Beagles are fairly healthy pups. Their floppy ears created an increased risk of infections. Other common problems include:

• Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
• Hip dysplasia: This condition is when the socket joint in the hip isn’t large enough, or more often too shallow, for the femoral head.
• Hypothyroidism: The thyroid gland, sitting at the top of the windpipe in the back of the neck, is controlled by the pituitary gland at the base of the brand. Hypothyroidism would cause the metabolism to slow down.
• Congenial heart disease: This birth defect refers to various defects within the heart – from a hole in the heart to defective vessels.
• Cataracts: A dog develops a cataract when the lens in its eye clouds. The clouding is caused by changes in the water balance or proteins in the lens.
• Glaucoma: Glaucoma is caused by when the intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye is increased.
• Intervertebral disc disease: In this degenerative disease, a spinal disk deteriorates over time, which can lead to a disc rupture, herniation, or worse.
• Dwarfism: Manifesting itself in a few forms, the most common forms are achondroplasia and pituitary. Both result in physical abnormalities on anything from an enlarged head to bowed limbs.
• Immune-mediated polygenic arthritis: Here, you have your immune system attacking the various components of your joints. This occurs across numerous joints simultaneously.
• Cerebellar cortical degeneration: This degeneration in the back of your brain can lead to balance loss, and difficulty with speech and eyesight.

Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.

Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.

Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.

Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:

1. Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
2. Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
3. Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
4. Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
5. At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.

Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.

Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.