- Taking steps to ensure good puppy health
- Grooming for better health
- Embracing the importance of exercise
- Deciding whether to choose holistic health care
Remember
Beyond prevention, the most important thing to take away from this chapter is this: Pay attention! The people who know your Dachshund best are you, your family, and your vet. Always remain vigilant for signs that something isn’t right. Changes in behavior, appetite, sleeping habits, water consumption, or movement may be signs of a health problem. Bumps, lumps, dry patches, bare patches, and other irregularities you detect during your daily grooming examination may also signal a problem. Never hesitate to ask your vet about your Dachshund’s condition. The sooner you catch a problem, the easier it will be to resolve.
Keeping Your Puppy (Or Older Dachsie) Healthy
Vaccinations
Technical Stuff
Canine parvovirus is a highly contagious viral disease that comes in a diarrheal form and a cardiac form. If not treated, it’s usually fatal — especially for puppies. Distemper is another highly contagious and often fatal viral disease that causes severe neurological damage in its advanced stages. Hepatitis is a highly contagious virus that begins with a fever and can end in coma and death. Leptospirosis is a bacterial disease that can cause death or severe kidney, liver, and digestive tract damage. It can also be transmitted to humans, along with rabies.
Warning!
That’s not to say that vaccinations don’t involve risk. In rare cases, animals react adversely to vaccinations. The most serious reaction, an anaphylactic reaction, usually occurs in the first 15 to 60 minutes. This can lead to sudden cardiac arrest, so keep a close eye on your puppy for the first hour after a vaccination. Other less-severe reactions can happen later, from general fatigue, discomfort, and loss of appetite to a local infection at the site of the vaccination. The chances your Dachshund will have a reaction are extremely slim, though, and most vets agree that the benefits of vaccination far outweigh the risks. But always watch your Dachshund carefully for a week or so after vaccines. If your Dachshund changes her behavior or gets ill in any way following a vaccination, call your vet immediately.
Tip
Some people suggest that puppies should never be around other dogs until all vaccinations are complete. But what about puppy obedience classes? If you bring your puppy to obedience classes at 3 or 4 months of age, be sure to choose a class that requires all puppy owners to show proof of vaccination. You should be okay. Better to have a well-trained puppy and take the very small risk that something may get passed around. Not training or socializing your puppy is a bigger risk because you’ll be more likely to give your Dachshund away when she gets to be too much trouble. Besides, your Dachshund will already have a few rounds of vaccinations under her belt, and she’s already working on building up her natural immunity — now she can build up her good manners!
Sterilization: Spaying or neutering your Dachshund
Technical Stuff
According to Spay USA (www.spayusa.org), every day 10,000 humans are born in the United States. In the same time frame, 70,000 puppies and kittens are born.
Pest control
– Fleas: Fleas are uncomfortable for your Dachshund and can cause complications ranging from severe allergic reactions to tapeworms. You probably won’t be too fond of fleas jumping on and off your arms and legs either, and if your Dachshund isn’t close by, the fleas will be happy to bite you. In rare cases, fleas can even infect humans with bubonic plague. Yikes!
Flea solutions: Prevention is the best solution. Apply a spot-on adulticide flea treatment (ask your vet for a recommendation) every month during flea season. A few drops between your dog’s shoulder blades will kill the fleas that land on your Dachshund, even before they have a chance to bite (see Figure 16-1). You can also treat your dog with an oral insect-growth-regulator treatment once a month all year round. Any flea that does bite your dog won’t be able to hatch any eggs, and the flea reproduction cycle will be halted before it can start. Leading parasitologists are recommending the oral protein Lufenuron as the core to flea control with topical to kill adult fleas if you see them, due to the inevitable resistance fleas are developing to topical agents.
Ask your vet which flea products are best for your Dachshund. And don’t forget a thorough vacuuming around the house, along with washing your dog’s bedding in hot water — if you see any fleas. This combined approach should take care of the problem pretty quickly.
– Ticks: Ticks can pass on severe diseases. The notorious Lyme disease is just one of many. Ticks are always dangerous when you walk with your Dachshund in wooded areas. They range in size, but sometimes the very smallest, barely visible ticks are the most dangerous.
Tick solutions: Please don’t try to burn off ticks or yank them out carelessly with your bare hands. You could injure your dog or cause an infection if tick parts get left under the skin; you could even infect yourself if the tick bursts and the blood gets on you. Instead, use a spot-on product made to kill ticks if you go out in tick-infested areas with your Dachshund. If your Dachshund does get a tick and you find it during your daily grooming session, pull it straight out slowly with tweezers or with your fingers (wear rubber gloves or use a tissue). If your Dachshund shows signs of listlessness, fatigue, and loss of appetite, Lyme disease could be the culprit. See your vet right away.
