Dog-Health

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Your dog’s mental health is just as important as their physical health. Keeping your dog happy and healthy is your main goal. Keeping your dog healthy also includes his mental well being. We will be talking about a few of the mental problems that your dog can have and ways to help your dog with his mental health.

Do dogs get depressed?

Of course, dogs get depressed. They go through bouts of depression and you will notice your dog moping about and not wanting to play, only drinking small amounts of water, and you may even notice them losing a lot of weight. You want your dog’s mental health to be good, but how can you tell what is causing this depression?

After you have ruled out a physical aliment by taking your dog to the vet; now you can look around and see what may be causing this change in your dog’s attitude and help get your dog’s mental health back on track.

Grief can cause depression in dogs just as it can in the human race. Has your dog lost a playmate recently? Maybe a dog down the street has moved away. Or maybe the child in your family has gone off to college. Your dog longs for that companionship and now it is gone. If you have moved or have left your dog in the care of others while you were on vacation this can also be the root of your dog’s depression. Start helping your dog enjoy life again. Give him extra attention and love. If he has lost his doggy playmate, take him to the park or to the doggie daycare so he can play with other dogs and maybe make a
new friend that will help him over this depression. This may just pull him out of his depression.

Depression untreated can lead to more serious physical problems that you are sure to want to avoid. If you can not seem to bring the zing back into your dog’s life you may want to ask your vet for some anti-depression medicine.

Anxiety is probably one of the most common mental disorders in dogs all over the world. It is your responsibility to notice when your dog is stressed and what causes his stress and to keep him out of these types of situations for his protection or to help him overcome his
anxieties.

The different signs of anxiety and stress are excessive drooling, whining, panting, moaning, shivering, or reluctance to move.

The different types of anxieties and how to know them:

Separation Anxiety

This is probably the most common anxiety in dogs. Your dog will be soiling the floor, chewing up furniture, and their barking or howling can be heard clear down the block are sure signs of separation anxiety.

Noise Anxiety

Noise Anxiety is a problem for thousands of types of animals. Dogs that are afraid of loud noises often run to hide, but because of their fear they do not pay attention and may endanger themselves by running into oncoming traffic, etc.

Social Anxiety

This anxious behavior is seen in dogs that as puppies were never around other dogs or a lot of people. This can be seen when your dog is around others if he tries to cower in a corner to hide. He is feeling overwhelmed by his surroundings and all the commotion from the other dogs or extra people.

These are just some of the problems that your dog may have. Remember to pay attention to your dog; he is your friend and companion. He needs your protection as well as your love.

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Visit http://www.dog-pictures.co.uk/ for all you and your dogs pet supply & dog breed info!

About the Author

http://www.dog-pictures.co.uk/ A dog lovers website with plenty of dog breed information and pictures.
http://www.dog-pictures.co.uk/dog-supplements/ provides dog supplements and dog health care information.

Written by: Matthew Seigneur

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Dog Dog Health Health.blogspot.com Product Article

As with most pedigree breeds, there are certain hereditary conditions that can be a problem in the German Shepherd Dog as well as other health issues that are more prevalent in this breed which need to be considered if you are thinking acquiring a GSD.

If you are buying a German Shepherd puppy it is important to ensure that you only purchase a healthy dog from a reputable breeder and a good idea would be to contact the breed council who should be able to provide you with a list of such breeders. Most reputable breeders don't need to advertise but if they do they tend not to use free papers or other general advertising media but will usually place their advert in a specialist dog magazine or paper. The Kennel Club will provide a list of breeders but this does not signify that they are reputable only that they register their puppies with the KC. There are a number of common conditions seen in this breed, some of which have a better prognosis than others but all of which are expensive to treat - so insure your German Shepherd Dog as soon as you get it.

Inherited conditions such as hip dysplasia are becoming more common largely because of irresponsible breeding so you should look for a puppy whose parents are both hip scored and the lower the score the better - ideally less than ten. This is a distressing and painful condition for a GSD as well as the costs for treating being prohibitive if the animal is not insured. Elbow dysplasia is also a common hereditary condition.

Bloat or gastric torsion is a real emergency and a life threatening condition, which has become more common in deep chested dogs over the years. Experts are divided but good tips for reducing the risk are that it is best to feed 2 small meals rather than one large meal a day and to avoid feeding your GSD before strenuous exercise.

Anal furunculosis is a distressing auto immune condition which can be controlled with expensive drugs for a while but will inevitably progress as is the condition CDRM which is a degenerative disease which will ultimately lead to the loss of use of the dogs back legs and then bowel/urinary incontinence.

For whatever reason there seems to be an increasing number of GSD's suffering from PI - pancreatic insufficiency, which presents as chronic watery diarrhoea and failure to thrive. This condition is treatable with expensive pancreatic enzymes and a low fat diet but the regime must be strictly adhered to.

Epilepsy is also more common these days and although it can be controlled by drugs, usually tolerance eventually occurs which will often result in the loss of control of the fits and the likelihood of brain damage as a result of prolonged uncontrolled fitting.

To protect your new puppy and in order to try to minimise long term or future health problems, it is vital that a high quality feeding regime is adopted from the start. German shepherds often have digestive problems so it is important to find a quality food that your dog likes and one that doesn't upset the digestion. If in doubt ask your vet for advice or contact German Shepherd Rescue UK.

About the author:

German Shepherd Dog Health Problems. Written by Jayne Shenstone who runs German Shepherd Rescue UK which helps rescue and rehome GSD's across the UK

Written by: Jayne Shenstone

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