Su HINTS FOR DOG LOVERS : BUYING A PUPPY When you are buying a pedigree puppy, avoid the illegal prac- tice of two selling prices -— “with papers” or “without papers”. The livestock pedigree Act, a federal statute, requires that a person selling a dog as pure bred must furnish, or agree to furnish, a certificate of registration together with fully recorded *“ ; transfer of ownership to the buyer. Make sure also that the puppy has had the necessary needles, been wormed, x-rayed, tattooed for identification, and regis- | tered. You should receive a year’s warranty with your pup, | that he is free of all hereditary disease, and from conditions | such as a displaced hip — quite a common congenital con- | dition in dogs. Perhaps you can understand now why you may have to pay $100 or more for a 6 or 7-week old puppy. That puppy has been bred from champion animals, feeding costs come high especially for the dam, the puppies have had to be whelped, hand fed, and trained to be clean. In addition a lot of money has had to be laid out on needles and other veterinary services, as well as on the very necessary papers. If there is hereditary disease it will show up in the first 2 year, so that the warranty ensures you a potentially strong and | healthy animal. Of course if you don’t continue with the proper | needles and the dog gets distemper, or if it gets into an ac- cident or lost in the bush, your warranty naturally covers none of these things. A note here about German Shepherds, a Shepherd does not become immune to distemper permanently. For him yearly vaccines are a must for it has been proved possible for a German Shepherd to take distemper as old as 9 years. THE BEST PETS . Female puppies make the best family pets, and spaying docs not alter the temperament. Females are I'ke women, they have much more patience, and will stand more abuse from children than a male dog. Their -Jict should be watched for otherwise they get fat and lazy. But it’s not the spaying that makes them a. lazy, it’s the obesity. ONCE YOU HAVE YOUR PET As a small puppy it should be fed well and often and should get plenty of sleep. A variation of food is a necessity, as a dog gets bored with the same thing all the time. Puppies like oatmeal as well as puppy food, and they should have plenty of dried milk mixed into their food and warm water added. Vegetable oil should also be added, and twice a week cat food is good for them. In fact you can feed a dog a couple of cans of cat food a week, as it contains all the necessary vitamins. Feeds are reduced in number as the dog get older. At | year a dog is usually fully grown and should have one meal a day, the principal ingredient raw butchers meat, No need to go to a lot of expense for this, see your butcher and ask for the meat that is unsold. [t can consist of bones and chops, steaks and stew meat, hamburger, and even fish, but any sau- sages included should be well cooked. An adult dog also needs dricd dog food twice a week mixed with dried milk and warm water to provide roughage, He should drink a gallon of water a day, and in these cold climates a teaspoon of sugar can be added to the water, which should be slightly warm. Don't force your dog to live outside im the very cold weather, Find a place for him in the house and a bed in the basement, 16