German Shepherd Ears
It’s important for every dog owner to recognize dog health problems and symptoms as your furry pal relies on you to be his or her “first responder” when they have a problem. You can tell when they aren’t feeling all that well but do you really know what to do? Listed below are the symptoms for some common dog health problems ranging from the everyday to the very serious.
Dog Diarrhea
The symptoms of this condition are pretty obvious. Your canine buddy is probably going to express some pain when defecating because that strain is just magnifying the pain in his stomach. The stool will be runny and may be an abnormal color. The odor will be more intense.
Diarrhea in dogs is quite common thanks to a dog’s complete lack of discrimination in what he eats. If it smells okay and doesn’t hurt his mouth then it is potential food. As a result they eat stuff that makes them sick.
Symptoms Of Lyme Disease In Dogs
Lyme disease is a bacterium known as Borrelia which is transmitted to your dog through a tick bite. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms until weeks after the infection and when they do show they are often mistaken for other ailments.
The most common symptom is one that appears to be arthritis. Joints and lymph glands can become swollen making it very painful for the dog to walk or even get comfortable laying down. Your pal will become listless, may refuse to eat because the effort hurts too much, and may revert to using the inside of the house as his bathroom rather than going outside.
The giveaway that this is Lyme’s and not arthritis is that the affected limbs will change. When arthritis develops it doesn’t move around. With Lyme’s disease one side of your dog can be affected one week and then suddenly it heals and the other side is affected.
Symptoms of Distemper
Distemper is an airborne virus that is highly contagious and affects the dog’s respiratory, gastrointestinal and nervous systems. Distemper will first show itself with cold like symptoms with watery eyes, runny nose, a cough and sometimes diarrhea. Later in the development of the disease the dog will suffer from disorientation, twitching and even convulsions. Unfortunately there is no effective treatment for this disease.
Symptoms of Ear Infections
These infections are fairly common particularly with dogs that have heavy earflap like Bassets and Dachshunds. The infection is caused by bacteria or yeast that appear when there is a change in the dog’s ear like an infestation of ticks or mites. Symptoms of an ear infection include the shaking of the head, a pawing of the ears, pain and a foul odor coming from the ears.
Of course there are many more ailments that can affect your canine friend but the thing to remember is prevention. It’s really not so different from taking care of a kid. Keep their shots up to date, keep them well fed and clean and provide clean bedding. Parasites cause most of the problems and if you can limit your dog’s exposure to strange dogs you are limiting the possibility of exposure to disease. If you notice dog health problems that do not go away after a few days, take your pal to the vet.
Do you know how to treat the three most common dog health problems that dogs come down with. I know I didn’t. I always took my dog to the vet only to learn I could have done the same thing at home and avoided the expense. If you want the answer to these questions and so much more, visit http://homeremediesfordogs.org right now.
Tribute to a very special German Shepherd dog named “Puppy”
Kennel Training A Puppy
How to stop a puppy from peeing inside her kennel?
I have a 8 week old weimaraner and have began puppy kennel training so she knows not to go in the house. The problem i’m facing is at night she relieves herself inside her kennel. If I wake up every 2 hours and take her out it doesn’t happen, but I’m tired and sometimes knock out for a good 4-5 hours before I hear her barking and laying in her urine. What should I do?
Firstly, dogs don’t eliminate where they sleep unless there’s an issue. This may include:
1. infection
2. pet store or reputable breeder? Pet store dogs “learn” to go in their crate
3. crate size: if you bought a crate for an adult weim and it’s sized as such, you need a divider. a crate that’s too big means she can go in one corner and sleep in another.
4. schedule: you should take your dog out once a night for the next few weeks (depends on dog, but probably 3 or 4 weeks). Suggested sched: take her out to pee before you go to bed or between 10-11. Get up once in the night, say 2:30 and take her to her spot. – better for you do schedule this, e..g. alarm, rather than let her whine. If you let her whine, then you’ll need to work on the whining eventually – she’ll learn to get your attention buy whining. The take her first thing, between 5 and 6. Eventually, she’ll develop more bladder control and the middle-of-the night trip won’t be necessary. Also, don’t give her water or exercise her hard (creating need for water) too late. Stick to a feeding schedule. BTW, rule of thumb for puppy bladder is hours=age in months + 1. At 8 weeks that’s about 3 hours (though this will be a little longer at night when she sleeps, but don’t stretch it much beyond this)
5. Surface: Dogs are very surface and context sensitive. E.g a dog that learned to go on dirt, needs to learn to go on grass and vice-versa. Simply plopping a puppy on a surface they’re unaccustomed to does not mean they’ll go. You need to teach the puppy to go on that surface or wherever her spot may be.
6. adjusting your training: e.g. Try, try again. If you take the dog out and she doesn’t go, take her back inside and then take her out again. When she does go in her designated spot, praise and reward like crazy. Also, make absolutely sure she has no distractions, i.e. no play, no toys, no affection. There’s a time and place for those and this is not it.
Assess and address each of these as required and you’ll start seeing success.
NEVER yell at your dog for going in an inappropriate place. Remember, it’s inappropriate for YOU not for her, so you need to teach her your rules. Punishment can encourage her to “hide” it from you and/or become overly fearful of you.
Good for you for choosing crate-training – that’ll speed up the process bigtime, help prevent her from chewing up your house, and will help with her separation anxiety.
BTW, I disagree with those that suggest putting the crate in your room beyond say the first few nights you have her. Weims are notorious for separation anxiety and if you start doing this you can easily encourage it – and then your problems are just beginning. She needs to learn that she’s OK by herself in another room.
Good luck!!
Puppy Homeschool: Crate Training Fun
Dog Potty
How to potty-train dog in new area
Q: Our 2-year-old dog spent the bulk of her life in a shelter before we adopted her. She was easily house-trained and has adapted well to our home. However, she has one strange habit: She will not relieve herself on walks and will only go in an enclosed area…. Toilet training – Dog – Recreation – Pets – Activities
Dog Training – Dog Potty Training