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The labor period of dogs usually lasts only a few hours, and usually the owner will become conscious of its existence only after some of the puppies have been born. The puppies are born with their eyes closed, which is normal. The eyes open when the pup is ten to twelve days old. The average healthy animal not only will give birth without any difficulty, but will maintain its offspring for the five to sixweek nursing period with very creditable neatness and assurance. The owner should assist in making the weaning period gradual. Toward the end of the third or at the beginning of the fourth week, the owner should start to teach the puppies to take milk from a dish. This will lighten the load on the mother dog and will assist in helping the puppy to make its adaptation to artificial feeding when it is finally separated from its mother after five or six weeks.
Dislocation of the eyeball is always due to injury. Much less force is required to dislodge the eyeballs of Bostons or Pekingese than of the other breeds. In any case, the diagnosis of the condition is obvious, for the eyeball will be seen quite plainly to be dislodged from its socket to a variable degree. If the veterinarian is not immediately available, the eye should be washed continuously with a warm solution of boric acid made as described above. This is done in order to retard excessive dehydration of the eye tissues.
The colour of a dog's coat, or hair cover, also ranges widely, even within a breed. Some dogs are all black. Others are all white. Some have light markings on portions of their bodies and darker coloration elsewhere. Or, they may have a solid colour other than black. All dogs have some hair cover, even the so-called hairless ones.
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Ear canker is a disease characterized by an inflammation of the lining membrane of the ear. Medically, it is called otitis. It is a common ailment of all dogs though it is encountered most often in longhaired dogs with large, floppy ears. It is most amenable to treatment in its earliest stages but becomes resistant as the disease progresses. Though the condition is purely a local one, it causes the animal great discomfort, and in an advanced form the animal may feel such distress that it may sulk and lose its appetite. Since this can lead to the gravest consequences, prompt treatment is advisable.
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Parvovirus is not one disease to be taken lightly. It is a disease with a high rate of mortality, especially among puppies. Although one should not panic at the first hint of the disease, it should, at least, be taken seriously. Fortunately, through proper care and medication, the chances for survival after an infection are relatively high. But be warned that some cases, even with the best care and attention available, prove to be fatal. The best chance for preventing this disease is good information and vigilant hygiene.
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Puppies can acquire hookworm eggs from their mother and unhygienic surroundings or soil. Heat and dryness kills hookworm eggs quickly. If your dog is infected, their feces look abnormally blackish and loose. In the first week of infection, they may look healthy, but extreme infections in injured or young dogs can be lethal. They can cause intestinal bleeding leading to anemia and bloody diarrhea.
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