Let’s talk about one of the lesser-known parasites that nonetheless pose a danger to dogs: whipworms. Whipworms are resilient creatures, and in egg form, their hard shells allow them to survive outdoors in the soil for years in the time. In many ways, whipworms are similar to hookworms, but instead of ending in a hook shape, one end of this worm tapers to a narrow point, like a whip.

Unlike hookworms, whipworms can’t enter the body through the skin. The only way for your dog to contract them is by ingesting the eggs. Whipworms are widely distributed throughout North America, and transmission is a simple matter if your dog has any contact with other dogs. The long-lived eggs can show up in the soil, shared dog toys, discarded bones and water dishes. Once ingested, whipworms then grow to maturity inside your dog’s digestive system.

Once inside and having reached maturity, the adult worms fasten themselves to the large intestine and the cecum, a transitional pouch between the large and small intestine. Here, they slash and puncture the intestinal walls in order to feed. The female starts to lay her eggs, which are then excreted through the feces.

Symptoms for whipworm resemble those for other worms, such as hookworm. Many dogs carry a certain number of whipworms without manifesting any problems, but past a certain point, your dog may begin to exhibit symptoms such as a dull coat, anemia, rapid weight loss, and a loose and bloody stool. He may also begin vomiting up a yellow-green substance. In very severe cases, the worms may begin to puncture the intestinal wall, to the degree that the intestine begins to stick to the body wall. In this case, you might see your dog licking and worrying his right flank.

When you take your dog to the vet, it may take some time to positively diagnose him with whipworm. Whipworms lay eggs only intermittently, and even when they’re actively releasing eggs, the presence of diarrhea in your dog can make the eggs difficult to find. Typically, vets will perform four stool samples over four days before they will rule out a possible whipworm infestation.

If whipworm eggs are found, your vet will administer a potent dewormer. However, all whipworm dewormers on the market are only effective against worms in their adult form. As a result, re-treatment will probably be necessary.

There are no simple and effective ways for removing whipworm eggs from the soil around your house. However, a contaminated environment can infect your dog over and over again. The best way to fight against reinfection is to make sure your dog’s quarters are sunny and dry, since whipworm eggs require moisture to thrive. Try to place him in an area of fresh new gravel, pavement or soil.

It’s true that ticks can transmit serious diseases such as Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but in order to do so they need to stay attached for significant amount of time — usually more than 24 hours. The best way of reducing your risk for a secondary infection is to have a routine for detecting ticks, and once found, taking care of them immediately.

The common American dog tick is brown, and can resemble a blood blister or a mole. Other ticks are black, and some females are dark red. Most ticks turn a grayish color and blow up like a balloon when they’ve had their fill of blood.

To remove a tick from your dog, use a pair of tweezers or forceps to grab the exposed portion of its body, as near to the head as possible. You don’t want to try to pull it out with your fingers and inadvertently come into contact with any disease it’s carrying.

Although you’ll want to get the tick’s head and mouth if possible, don’t be overly concerned if they remain stuck in your dog skin. Although they might lead to temporary irritation, the leftover parts will not harm your dog. Just be sure to rub an ample amount of antiseptic over the bitten area after you’ve removed as much of the tick as possible. Again, avoid touching the tick with your hands.

The chigger is a type of mite, one that’s typically red, orange or yellow. In its larval form, it prefers to feed on the fluids of a host animal such as dogs, cats or humans.

After a good feeding, the chigger leaves the host and reaches its next stage of development, which is the nymph. It then becomes the adult mite, which lays eggs at about 50 days of age and starts the cycle all over again. Adult chiggers feed on plants instead of animal hosts, so they distribute their larvae primarily in wooded and grassy areas, usually in late summer. Most animals pick up the hatched mites in fall or spring.

Chiggers can settle in almost any part of your dog’s body, but they tend to prefer the head, neck, abdomen and the tender areas around the ear canals and ear flaps. Although you won’t see the mites themselves, you’ll often see patches of inflammation that are said to resemble paprika.

Although chiggers are annoying to your pet, they’re easy to treat. If you think that chiggers are making a meal of your dog, consult with your vet. Typically, she’ll prescribe an anti-parasitic cream such as Tresaderm to spread over the affected areas, as well as an antibiotic steroid to stop the swelling and itching. Or if the chiggers seem less localized, she may prescribe an all-over insecticidal dip.

