y essential thing, the kennel. Where only a brace of dogs are kept, the
common movable box kennel is sufficient. This should be large enough to
hold the two comfortably, with a sharp pitch to the roof and projecting
front; but I should recommend one for each dog slightly raised from the
ground, sufficiently high for the dog to stand up in, and wide enough for
him to turn round in. The entrance had better be boarded up, except a hole
for him to enter and get out by. But where a large number of dogs are
kept, this plan of separate houses is expensive, and in their place I
would recommend a brick building sixteen feet long by five feet wide and
six feet high, or, if brick be not get-at-able, a boarded house will do;
but it ought to be lined and boarded outside, the space between the two
filled up with sawdust, and weather-boarded. Besides, this sixteen feet
must be divided into three compartments right up to the top, one eight
feet for the dogs, one five for the bitches, and one three feet for the
worked dogs. The doors should be large enough to admit a man to clean. The
beds ought to be raised on a bench from the floor, this bench movable on
hinges at the back, so that it can be hoisted up, and cleaning done below.
The dogs ought to be prevented getting under their beds, by a board
reaching from the outside edge of the bench to the floor. Six or eight
inches is sufficient raise. The floor of this kennel should slope
outwards, to carry off wet. The door should have a small hole in it, with
a swing door, so that by pushing against it, the dogs can get either in or
out. In front of these two, that is to say, the dog and bitch departments,
a court-yard, either paved or flagged, both preferable to brick, since
they dry quicker, and consequently there is less fear of kennel lameness,
caused by paddling on a damp floor. These courts ought to run out at least
ten or fifteen feet to the front, and of course the partition kept up
between the two. This outside court may be palisaded, but it should be at
least ten feet high, else the dogs are liable to break kennel; and the
front of the house also at the top should be fortified, to prevent their
eloping that way. If possible, a stream of running water should be
conducted through the yards; it aids its daily washing, as well as
enabling the dogs to get as much pure water as they choose. When this
cannot be had, a trough must be daily filled for their use. Clean wheat
straw, removed twice