From the ArcaMax Publishing, Cats & Dogs Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/catsanddogs/s-568507-717905
Even if your shar pei looks totally unlike any other dog, he will
still encounter most of the bugs and critters that give other breeds a
hard time. Let's have a look at some of these top concerns.
The first thing we need to know is that the skin of a shar pei dog
contains large amounts of mucin, making the skin wrinkly and very
flexible. A healthy shar pei dog has no need for special care to its
skin save that of regular baths and the regular brushing that goes
with changing seasons.
One concern that can actually grow into a serious skin problem is
caused by the demodex mite, which all dogs happen to have getting by
under their skin. Among healthy animals, both the parasite and host
get along without anything significant going on since the dog's own
immune system maintains the balance. What changes this and leads to a
boom in the mites' population are adolescence, or times of stress
which temporarily impairs the dog's immune system. The result is small
patches of hair loss (generally circular) around the head and also the
trunk. Veterinarians usually advise that these patches be left alone
since the immune system will be back to normal soon in a healthy puppy
or dog. But when the immune system is somehow overwhelmed by large
numbers of mites, the condition is then called generalized demodex. In
any method used, veterinary supervision must always be part of the
treatment.
Let us now turn to food allergies, which happen to regularly affect
many dogs. Signs of the condition are hair loss, intense itching and
infected ears, and the tender state of the skin between the toes of
the feet. Finding the offending substance is usually through hit or
miss, using various allergy tests like the regualar "skin scrape"
method or by blood tests.
The upside to a bout of food allergy is that they are relatively
easier to treat - removal of the critical food, or chemical, from the
dog's diet. In order to completely take no chances when it comes to
allergies, feed your dog high quality, premium dog food, which does
not include soy, corn or wheat among its ingredients.
One more important source of skin problems are fleas. There is more to
fleas than just the bite; some dogs actually have negative allergic
reactions to the saliva of the flea. Sometimes, even one bite on a
severely allergic dog is enough to send it to a scratching frenzy. As
regards remedies, prevention is still the best answer to fleabite
allergies. Among the many effective flea preventives sold on the
market, Program is interesting since it does not actually kill the
fleas that are biting your dog but sterilizes them, therefore stopping
reproduction. If fleas are a problem, then you also have to treat the
environment your shar pei dog lives in by removing fleas from your
house and yard.
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Richard Cussons knows that the shar pei dog is associated
with some dermatological issues. Check out sharpeisavvy.com to know
more about shar peis and discover effective
shar pei training tips.