Hookworms start out their journey by penetrating the host, then traveling up the veins to the heart and then the lungs. Once in the lungs, they dig their way through the alveoli walls, which causes the host to cough. At this point the hookworms are usually swallowed again. They travel down to the stomach, then reach their final destination in the small intestine, where they attach themselves to the lining with structures similar to teeth. Now securely attached, hookworms can then feed off your dog indefinitely while causing serious damage to the walls of his intestines.

Once established, hookworms can corner a great deal of your dog’s blood flow, eventually leading to life-threatening blood loss, anemia and hemorrhaging. In addition, these nasty little creatures secrete an anticoagulant substance that makes feeding even easier for them, but also makes matters worse for your dog.

How does your dog get hookworm? There’s a variety of ways, since hookworms are so clever about finding new hosts. For one thing, pregnancy activates previously latent hookworm infestations in many bitches. As a result, many puppies are born with hookworm, and those who aren’t infected in utero frequently become infected shortly afterward from their mother’s milk. Treating the mother effectively is difficult, and requires almost a daily deworming at the end of her term, so many breeders simply treat the puppies instead at 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks of age.

But you don’t have to be a puppy to pick up hookworm. Hookworm transfers itself to adult dogs in a variety of ways. For one, the larvae can pass directly through the pads of your dog’s feet or even his belly, if he lies down in infected soil.

Hookworm also commonly finds its way in through an adult dog who inadvertently licks infected soil in the process of cleaning himself.

How can you tell if your dog or puppy has hookworm? Common symptoms include emaciation, diarrhea, anemia, listlessness, inflamed “lines” on the skin that appear swollen, and bloody stool.

It’s easy to test your dog for hookworm. Although the worms themselves tend to stay in the intestines, the distinctive hookworm eggs are commonly found in the feces. Treating your dog for hookworm is also a relatively straightforward matter at the vets, and may involve tablets or injections. Treating for complications caused by a long-lasting hookworm problem is a little more complicated. In this case, your vet will usually suggest a treatment plan for your dog’s malnutrition or anemia.

When your dog tests positive for hookworm, your vet will probably recommend a series of follow-up appointments to make sure the cycle’s been broken.

One possibility for discouraging a replay of hookworm is to treat the soil in your yard, killing hookworm larvae at the source (although this method can kill off a number of beneficial organisms as well).

To keep a formerly-infected dog hookworm free, make sure you remove all waste products from your yard or anywhere else your dog roams. This is an important step for people as well as your dog, since hookworm is easily communicable to humans who walk on infected soil with bare feet.

Not all of these are suitable for all dogs — some dogs show allergic reactions to particular products. And puppies shouldn’t be treated with most chemical flea products until they’re at least eight weeks old. Similarly, dogs in their geriatric years can have difficulty with aggressive flea treatments. At the same time, older dogs can be especially prone to the irritating dermatitis caused by a flea infestation.

Many people who object to using many chemicals in their personal lives would also like to find a more natural method of fighting off dog fleas.

One typical method is to include a teaspoon of brewer’s yeast in the dog food at every feeding. Many people feel that fleas dislike the scent of brewer’s yeast and will avoid a dog with plenty of it in his system. Regardless of its effect on fleas, brewer’s yeast is extremely rich in a variety of B vitamins, and including it in his meals is likely to do him good.

Another common natural method of treating for fleas is to feed your dog raw garlic cloves with his meal, or less commonly, a prepared capsule of garlic powder. Many owners swear by garlic when it comes to keeping their dogs flee-free. However, no studies have yet shown that feeding your dog garlic can effectively protect him. If your flea problem is still minor and you have the luxury to experiment, you may want to give this a try.

There’s one all-natural method that’s sure to give your dog instant, if temporary, relief, and that is water! Stick your dog in the bath, and scrub him down with soap and warm water. For full effectiveness, you’ll want to keep him in the water for about 15 minutes. Make sure as much of him as possible is fully submerged.

Also try to make sure your dog has something to keep him busy (probably, you) or it will be hard for him to stay put. The “staying put” part is hard, but it’s deeply satisfying to see all those black fleas wash off into the water.

