Animal Lovers

The dogs which take their name from the island of Newfoundland appeal to all lovers of animals.There are now two established varieties, the black and the white and black. There are also bronze-coloured dogs, but they are rare. The black variety of the Newfoundland is essentially black in colour; but this does not mean that there may be no other colour, for most black Newfoundlands have some white marks. In fact, a white marking on the chest is said to be typical of the true breed. Any white on the head or body would place the dog in the other than black variety. The black colour should preferably be of a dull jet appearance which approximates to brown. In the other than black class, there may be black and tan, bronze, and white and black. The latter predominates, and in this colour, beauty of marking is very important. The head should be black with a white muzzle and blaze, and the body and legs should be white with large patches of black on the saddle and quarters, with possibly other small black spots on the body and legs.

Apart from colour, the varieties should conform to the same standard. The head should be broad and massive, but in no sense heavy in appearance. The muzzle should be short, square, and clean cut, eyes rather wide apart, deep set, dark and small, not showing any haw; ears small, with close side carriage, covered with fine short hair (there should be no fringe to the ears), expression full of intelligence, dignity, and kindness.

The body should be long, square, and massive, loins strong and well filled; chest deep and broad; legs quite straight, somewhat short in proportion to the length of the body, and powerful, with round bone well covered with muscle; feet large, round, and close. The tail should be only long enough to reach just below the hocks, free from kink, and never curled over the back. The quality of the coat is very important; the coat should be very dense, with plenty of undercoat; the outer coat somewhat harsh and quite straight.

The appearance generally should indicate a dog of great strength, and very active for his build and size, moving freely with the body swung loosely between the legs, which gives a slight roll in gait. As regards size, the Newfoundland Club standard gives 140 lbs. to 120 lbs. weight for a dog, and 110 lbs. to 120 lbs. for a bitch, with an average height at the shoulder of 27 inches and 25 inches respectively; but it is doubtful whether dogs in proper condition do conform to both requirements.

When rearing puppies give them soft food, such as well-boiled rice and milk, as soon as they will lap, and, shortly afterwards, scraped lean meat. Newfoundland puppies require plenty of meat to induce proper growth. The puppies should increase in weight at the rate of 3 lbs. a week, and this necessitates plenty of flesh, bone and muscle-forming food, plenty of meat, both raw and cooked. Milk is also good, but it requires to be strengthened with casein. The secret of growing full-sized dogs with plenty of bone and substance is to get a good start from birth, good feeding, warm, dry quarters, and freedom for the puppies to move about and exercise themselves as they wish. Forced exercise may make them go wrong on their legs. Medicine should not be required except for worms, and the puppies should be physicked for these soon after they are weaned, and again when three or four months old, or before that if they are not thriving. If free from worms, Newfoundland puppies will be found quite hardy, and, under proper conditions of food and quarters, they are easy to rear.

There is no incongruity in the idea that in the very earliest period of man’s habitation of this world he made a friend and companion of some sort of aboriginal representative of our modern dog, and that in return for its aid in protecting him from wilder animals, and in guarding his sheep and goats, he gave it a share of his food, a corner in his dwelling, and grew to trust it and care for it. Probably the animal was originally little else than an unusually gentle jackal, or an ailing wolf driven by its companions from the wild marauding pack to seek shelter in alien surroundings. One can well conceive the possibility of the partnership beginning in the circumstance of some helpless whelps being brought home by the early hunters to be tended and reared by the women and children. Dogs introduced into the home as playthings for the children would grow to regard themselves, and be regarded, as members of the family

In nearly all parts of the world traces of an indigenous dog family are found, the only exceptions being the West Indian Islands, Madagascar, the eastern islands of the Malayan Archipelago, New Zealand, and the Polynesian Islands, where there is no sign that any dog, wolf, or fox has existed as a true aboriginal animal. In the ancient Oriental lands, and generally among the early Mongolians, the dog remained savage and neglected for centuries, prowling in packs, gaunt and wolf-like, as it prowls today through the streets and under the walls of every Eastern city. No attempt was made to allure it into human companionship or to improve it into docility. It is not until we come to examine the records of the higher civilisations of Assyria and Egypt that we discover any distinct varieties of canine form.

