Dog Health Guide

A quiet veterinary consulting room with a stethoscope on the examination table

This page is general reference information, not veterinary advice. Anything concerning an individual dog is a matter for a qualified veterinary surgeon, who can examine the animal. If you think your dog is seriously unwell, stop reading and telephone your veterinary practice or an emergency service.

Preventive Care

Most of what keeps a dog well is unglamorous and repetitive.

Vaccination against the core infectious diseases, on a schedule agreed with your veterinary surgeon and appropriate to where you live and what the dog does.
Parasite control — internal and external, again regionally dependent. Heartworm risk in particular varies enormously by geography.
Dental care. Periodontal disease is among the most common conditions diagnosed in dogs and it is largely preventable. Daily brushing is the only reliably effective measure.
Weight control, which does more for long-term health than almost anything else an owner controls.
An annual examination, moving to twice yearly for older dogs, which catches a great deal before it becomes expensive.

Emergencies Worth Recognising

A few conditions are genuine emergencies where delay changes the outcome. Knowing them in advance is worth more than any home remedy.

Bloat (gastric dilatation-volvulus). The stomach distends and may twist. Signs are a swollen hard abdomen, unproductive retching, restlessness, drooling and rapid deterioration. Deep-chested breeds such as the Bullmastiff and the Tosa are most at risk. This kills within hours and needs surgery, not observation.
Heatstroke. Heavy distressed panting, bright red gums, drooling, unsteadiness, collapse. Begin cooling with cool — not iced — water and get to a veterinary surgeon immediately.
Suspected poisoning. Chocolate, xylitol, grapes and raisins, onions, certain lilies and many human medicines are toxic to dogs. Take the packaging with you.
Difficulty breathing, collapse, seizures, or an inability to urinate. All immediate.
Eye injury or a suddenly painful, cloudy or bulging eye. Eyes deteriorate fast; prominent-eyed breeds such as the Shih Tzu are particularly vulnerable.

Inherited Disease Is Breed-Specific

The most useful health information available before you acquire a dog is what its breed is known to carry, because much of it can be screened for in the parents.

Examples from breeds covered here: von Willebrand disease and elevated bladder cancer risk in the Scottish Terrier; a high lifetime cancer incidence in the Golden Retriever; the gastrointestinal disorder known as Lundehund syndrome in the Lundehund; hip and elbow dysplasia across the large and giant breeds; and the breathing, dental and eye consequences of a shortened muzzle in brachycephalic breeds.

Ask a breeder for the actual health-test certificates for both parents. A breeder who cannot produce them has not done the work, whatever they say about their lines.

Breeds Rebuilt From Few Founders

Several breeds in this reference passed through severe population bottlenecks — the Lundehund, the Ca de Bou, the Saarlooswolfhond, the Shih Tzu. A narrow founding population concentrates recessive conditions, and the breeds that manage this best are those whose clubs track it openly and, where necessary, run supervised outcrossing programmes.

Conversely, breeds maintained by function rather than appearance — the Blue Lacy, the Aidi, working Kerry Beagles — tend to carry lighter inherited disease burdens, because a dog that could not work was not bred from.

The Ageing Dog

Dogs age at rates that vary sharply by size: giant breeds are old at six or seven, small breeds not until eleven or twelve.

What changes is worth anticipating — stiffness and osteoarthritis, hearing and sight loss, dental disease, weight change in either direction, lumps that should always be checked, and cognitive changes including night-time restlessness and disorientation. Twice-yearly veterinary examinations become genuinely useful at this stage, and most age-related discomfort is manageable rather than untreatable.