Now that he’s clean and flea-free, wash any parts of your dog that you couldn’t submerge using a cooled tincture of rosemary — 1 teaspoon of dried rosemary that you’ve previously boiled in water. Not only is this an effective anti-flea treatment over the short-term, it gives your dog a very pleasant smell.

Start with the places your dog sleeps, or usually goes to hang out. His bedding is simple: wash it all on “hot,” then put it through the dryer. Couch cushions and favorite spots on the carpet aren’t quite so easy, but you can start by vacuuming them.

Move on by vacuuming every surface possible: this includes your furniture, drapes, rugs and carpets. Don’t stop there — you’ll also want to vacuum your hardwood and linoleum floors, paying special attention to the cracks and crevices. Finally, run your vacuum over all your couch cushions; then lift them up and vacuum underneath.

Vacuuming is very effective for picking up fleas, and it should be one of your frequently-used strategies against them. Just be certain not to leave the fleas sitting in a vacuum bag after a session, because many of them will crawl back out. You can take care of this problem by putting the bag in the freezer for several hours, by placing it in a black plastic bag and sticking in the hot sun for the afternoon, or simply sealing it within another bag and throwing it in the trash.

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You’ve made a good start. Now you can charge up your offensive action by waxing your hardwood and linoleum floors. Fleas just love carpet, but a surprising number can also lodge and start to reproduce in the cracks between your boards or the crevices between linoleum patterns. Waxing your floors will give them fewer places to hide.

Also, now that you’ve vacuumed industriously and raised the pile of the carpet (so it looks fluffy), now is the ideal time to lay down a safe drying agent that can kill the fleas even in their semi-indestructible cocoon state. Diatomaceous earth is best for this purpose, but you can also use common borax powder from the grocery store. Make sure your pets aren’t around when you’re sprinkling it, because it can get into their lungs and irritate them. Another great place to sprinkle this powder is that flea haven underneath the couch cushions.

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Now you’ve done a bang-up job of treating your house (don’t forget to vacuum and sprinkle drying powder regularly), it’s time to start treating your dog.

Pyrethrin-based flea dips are safe and inexpensive way of treating your dog. Many of them can be used once a week. This is a good place to start if your dog is simply loaded with fleas. You can also spray your dog with insecticidal spray or apply powder between dips. However, there are probably more effective ways of removing your dog from the flea lifecycle.

A systemic insecticide for dogs is just what it sounds like — anti-flea medication that works internally, traveling through the bloodstream. Frontline and Revolution are two common brands of anti-flea systemics. This method is slightly more expensive, but it’s also more effective and convenient. The owner applies the medicinal drops between the shoulder blades once a month. When the dog is treated, any flea that bites it dies, which is a terrific way of disrupting the lifecycle of fleas in your home.

A third method of treating your dog is to slip on a flea collar. However, flea collars have not been shown to be terribly effective — in fact, many fleas may be happy to cavort around your dog’s tail while he’s wearing the collar. Another possible drawback to the flea collar is that it actually irritates the skin and eyes for many dogs. So if you use a flea collar on your dog, you’ll want to check his neck regularly for inflammation. In addition, you’ll want to make sure that his collar doesn’t get wet, as that will reduce its effectiveness.

Even though it isn’t exactly front-page news, dog lice is a parasite that can take up residence even a clean, well-groomed dog. In this country, dog lice isn’t particularly common, especially among dogs that live in homes instead of kennels or shelters, or even on the street. But occasionally even one of those lucky dogs with clean homes and proper care and attention can pick up dog lice from a romp through the woods.

For that reason, you should be familiar with the symptoms of dog lice, and know how to deal with it if the problem comes up. It’s rare that dog lice gets this far, but if allowed to progress without treatment, it causes severe irritation and itching. Eventually it even develops into anemia, because your dog loses a lot of blood.

What do the lice look like? Dog lice are flat, wingless parasites that appear either gray or white. They’re tiny, about 1/12 of an inch in length, but you can see them. You wouldn’t call dog lice energetic — they prefer to stick in one place and feed. Like all kinds of lice, dog lice are very picky about their hosts, and are totally uninterested in non-canine residents of the household. This includes both humans and cats.

There are actually two varieties of dog lice, both of which exhibit very different behavior. The first type actually chews your dog’s skin, and feeds on the flakes that result. The second type feeds directly on your dog’s blood. Both types cause severe irritation in your dog.