The dog was not greatly appreciated in Palestine, and in both the Old and New Testaments it is commonly spoken of with scorn and contempt as an “unclean beast.” Even the familiar reference to the Sheepdog in the Book of Job “But now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to set with the dogs of my flock” is not without a suggestion of contempt, and it is significant that the only biblical allusion to the dog as a recognised companion of man occurs in the apocryphal Book of Tobit (v. 16), “So they went forth both, and the young man’s dog with them.”

The great multitude of different breeds of the dog and the vast differences in their size, points, and general appearance are facts which make it difficult to believe that they could have had a common ancestry. One thinks of the difference between the Mastiff and the Japanese Spaniel, the Deerhound and the fashionable Pomeranian, the St. Bernard and the Miniature Black and Tan Terrier, and is perplexed in contemplating the possibility of their having descended from a common progenitor. Yet the disparity is no greater than that between the Shire horse and the Shetland pony, the Shorthorn and the Kerry cattle, or the Patagonian and the Pygmy; and all dog breeders know how easy it is to produce a variety in type and size by studied selection.

In order properly to understand this question it is necessary first to consider the identity of structure in the wolf and the dog. This identity of structure may best be studied in a comparison of the osseous system, or skeletons, of the two animals, which so closely resemble each other that their transposition would not easily be detected.

The spine of the dog consists of seven vertebrae in the neck, thirteen in the back, seven in the loins, three sacral vertebrae, and twenty to twenty-two in the tail. In both the dog and the wolf there are thirteen pairs of ribs, nine true and four false. Each has forty-two teeth. They both have five front and four hind toes, while outwardly the common wolf has so much the appearance of a large, bare-boned dog, that a popular description of the one would serve for the other.

Nor are their habits different. The wolf’s natural voice is a loud howl, but when confined with dogs he will learn to bark. Although he is carnivorous, he will also eat vegetables, and when sickly he will nibble grass. In the chase, a pack of wolves will divide into parties, one following the trail of the quarry, the other endeavouring to intercept its retreat, exercising a considerable amount of strategy, a trait which is exhibited by many of our sporting dogs and terriers when hunting in teams.

A further important point of resemblance between the Canis lupus and the Canis familiaris lies in the fact that the period of gestation in both species is sixty-three days. There are from three to nine cubs in a wolf’s litter, and these are blind for twenty-one days. They are suckled for two months, but at the end of that time they are able to eat half-digested flesh disgorged for them by their dam or even their sire.

The native dogs of all regions approximate closely in size, coloration, form, and habit to the native wolf of those regions. Of this most important circumstance there are far too many instances to allow of its being looked upon as a mere coincidence. Sir John Richardson, writing in 1829, observed that “the resemblance between the North American wolves and the domestic dog of the Indians is so great that the size and strength of the wolf seems to be the only difference.

It has been suggested that the one incontrovertible argument against the lupine relationship of the dog is the fact that all domestic dogs bark, while all wild Canidae express their feelings only by howls. But the difficulty here is not so great as it seems, since we know that jackals, wild dogs, and wolf pups reared by bitches readily acquire the habit. On the other hand, domestic dogs allowed to run wild forget how to bark, while there are some which have not yet learned so to express themselves.

The presence or absence of the habit of barking cannot, then, be regarded as an argument in deciding the question concerning the origin of the dog. This stumbling block consequently disappears, leaving us in the position of agreeing with Darwin, whose final hypothesis was that “it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world have descended from two good species of wolf (C. lupus and C. latrans), and from two or three other doubtful species of wolves namely, the European, Indian, and North African forms; from at least one or two South American canine species; from several races or species of jackal; and perhaps from one or more extinct species”; and that the blood of these, in some cases mingled together, flows in the veins of our domestic breeds.

