Related to Medicus, 'Notes for Novices: Puppy Rearing', Our Dogs 52 (18th Nov. 1921), p. 929.
Description:

Compare passage in latter:

‘Now, in the first place, let it be clearly understood that almost everything about the future welfare of a puppy depends upon it having a good start in life. If this is to be insured he must not be a member of too large a family. Many dog owners make the mistake of allowing a bitch to rear, or attempt to rear, too many puppies, with the result that if they do not actually lose some portion of them, some are sure to be delicate, and if so, will remain a source of trouble and expense for a long time, and perhaps do no good at the finish. When puppies are expected, therefore, arrangements should be made to have a foster mother available, which can take over a share of the maternal responsibilities. There is usually not much difficulty in arranging this, as the advertising columns of Our Dogs will abundantly testify. The important thing is to get matters fixed up early, and when the exchange is effected, it should be done with care and prudence, so that the foster mother upon which the trick is being played does not have her suspicions aroused. As to this, we can hardly do better than follow nature, and let the bitch’s diet consist largely of raw lean meat, which in the case of small dogs, especially of the Toy varieties, should be minced up. Next to raw, lean meat, oatmeal boiled in milk is a very desirable food for the nursing mother. There are, of course, a considerable number of patent and prepared foods on the market, many of which have been found serviceable, and possess a good deal of merit; these can be tried by way of variety, and experience will soon show where suitable or otherwise. Having regard to what I shall say presently about the worm plague in puppies, it will be well as far as possible to regulate the feeding of the bitch, so as to keep her free if it may be from that nuisance, and thus lessen the chances of her puppies falling victims to it. Various methods have been suggested of accomplishing this end; perhaps the best is to give her a fairly liberal allowance of coarse brown bread, which can be soaked in gravy or soup or mutton broth. Once a week she might also have a good feed of bullock’s liver. Both these things have a mild laxative effect, and this tends to prevent the development of worms, and is much better, therefore than giving purgative medicine. Indeed, purging medicine must not be given to butches [sic] nursing whelps, as it will upset the milk supply, and probably lead to disaster. If at any time purgative medicine becomes really necessary for the mother, the only safe thing to give is a mixture of castor oil and olive oil to the proportion of one part of the former to two parts of the latter, though I may say that the addition of a little syrup of buckthorn will make the other palatable, and do no harm.’

 

with former:

‘I am so often asked questions about suitable food for dogs that a few hints may be useful. I do not recommend horse-flesh unless the history be known. So many of the animals slaughtered are suffering from disease that it is more likely that the dogs fed on their carcasses will be affected by, probably, skin disease. Raw meat, however, is good, but not for dogs kept without plenty of exercise. Sheep’s heads boiled, and the soup thickened with rice or good hound meal or puppy meal, makes an excellent food for old or young, as the case may be. A change of diet is most necessary. A boiling of bullock’s liver now and again acts well as a natural aperient, whilst various seasonable greenstuffs may be included in the boilings. A dog should be fed twice daily. Breakfast may consist of oatmeal porridge, rice boiled with skim milk, and dry dog biscuit. At night a good boiled stew with vegetables and hound meal. Of course, the feeding will depend to a large extent upon the work the dog is expected to do. Delicate or invalid dogs need special care in feeding; everything should be done for them on the lines as it would be done for a human patient. Beef tea, broth, light digestibles of every kind, whilst all feeding utensils, etc., must be kept scrupulously clean. Bones are always good for dogs, which by nature have been formed with mighty powers of digestion; bones, also (as do hard dry dog cakes) assist largely in keeping the teeth clean and well preserved.

...

The feeding of puppies is, of course, a matter of great importance. If the mother be strong and hearty, and her litter be not too large, they will thrive rapidly, provided the parent is suitably fed on nutritious milk-forming foods. If the mother is not able, from any cause, to suckle her offspring, a foster mother is the next best method. And indeed owners of valuable dogs should always provide a foster mother in cases of need. In good time, before the nine weeks of gestation draw to a close, inquiries should be made, and some quiet mongrey [sic] bitch due to have whelps at the same time should be procured in readiness. If no foster mother can be had, and the natural mother fails, they must be brought up by hand; in this case milk and water is the first best food. At six weeks old puppies may be weaned. They are best weaned gradually, taking care that the mother does not suffer. The puppies may have thin oatmeal an milk, rice boiled in sheeps-head brother [sic], and lumps of hard biscuit to gnaw. On no account should puppies be kept on bricks; this causes bow-leggedness sooner than anything. And special attention is also necessary to the worm trouble, f[ro]m which nearly all puppies suffer, and which is the chief cause of mortality amongst them.

...

It sometimes happens that a bitch has a large litter of valuable puppies, which she is not strong enough to rear herself, and so it becomes necessary to “foster” them. On this topic I was reading recently some practical hints in a book by Edward Mayhew, which are well worth reproducing. He says that the pups want to be fed early and late, consequently they must be taken into the bedroom, and when the feeding time arrives the soundest sleeper will be reminded of his duty. “A bottle, such as is used for infants of the human kind, must have a sort of nipple made of wash-leather fitted to it. The leather is to be pricked all over with a fine needle, and within it is to be placed a small piece of sponge, to give substance and form to it... Each pup occupies from ten to fifteen minutes at a meal, and they may be allowed to decide the quantity that will do them good, unless they should be obsessively gluttonous, when the indulgence of its appetite should be retained.”'