What are the signs that your dog has been struck with dog lice? Intense, serious scratching and irritation, a dry, rough-looking coat, and sometimes, bald patches. Dog lice are typically found around in the tender spots around the neck, shoulders, ears, and anus. Although the lice themselves are relatively sizable, you’re more likely to spot their eggs. The eggs, or “nits,” are easier to see because they clump around the root of your dog’s hair and look like a tiny dusting of snow.

The great news about dog lice is that it’s relatively cheap and easy to treat. The relative rareness of dog lice in this country means that the lice haven’t yet built up a resistance to our insecticides. Your vet will probably recommend a weekly bath with medicated shampoo, or possibly an insecticidal spray. If your dog’s hair is very matted, he may ask you to have it shaved or trimmed before you begin to treat your dog.

Typically, you’ll repeat the bath or the sprays until your dog’s itching disappears and you can’t find any more nits. But if it’s your puppy that’s infected with lice, be sure to talk over any medicated treatment with your vet before you get started.

Now that you’ve gone to all that trouble to eliminate the problem, you’ll probably want to make sure your dog remains lice-free. A good way to go about this is to toss your dog’s bedding, and disinfect any areas where he sleeps or snoozes throughout the day.

Although they’re very small, ticks expand to about 50 times their original size after a feeding frenzy. Dog ticks, a variety so commonly found on dogs they were named after their favorite hosts, are large and brown. They sometimes spread Rocky Mountain spotted fever, but they haven’t been shown to spread Lyme disease. This isn’t much comfort, though, because Rocky Mountain spotted fever is sometimes even more serious than Lyme disease.

Fortunately, you can use several techniques to discourage ticks from feeding on your pet. Below are seven tactics to help keep ticks off your dog:

1. Ticks prefer to hang out in particular types of vegetation. They like tall grass, where they can cling for days or months until a deer or your dog brushes through. Ticks don’t like short grass, and they especially dislike bright sunlight. To make your backyard less hospitable to ticks, always keep your grass trimmed below ankle height, and trim your hedges low as well.

2. Adult ticks prefer large victims, like your dog. But younger ticks, known as nymphs, typically feed on mice, birds and other small animals until they molt and become an adult. To help get rid of ticks both old and young, make your yard less inviting to rodents. Keep strong and secure lives on your trash cans, and remove any rock piles, leaf piles or brushy cover.

3. When you go on a hike with your pet, keep to the trails. Make sure your pet stays close by. Avoid shady areas and long grasses where ticks are probably waiting.

4. If you live in tick country and are headed to an area where you’re likely to encounter the nasty little creatures, protect your pet with an insecticide. Hunters have found this effectively protects their dogs. You can use either a systemic — the kind applied with drops once a month that travels through your dog’s entire system — or you can use a spray-on insecticide that performs a similar function. Frontline offers anti-tick insecticides in both forms, and both have been shown to work well. Just be sure that you don’t double up — don’t use a systemic and a spray-on.

5. If you do detect a tick on your dog but it hasn’t yet embedded itself, remove the tick. Do not “squash” the tick and throw it in the garbage — ticks are about as tough as tanks, and it will probably crawl right back out when you’re not paying attention. Yuck! Instead, spray the tick with an insecticide, or drown it in rubbing alcohol. Or in a pinch, use soapy water. Now you’ve taken care of that, go back over your dog with a fine-toothed comb to make sure you’ve caught them all.

6. Dog ticks are large, and if your dog is a short hair you can often see the tick while it’s still feeding. If you do, remove it quickly. The longer the tick feeds on your dog, the more likely it is to transmit disease. Rocky Mountain spotted fever can be transmitted if the tick stays in for over 24 hours.

7. When removing a tick, don’t ever use a match, which could burn your dog — and also doesn’t work. The Vaseline technique doesn’t work either. Instead, you’ll need to pull it out with a pair of tweezers, aiming for the head and pulling gently. Once you’ve removed it (and made sure it has met its demise), give your dog a little extra protection by rubbing the bite area with a topical antiseptic or some antibiotic ointment.

With time passing this fast for your four-footed friend, it’s important that you have some familiarity with older dog health issues, and how you can usher your pet through his “golden years” with the greatest amount of understanding and comfort.

