Show lore dog by albert payson CHOOSING A PUPPY 1 I dont know which to chioso OLD MAN NEGLEY turned AS into vine street tor his dally round of grass cutting and gar be was balled excitedly b lit tie mark rendle its my birthday I 1 cried mark and daddy s given me a wonderful collie pup tor a surprise present good I 1 applauded old man neg ley A puppy Is the grandest present eliat can be given to any real boy where Is he lets have a look at him he here yet said lark that s what I 1 ve been waiting to see you abent diddy bought him at the collie kennels out at blanks burg last week there are six collie puppies out there only a little more than three months old lie says I 1 can take my pick of them and he wants to anuw if you 11 come out to blacksburg Blanks burg with me to help choose the best one the car s all ready and waiting to take us there won t you please come mr negley daddy says you can charge him for the time it takes please do he says you know more about dogs than anyone else here and be wants me to be sure to get the best half an hour later the rendle chaut beur was stopping in the in front of the collie kennels and a came forward to es cort mark and old man to the runs mark was tumbling out of the car in crazy eagerness almost before it came to a halt in a wire fenced yard with a raised kennel house behind it six furry collie pups were frisking like a of teddy bears old man Neg leys keen eye swept them as they came can terling to the fence to greet the visitors U m 1 he said in an undertone to his crony the as mark rushed on ahead to inspect the pups II 11 m 1 I 1 see youve put all the family pet pups in one yard and weeded out the quality ones why not countered the kennel man in the same tone D you expect the boss to sell off the flyers as pets when he can make five times as much by keeping cm or by selling cm at top prices to other bleeders breeders bre eders this bunch of youngsters are as good for pets as it they were all champion timber the public dont know the difference sooner have a thick headed and round eyed collie with a curly coat so long as he has a big white collar and a big white blaze down his face than to have the best headed plain faced champion since the das of grand old sunnybank Sunny bank gold smith and stirling alie public remembers the colored picture books they looked at ahn they were kids and the collies in those books all had thick heads and big round eyes and great wide white collars and kinky coats and great wide streaks of white down their noses so the kind of collie they want and that s the kind of collie the boss Is selling em at agreed old man alie re every bit as good pets and chums and guards as the champion type collie its only when the owner of one of them takes bis dear pet to a dog show thinking hell get all the prizes it B only then hell know the difference and even then hell likely hank the judge Is a fool to give all he prees to cleion collies with almond ces and uncurled coats and oft enest without big wide streaks of white down their facea for house dogs and pets this bunch here Is as good aa any and just as clever and pretty too now doroe on while I 1 help the boy pick out his dog mark bad heard no word of this dialogue with shining eyes he had been standing in front of the wire looking down at the six eager little collie fares upturned to his and at the dozen pattering white forepaws and the six wildly wagging tails 1 I I 1 dont know which one to chooses cho osel stammered mark ecstatically all so wonderful 1 all are wonderful at that age said old man negley that why its so easy to sell any sort of mutt when hes a puppy and so much harder to sell any sort of mutt when he begins to shape up but dont choose any of them just yet you buy a horae would you after only seeing him stand still in the stall I 1 Is ever choose a puppy till youve had him out of his yard and watched him playing around and had a chance to study him and examine him I 1 can help you a little bit though as a starter dont choose that pup farthest to the left ive been watching him lies sulky and besides he a shy shy by nature not just indifferent theres a lot of difference and be snarls in a cranky way when the oth era try to play with him lie has a mean eye too there s not much ma aerial for a chum in that one 1 I advise you not to pick out the one next to him either he has lop ears like a rabbit A prick eared col lie puppy can have his ears trained to the right tulip shape after he Is seven months old by weighting them with chewing gum or candle grease just inside the tip three show col lies out of five are prick eared by nature but theres no hope for ears that flop down flat on the sides of the head the fault will grow worse all the time it spoils his ciolll expression and gives him the look of a bound the puppy has a badly overshot jaw too count him out that leaves four any of them four ought to make a fine chum and a handsome family dog now suppose you let the kennel man turn the tour loose on the grounds while you play around with them a while A minute afterward three of the four puppies came storming out of their yard miniature furry whirlwinds whirl winds the fourth followed at a slovenly walk showing none of their glad excitement in the romp instead of joining them in their gallop he lay down presently as if for a nap old man picked him up and put him back in the yard closing the wire gate behind him you dont want that one said he either be Is born lazy or else he Is sickly if lies sickly you certainly dont want him if hes as lazy and listless as that while he s a baby then hell turn into a fat and lazy grown dog and no sort of a comrade tor a lively boy he broke oft to watch the remain ing three puppies then going over to one of them he picked it up gently and returned it to the yard that poor little fellow had his leg trodden on or lain on by his mother when he was a baby said he the bone or the sinew got twisted out of shape did ou see how he jerked his leg sideways when he ran and the leg splayed out to one side when he stood still its a defect get worse as he grew older biow then weve left two to choose from velch shall it be I 1 know which but suppose you watch carefully and see it you can tell both pups but one Is worth ten of the other to you which one and why copyright by th syndicate gnei |