The Royal Veterinary College in London recently published the findings of their
study, which looked at nearly half a million dogs. In that study,
they focused on the most common diseases that may impact your dog's health and
wellbeing. Now, uh,
the good news is that by knowing some of these puppy health tips,
you can maybe avoid some of these issues or at least be able to identify them
early. But I really wanted a deeper understanding.
So I reached out to Dr. Alex Avery from the, Our Pet's Health youtube channel.
And in today's video he's going to give us some puppy health tips so that your
dog can live a healthier, happier life. I'm Ken Steepe
and I'm doctor Alex and welcome back to Mccann dogs.
We have a saying in veterinary medicine that common things occur commonly and
today I was invited by Ken to talk to you to help you avoid or reduce the risk
of diseases that are really likely to have the biggest impact on your puppy's
quality of life as they grow and age. So let's start with obesity. Now.
Everyone worries about what to feed their dog.
But once the puppy transitions into an adult dogs,
I'd actually argue that what you feed is less important than how much of it you
actually give to your dog or your puppy. Now of course,
this depends to a certain extent on what you're actually planning to feed
because there are some really pretty crazy diets out there and some pretty
inappropriate diets as well. But you know, just like us, our pets,
they really aren't in the middle of an obesity epidemic. And unfortunately,
well over 50% of both dogs and cats are classified as being overweight or obese
in the US and the situation in the UK, Australia,
and really everywhere else in the world is not too dissimilar.
So a massive proportion of our dogs are overweight and this is often starting
while our dogs or puppies. So they're putting on a little bit too much weight,
they're carrying too much weight and that stays with them throughout their lives.
So the,
the kind of the old thoughts or having a rolly polly puppy is a bit Chunky,
was a good thing really isn't true because it sets them up for a life of being
overweight or being obese.
So what can we do about this while learning to condition score your dog is
really important.
So you can tell if they are a healthy weight or if they're overweight.
Feeding them a consistent amount is important because that way, you know,
if they are getting a bit too heavy, you can just cut it back a little bit.
Avoiding high energy treats. Um, and you know,
mistaking the fact that the only way to show our puppy and our dog love is by
feeding them or both, you know, both habits to break and not to get into.
And really the bottom line here is if in doubt,
ask your veterinary team what your dog's ideal weight should be. You know,
talk to them about diet. Talk to them about the amount that you're feeding.
The most appropriate treat to give them is,
and you can avoid your dog being overweight or obese in the first place.
It's actually been shown that overweight dog, so not even over obese dogs,
but overweight dogs have a reduced life expectancy by as much as two years.
So that's a massive proportion of your dog's life that you could be missing out
of because they are overweight.
Next on the list of conditions that can compromise a dog's welfare is dental
disease. Now this is again, super common. So by the,
by the time dogs get and cat and cats as well get to three years of age,
about 80% of them will have some degree of dental disease.
So that's really how common it is.
And the ideal time to get into good habits with this is when your dog is still a
puppy. Um, you know,
there's a reason that we brush our teeth twice a day to keep our,
our teeth nice and clean and our mouth nice and hygienic.
And toothbrushing is also the best thing that we can do to keep our dog's teeth
clean and their mouth healthy.
So we want to be starting this ideally when they're a puppy.
So when your dog's a puppy,
it's ideal because they're going to accept this as normal and they're not.
They're just going to learn that that's part of the routine.
That's part of the daily routine. It's what happens, you know, no big drama.
Start by offering the toothpaste, you know,
that comes in lots of different flavors and molt chicken, beef.
Start by offering it from your finger as a treat. Then, uh,
get your dog used to having your finger.
Your puppy used to having your finger in their mouth and then you can introduce
a toothbrush.
So that can either be a little finger brush that fits over your finger or a
Doggie toothbrush.
Now it's important that we do use a dog specific toothpastes and not to human
toothpaste. And also the pet tooth brushes that brush bristles are softer,
so you're less likely to damage their gums or hurt them. Really,
we want to be brushing their teeth at least three times a week,
but every day would be ideal. Now there are of course,
other options for keeping teeth clean and that involves,
some different diets. Dental Chews, and some supplements, some oral gels,
that kind of thing. But brushing really is best.
And if you're starting off as a puppy,
then it's much simpler process and you're much more likely to have success with
brushing your dog's teeth. You know,
dental disease that impacts a dog's welfare in a number of different ways.
It's really painful.
If you've ever had a a two through abscess or any kind of dental problem
yourself, you'll know how much it does hurt.
And just because a dog's eating doesn't mean it's not painful,
but it's also been linked to other diseases.
So dental disease has been linked to things like kidney failure, liver disease,
heart failure.
And so it can have a massive impact on not just the pain and comfort levels of
your dog,
but also their general kind of disease states and how healthy they are as a
whole. And then the final condition with the biggest impact on a dog's welfare is
arthritis. So if your dog has over seven,
then there's about a 65% chance that they're going to have arthritis. Um,
you know, if you've already cut them nice and slim throughout their life,
nice and lean, I'm nice and kind of fit and healthy and well muscled,
then you know, the chances of them suffering from arthritis are reduced. Um,
but there are other steps that you can put in place as well, you know,
especially while they're a puppy. Like I say,
getting into good habits is important just to help reduce their chance of
developing arthritis. So the first thing is,
is that short regular exercises much better than occasional long walks,
really intense workouts.
So that kind of the weekend warrior effect where a dog is just sitting at home,
bored out of his mind really quiet in the week,
but then goes for 10 kilometer hike or a 10 kilometer jog next to a bike,
you know, at the weekend. That's really going to stuff that joint.
So the other thing is that many dogs will chase a ball or if they're stimulated
to exercise like a running alongside a bike and they're just going to keep going
until they drop, they're not going to stop. When they're feeling tired,
they're not going to stop.
If they just tweak their leg a little bit and so that's going to massively
increase their chance of developing injuries,
chronic stresses and strains and problems later on in life.
So avoiding ball chuckers, don't Overdo it. Overdo ball chasing. Um, you know,
you don't want high intensity,
kind of the rapid acceleration of stopping the twisting and turning. Um, you know,
if it's not done by very fit dog who's used to it,
then it can cause real problems with the joints. And you know,
if you have a high vehicle,
another thing to think about would be considering a ramp to reduce the impact of
jumping down. You know, that kind of thing. It's all these kinds of things.
The lots of little, little traumatic events. If we can reduce them,
we can keep joint health much better.
The other thing we want to be doing is learning to recognize the signs of pain
in your puppy and in your dog so that you can take action early so that you
don't ignore it until they're absolutely crippled or you know,
just pass it off as normal for an older dog,
which is something that I hear so much as, oh, you know, the dog's just stiff.
It's all part of aging. They're just getting old. It's nothing to worry about.
Rather than saying they're stiff because they're in pain.
If you're looking for more puppy health tips and be sort of,
click that video right there.
It's doctor Alex's video on the nine steps to keeping your puppy healthy.
Want to thank Dr Alex for sharing his knowledge with us today,
and if this your first time on the McCann Dogs channel,
make sure you hit that subscribe button.
We publish new videos every single week to help you to have a well behaved four
legged family member. On that note, I'm Ken. Happy training!