I believe there is no such thing as a dog owner whose dog has never had diarrhea at some point. I've been lucky and diarrhea has never been a major problem in our house, but it has happened from time to time. A lot of dogs are basically walking garbage disposals....
Sarcoptic mange is talked about quite a lot, but most dog owners probably hope it remains one of those diseases you only read about online and never encounter yourself. Years ago, I took Ossu to the vet specifically because I suspected mange. We rarely went into the forest, but a...
When I wrote the first version of this article, I had only recently heard of giardiasis. When my own dogs were puppies, this parasite was hardly discussed at all. Today Giardia is much more familiar to dog owners, but there is still plenty of confusion: does a positive test always...
A hot spot is one of those skin problems where a dog can look completely fine in the morning and by evening there is a red, wet, painful and rapidly expanding patch hidden under the coat. Fortunately, our own dogs have not had hot spots very often. Faddy once started...
When a dog starts scooting across the carpet, licking under the tail, or suddenly produces a smell that makes you wonder whether someone opened a biological weapon indoors, anal glands quickly enter the conversation. And just as quickly comes the solution: they need to be squeezed empty. But there is one...
I remember my first encounter with kennel cough very clearly. I had heard of it, of course, but for years I had rather smugly said that none of my dogs had ever had it. Then one day I came home from work, Faddu walked up to meet me at the...
