Health

Your veterinarian has a number of medication options available to help your anxious dog feel better and enhance your desensitization and behavior-modification program.

Learn about the types of worms that can affect dogs – including roundworms, whipworms, hookworms, tapeworms, cuterebra, and mango worms – and what these worms look like.

Previously in Whole Dog Journal, we discussed the dog's complex immune system. We described what body parts and functions actually comprise the dog's system of immunity" and explained how this system acts to protect the dog from foreign agents including viruses

To most people, the word “house-trained” refers to a dog who has been trained not to urinate or defecate indoors. For my parent’s generation, this bit of training was usually accomplished by Mom, who stayed home while the rest of the family went to work or to school. As double-income families became the norm, the home-alone dog was faced with a serious problem. By the time you add a lunch hour and commute time onto an eight-hour work day, a house dog may have to “hold it” for as long as 10 hours before someone finally comes home to let her out. Her legs are probably tightly crossed for at least the last two.

Dry skin in dogs contributes to dull coats, dander, hair loss, skin odor, itching, scratching, and irritation. Relieve your dog’s dry skin discomfort with simple home remedies that work.

MYTH: Adult dogs don't get parvo. TRUTH: It's true that the likelihood of a serious parvo infection decreases as dogs age, and that most victims are puppies. But adult dogs can become seriously ill or die from parvo. MYTH: I can protect my dogs from exposure to parvo by maintaining a clean environment and restricting their contact with other dogs. …

Signs of blue-green algae poisoning can begin within 30 minutes of ingestion.

While FDA-approved for separation anxiety, fluoxetine is also a medication for aggressive dogs.

Any condition that alters a dog’s ability to completely empty her bladder can cause her to urinate while she sleeps. These conditions include urinary tract infections, bladder stones, tumors of the bladder or urethra, and congenital malformations of the bladder.

A new 20-year retrospective study from the University of Georgia examined causes of death in dogs between 1984 and 2004. Researchers looked at records of 74,566 dogs from the Veterinary Medical Database, which includes data from 27 veterinary teaching hospitals. These results may be biased toward more severe, complicated, or unusual causes than the general dog population, but are fascinating nonetheless. The study grouped deaths by organ system and by disease category (“pathophysiological process”), and analyzed results based on age, breed, and average breed size. Eighty-two breeds with at least 100 representatives were included in breed-based analyses; mixed-breed dogs were considered as one group.

The premise seems simple - if your dog has liver problems, feed him liver. What if it's a kidney, thyroid, or adrenal problem? Then feed kidney, thyroid, or adrenal tissue. This is, in its simplest form, glandular or organ therapy. The process has become much more refined over the years. Now your dog can experience the benefits of glandular therapy even when you can't find the raw glands or other organs to feed him. Now, glandulars (the common term for products containing animal cells even if they aren't from glands) are available in tablet, capsule, and liquid form, depending on the manufacturer.

If you’ve ever seen your dog’s teeth chattering, you’ve probably wondered why it’s happening and if it’s cause for any concern. Here are some of the reasons you may see this odd behavior.