Your dog’s body is built to enhance massive endurance and agility. His hind legs have great, powerful muscles, that allow him to get instant acceleration and help maintain speed. For this reason, you need to make sure that he is not suffering from any kind of bone, joint, and muscle disorder that can cause lameness, pain, or paralysis. Give your dog a regular home check up and look for any signs of injury to the limbs, such as swelling or tenderness to the touch. Hind leg lameness can be due to one of the following problems: Hip dysplasia, Perthe’s disease, luxating patella, and ruptured cruciate ligament.

Hip dysplasia is an inherited defect that affects more frequently among large breeds. This type of disorder causes pain as well as lameness to one or both hind legs which gets worse when the leg is flexed. A similar pain occurs when the head of the femur loses its blood supply and “dies”. This hip pain is caused by a type of disorder called Perthe’s disease, or avascular necrosis and is more common in small breeds. In addition, small breeds are prone to another type of inherited defect called luxating patellas, or slipped kneecaps, while all breeds can suffer from ruptured cruciate ligaments. In both cases, weight is not carried on the affected hind leg. There is no pain associated with either problem other than at the time when the ligament tears.

You need to consult a vet to find out the exact cause of lameness. Often times, mild cases of hip dysplasia respond well to medications and proper rest, while more severe problems need surgical correction. With Perthe’s disease, the “dead” head of the femur has to be surgically removed. Luxating patellas can also be surgically corrected. Cruciate ligaments most likely rupture in overweight, mature dogs, although some types of lean, young dogs such as Boxers can also tear these ligaments. Weigh reduction, enough rest, and surgical repair are necessary to treat this problem.

Paralysis is often caused by ruptured disks. Mildly ruptured disks cause intense pain to which the dog is reluctant to move. On the other hand, greater slippage causes a partial or even complete paralysis, eliminating movement and the dog’s perception of pain.

If the slippage is severe, the dog will need immediate surgery in order to reduce the damage to his spinal cord. In addition, total and complete rest is very important in healing this type of disorder.

Preventive measures reduce the likelihood of infection as well as the need for veterinary care. Dogs that suffer from chronic ear problems should have their ears regularly checked and cleaned using a wax-dissolving drops.

1. The first step is to lift the flap of the ear and clean away any visible wax with a cotton ball moistened with warm water or a wax-removal solution prescribed by a vet.

2. The second step is to insert the nozzle of the bottle in the ear in a forward direction, toward the tip of the nose. This should be done while holding the dog’s head still and with the ear flap laid back. Squeeze the appropriate number of drops into the ear.

3. The final step is to withdraw the bottle and then drop the ear flap back into normal position without letting the dog shake his head. Quickly but gently massage the ear. This lubricates the entire ear canal with the medication.

A word of warning: When using cotton swabs to clean the dog’s ears, you should only clean the outer part of the ear that you can clearly see. Do not use swabs in the ear canal because they act like plungers, forcing ear wax farther down. Consult the vet immediately if you think that a foreign object is lodged inside the ear canal.

Many dogs have allergic reactions that are the direct result of vaccinations. Because of the severity of some of these reactions, vaccines have become a very controversial subject. There are an increasing number of dangers and the veterinary community is becoming more aware of these issues when it comes to routinely giving annual vaccinations.

Any dog has the potential to have an allergic reaction to a vaccine. No two dogs are alike and what one dog may tolerate, another could have a violent reaction from. For many dogs, getting yearly vaccines can produce a myriad of small subtle reactions that build up over time. These reactions get worse with each year the dog is vaccinated. A danger that many dog owners miss is when they choose to have their dog receive many vaccinations all at once, instead of having the veterinarian spacing the shots out over time. This practice creates severe symptoms that may appear anywhere from 10 to 21 days after the shots were given. The symptoms vary, but most often will be signs of joint swelling, lethargy, gastrointestinal upset, lameness, thyroid and adrenal gland diseases, lack of energy, and seizures.

There are Immunologists that are finding a direct correlation between the increase of autoimmune and chronic disease states and the overuse of vaccines. In fact, professional breeders have had their entire litters wiped out after using Parvo vaccines. During the late 1980’s, some breeds (notably Rottweilers) who were subjected to weekly doses of the Parvo Vaccine were completely riddled with bone cancers. They died at an average age of four years. The Lyme disease vaccine is thought to have been responsible for the collapse of the immune system in some dogs, and a recent study at Cornell University suggests that treating the disease is less risky than getting the vaccine.

Why are so many puppies treated so heavily with vaccines?

Most all puppies are recommended to go through a large series of vaccinations during their first few months alive. The reasons is because the protection from disease they receive through their mother’s milk wears off anytime from six weeks on up to 20 weeks. Once that happens, the puppy is then vulnerable to many diseases. Vaccinating puppies is supposed to protect their health. However, the problem is that maternal antibodies interfere with the efficacy of the vaccines. Because there is no easy way to find out when these maternal bodies stopped working, the vet gives a puppy multiple vaccines in order to protect them when maternal antibodies no longer provide the protection.