Grifón de Bruselas"Corot as Landseer"

The whimsical expression born on the face of strange little-faced dogs (human indeed is their face expression) has made the Griffon one of the most popular Toy dogs. It is exceptionally well-built, surprisingly built indeed. The coat, what is left of it, makes all the difference. It is important to remember that. An old ragged coat spoils the dog. It no longer appears to have the expression desired. The old coat is therefore removed. Every six months the hair is taken between the finger and thumb and given a gentle jerk, and out it comes. Mrs. Mabel Parker Rhodes, a breeder of these dogs, advises that it is best to start the plucking at the tail end of the spine. Of course, Wire-haired terriers are always plucked, and I have heard that it is cruel and yet I have seen a Terrier standing on a table undergoing this business and never seen it even wince! Indeed, I have shown a dog-owner who complained how cruel it was on his own dog that cruel or not, the dog does not know that it has happened! In the eighties, as illustrations show, the Griffon owners did know how to put up a dog properly. Mrs. Parker Rhodes gives the feeding of puppies from eight to fourteen weeks old, and as I have not mentioned feeding in this book, it will be interesting. The puppy starts at 8.30 with breakfast of egg and milk or brown bread sop, and at 12.30 has its dinner of finely-chopped steak with a puppy food. At 4.30 comes tea, dry sponge-cake and a powdered milk food with Virol. At 8.30 this meal is repeated. At 10.30, bedtime, another feed of powdered milk with a little hard biscuit rusks. As time goes on the bedtime drink of artificial milk (milk powder and water mixture) is omitted. But they do not eat much, and the feeding, although from this would appear to be expensive, is no such thing. One egg is enough for six puppies with sufficient milk added to give each puppy one tablespoonful! Mrs. Rhodes ads that if a litter of puppies is too large for a mother to rear give some of the puppies to a cat to bring up, which will look after them until they are six weeks old.