CKC
RegisteredChampionship Lines
Hips & Eyes Certified
Guaranteed
|
|
Search | | | Privacy | | | Contact | | |
|
|
| DOG CARE |
|
| Basic Canine Health Information |
| Canine Health Links |
| Choosing a Good Breeder |
| Choosing a Kennel |
| Do I Want a Dog? |
| Grooming |
| Health Issue Related to Dog Breeding |
| Losing Your Dog |
| Nutrition Basics |
| Poisons at Home |
| Puppy Information |
| Recipes for Dog Treats |
| To "Fix" or To Breed? |
|
|
| CKC
Registered Championship Lines Hips & Eyes Certified Guaranteed |
|
|
|
Basic Canine Health Information Home:
Dog Care: Basic Canine Health
Information |
 |
Topics
included in this section: The information presented here is in no way intended to replace the advice or care of a qualified veterinarian. It does represent the general policies we are following for the care of our puppies/dogs. This hopefully, is "food for thought" and may make you aware of areas that you want to clarify with your vet. Click
here for a list of canine health links.
Responsible breeders should know which genetic diseases are a problem in their breed of choice, e.g. hip dysplasia. They should have had their breeding stock checked for these genetic problems (& any other health problems) and should be able to show you proof. Most responsible breeders should offer some type of written guarantee of their puppies' health. Before you buy a new puppy, be sure the person who is selling him provides you with his health record and that you are aware of any health problems that he's had. Be sure you know when the puppy's next vaccination is due.
|
|
While the bones are growing i.e. up to 12 months of age), it isn't safe to exercise your puppy as much as you would with a healthy adult. Click Puppy Information for recommendations about safely exercising puppies.
|
Expect your puppy to lose their baby teeth and replace them with adult teeth starting at about 4 1/2 months of age. Usually, the puppy just swallows loosened teeth. But you may notice bleeding or a tooth on the floor or even that the ears hang differently due to swelling of the tissues associated with teething! When you brush your puppy's teeth, look to see that the baby teeth are being lost when the new teeth come in. It is unlikely, but possible, that some or all of the puppy's adult teeth will come in without loosing the previous set. When there are two "copies" of a tooth, crowding occurs & the baby tooth might need to be removed by a vet. Ideally, this would be noticed early and corrected at 6 months when the pup is spayed/neutered. (You don't want to pay for two separate surgical procedures. And more importantly, risks are present every time your puppy is anesthetized for surgery. So you want your puppy/dog to have as few surgeries as required.) During teething, your puppy may not want to eat dry food because his gums will be very sore. You can moisten his food with water to soften it up & encourage him to continue eating. While teething, your puppy will probably want to chew even more than usual. There are a variety of soothing treats you can give the puppy to soothe his gums as he chews them:
There are basically 3 vaccinations in the puppy series, and each shot offers an increasing degree of protection from infections. Adults require a yearly booster, otherwise immunity will be lost over time. We learned from experience how important it is to be cautious while a puppy is not fully vaccinated. When the dam of our Summer '99 litter was a puppy, she caught Parvovirus, presumably from walks around our neighborhood. Her condition required emergency treatment, an expensive hospital stay, and more importantly the vet who first saw her advised us that she was probably going to die from the infection. If people visit different breeders with puppies that have not received all of their shots, they risk transmitting potentially fatal diseases (e.g. "Parvo") from one kennel to another. Parvovirus can be carried on people's hands & clothes, and your puppy can also pick it up with contact with surfaces that have been in contact with infected feces, urine or vomit. (For example, by walking over ground where infected feces were & later licking their paws.) When it comes to vaccinating your puppy, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."
Bring your new puppy in for a preliminary health check within 48 - 72 hours of bringing him home. That way your vet can get to know your puppy & answer any questions you might have. A veterinarian is the most reliable source for dog health, care and behavior questions. The veterinarian can make sure that your puppy is healthy at that time. If the puppy gets sick in the future, your vet will be able to compare what the pup is like when he's sick to when he was well. Once the puppy series of vaccinations is finished, you will need to bring your puppy/dog for a visit to the vet at least once a year. Older dogs and dogs who have health problems obviously require more frequent visits. If you decide to breed your dog, he or she will require a thorough veterinary exam & applicable testing. Consult your veterinarian before you travel with your dog. e.g. Heartworm, a potentially life-threatening disease is a risk if you travel to some areas of B.C. or the United States. Also consider ticks & fleas. And it is absolutely essential that your dogs immunizations are up to date. It is a good idea for your pet to have a health check before traveling, anyway, since you may not be able to get to a vet quickly if a serious problem occurs. Additional protection may also be required before you send your dog to a kennel (while you go away.) Illness in dogs, especially puppies, can get rapidly worse (much like human infants whose small bodies cannot tolerate infections or dehydration as well as adults). Sometimes it is difficult to tell when your dog is injured or in pain. Since they can't say that they are having problems, it's up to you to notice behavior changes and realize that a visit to the vet is required. Trust your instincts. If you think your dog could be sick, go to your vet as soon as possible.
