A healthy poodle is a happy poodle!  What Is Considered Normal Good Health?  You live with your dog and know what is normal for your pet. Never hesitate to report any ailments or concerns to your veterinarian.  Signs of Good Health:  EYES: Should be bright and clear. Report any discharge or excessive tearing to your veterinarian.  EARS: Should be clean and free of discharge, odor and redness. Untreated ear problems are painful and can cause hearing loss.  NOSE: Should be clean, without discharge or sores.  MOUTH: Gums should be pink. Teeth should be free of tartar or plaque. Check mouth and lips for sores or growths. Bad breath can be a signal of health problems.  COAT: Your puppy's coat should be shiny and clean.  WEIGHT: Active, playful puppies are rarely overweight. If a problem seems to be developing ask your Veterinarian for advice.  BLADDER/BOWEL HABITS: Report any changes in the frequency or quality of your pet's urine or stool to your veterinarian right away. This could signal signs of health problems.  General Health Tips To Keep In Mind  In winter, rinse your dog's paws with warm water and towel-dry after every walk to rinse off snow, ice and melting chemicals like salt that irritate footpads and mouth.  Swallowing even a minute amount of automotive antifreeze is fatal to pets. Pet-safe antifreeze is now available.    Vaccinations  Puppies should begin vaccinations as early as six weeks of age. Schedule a veterinarian visit as soon as you acquire your new puppy. Your veterinarian will recommend a vaccination program.  The following diseases can be controlled by immunization:  Distemper: This virus affects the respiratory, digestive and nervous systems.  Hepatitis: This liver disease is caused by a virus.  Leptospirosis: A disease caused by a family of bacteria that causes a potentially fatal kidney disease.  Parvovirus: This serious viral infection causes deadly diarrhea and vomiting.  Bordetella (Kennel Cough): One of the many microbes that cause bronchitis and bronchopneumonia.  Lyme Disease: A bacterial infection transmitted by ticks, causing debilitating joint disease and high fever.  Rabies: This viral disease is epidemic in many parts of North America and can infect all mammals, including people. Raccoons, skunks, foxes, and bat often carry the virus. Rabies is transmitted by the saliva of an infected animal. Even when no injury is apparent, you should report your pet's contact with an unfamiliar or wild animal to your veterinarian immediately. Recommendations may include repeating your pet's rabies vaccine and close observation.    Parasites & Prevention  Fleas, intestinal worms, ticks and mosquitoes are among the most common parasites that affect pets. Some carry serious diseases that can be transmitted to dogs, especially puppies. It's important to protect your puppy from all of these pesky parasites.  Mosquitoes are a real menace.  Mosquitoes are more than just a nuisance; they can be a source of deadly disease and other medical problems. Their feeding on a puppy can cause heartworm disease. So don't forget to ask your veterinarian to start your puppy on a heartworm preventative as soon as possible.   Attached ticks can be dangerous.  Ticks are known carriers of dangerous diseases to both pets and humans. They transmit the organisms that cause illness when they attach and feed. Ask your veterinarian for a product that reduces the risk of these tick-borne diseases:  Lyme Disease Rocky Mountains Spotted Fever Ehrlichiosis Babesiosis Tularemia  Biting fleas are a health threat to puppies.  Fleas bite and feed on a puppy's blood, causing itching and irritation. This can lead to medical problems such as:  Flea Allergy Dermatitis, the most common skin allergy. Skin infection. Anemia or even death in severe infestations. Tapeworms  Ask your veterinarian to recommend a product that stops fleas from biting in minutes and kills fleas fast.    Internal Parasites Are An Immediate Risk Dogs are victims of several internal parasites frequently referred to as worms. The most common are the roundworms that infest most puppies at some time in their young lives and tapeworms that can be a big problem when flea infestations are high. Evidence of roundworms and tapeworms can be seen without the aid of a microscope, but other worms are not so easily diagnosed. Occasionally adult whipworms can be seen in the stool when the infestation has already caused some debilitation or weight loss in the dog. Early diagnosis of the presence and species of intestinal parasite is important, for not all worms respond to the same treatment. Therefore, stool samples should be taken to the veterinarian for microscopic examination if worms are suspected. Many veterinarians include the stool check as part of the annual health examination. Most worm infestations cause any or all of these symptoms: diarrhea, perhaps with blood in the stool; weight loss; dry hair; general poor appearance; and vomiting, perhaps with worms in the vomitus. However, some infestations cause few or no symptoms; in fact some worm eggs or larvae can be dormant in the dog's body and activated only in times of stress, or in the case of roundworms, until the latter stages of pregnancy, when they activate and infest the soon-to-be-born puppies.   Hookworms These are small, thin worms that fasten to the wall of the small intestine and suck blood. Dogs get hookworm if they come in contact with the larvae in contaminated soil. As with roundworms, the hookworm larvae becomes an adult in the intestine. The pups can contract hookworms in the uterus and the dam can infest the pups through her milk. A severe hookworm infestation can kill puppies, but chronic hookworm infection is usually not a problem in the older dog. When it does occur, the signs include diarrhea, weight loss, anemia, and progressive weakness. Diagnosis is made by examining the feces for eggs under a microscope.   Whipworms Adult whipworms look like pieces of thread with one end enlarged. They live in the cecum, the first section of the dog's large intestine. Infestations are usually light, so an examination of feces may not reveal the presence of eggs. Several checks may be necessary before a definitive diagnosis can be made.  Roundworms Roundworms are active in the intestines of puppies, often causing a pot-bellied appearance and poor growth. The worms may be seen in vomit or stool; a severe infestation can cause death by intestinal blockage. This worm can grow to seven inches in length. Females can produce 200 thousand eggs in a day, eggs that are protected by a hard shell and can exist in the soil for years. Dogs become infected by ingesting worm eggs from contaminated soil. The eggs hatch in the intestine and the resulting larva are carried to the lungs by the bloodstream.  The larva then crawls up the windpipe and gets swallowed, often causing the pup to cough or gag. Once the larvae return to the intestine, they grow into adults. Roundworms do not typically infest adults. However, as mentioned above, the larvae can become encysted in body tissue of adult bitches and activate during the last stages of pregnancy to infest puppies. Worming the bitch has no effect on the encysted larvae and cannot prevent the worms from infecting the puppies. Although roundworms can be treated with an over-the-counter wormer found in pet stores, a veterinarian is the best source of information and medication to deal with intestinal parasites. De-wormers are poisonous to the worms and can make the dog sick, especially if not used in proper dosage.     Tapeworms Another small intestine parasite, the tapeworm is transmitted to dogs who ingest fleas or who hunt and eat wildlife infested with tapeworms or fleas. The dog sheds segments of the tapeworm containing the eggs in its feces. These segments are flat and move about shortly after excretion. They look like grains of rice when dried and can be found either in the dog's stool or stuck to the hair around his anus. Tapeworms cannot be killed by the typical over-the-counter wormer; see the veterinarian for appropriate treatment.   Prevention Several worms that infect and re-infect dogs can also infect humans, so treatment and eradication of the worms in the environment are important. Remove dog feces from back yards at least weekly, use appropriate vermicides under veterinary supervision, and have the dog's feces checked frequently in persistent cases. Do not mix wormers and do not use any wormer if your dog is currently taking any other medication, including heartworm preventative, without consulting the veterinarian. When walking the dog in a neighborhood or park, remove all feces so that the dog does not contribute to contamination of soil away from home as well. Dogs that are in generally good condition are not threatened by worm infestations and may not even show symptoms. However, it's a good idea to keep the dog as worm-free as possible so that if disease or stress do take a toll, you're not fighting worms in a sick pet.