– Worms: Roundworms, tapeworms, hookworms, and whipworms can cause a variety of symptoms, ranging from diarrhea and vomiting to weight loss, severe fatigue, pneumonia, and even death. If you aren’t thinking “Yuck!” at the very thought of worms, read on. Roundworms look like thin spaghetti, curled in your dog’s feces. Tapeworms look like 1⁄4- to 1⁄2-inch wiggly segments in your dog’s poop or on the skin or hair around the rectum. Hookworms penetrate your Dachshund’s skin, and the eggs can be detected under a microscope in your Dachshund’s feces. Whipworms look like 1-inch threads.
Worm solutions: Have every new puppy you adopt dewormed, usually a few times. In many cases, good breeders have this done for new pet owners. Have your vet check fecal samples a few times because worms can shed eggs intermittently, so a negative sample doesn’t always mean your puppy doesn’t have intestinal worms. To prevent reinfection, always keep your yard free of dog feces, and keep your Dachshund from sniffing poop from other dogs on walks. Many worms are transmitted when your Dachshund eats, or even sniffs, the feces of another dog (including your own dogs). A fence will help to keep stray dogs and their remains out of your yard. Once or twice a year throughout your Dachshund’s life, continue to have your vet do a fecal examination to check for the ongoing presence or arrival of worms.
– Mites: Mites cause severe itching and a variety of unpleasant and unattractive skin conditions — sometimes referred to collectively as mange. Some mites infect your Dachshund’s ears; others live in her skin. Suspect ear mites if your Dachshund shakes her head a lot and scratches at her ears. Dark earwax is another sign.
Scabies is a skin condition caused by a mite, and humans can get it, too. Scabies itches and often results in hair loss. Chiggers are tiny, red mites that live in wooded areas and burrow under your dog’s skin, causing itching and redness. Other types of mites cause puppy dandruff, mild itching, and hair loss, and some live in the hair follicles and infects them.
Mite solutions: See your vet to acquire various types of creams, drops, dips, or shampoos, depending on the type of mite he finds. And don’t wait. Your Dachshund won’t enjoy being bald and itchy.
– Heartworms: Heartworms are transmitted from mosquitoes and, if left untreated, will kill your Dachshund. They travel to your dog’s heart and mature there, reaching lengths of up to 12 inches. A dog with heartworms can be treated (the treatment isn’t cheap), but if the heartworms are too advanced, it may be too late.
Heartworm solutions: First and foremost, prevent, prevent, prevent. Give your Dachshund a heartworm pill on schedule every single month, all year round — or always during mosquito season — for her entire life. Even if your Dachshund doesn’t go outside for very long, she can still get a mosquito bite. In fact, indoor-only Dachshunds have contracted heartworm from mosquitoes that got in the house. Also, avoid mosquito-infested areas whenever possible; use a product designed to repel mosquitoes on dogs when you must. (Don’t use your human bug spray on your dog, however.)
Warning!
Heartworm pills are great for preventing heartworms, but if your Dachshund already has heartworms, a heartworm pill could be fatal. Always have your Dachshund tested for heartworms before beginning heartworm pills. Most vets recommend a yearly test just before mosquito season. Never neglect this yearly test because an extra year or two carrying around a heartworm population could make a big difference in how treatable the problem will be.
Practicing Good Grooming
– A healthy, mat-free coat makes examination of the skin easier and doesn’t harbor pests, dirt, or bacteria.
– Tartar-free and plaque-free teeth aren’t susceptible to gum disease. Brushing also prevents more serious conditions like heart disease, which can result from bacteria in your dog’s mouth traveling to her heart.
– Short, clipped nails keep your Dachshund’s feet healthy and correctly positioned on the ground. They also keep your Dachshund from sliding on slick surfaces, which could possibly injure her back.
– Clean ears are less likely to harbor mites and develop infections. Regular ear examinations help you detect the presence of such conditions if they occur.
– Emptied anal sacs don’t become impacted or infected. Grooming can become part of a daily or weekly routine, and it’s a good idea to start grooming your puppy the very first day you bring him home. Your grooming session will differ depending on your dog’s age and coat, but a regular grooming routine will usually go something like this:
Good choices are the bathroom countertop, the back porch, or a table in a room that can stand a little Dachshund hair.
