Care to Your Dog!

All pet dogs should be treated as members of our family and adequate attention must be paid to the canine’s health. Sometimes dogs become sick but may not look so. It is very important to recognize and understand dog illnesses symptoms.

Since prevention is a better cure, we must learn something about dog illnesses and symptoms so we can better understand their conditions. This will help us recognize some common dog illnesses. If appropriate and adequate vaccinations are administered to the puppies, most of the common dog illnesses can be easily prevented.

Some elementary observations are useful to recognize certain common dog illnesses. Dogs take a lot of sleep but their sleep is marked by alertness. If a dog is sluggish then there may be various causes contributing to it, right from anemia to old age. If the dog is limping then you should check for prospective painful areas using a firm and yet gentile hand. Check out for any signs indicating lameness from time to time.

The appetite of the dog is bound to be affected by ill health. Look for any signs of loss of appetite. An important sign of dog health problems is excessive thirst. A pronounced weight loss is also an indicator of ill health. Check the eyes for any ulcers, discharges, veins or sores.

The mouth of a healthy dog is pink. There should not be any discoloring or cavities in the teeth. Look for signs of discharge from ears. It is advisable to clean the ears from time to time. The dog’s head should be regularly checked for sore patches, hair loss, or deep wounds.

Investigate the limbs and trunk for the same signs. If the dog is vomiting, there may be various underlying problems. If the body temperature of your dog is not between the range 38 to 39 Celsius it is an indication of some kind of illness. Check the female dogs for any kind of foul smelling vaginal discharge, which needs attention of a vet.

The symptoms of pain and discomfort experienced by a dog can give us many clues about the possible underlying illness. If the dog is suffering any abdominal pain, it may be due to canine hepatitis, enteritis or it can be a simple case of constipation. The abdominal swelling dogs indicate canine bloat and roundworms in puppies. Aggression of the dog may be caused by rabies. Roundworms, tapeworms, and whipworms my cause anemia in dogs. Any behavioral changes in dog can be an indicator of hookworms, tapeworms, whipworms, canine arthritis, heart disease, canine, or parvovirus.

Kidney diseases sometimes cause blood in urine. Eye infections and entropion cause bloodshot eyes in dogs. A ruptured diaphragm, obstructed airway, lungworm, bronchitis, pneumonia, food poisoning, heatstroke, allergies can cause respiratory problems in dogs.

There are various reasons of sudden change in weight of dogs like heart disease to heartworms. Hernia might be caused due to long term constipation in dogs. Allergies, parvovirus, hepatitis, lungworm, TB, pneumonia or distemper may be one of the reasons of coughing in dogs. Cannine parvovirus can also cause dehydration in dogs. Any pancreatic disorder, food poisoning can give rise to diarrhea in dogs. The dog may suffer from hair loss due to mange, red mange demodectic, scabies, cheyletiella mange, or cushings syndrome.

If dog indicates any signs of failing genital bleeding, persistent constipation, projectile vomiting, fainting, hair loss, seizure, stumbling, trauma, trembling, mouth bleeding, rectal bleeding, lethargy, shaking, urinating problems contact a dog care specialist.

It may be the worst thing that can happen to a dog owner: coming home and finding your “best friend” suddenly dead-when the dog had seemed completely healthy. Unfortunately that’s exactly what happened to me one October afternoon, when I came home to find one of my German Shepherds dead on the floor. What could it be? A stroke? A heart attack? After getting over my complete state of shock-the dog was not “aged” and seemed completely healthy-I began digging for answers.

It turned out that the cause of death was an event called “stomach torsion” that comes about from “bloat”. This is a serious issue in pet dog health, its the second leading cause of death for large dogs. But at the time, I didn’t know very much about it.

Becoming educated on this issue could mean the difference between death and several extra years of life for your dog.

OK-so what is it? Let’s try and describe it in laymen’s terms. Bloat is basically a condition where a lot of gas or fluid gets trapped in the dogs stomach. This really isn’t all that different from what might happen to you if you drank too much root beer on a full stomach, but in dogs, and in particular large dogs, this is a serious problem. This is because the stomach isn’t as well set in the body cavity as ours is, a dogs stomach is kind of hanging loose if you will. When it becomes over-engorged with fluid or gas, it can twist around.

