Your dog’s health care programme should be started as soon as he is taken into your home. It is advisable to have the dog checked by a vet immediately for a thorough evaluation of the dog’s health (detection of eventual diseases or dysfunctions) and for the first immunization shots. During the first visit to the vet take a list of all the doubts you may have and ask your vet for advice. Because of his/her training and experience, nobody is better than your vet to help your dog growing healthy.

The best way to detect eventual diseases is to keep your dog under careful and permanent supervision. The following physical and behavourial symptoms may help to anticipate the outbreak of some diseases:

Weight Loss - The weight loss may be caused by a deficient diet or by parasites present in the dog’s organs. If your dog doens´t has appetite, then it is probably an infestation by parasites. Take him immediately to the vet.

Loss of appetite  - The loss of appetite may be caused by countless reasons such us a change of the life rhythm, moving home, teeth pain or simply fever caused by other disease. If your dog’s appetite does not improve take him to the vet.

Apathy - The dog may simply be tired because of an abnormal physical activity. However, if the symptom persists the dog may have some contagious disease and should be taken to the vet immediately.

Vomiting - Vomiting can be caused by an irritation of the stomach, intestinal problems, viral infection or simply ingestion of non-food stuff. Once successive vomiting cause an afflictive situation for the dog, he should be taken to the vet immediately.

Itching - Itching being a normal behaviour in dogs, when excessive it should not be taken lightly. Once again, the close observation of your dog may help you to distinguish a normal behaviour from another resulting from flea presence or a skin disorder (ex.: scabies or mange). When this symptom coincides with hair loss, take your dog to the vet immediately, so that he can administer an effective medication. It should be noted that both scabies and mange are contagious diseases. Owners should be careful when handling the sick animal.

 Coughing - Coughing can be due to an extremely minor problem — no more than an irritation caused by intense smells or smoke   —   or it can be the first sign of serious problems of the lungs or heart. It can also be the symptom of the presence of some strange object. If the coughing persists do not hesitate: take the dog to the vet.

Urinary problems - A symptom of a urinary problem may be, for instance, if there is blood in the dog’s urine, if the dog looks like he is having difficulty in urinating, if the dog tries to urinate but nothing comes out or if the dog’s urine smells very strong and/or is darker. In the presence of these or other symptoms the dog should be immediately taken to the vet. Any alteration in the dog’s urinary habits is certainly a symptom of a serious disease, such as renal infection, inflammation of the bladder or kidney stones.

Vaccination

The vaccination is crucial of your dog’s good health. Vaccines protect your animal against diseases; some of them fatal and contagious even to humans and you must strictly follow the vaccination schedule indicated by your vet. The most important are: parvovirus, distemper, leptospirosis, hepatitis, kennel cough and rabies. Never think twice about vaccinating your dog. Check with your vet.