It isn’t a simple matter to talk about older dogs, because different breeds age at different rates. On the whole, large dog breeds age significantly faster than smaller breeds.

People owning large and beautiful dogs such as the Great Dane or Saint Bernard are often surprised at how short these animals’ lifespans are. In fact, the health of a larger dog typically starts to deteriorate at around six years of age, with some large breeds having a life span of only about eight years. On the other end of the scale, the tiny Yorkshire Terrier typically isn’t a senior citizen until he hits about age 13. Chihuahuas tend to live from 12 to 18 years, and toy poodles from 15 to 18.

It isn’t always easy to start caring for your older dog’s evolving needs, because it’s not always easy to tell when your dog is starting to enter his old age. Aging and age-related changes come on slowly, gradually and often, subtly.

One telltale sign (if your dog doesn’t happen to be white) is the graying or whitening of the hairs around your dog’s muzzle. It isn’t always easy to tell when this phenomenon starts, though.

Another change that comes on gradually is that your dog’s coat may seem less shiny and clean, and somehow looks less well-groomed than it used to. In addition, you might notice he looks a little stiffer going up the stairs or jumping off the couch. He might also be a tad less excited about going outside on unusually cold or hot days. All these signs can indicate that your dog’s started to enter his golden years.

It may startle you to suddenly realize that your dog has entered old age, and is beginning to develop a need for some new kinds of dog care. But don’t be alarmed. Aging is as natural for your pet as it is for us all. Embrace these changes as a reminder of the importance of every moment you spend with your canine companion.

You’ll also want to become educated on ways you can prolong your dog’s good health. Here are just a few:

• Avoid obesity.
  
• Buy only high-quality dog food — no cheap stuff.
  
• Keep your dog’s teeth clean.
  
• Tease him into some exercise (it doesn’t have to be the Boston Marathon).
  
• Make absolutely sure he’s parasite-free.
  
• Keep him groomed, and add a little oil to his coat if his skin is dry.
  
• Help him avoid temperature extremes — make sure Fido has a comfy rug or bed someplace warm in the winter, or a cool spot to snooze during a hot summer.

When itchy dogs aren’t being plagued by parasites, we have a catchall term for their dilemma, which is “dermatitis.” Just as people have allergies, dogs and cats do too — but while we express ours with watering eyes and sneezing, dog allergies usually show up as ear infections or terribly itchy skin.

Dermatitis in dogs is especially common in some breeds, such as poodles and Dalmatians, and some of the Terriers, especially the West Highland terrier and white-haired fox terrier. However, doggy dermatitis appears in just about every breed — and the numbers of dogs with allergies are on the rise.

Allergies are something that tend to develop over time — they usually progress and get worse as the dog gets older. Usually, you can’t tell when they’re puppies if they’re going to have allergies, since many of them don’t manifest until the dog is at least three years of age or older.

Sometimes, dog dermatitis is similar to hay fever in humans. In that case, you might see your dog getting really itchy in early spring, when pollen counts are high, and again around August and September. Some dogs with this kind of environmental dermatitis are also allergic to grass.

Another leading cause of allergic reactions in dogs is their food. Dogs can be allergic to just about any kind of food, but the leading offenders include corn, wheat, soy, dairy products and beef. The best way to look for relief in a dog with food allergies is to try something called an “elimination diet.” In this diet, you gradually remove any ingredients found in your pup’s regular diet, and replace each one with something new, over a period of weeks and months. For example, you might first try replacing corn with rice, and then beef with veal. Veterinarians say that if you see approximately a 50% decrease in your dog’s itching, you’ve struck gold.

Remember that dog dermatitis is a long-term problem that can cause your dog severe discomfort. Are there medical treatments for this kind of symptom? You bet, but you’ll need to talk your veterinarian. If your dog is a breed prone to dermatitis, your vet may just help you handle the bad times by equipping you with an arsenal of antibiotics, medicated shampoos and even oral steroids, which are meant for only short term use (although they’re very effective, they work by suppressing the immune system).

Another tactic that’s useful for some dogs is to run a skin test to determine some of your dog’s specific allergic sensitivities. In this case, your vet might treat your dog with a series of injections to help reduce his sensitivity to certain environmental allergens.

In either case, treating the symptoms of your itchy, scratchy dog is likely to be a life-long affair, but trust me — your dog will feel your efforts are more than worth it.