When it does, the result is a medical emergency. The blood supply to many vital organs gets cut off when this happens, and the dog goes into shock. Death will result if surgery is not performed. A symptom that this is happening is that the dog will be throwing up clear liquid or attempting to throw up.

One tragic aspect of this condition is that onset can happen rapidly, and so you may become aware of it when its too late. That’s what happened in my case, my dog was fine when I left the house. I was gone for a few hours, and when I got back she was dead. Its a sad state of affairs but the progression from bloat to stomach torsion to death can happen in as little as an hour.

We can’t be with our dogs 24 hours a day 7 days a week, but what we can do is take steps to reduce the risk of it happening. Here are a few things you can do:

• Break up your dogs feedings. The less food a dog takes in when it eats the lower the risk. A dog that eats just once a day has a higher risk than a dog that has its meals split into two or three portions a day.
• Watch out for dry food. Dogs that eat all dry food have a higher risk. Consider feeding canned food, or mixing dry and canned together. When you do this substitute a can of moist dog food for a cup of dry food. This helps because dry food tends to expand when liquified in the stomach adding stress to the stomach.
• Feed using raised bowls. There is a bit of controversey about this one, but feeding using raised bowls may help reduce the risk. This is because some dogs gulp down air when they eat, and its believed by some that bowls raised off the floor cut down on the amount of air gulped in. This in turn cuts the risk of bloat happening. Raised pet bowls are available for sale on the internet.
• Watch out for diarrhea. If a dog has chronic diarrhea, it may increase the risk. Make sure to get diarrhea treated.
• Never exercise right after feeding. Let the dogs stomach “settle” for an hour or two before going out for exercise.
• Avoid feeding immediately after exercise. After a long walk, a dog probably wants to drink lots of water. Doing that and then eating can be a fatal recipie.
• Don’t feed late at night.

Before this happens I had no idea what a serious problem this was in pet dog health. Interestingly, it often takes dogs in their prime: most victims are aged between 4 and 7 years of age. But dogs of any age can get it, and although males have a higher risk, female dogs die from it as well.

In the end we can’t prevent every bad event from happening. But at least taking these steps will put your mind at rest since you’ll know you were aware, and took responsible steps to control the risk.

More information on pet dog health: click here

Do you love dogs? Or do you like pet dogs? There are a lot of people anywhere in the world that loves and cares for their pet dogs. Whether they are cats, dogs, snakes, birds, or any type of animal for that matter most people like to have them. They are great for companionship and security too. They can be amusing too and for some they serve as their helper in some ways. They can also relieve you of some of the stresses of daily life.
To some ranchers, dogs act as their companion in the wild and a helper at the same time. Imagine yourself in the wild or in the bushes all alone, that can be lonesome and scary to some. But if have your favourite pet dog with you it would more relaxing stroll and hike into the woods. When ranchers try to gather all their cattle to the barn, their pet dogs can lend a hand by corralling the herd to the barn. Now you need another person to do the job for you.
Your pet dog can also help you relieve your daily life stress. You will notice if you go for a walk in the park that people have their favourite dogs with them. It is very relaxing to go and walk with your pet animal since they can make run and have fun with them. Pet dogs are very playful too, that can motivate you to go out and have fun running around or simply play with them. Especially at night and you decided to have a walk in the park, having your pet dog with you can give the sense of security.
In terms of security, there are many types of dogs that are easily trained to be guard dogs. Just like the American Staffordshire Terriers, they are gentle and good natured towards people. They are always the happy type, sociable and good with children. These breed makes a good companion because they are very protective and affectionate about their owners and families. But sometimes you have to properly train and socialize this type of breed to avoid temperamental behaviour.
Take a walk with your terrier to relieve stress. Take a walk with your German Sheppard to reduce your sugar or glucose level for diabetics. Take a walk with your favourite Dalmatian and have some fun in the park. Take a walk with your golden retriever to watch the autumn leaves in the park. Whatever you want to do in the park or in the farm or in your house, take your favourite pet dog with you. It will be worth your while.
Your pet dogs can be one of the best companion you can have nest to your spouse or children. Feeling secured at home or any place when you are with your pet dogs is a very relaxing feeling.