Dog Health

Dog care and prevention: The first year of a dogs life is the most important stage of the dog's growth and development. During the first four months, a dog must get adequately fed, taken care of, and properly trained. Besides this, it's vital the puppy goes to regular veterinary check ups. Your veterinarian will suggest your puppy go under a program of preventative medication and get all the vaccinations against infectious diseases, internal parasites, external parasites and against possible heart disease etc. If the puppy is not adequately protected with the required vaccinations as well as other prophylactic interventions, it's advisable to not expose the puppy to the danger of getting infected by not taking him to places where there are other dogs, parks, animal shelters or any public areas. You will need to choose a reputable veterinarian that is aware and up to date with everything concerning a puppy's health. Make sure to stay with your puppy on the first visit to the veterinarian as this will help the dog be calm and the veterinarian will be able to let you know whether or not the puppy has already been dewormed, and if not what it is you need to do, the veterinarian will also ask you if the puppy shows any symptoms of sickness like a cough, diarrhea, vomiting etc.

Deworming a dog: Internal parasites live inside the intestine. A puppy is able to get infected with parasites from the very first days of life, causing his abdomen to swell, a loss of weight, bad breath, vomiting, diarrhea, dull hair, and dehydration. The first treatment is carried about at three weeks of age and this needs to be repeated again every twenty days, until all the parasites and eggs have been eliminated. The veterinarian will ask you to bring in some samples of the puppy's feces to see if the parasites have been completely eliminated.
The veterinarian will let you know what kind of treatment and medication to give the dog in case of internal parasites. This all depends on the type of parasite the dog has; there are some pharmacies that have medication for "all types of parasites", however, they aren't recommended for puppies.