Small toy bitches sometimes have but little milk at first, but by giving warm food only for the first few days, and plenty of milk to drink, it generally comes all right, and so long as the pups seem fairly content, all is well; the flow is sure to increase. Both before and after pupping there is generally a little diarrhoea, which is of no consequence; but if it goes on beyond the second day after pupping, get the bitch on to her usual diet, with a little cold milk to drink, and stop all sloppy foods. Oatmeal, as gruel or otherwise, should never be given after the second day. A discharge, of mucus mixed with blood, is usual after pupping, and may continue for several weeks in gradually lessening amount.
An indispensable adjunct in the rearing of valuable toy puppies, which, as a general rule, do far better in the house than in any stable or out-of-door premises, is one of Spratt's or Boulton and Paul's little houses and runs. As personal and vicarious experiences are all that any writer can adduce to support theory, I may be allowed to describe the procedure which has been found successful with my own puppies--born, bred, and reared in house and garden as they are.
Directly they leave the basket of their infancy (in which, _par parenthèse_, I must say, I think them more delightful, helpless little soft morsels, than even when they begin to run about, show intelligence, and need feeding) they are introduced to one of these useful abodes, comprising a sleeping house, provided with a cosy blanket, freely washable and often changed, and a little wired-in run about 4 ft. by 2 ft. The bigger this the better, of course; and if it has a floor, as some have, pierced with small holes and draining into a removable tray to be kept full of earth, or sawdust, it will be well. Mine is a humbler affair, floorless, and stands on a piece of oilcloth, covered with a large sheet of brown paper, which can be daily renewed; yet it answers its purpose very well. In this, with outings two or three times a day, for variety, the puppies live until they are seven weeks old; the mother, loose about the house, visiting them at her inclination and sleeping with them. At between three and four weeks old they must be taught to lap, which is easy enough with some pups and difficult with others. Warm, boiled milk should be the only addition to what the mother gives them until they are over a month old: it is a mistake to hurry puppies on to patent foods, bread and milk, and the like. Do not let them have a saucer and upset it, tumbling into it and getting themselves in a mess, to dry all sour and disagreeable, but hold their little heads one by one as they lap, for they _will_ nod into the saucer and send the milk flying.
