What Is Your Dog Telling You

From LoveToKnow Dogs

If you've ever wondered, what is your dog telling you, pet expert Wendy Nan Rees is here to give you some advice. Learn about what your dog's body is telling you about his health so you can prevent major problems before they take hold.

Can you tell when he isn't well?

Observe Your Dog

It is very important, not only in today’s times while the economy is very tight and we are all stressed, but at all times when owning a dog, that people acquire the habit of learning to observe their dogs and understand their behavior. This includes their eating habits, their mental health and their physical health. Do they play? Do they chew? Do they bark? Do they cry? Do your dogs live in a healthy home environment? Is your family going through a big moving situation? A divorce? Did someone just pass away? Did someone just drop off a stray dog? These are all very important things to pay attention to.

Pay Attention to Small Changes

I would love to remind you again about the “TAO” of the dog. In last week’s tip I was talking about a wonderful book called The Complete Holistic Dog Book: Home Health Care for Our Canine Companions. In this book they have a wonderful section explaining all about what and how to do “The TAO” of the dog. When you know your dogs as well as I do, when just sitting to observer them whether at play or doing a task, anything that involves watching them at their natural state, you can notice if they are lame or if something is hurting them, anything out of what is the normal for your dog. That is the key in this week’s tip: what is normal for your dog.

The sooner you notice the slightest change in your dog’s actions or appearance, the quicker you can take action. You may be able to head off a major disaster before you know it. By my stubborn nagging and insistence, although my doctor could not see the cancer in his microscope, I saved our dog, Senator’s, life from a very rapid growing cancer. I will break this down for you into four easy steps on how to observe and go over your dog’s body. Start as a puppy, and he will think he is getting a once over every day.

Your Dog's Body Check

Here are the steps to do a complete body check:

Start at your dog's head. Look into his eyes and make sure they are clear, bright and moist and that there is no redness and no pussy discharge. Now move to the ears. If he has flap ears, open them up, and if he has open ears, just look in. Make sure they are clean, no brown, no yeast infection, no odor, no redness, no pain, no swelling, no itching. He shouldn't cry when you touch them and he shouldn't pull away from you. Now to the mouth. When you open his mouth, you want to see nice healthy gums, hopefully white teeth with no tartar buildup and no bad breath. If his mouth is pale, it might mean he is anemic; if the gums are bluish, it might mean he has a lack of oxygen. In both cases you would need to take him to the vet. If there is a lot of tartar buildup and odor in there, he possibly could have gum disease, which is very common in dogs and you really must take him to the vet.
First stand back and take a good hard look at your dog or puppy. If you are in the training stage of showing your puppy this is a great time when you are teaching the word and action “To Stack” and “To Stay” when you can have him stack and stay for you to really stand back to observe the dog and walk around him. Now, move to the spine of your dog. Take your hands and start at the top by your dog's head with one hand and with your other hand support under your dog’s tail to help hold him steady. Now, ask how does his coat look? Shiny? Dull? Is he blowing his coat? Shedding too much? Is the fur dull? What type of skin does your dog have? Smoothed? Dry? Itchy? Flaky? Is it red? Dandruff? Fleas? Does your dog smell? As your dog gets older, you need to really stay on top of a very healthy diet, good grooming and total health care. This is how I found Senny’s lump. As Labs get older they tend to get what is called fatty tumors. I knew in my heart this was different. I had to fight a bit to get this bypassed and then to have them take it out because the type of cancer he had/has needs a special scope. None the less, it is up to you, the owner, to be your pet's advocate (Mum & Dad). I can only imagine the Vets surprised face when the letter came back and it said Senny had cancer.
Joints can be tricky. As our dog’s age and when they are puppies they can hurt just like children growing. Sometimes dogs can get growing pains too. First thing to look at is your dog’s weight. If your dog or puppy is overweight then right away they need to go on a healthy, whole food diet. Many dogs gain weight from lack of movement. I use my words carefully because some people may live where getting to run and play ball is next to impossible. Still, to help your dog with mental and physical exercise is not. Even in a very small apartment you can create a fun exercise routine for your dog to do daily. That, with a wonderful whole food diet with no junk food and within eight weeks you will be shouting "Wow!" Joints and the paws are the next step. You want to pick up each leg and slowly move it around from the hip behind to the shoulder in front then if all is moving smoothly with no pain and no shying away from you, then all so far is a go. You now move to the pad of the paw. Look in between the toes. If the paw is web for the swimming breeds, make sure there are no tears.
Last but not least, you and your best friend should both know the weekly once over is coming to a close this way. He has been on very good behavior. This is a great time to do your stacking training or another type of training. You want to call this "stand still for Mum or Dad" or how about "the once over stay"? No matter what you want to call this, it is important to give this time a name and to use this time with a positive voice. Always keep the positive voice and positive praise with positive treats to offer when necessary. For example, when going over the body after lifting the tail and running your hands along the whole tail, sometimes the dog does not love this. As they become used to this, it is nice to give them a small training treat. Remember, you do not want to give them too much food here as this is a weekly session and also, at the end they are going to get a great, wonderful, favorite once-a-week treat that may be their favorite bone, ball or toy I know each dog has their favorite all-time treat and I personally reserve mine for this weekly one-on-one.

I hope this helps to guide you to start your own weekly once over with your best friend.