Six weeks old or 6 months? There's lots of different opinions about what the best age is to spay or neuter a dog. Long ago, many many people believed it was "fair" to let a bitch have a litter before sterilizing her. Nowadays, most vets recommend sterilization surgery be done at 6 months of age. The British like to wait. Some argue that surgery stops emotional and physical development of a pup: give them a chance to grow out of that babyish mindset before you have them fixed. Some people think that you should let bitches have a first heat (by 1 year of age) before you have them fixed. In males, where sexual maturity is less obvious, some people propose doing the surgery at 6 to 9 months. And in Canada & U.S.A many puppies are fixed at 6 to 16 weeks, before there's a chance that they can produce unwanted puppies. On the Britt Issues newsgroup, some Brittany fanciers wondered whether early sterilization can result in a puppy that grows larger than they should. Some people thought that this might be a problem in only one sex. And if a lack of estrogen in menopausal human females can cause osteoporosis ( a problem with bone density), what effect does changing the levels of a dog's reproductive hormones have? What's the rush? There is such a pet overpopulation problem, rescues and Humane Societies would rather fix a puppy before they're sexually mature, so that there isn't any chance that they'll breed. If you decide to let your female puppy have her first heat cycle before having her fixed, you do have to be very careful. We've all heard the story about the owner who tied up their bitch in heat in the backyard so she couldn't go searching for a male. Even a fence won't keep males away from a bitch in heat. When our female is in season & we don't want her to breed, we take her outside for poop/pee on a lead. And we watch her every second. It's time consuming to make sure she doesn't have an unplanned pregnancy with mixed breed pups. In the October issue of Dogs Today (a British magazine that doesn't have a website) there's an interesting review article that looks at some of these questions. It lists the ages that various organizations support sterilization of young puppies:
Laurie Siperstein-Cook (veterinarian and
early-sterilization educator) comments "I know of no U.S. national
animal welfare group coming out against sterilizing pups under 16 weeks
old." She goes on to say that she's seen six studies (she doesn't
give details) that looked into short term effects of early sterilization.
"Dogs sterilized at seven weeks came out as safely as dogs sterilized
at seven months. They were just as likely to survive the surgery, and they
had fewer complications than the older dogs. Fifteen months later, they
weren't any fatter or more excitable than the older dogs, they weren't any
more likely to be incontinent or have other urinary diseases, and they
were just as big and muscular." So it's up to you and your vet to decide when the time is right. But if you have an intact male or female, do us all a favor & be careful.
During the winter in Calgary, dogs' paw pads take a lot of abuse. The air is very dry, and on walks the dog's feet are exposed to the drying effects of snow & road salt. When it's very cold, the pads' outer layer can stick to the road (like when a child licks a frozen doorknob.) As well, sharp pieces of ice can cut the pads. The end result is that most dogs' pads get very dry, and may be cut, cracked, bleeding and painful. One way of combating the problem is to use "Specicare Paw Protection Wax". This product is available from veterinarians and looks like a white moisturizing cream. (When we purchased it in Feb. 2000, it was reasonably priced at about $5.00.) When you apply the wax onto & in between your dog's pads, it moisturizes and softens them. You can apply 10 minutes before going out for a walk & it acts as a protective layer. You can use this wax to prevent future problems & safely use the wax on wounded pads too. Just make sure that the pads are clean of dirt & salt before you put the wax on. Also watch that the alcohol in it doesn't further irritate any damaged areas (i.e. look for redness). Another method of prevention is to buyinsulated booties for your dog. Our preference is for "Muttlucks", available from Doghouse Pet Food Mart. Bring your dog to the store to size them properly; there's a chart in the package that you hold the dog's paws against. These protect the dog's feet from cold & damage during the winter. We also use them when we go out hunting in the fall. We leave them long like socks instead of rolling down the cuff. Our dog's forelegs are protected and don't get as banged up in the brush, and she tolerates the cold over a longer period of time. (This is especially valuable for dogs that live indoors or bitches that have just had puppies since these dogs have a thin, short coat & can get quite cold.)