2. Gently massage your Dachshund from head to toe, feeling for any lumps, bumps, or irregularities.
If you do this task every day, you’ll catch any changes as soon as they occur. And don’t forget to examine your Dachshund’s coat and skin for changes.
These typically are sensitive areas, and if your Dachshund is used to having them touched, he’ll be much easier for your vet to handle.
Regularly clipping off the tips of your dog’s nails shouldn’t be a problem after your puppy gets used to it. On your very first vet visit, ask your vet to show you how to clip your Dachshund’s nails so you can do it yourself. It doesn’t hurt as long as you don’t cut down too far.
Remember
Your vet can show you how to avoid cutting the quick, or the small vein in your dog’s nail. When nails are clipped frequently (about once every two to four weeks — less often if your dog walks on cement frequently), the quick retracts somewhat and you don’t have to worry as much about cutting it. If you’re lax in your clipping duties, though, the quick tends to extend closer to the tip of the nail. If you do clip the quick, your dog may yelp, and you’ll have to stop the bleeding. Keep a product on hand for that purpose (many are available in pet stores).
Check for any sign of parasites as you brush, and work out any tangles with the comb.
Warning!
All dogs have anal sacs on either side of the anus, and these sacs are probably responsible for scent identification between dogs, along with uses in courtship and/or marking territory. The anal sacs fill up with a thick, extremely smelly liquid that’s usually drained when dogs excrete feces.
Tip
Your vet can drain the anal sacs, as can your groomer (if you ask really nicely). Depending on how often your Dachshund’s sacs get impacted, this procedure should be done every six to eight weeks. Having someone else do it can get expensive if you’re on a tight budget, though, so you can do it yourself — although I don’t recommend it if you’re squeamish. If the anal sacs become impacted often or abscessed more than once, a vet can surgically remove them.
Getting Regular Exercise: Move It or Lose It!
– Look at your Dachshund from the side. Do you see a nice tuck where her tummy is, or does her tummy hang down? If it hangs down, she’s too fat. If her belly looks overly bloated, she could have worms, so check with your vet before putting her on a diet.
– Look at your Dachshund from the top (see Figure 16-2). She should look more like a squash than a sausage. Her body should get narrower between the back of the rib cage and the hips. A too-sharp narrowing, however, could signal that your Dachshund is underweight.
– Feel your Dachshund’s ribs. Can you feel the individual ribs under a thin but slightly padded layer of skin? Just right. If you can’t find any sign of ribs, however, your Dachshund is too fat. If the ribs are very visible without even touching them, your Dachshund may be too thin.
– Feel your Dachshund’s ribs. Can you feel the individual ribs under a thin but slightly padded layer of skin? Just right. If you can’t find any sign of ribs, however, your Dachshund is too fat. If the ribs are very visible without even touching them, your Dachshund may be too thin.
Remember
Exercise is crucial for overweight Dachshunds. However, if your Dachshund is overweight, don’t begin a rigorous exercise program right away. That extra weight puts a strain on her back, as well as on all her muscles. She needs to build up strength before she can do too much, just like an out-of-shape human. Start with slow, short walks and watch for signs of excessive fatigue, such as heavy panting or sitting down and refusing to move. (You can bet a Dachshund will make her wishes clear!)
If you suspect that your Dachshund is over- or underweight, also check with your vet to rule out a health problem (such as a thyroid or digestive issue) and formulate a plan of action. A new diet, new feeding habits, or simply a decrease in treats and table scraps will probably be the prescription (see Chapter Purchasing Your Dachshund Essentials). Certainly, the second part of the prescription — especially if your Dachshund is overweight — will be an increase in her level of exercise.
– A daily walk is good for you and your Dachshund. It doesn’t have to be fast. Remember, your Dachshund’s legs are a lot shorter than yours, so she gets far more steps per block than you do. It doesn’t have to be long, either. A spin around the block in the morning and, ideally, in the evening is all it takes.
– Going on an errand? Walking down to the neighbor’s house to borrow a cup of sugar or a power saw? Taking the kids to the park? Take your Dachshund along. The more opportunities she gets to move — even for short periods at a time — the better.
– If you have a fenced-in yard, let your Dachshund spend time out there each day to romp around. Go out with her and throw balls, play chase, and work on tricks. If you just let her out, she probably won’t get enough exercise on her own (unless you have other dogs she can play with).
Remember
Dachshunds dig, so bury that fence a foot or so into the ground, if possible. If not, stay outside with your Dachshund or keep a close eye on her.