Puppy Dog Diseases

Newborn puppies can easily capture the hearts of dog lovers of all ages. Compared with older dogs, they appear as pictures of health with boundless energy. However, there's more to adopting puppies than providing food, water and shelter. Unless puppies are protected with the needed shots and vaccines, chances are slim that they'll make it to their first birthday. Even worse, unvaccinated puppies can spread fatal diseases, wiping out an entire kennel or animal shelter.

Puppy diseases are those diseases afflicting dogs up to 12 months of age, when they graduate from puppyhood to being an adult dog. However, it's not until about age 18 months that a puppy fully outgrows the puppy stage. From about four to 20 weeks of age, a puppy's immune system is developing.

Canine distemper is the greatest killer of puppies, and more than 80 percent of all adult dogs will contract the disease if not vaccinated against it (see Resources). Symptoms can include high fever, partial paralysis, jerking or twitching (chorea), weight loss, seizures, and encephalitis. Canine hepatitis is an acute infection spread through feces, saliva, blood, urine and nasal discharges of infected dogs, with symptoms including inflammation of the mouth and nose area, abdominal pain, vomiting, and high fever. Parvovirus is a deadly virus, spread through infected feces, that attacks the digestive system. Rabies is a virus that can be spread to humans when an infected animal bites them; puppies with rabies may rage furiously or shed.

Hookworms, whipworms, roundworms and tapeworms are the most common intestinal parasites that attack puppies. Hookworms can attach to the intestine walls and drain blood from a puppy. A parasitic disease, hookworms are especially common in puppies, with severe infestations resulting in anemia and even death. Whipworms are tiny worms that live in either the colon or large intestines. Roundworms resemble spaghetti and may be contracted from manure and a contaminated environment. Tapeworms, which are long, flat and segmented, burrow into the walls of the intestines and pass into the feces.

Besides vaccinating puppies and keeping them up to date on all their shots, there are other preventive steps you can take to reduce diseases. Isolate your puppy from sick, stray dogs or wildlife for the first five months of life, not boarding him until he's fully protected. Keep puppy areas clean as many puppy diseases such as distemper and parvovirus increase in unsanitary areas. Keep newborns in a moderately heated area of around 85 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit for up to their first three weeks of life.

Many people falsely believe that puppies get immunity from diseases from their mothers. However, a newborn puppy's immune system isn't fully developed. That's why it's important for a newborn to be nursed with mother's first milk called colostrum.