Dogs and All about Them

CHAPTER XLIX PRACTICAL MANAGEMENT Many people are deterred from keeping dogs by the belief that the hobby is expensive and that it entails a profitless amount of trouble and anxiety; but to the true dog-lover the anxiety and trouble are far outbalanced by the pleasures of possession, and as to the expense, that is a matter which can be regulated at will. A luxuriously appointed kennel of valuable dogs, who are pampered into sickness, may, indeed, become a serious drain upon the owner's banking account, but if managed on business principles the occupation is capable of yielding a very respectable income. One does not wish to see dog-keeping turned into a profession, and there seems to be something mean in making money by our pets; but the process of drafting is necessary when the kennel is overstocked, and buying and selling are among the interesting accessories of the game, second only to the pleasurable excitement of submitting one's favourites to the judgment of the show-ring. The delights of breeding and rearing should be their own reward, as they usually are, yet something more than mere pin-money can be made by the alert amateur who possesses a kennel of acknowledged merit, and who knows how to turn it to account. A champion ought easily to earn his own living: some are a source of handsome revenue.