Assuming it to be bread or rice & a taste of sheep's head or well-boiled tripe, throw them down just a little. After eating that they will at once hunt around for more. Let them hunt for a while, & then throw down a little more - being careful that each puppy has an equal share. Continue to do this until the supply of food is exhausted.
Now when these English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies are put into that yard again they will at once begin to go over it for food; & the more industrious they are the stronger they will be on their legs & the better they will thrive.
Before leaving English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppy feeding a few general rules will be given for the guidance of English Bull dogs & French Bull dog novices.
Never leave in the pens or yards any other food than bones. In other words consider the duty of feeding your English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies an important one, stand over them while they are eating, determine the quantity of food that is sufficient, afterward measure out like quantity & give them that & no more.
Wash your pans as soon as you have fed.
When feeding long-coated toys tie back the long hair of the head lest it become soiled & unhealthy & break at the ends.
Use care in feeding an Irish water spaniel or poodle, for instance, lest his long & heavily coated ears get into the feeding dish & become bedabbled with food.
The first thought of the novice bulldogger would be to tie or otherwise fasten the ears behind the head, but the experienced fancier - he who is familiar with the secrets of the kennel would have jars for feeding & watering that were just large enough to admit the English Bull dogs & French Bull dog's head comfortably, & the ears must then, of course, fall outside of the same & no food or water could possibly get on to them.
See to it that the scraps you feed from the table are free from pungent condiments, as pepper, mustard & vinegar or other acids. & this rule should be invariably observed with the delicate toys even after they have reached maturity.
With the common varieties of young English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies be sparing in the use of corn meal, & never give it to the toys whose blood is easily "heated up."
Keep English Bull dogs & French Bull dog puppies well supplied with good, wholesome drinking water, & at the earliest possible age teach them to take advantage of it.
Now to the English Bull dogs & French Bull dog feeding of mature dogs. With only one small dog in a fairly large family the "scraps" from the table, consisting of trimmings & pieces of stale bread softened with a little gravy, a few spoonfuls of vegetables & small bits of meat should be ample & eminently suitable for his support; but if the dog is of a large size & the family small, or there are several English Bull dogs & French Bull dogs belonging to it, this supply would scarcely meet the demand. Did it nearly do so, however, dog cakes might be used to fill the measure, & they could be depended upon for breakfasts, & given alone & unbroken or crushed & softened with milk or broth.
Here the fact intrudes that keeping one English Bull dogs & French Bull dog in the house & a dozen or more in kennels are entirely different matters. The former fed on "scraps," running around at will & enjoying a trot with first one & then another member of the family, is nearly always in good condition. But when it comes to managing a large English Bull dogs & French Bull dog kennel a knowledge is required that the man who only knows how to keep a English Bull dogs & French Bull dog in the city does not possess. In fact one English Bull dogs & French Bull dog in a family will literally keep himself, but with those in the English Bull dogs & French Bull dog kennels good judgment, constant care & precision of methods are absolutely imperative or the inmates will soon be out of condition.