Can You Identify Your Dog’s Symptoms of Illness?

Understanding your dog’s symptoms of illness can help him or her in a medical situation. You can provide effective first aid which will buy you some time while you get to a medical treatment center.

The first thing you need to do in order to determine whether your dog has symptoms of an illness is to observe his behavior through natural observation on a routine basis. Your dog’s health begins with you paying attention to all his little quirks and weird habits on a daily basis. Does your dog chase his tail when he knows it is time to go for a walk? Or does your dog constantly chase his tail trying to bite it excessively? If is the latter, then your dog’s symptom of illness could be a bacterial infection.

By understanding some basic facts about a dog, you can determine whether something is right or not about his health. A normal temperature for a dog is 102 degrees Fahrenheit or 39 degrees Celsius. The only way you can take your dog’s temperature is with a rectal thermometer. Be sure to have a handy pair of gloves and some alcohol swabs lying around to clean the tool after you are done taking your dog’s temperature.

Make sure your dog is standing up on all fours and he is calm. Take him for a good long walk before doing so. He is sure to cooperate a lot more because he is tired and stress-free. You do not want your dog to sit down and push the thermometer up inside himself puncturing or damaging any bodily tissues.

You can take a dog’s pulse as well. This can help establish if your dog shows any other symptoms of an illness. You can place both hands on his heart, in his inner thigh or in front legs. Each of these points can give you a good indication of what his pulse rate is.

Be sure to watch a clock for 15 seconds and then multiply that by 4 so you get his average heart beat per minute. There are varying ranges of heart rates per minute for dogs of different sizes. Bigger dogs tend to have lower heart rates and smaller dogs tend to have heart rates that pump excessively fast.

A dog may show other symptoms of illness or injury in the following ways: ignoring your commands, withdrawal from the family or other dogs, refusal to move, whimpering or whining, refusal to eat, will not go to the bathroom or remaining really quiet.

Other dog symptoms of illness you should watch out for that could indicate pain come from his body language.

Does your do constantly lick or scratch himself in the same place over and over again? Does he look like he is limping and utilizing only 3 out of 4 of his legs? If you see any of these symptoms in your dog, these all could suggest pain. Again, by bringing your dog to a veterinarian right away, you save yourself the time, frustration and money of any potential bigger threats down the road.

More importantly, you do your dog a favor by relieving him of his pain by understanding some basic dog symptoms that may have resulted from an illness or injury.

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