Most children love animals and will usually start asking for a pet. Allowing them to have one can depend on many factors including where you live, how much time you have to give to a pet and your child’s maturity level. Is your child ready for a pet? Does he display real interest in an animal friend, or is it just the latest whine-de-jour? How does he handle responsibilities? Does he complete his age appropriate chores or is it a constant struggle to get him to do anything? If you cannot get him to pick up his dirty drawers, will he really feed, water and clean up after a pet?

Apartment dwellers are often drawn to the exotic pets because they are small and relatively easy to care for. Before starting to look at actual animals, make sure you know your child’s temperament and level of commitment to the idea and then narrow down the search. Find the right category of animal first and then start looking. Your search should take you to a reputable pet shop where a knowledgeable salesperson should take the time to match your child to the right pet, and not just try to make a fast sale. Make sure that you know what kind of equipment your new pet will need to stay happy and healthy before even heading down to the pet shop; some pets will be far more expensive initially than others.

Understand that while the child is the one that is asking for this pet, you will ultimately be overseeing its care, and potentially taken over full time. With that in mind, you will want to consider if you will be able to tolerate the chosen pet. If you are anti-snake, and your son has refused to clean the cage, what will you do? Also, consider the pet’s diet before allowing him to become part of your family. Snakes for instance, eat rodents. Will you be able to handle that? Will it be too intense for your child?

Finally, realize that the attention span of even the most patient child can be as short lived as the toy filled commercials they are bombarded with. Today’s “hot” pet will be tomorrow’s passé reject, so be prepared to step in and adopt the cast off. Until your child is older than ten, you might want to stick with fish, or birds, both of which require minimal human contact, are pretty and rarely creep out Mom.

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One of your most important responsibilities as a horse owner is to make sure your horse is always well taken care of and properly fed. If you overfeed your horse with too much grain, you can give him gas colic, which is a horse’s inability to burp, which can be a serious problem. If the horse cannot burp, they will develop gas in their digestive system and they will experience very severe abdominal pain.

In order to avoid the problem of colic, be sure to feed your horse at regular intervals. You will need three smaller meals a day instead of one large one. Each meal needs to include plenty of fiber for the horse’s digestive system, so they will need a lot of good quality hay. You will also need to make sure that your horse’s water is frequently changed. If your horse is extremely active or even pregnant, you will have to put in horse grain or pelleted feed.

Fiber is extremely important for your horse. You will need to make sure that you have the right kind of feed for your horse at all times. You will need horse quality hay delivered to you to avoid getting hay that wasn’t cut or dried properly for your animal. In fact, if you give your horse bad hay, it can kill it. You will need to break a bale of hay open and smell it before you think about feeding it to your horse. If it looks or smells dusty with a musty scent, do not feed it to your horse. Hay that comes from the first or even second cutting is okay and has a lot of nutritional supplements. The third or even fourth cuttings are worthless to a horse.

Your horse will need to consume around three flakes of hay every day. If your horse is getting fat from lack of exercise, you can cut down to two flakes every day. A flake of hay is a substantial amount of hay that weighs roughly four pounds. Most of the time, you can mix timothy hay with alfalfa hay for your horse. If your horse ignores the timothy hay to get to the alfalfa, feed him his timothy first on the next feeding when he is very hungry. The timothy has more nutrition and is less fattening than the alfalfa hay.

If you don’t have a lot of storage room for hay bales, you can think about giving your horse horse fiber. The hay cube is one of the most popular versions of horse fiber. You can get tightly compacted cubes of hay that will take up a lot less room. The most popular version is the cubes made from alfalfa. You can also find cubes in pet stores, but generally, these cubes are for bunnies and other small animals, not horses. You need to ask for at least 50 pounds in hay cubes to get the best deal. You can also get pelleted hay, but experienced horse owners don’t typically prefer this option.

If you compete in horse shows frequently or prefer long trail rides, you will need to give your horse supplemental pieces to his diet, including more grain or pelleted feed. Most of the time, pleasure horses will just need a cup of grain a few times a week. You can talk to your vet about what is appropriate for your horse, but you shouldn’t give your horse grain every day or else you will end up with an overweight animal. Definitely ask your vet if your horse qualifies for vitamin or mineral supplements as well to make sure that all of his requirements are being met!