Raising a dog is quite simple, just choose your favorite dog and take it home. The difficulty lies in how to properly take care of your dog during the raising process. A qualified pet owner must know how to distinguish whether a dog's body is healthy. Today, the editor of Boqi.com will talk about several aspects to check, so let's take a look below.

The eyes of a normal dog should be clear and clean. If the eyes are congested, have a white membrane on the eyeball, or have a large amount of eye discharge in the corners, these are signs of unhealthiness. When choosing, you can place the dog on a higher position and wave your hand in front of its eyes. If it shows fear but does not jump down, instead follows your hand movement with its eyes, it indicates normal vision without obvious symptoms of disease.

Place the dog in a stable place and snap your fingers near its side or the back of its head. If its reaction is to actively locate the direction of the sound source, it means its hearing is normal and unobstructed. Conversely, if it shows no reaction at all, it most likely cannot hear any external sounds. Then flip its ears outward and check the inside: if there is an odor or sticky residue, or if there is redness, injury, or bleeding, it indicates inner ear damage or ear parasites—signs of unhealthiness. If there are no abnormalities, it means the dog's ears are completely healthy.

Except when a dog has just woken up and its nose is dry, under normal conditions their noses should be moist with clear nasal discharge. If the dog's nasal discharge is yellow and accompanied by a "woof-woof" coughing sound, it suggests the dog may have a respiratory disease such as pneumonia, an upper respiratory infection, or early-stage canine distemper.

A healthy dog's mouth should only have saliva, without other abnormal secretions or foul breath. Otherwise, it indicates problems with the dog's diet and possibly malnutrition. Also, healthy dogs have white teeth. If there is plaque or damaged teeth, minor health issues may exist. However, oral secretions, teeth, and breath are not critical concerns and should not be the main reason to reject purchasing the dog. With proper care, the dog may recover health in the future.

However, if the gums have problems, it is more serious. A dog's gums should be pink. If gums are grayish-white, it may be caused by weakness, malnutrition, congenital anemia, or other diseases. Such dogs have many potential underlying conditions and it is best not to buy them.

5. Paw Pads:

Adult dogs have fuller and firmer paw pads, while young dogs' paw pads are softer and more delicate. If a dog's paw pads are cracked and dry, it indicates malnutrition. If young dogs have very hard paw pads, it is very likely a symptom of early-stage canine distemper.

To check a dog's skin, mainly look for skin diseases or external parasites. The method is: gently part the dog's fur with your hand. If the dog's skin color is light pink all over, it indicates healthy skin. Focus on checking the skin around the dog's mouth, underneath the neck, behind the ears, armpits, and thighs, as these areas are prone to mites. If these areas have patchy or blotchy redness, it means the dog is infected with mites or fungi, and it is recommended not to choose such dogs, as the disease is troublesome to treat and easy to relapse. If many small black particles are found in the dog's fur and the skin color is abnormal, it indicates the dog may have fleas.

The above are methods to distinguish whether a dog's body is healthy. I hope this can help everyone.