Health Concerns Facing the Rottweiler –Basic Rottweiler Care
The diseases that may plague the puppy until it is one year old or so, are (i) bone/joint diseases, (ii) sub-aortic stenosis and (iii) dominance aggression.
(i) Bone/joint disease – you can diagnose this easily if you find the dog limping, even if it is without pain; other symptoms would include the animal’s unwillingness to play or move around.
(ii) Subaoritc stenosis – this is usually a genetic problem which may result in sudden death. There is little you can do if your Rottweiler is suffering from this problem.
(iii) Dominance aggression – this is when the Rottweiler puppy snaps or bites hard at someone else in the family besides the owner. Though this is not a medical emergency, it can lead to serious temperament problems and needs to be tackled immediately by a qualified trainer.
Rottweiler Care When It Is a Little Older
When the puppy grows older, the diseases also change – you will find that between one year and 7years old, the Rottweiler care has to be intensified to ensure that your dog stays healthy. The following diseases may plague the dog during this period:
(i) Bloat or gastric dilation – this can happen suddenly due to overeating, or drinking too much water. The life of the dog will depend on fast medical intervention; hence you should be able to read the tell-tale signs as early as possible. The signs include distention of the stomach, attempts to throw up without any result, weakness.
(ii) Cancer of the bone – Rottweilers are highly prone to cancer. Early signs of cancer are breaking of the leg for no apparent reason. Check your dog for cancer if this happens. If caught in time, the cancer can be checked sufficiently to give your pet a full and fruitful life.
(iii) Cancer of the immune system cells – if your Rottweiler has no appetite, is pathetically thin, vomits all the time, is always thirsty and suffers from diarrhea, then he might be suffering from this type of cancer. Early diagnosis may help to some extent to improve the quality of life of your pet.
(iv) The Rottweiler is prone to hip dysplasia and elbow dysplasia. If the dog you have bought is from a good breeder you will not need to worry about this, since the breeder would ensure that the parents of the dog are free from this genetic defect.
Basic Rottweiler care will show that this is a genetic disease; hence, you can find out about the possibility of your Rottie getting it by investigating into its genetic history and check whether there was any occurrence of any of these diseases in the father and/or mother and the generation beyond that.
Another serious disease that might affect your Rottweiler is OCD (Osteochondrosis Dissecans) which induces limping due to painfully inflamed joints like arthritis. Often more than one joint will be affected making it very painful for the dog to move.
More about Rottweiler Care
Rottweilers also tend to develop hypothyroidism, i.e. reduced amounts of thyroid hormone is released into the blood stream which affects the way it thinks, the way it understands its surrounding, etc. This disease can be pretty trying on the trainer since the brain ability is slowed down by the malfunctioning of the thyroid gland. There are Rottweiler care methods which can help in drastically improving this condition once it is diagnosed.
There are other diseases such as PRA (progressive retina atrophy) and CPRA (central progressive retina atrophy) which affect the Rottweiler. They may also suffer from epilepsy in rare cases.
The above enumeration has shown a good number of diseases that this breed of dogs are prone to. In order to protect it from suffering you will need to help your dog with prevention measures. In order to do this you should know how to choose a good vet for your Rottweiler, who will help you work out a complete Rottweiler care routine for your pet.
