As a pet lover, you would want to take the best care of your dog. Yet there are some common signs and symptoms that are often ignored by most dog owners. Ignorance of the owner, needless to say, significantly affects the life quality of the pet. Your pets are dependent on you in many ways. To give them a healthy life, you must know some of the common canine problems and their symptoms so that you can take proper action on time. Here we are enlisting the most common canine problems to help you give your pet a healthy and happy life.

• Ear Infection

Ear infection is a common problem in dogs and unsurprisingly, this is also one of the most ignored problems as well. Many dog owners do not even recognize that their dogs are in pain due to ear infection. And worse yet, there are some others who take this as a normal condition for dogs. You must know that while ear infection is common, it is not normal for dogs of any breed and size. Some recurring signs that indicate ear infection in your dog are as listed below:

• Continuous head shaking and head tilting
• Vigorous ear scratching
• Swelling of the outer ear
• Ear odor
• Brown, yellow or bloody discharge from the ear

Does your pet suffer from one or more of the above symptoms? Get in touch with your vet without further delay.

• Parasite And Worm Infestation

Another common problem that remains unnoticed by lots of dog owners is parasite infestation. There are wide varieties of parasites and bacteria like fleas, ticks, tapeworm, hookworm, roundworm, and giardia that make life painful for dogs. If you keep your pet properly vaccinated, you can avoid many of the parasite or bacteria infestations. But there are some parasites like fleas that can attack your pet anytime and so you need to be extra careful. It is important to understand the infestation and its symptoms to know if you need flea treatment for your dog.  Look for these signs in your dog to know if there’s any parasite infestation:

• Excessive scratching, biting or licking the skin
• Red patches
• Hair loss
• Lethargy
• Pale gum
• Sudden weight loss

Flea infestation brings several other problems with it. So, be sure to treat your dog as soon as you identify any sign of fleas.

• Obesity

Despite being a clearly visible problem, obesity is often ignored by most dog owners. Naturally, dogs have the tendency to self-check their diet and burn extra calories by running or jumping or getting into other physical activities. But when you pamper your dogs too much and treat them with their favorite foods, they simply get spoilt. While you might love chubby dogs, it is not good for your dog to be overweight. The extra weight on joints reduces agility and also leads to cardiovascular diseases in dogs. The signs of obesity are very obvious:

• Excessive chubbiness
• Reduced mobility
• Unwillingness to exercise
• Excessive lethargy

You should know the ideal weight for your dog based on its age and breed so that you can keep a track of it regularly.

• Arthritis

This is a very common problem in aging dogs and it is often ignored by owners willingly. Most of the owners believe that it is natural for their old dog to slow down and they cannot do anything about it. We must tell you that this conception is wrong and misleading. Just because a condition is chronic or is seen as an impact of aging, it does not mean that you should leave your pet in pain. There are some drugs and life-management techniques that can help you relieve your dog’s pain. Prevention is always better than cure so you should look for the symptoms and try to treat arthritis in its earliest phases. Look for these symptoms to know if arthritis is slowly affecting your dog:

• Slowed gait
• Difficulty rising from the resting position
• Lethargy
• Increased sleepiness
• Licking of joints
• Unusual fluctuation in weight
• Reluctance to play and exercise

While arthritis is a problem faced mainly by aging dogs, cases of young dogs getting arthritis are not very rare these days. So, you should take care of your dog and look for the symptoms mentioned above regardless of its age.

When you bring home a pet, you take the responsibility to give it a good and healthy life. So, you need to understand its pains and problems and take remedial measures without any delay.