Miniature poodles are generally healthy pups. Some of their main health concerns include:

• 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.
• Tear Staining: If you are seeing a red/brown discoloration under your dog’s eyes, you are most likely seeing tear staining. This is caused by porphyrins, which carry iron and are the by-product of red blood cells being broken down.
• 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.
• Progressive retinal atrophy: Atrophy is a wearing or wasting away of a body part. In this case, it is the retina in the eye, which eventually leads to blindness.
• Optic nerve hypoplasia: This congenital disorder is when the optic nerves of the eye are underdeveloped.
• Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
• Sebaceous adenitis: These are mostly harmless, slow growing bumps under the skin.
• Addison’s disease: Addison’s disease results from the body not producing enough specific hormones. It occurs in the adrenal glands above the kidneys, producing too little cortisol and aldosterone.
• Von Willebrand’s disease: Caused by a deficiency of von Willebrand factor, a protein in the blood that helps platelets, this disease is a bleeding disorder.
• Patellar luxation: 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.
• Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: This disease occurs at the head of the femur (the ball and socket joint in your dog’s hips. Here, the femur degenerates which can cause the hip to collapse and can cause arthritis.
• Stomach bloat (GDV): Gastric dilation and volvulus (GDV is a condition when a dog’s stomach becomes distended with gas.

Always request health screenings of both parents from potential breeders.

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.