Common Dog Health Problems - Treating the 20 Most Common

Common dog health problems are like weeds

If you get weeds in your yard or garden, how do you remove them? There are three ways, and the effectiveness of each method directly correlates with how you tackle your dog's health issues...

1. Cut them
   Cutting weeds at the stem is similar to only addressing your dog's symptoms (like applying cream to a rash). On the surface, the problem will go away, but the underlying root will eventually cause the weed to grow back.
2. Spray them with weed killer
   Spraying weeds is like giving your dog manmade medicine to fix a problem. The weeds don't like it and will probably die, but the weed killer will also affect the surrounding healthy lawn. And after all of the weed killer washes away, the weeds will likely return.
3. Pull out the entire weed and its roots
   This is the only sure way to completely get rid of a weed, just as going after the root cause of a health issue is the only completely effective way to treat it.

So how do you address the "root problems" of your dog's health issues?

Incorporate the right combination of holistic and conventional treatments into your dog's care.

Think about it...

If you only treat your dog with conventional methods, you only address the symptoms and not the cause of the symptoms. Here are some examples of how conventional medicine and techniques only address the symptoms and not the underlying cause...

• Warts. Cut them off. They grow back.
• Allergies. Give them a pill. The pills stop, the allergies come back.
• Skin problems. Apply a cream. The problem goes away, then months later it returns.

Treating your dog holistically addresses the root cause of problems. It gives your dog's body the ability fight all health problems forever, not just one problem at a time as they come up. Caring for your dog in this way includes...

• A different approach to vaccinations
• A healthier diet
• Appropriate exercise
• Natural treatments for acute issues (medicines whose chemical compositions have not been changed by humans)
• Natural treatments in concert with conventional treatments when appropriate (sometimes the "best of both worlds" is the most effective)

The downside of a holistic approach is that it requires patience. But your dog will thank you for it!

Dog illnesses usually do not develop overnight. While the physical manifestation of a problem (like a rash or wart) may just "show up" one day, it is likely that the problem has been brewing in your dog's system for some time.

To reverse your dog's ailment, a similar amount of time may be needed. Your dog's immune system will be learning how to fight off the issue (and keep it away) on its own for the long-run, and this doesn't usually happen right away.

Generally speaking, the longer a problem has taken to develop, the longer it will take to treat holistically.

All the way from diarrhea to cancer, the 20 most common problems can all be treated more effectively through the right combination of holistic and conventional care, including (we'll share a link to the specifics for each condition further down the page)...

• Allergies
• Constipation
• Cancer
• Diarrhea
• Ear problems
• Epilepsy
• Eye problems
• Flatulence
• Fleas
• Incontinence
• Lice
• Mange
• Pink Eye
• Skin conditions
• Ticks
• Urination problems
• Vomiting
• Warts
• Worms
• Yeast Infections

Symptoms Should Get Worse Before They Get Better

Interestingly, when you treat your dog holistically their symptoms may actually appear to get a little worse before they get better. This is what you want! It means that your dog's body is tackling the problem on its own.

And while the main symptom may get a little worse before it gets better, you'll usually notice the rest of your dog's health and mood start to improve right away.

You'll know the treatment is working if you see your dog's symptoms do any of the following...

• Stop migrating to other parts of the body
• Stay on the skin (or move there) and out of the internal organs
• Move away from the head and vital organs and towards the outer extremities and lower body
• Stop effecting the mind, including mood swings or fatigue (in the wild, this allows dogs to keep their survival instincts at their peak)

For instance, if your dog's health problem effects the internal organs, before the holistic treatment you may not see any issue on the outside of the body. After treatment, the body may push the disease away from their organs and head, so you may see a rash develop on their feet or towards the back of their body. This usually means that your dog's body is doing the right thing and is on the road to recovery.

For a complete list of health problems and the best combination of holistic and conventional treatments, see Organic Pet Digest’s Common Dog Health Problems page.