terriers in.




CHAPTER IV.

GENERAL HINTS ON BREEDING.


Having become possessed of suitable kennels to house his stock, the
breeder is confronted with the great question: How and where shall I
obtain my breeding stock? Much depends on a right start and the getting of
the proper kind of dogs for the foundation. Our celebrated Boston poet,
Oliver Wendell Holmes, when asked when a child's education should begin,
promptly replied, "A hundred years before it was born." This contains an
inherent truth that all breeders of choice stock of whatever description
it may be, recognize. To be well born is half the battle, and I think this
applies with particular force to the Boston terrier, for without a good
ancestry of well bred dogs, possessing the best of dispositions,
constitutions and conformity to the standard, he is worse than useless.

Whether the start is made with one bitch or a dozen, I believe the best
plan to follow is to obtain of a reliable breeder, noted for the general
excellence of his dogs in all desirable characteristics, what he considers
the best stock obtainable for breeding purposes. This does not imply, of
course, that these bitches will be candidates for bench honors, but it
does mean that if mated with suitable sires the production of good,
all-round puppies with a reasonable amount of luck will be the result. It
would be useless to attempt to deal with the subject of breeding in more