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Dog Health Problem Symptom Article

You might think the most important bit of dog health advice would be to let your furry loved on spend all day enjoying the outdoors. But you'd only be half-right.

You know we must protect our children and ourselves and from the sun. But do you know that leading canine health experts now say that the most important dog health advice they can give is to protect your dog from the sun, too?

Dog Health Advice: Identifying Dog Sunburn

Like us humans, dogs need sunlight to help balance their bodies’ levels of calcium with their metabolism.

Yet too much ultraviolet radiation can irritate our dogs’ skin as it does our own, causing sunburn.

Identifying Dog Sunburn

Dog sunburn begins as redness and hair loss.

Where sunburn first appears

• bridge of the nose


• tips of the ears


• belly

Dog Sunburn Dangers

• aggravates any existing skin problems


• skin ulcers (sores)


• infection


• cancer

Sunburn and Dog Breed

Pale and short-hair dogs are particularly prone to sunburn,
usually on the nose, abdomen, groin, and inside of the legs. Being close to the ground, they not only are affected by the downward sunlight, but also by sun reflecting up from pavement or hot sand.

Some breeds, like Weimaraners and Boxers, are predisposed to cancer.
Therefore, they must have extra protection from the sunburns and UV rays to avoid a kind of skin cancer.

How you can protect your pets:

Think about the precautions that you take to prevent yourself from sunburn and UV exposure. You stay out of the sun at the peak hours like noon to 3PM, use sunblock and cover up, don’t you? Those same suggestions can work for your dog.

Here’s more dog health advice:

• 
  Be sure that your dog is inside the house or in a shaded area during the sun’s peak hours, even on overcast days.
  


• 
  Apply sunblock to the bridge of the dog’s nose, ear tips and other small, sensitive areas whenever the dog is outside for more than a few minutes.
  


• 
  Consider some sort of covering for your dog. Some veterinarians say that the most important and effective protection is a type of bodysuit for dogs, which is designed to block ultraviolet rays and prevent sunburn.
  

Our dogs give us hours of pleasure and years of unconditional love. In return, all we must do is love and keep them healthy.

It's still good dog health advice to let your dog play outdoors. But spare your “best friend” the pain of sunburn and its consequences.

About the Author

About the author: You can read more of Joel Walsh's articles on dog issues such as Dog Health Advice at: http://www.i-love-dogs.com

Written by: Joel Walsh

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Dog Health Problem Symptom 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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