Heartworm is a life-threatening disease that's widespread in North America. When heartworms infect a dog, they move into the heart & the large arteries leading to the lungs. The problem is silent for many months (while the worms move around inside the dog's body, and grow & develop). Symptoms start to appear only after the worms have caused irreversible damage to the heart & lungs. Symptoms include weight loss, coughing, shortness of breath & an enlarged abdomen. It's important to diagnose heartworm infection as early as possible. (You want to identify infection before any serious damage has occurred.) You have to wait at least 6 months after possible infection, before doing the blood test to check for the presence of heartworm. Infection won't show up until then. In the worst stages of Heartworm disease, there may be 30 worms up to 35 cm long each inside the infected dog! Treatment of heartworm infection requires the use of potent drugs. These drugs are especially dangerous for dogs with advanced heartworm disease, because their heart & lungs are already in bad shape. Heartworms are spread from dog to dog by mosquitoes. When a mosquito bites an infected dog, it sucks up blood that contains larvae, an immature form of the heartworm. These larvae develop inside the mosquito's body. After 3 weeks of hot weather, the worm's development is complete. When the mosquito bites another dog, it is infected with heartworm. The heartworm live & grow in that dog, and the cycle continues... This period of hot weather (mentioned above) is very important to understanding the spread of heartworm in different locations with different weather conditions. The hot weather doesn't have to occur all at once. If there's a cold spell, the larva's development is temporarily stopped. It resumes, wherever it left off, once the temperature reaches a high enough level again. But where there aren't enough warm days through the summer, the process cannot be completed before the infected mosquito dies at the end of its season. (The mosquito season is August through September.) That's why heartworm is much less common in Canada than in the warmer parts of the U.S.A.. The worst problem areas in Canada are Southern Ontario & Southern Quebec. Heartworm is also present in the Southern British Columbia, Southern Manitoba, & the Maritimes. A small number of dogs in Alberta have developed heartworm. But it seems that they were infected when they visited areas where heartworm is a bigger problem. The last time we spoke to our vet, heartworm medication was not routinely being administered to dogs remaining in Calgary. Mountain areas such as Calgary may never be able to support heartworm development in local mosquitoes. But be cautious: heartworm is always spreading to different areas. Consult your veterinarian for current information about heartworm in the area where you live. And especially whenever you're traveling with your dog during the mosquito season in B.C., the States & parts of Canada to the east of Saskatchewan. Medication is commonly used to prevent heartworm disease in areas where it is a significant risk. This medication kills any heartworm larvae that are transmitted to your dog before they get into his heart. It is very important to give the preventative medication at the appropriate times, or some larvae may survive to cause damage. It's usually given 30 days after arriving in an infected area, & every 30 days while the dog remains there. Once the dog leaves the area, the last dose is given. If you return to the area on more than one occasion, additional doses of the medicine are required. Heartworm medication is generally very safe. It can be used for pregnant & breeding bitches & stud dogs. But it should not be used in puppies younger than 8 weeks of age. And if it's given to a dog that's already infected there can be a serious reaction (i.e. reluctance to move, salivation, coughing, vomiting, depression & increased respiratory rate). So dogs should be tested before they're given these pills, especially if they were in a heartworm area the previous summer.
Hairs undergo a growth phase & a resting phase. During the resting stage, the hair becomes loosened & may be lost. When growth begins again, the new hair will push out the old hair if it is still in place. Adjacent hairs may be at different stages of the hair growth cycle. Shedding occurs in a scattered "mosaic" pattern, rather than in coordinated waves across the body. The hair growth cycle is mainly controlled by day length (acting through the pituitary & the thyroid & adrenal glands & their hormones). As day length increases, shedding increases & the hair coat becomes thinner. As day length decreases, shedding also increases, but new hair growth is stimulated & thickens the coat in preparation for winter. This pattern will be seen in dogs that live outdoors, but may be lost in dogs which live largely in the house, exposed to artificial lighting. During pregnancy & around the time of delivery, marked loss of hair & thinning of the coat are normal. Fear causes hairs to stand erect & may also cause loose hair to fall out. But where thinning of the coat is not related to an increasing day length or to pregnancy, it may be an indication of stress or illness. Whenever you notice abnormal bald patches on the body (other than at pressure points where the animal contacts the ground), suspect that an underlying illness is present. Shedding is essentially a normal process. There's very little you can do to change it. Some ways of decreasing shedding include:
|
|
 |
| huntersheart.com |
Home
Page |
The
Brittany Spaniel
| Training
& Activities
| | Dog Care | Hunter's Heart Brittanys | About huntersheart.com | |
|
|
|
Copyright © 1999-2003 Imagineering Solutions Inc. |
