Some common health problems include:

• Mitral Valve disease: The mitral valve is an important valve in the heart controlling pressure and blood flow in the heart. Over time, it can wear, leading to a few different issues in the heart.
• Syringomyelia: Here a cyst develops and grows in the spinal cord. Over time, as the cyst grows, nerves in the spine can be pinched and damaged, causing other issues.
• 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.
• Luxating patella: Luxating simply means out of place or dislocated. Patella is a kneecap. A Luxating patella is a kneecap that chronically moves out of its normal position.
• 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.
• Cherry eye: This condition is a prolapse of the third eyelid gland. This third gland is what produces the protective tear film for the eye.
• Thrombocytopenia: Caused by low platelet found in the blood, this lessens your bodies ability to clot blood (say, after a scrap).
• Dry eye: Often observed through your dog’s red eyes, this condition is caused by a dog’s immune system attacking its lacrimal glands, shutting them down.
• Otitis Externa: Also known as swimmer’s ear, this condition causes inflammation of the external ear canal.
• Corneal ulcers: Cornea is the transparent membrane on the front of the eye. A corneal ulcer, the cornea is damaged.
• Episodic falling syndrome: EFS is a genetic disorder unique to the CKCSs due to a mutation of their brevican gene (BCAN).

While you always hope your pet will live a long and healthy life, it is always a good idea to invest in pet health insurance.

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.