Puppy Health
If you have acquired a puppy, or if you are a breeder setting up a program for the new owners of your puppies, you might be overwhelmed by all the things you need to do. Keeping puppies healthy is really not that hard if you have a plan. Review each section on the next few pages and set up a program to satisfy each point. Keep your plan handy for reference so you can keep your puppies on track as they mature.
Worms
Parasitology experts remind us that every puppy is born with roundworms. These come from the mother when worm cysts sitting dormant in the bitch’s muscle tissue spring to life when exposed to the hormones of pregnancy. These larvae burrow, migrating through the uterine wall, directly into the developing puppies.
Once in the puppy, roundworms migrate to the intestine where they become adults. Worms steal nutrition from the puppy. In large numbers, they can stunt growth and even block the intestines. Wormy puppies have a characteristic distended belly. Worms should be treated before they have a chance to mature into egg-laying adults (and keep the cycle going). Ideally, puppies are dewormed at two, four, six and eight weeks of age, and then placed on a monthly regimen. After that, veterinarians adapt their deworming programs to the worm prevalence in their practice area. Deworming products for puppies are safe with limited, if any, side effects.
What to do:
Plan a deworming protocol – select a product and decide when to give it.
Nutrition
A growing puppy is very sensitive to changes in nutrition. A good analogy is a racehorse. If he’s walking slowly, you can push him from the side and not very much happens. On the other hand, if he’s running at full speed and you apply the same force, you can easily upset him. A puppy grows at full speed. Any imbalance in nutrition can push him off the path of optimal growth.
A puppy’s diet must be balanced. The fat and protein content must satisfy energy needs and promote growth. The calcium and phosphorus percentage should be high enough to meet the requirements for bone development. There is also the quality aspect. Feeding a diet with high digestibility means there is less poop to clean up. It also makes housetraining easier.
Any dog, especially a large breed, should be kept lean. This does two things: It reduces the incidence of hip dysplasia, and lengthens their lives. Don’t let puppies get fat.
What to do:
Choose a food designed for puppies and control the amount fed.
Fleas
Fleas love puppies. It’s not uncommon to see just a few fleas on a bitch while her puppies are horribly infested. Flea eggs fall off infested dogs and cats into the environment. They hatch into larvae, change to pupae and eventually become blood-sucking adults.
A puppy with a high number of fleas can lose so much blood that it can’t meet its oxygen needs and dies from asphyxiation. Even mild infestations can cause poor health and pass on parasites.
Fleas are the intermediate host for tapeworms. As the puppy suckles, it can ingest a tapewormcarrying flea from the mother. The flea is digested in the pup’s stomach acid, releasing the tapeworm to infest the puppy.
Fleas are easy to diagnose. You can find them running on the skin, or you might see flea feces (it looks like black pepper) at the base of the hairs.
We are limited in what we can use to control fleas on very young puppies. A flea comb, though labour intensive, is safe at any age. In fact, when a pup is young and has a thin, short coat, it is very effective. Once pups reach four weeks old, you can use Capstar® tablets (Novartis).
Most products for flea control (topical and oral) can be used once pups reach six or eight weeks. Make sure you check the label.
What to do:
Use a flea-control product compatible with the puppy’s age.
Teething
Puppies are born without teeth, but that quickly changes. The first ―baby‖ (deciduous) teeth appear at three weeks of age. These are replaced starting at four months of age, beginning with the incisors (or peg teeth). The two central incisors at the front of the mouth fall out first. As time goes on, the rest of the incisors, the molars, and finally the canine teeth (at five months of age) are replaced.
During teething, you can reduce discomfort by providing chew toys. Frozen carrots, or face cloths that are rolled up, soaked and frozen (then taken away once softened), can help numb the gums.
If teeth do not fall out, they should be removed once teething has finished or by six months of age.
What to do:
Provide puppies with suitable chew toys during teething.
Spaying and neutering
The sterilization of dogs has many different names. Spaying is the term we use for removal of the ovaries in the female dog. If the surgery includes removal of the uterus, it is called an ovariohysterectomy.
Neutering can apply to both males and females as it describes the removal of the sex organs (ovaries or testicles); however, many veterinarians tend to use ―neutering‖ (or the equivalent term, ―castration‖) to mean sterilization of a male dog.
The traditional time for spaying and neutering is six months of age. This allows teething to finish (retained baby teeth can be removed at the same time, while they are anaesthetized), but it also catches females before they come into their first heat and males before they develop unwanted behaviours.
However, there are differing opinions on the best time to sterilize. Some veterinarians do the
surgery at eight weeks before the pups travel to their new homes. On the other hand, others insist it should be done later to avoid maturation problems. Talk to your veterinarian for current recommendations on this topic.
What to do:
If you don’t plan on eventually breeding your dog, consider sterilization.
Heartworm
Heartworms infest the arteries leading from the heart to the lungs. Although this parasite is a concern only in certain areas of Canada, if it happens to be where you live, you need to take steps to stop your dog from acquiring it. Heartworm can trigger heart failure, but just as importantly, infested dogs act as a reservoir for mosquitoes to carry the disease to other dogs, infecting them as well.
Heartworm is prevented by using monthly medication (oral or topical), or an injection that lasts for six months. In some cases, dogs are tested for the parasite prior to starting medication.
What to do:
If heartworm is a concern in your area, get your dog on a preventive.
Vaccines
Vaccines provide puppies with needed protection to fight disease. Standard protocol is to administer the vaccines at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age. However, many different schedules are used.
There are also just as many differences in which vaccines veterinarians give to puppies. The core vaccine is the distemper/parvovirus/hepatitis/parainfluenza combination. Most dogs are also given a rabies vaccination, but they must be over 12 weeks of age.
Other vaccines are administered based on the risk of contracting the disease. These include bordetella (ken-nel cough), giardia, leptospirosis, Lyme disease and coronavirus.
What to do:
With your veterinarian, plan a vaccine protocol for best protection.
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