How To Know When Your Dog Is Sick

You know that my passion is my babies (four legged babies). So I was thinking I need to write about how to know when your doggie is sick.

First we need to understand what a healthy dog is like.

The normal temperature of a dog is 101-102 degrees. There respiratory rate is 15-20 per minute. There heart rate is 80-120 beats a minute. They have bright pink mucous membranes, gums, inside lips, tongue, inside eyelids. If you push on there gums until it's pink, then let go it will go, it should turn bright quickly. Also, they should have clean smelling ears, skin, and a full shiny coat, and eyes that are clear and bright.

When your puppy is healthy it will run around. But when they don't feel good they will let you know in ways you might not expect.

• Hydration is a huge issue, especially in the south. To check for dehydration, grab the skin gently right behind the the head, pull it up and let it go. If it sticks together the baby is dehydrated. They need water.
• One of the first signs something is wrong is urinating in the strange' s places. If they can't hold themselves, or seem to be drinking excessive amounts of water. This could be a sign of diabetes. You probably should call your vet at this point.
• Vomiting; some is OK, but several times a day or blood in the vomit is red flag. Dried blood in the vomit will looks like coffee grounds and could mean gastric ulcers. A foreign objects or eating something that upsets there tummy can also be a cause. If it smells really bad, or is yellow it could be a blocked anal gland. Once again its probably a good idea to call your vet.
• Diarrhea, every once in awhile is OK, but if its several times a day. You need to get them to the vet.
• Coughing or chronic coughing may be related to heart disease, heart worms, or lung disease. Kennel cough should go away in a couple of weeks. If it doesn't it could turn into a case of fatal pneumonia. Dogs with pushed in face's like boxer's and bull dogs, because of the shape of there heads, have more issues and this can pose a higher level of danger to them. Again this something the vet needs to take care of.
• Hair loss and itchy skin usually is because of fleas, ticks, or mane mites. With ears mites or yeast infections they scratch at there ears and have brown, crumbly discharge in the ears. Hair loss could be from endocrine problems and fungal or yeast infections. This is something the vet needs to take of also.
• Last but not least is stiffness, lameness, difficulty in rising, limping, or dragging a foot., may be caused by an injury. Check to see if there's cuts, bruise's, or swelling. It could be hip or spine arthritis, or even an inherited problem like hip dyspepsia. Again this is something for the vet to check out.

The most important thing is know what is normal for your babies and to know what to watch for. If anything unusual starts happening call your vet. We want our babies around for a long time!