and savage.  His chain is often too short and is not provided with swivels to avert kinks.  On a sudden alarm, or on the appearance of a trespassing tabby, he will often bound forward at the risk of dislocating his neck.  The yard-dog’s chain ought always to be fitted with a stop link spring to counteract the effect of the sudden jerk.  The method may be employed with advantage in the garden for several dogs, a separate rope being used for each.  Unfriendly dogs can thus be kept safely apart and still be to some extent at liberty.

There is no obvious advantage in keeping a watch-dog on the chain rather than in an enclosed compound, unless he is expected to go for a possible burglar and attack him.  A wire-netting enclosure can easily be constructed at very little expense.  For the more powerful dogs the use of wrought-iron railings is advisable, and these can be procured cheaply from Spratt’s or Boulton and Paul’s, fitted with gates and with revolving troughs for feeding from the outside.

Opinions differ as to the best material for the flooring of kennels and the paving of runs.  Asphalte is suitable for either in mild weather, but in summer it becomes uncomfortably hot for the feet, unless it is partly composed of cork.  Concrete has its advantages if the surface can be kept dry.  Flagstones are cold for winter, as also are tiles and bricks.  For terriers, who enjoy burrowing, earth is the best ground for the run, and it can be kept free from dirt and buried bones by a rake over in the morning, while tufts of grass left round the margins supply the dogs’ natural medicine.  The movable sleeping bench must, of course, be of wood, raised a few inches above the floor, with a ledge to keep in the straw or other bedding.  Wooden floors are open to the objection that they absorb the urine; but dogs should be taught not to foul their nest, and in any case a frequent disinfecting with a solution of Pearson’s or Jeyes’ fluid should obviate impurity, while fleas, which take refuge in the dust between the planks, may be dismissed or kept away with a sprinkling of paraffin.  Whatever the flooring, scrupulous cleanliness in the kennel is a prime necessity, and the inner walls should be frequently limewashed.  It is important, too, that no scraps of rejected food or bones should be left lying about to become putrid or to tempt the visits of rats, which bring fleas.  If the dogs do not finish their food when it is served to them, it should be removed until hunger gives appetite for the next meal.

Many breeders of the large and thick-coated varieties, such as St. Bernards, Newfoundlands, Old English Sheepdogs, and rough-haired Collies, give their dogs nothing to lie upon but clean bare boards.  The coat is itself a sufficient cushion, but in winter weather straw gives added warmth, and for short-haired dogs something soft, if it is only a piece of carpet or a sack, is needed as a bed to protect the hocks from abrasion.