Once you’ve had dogs long enough, you learn that there are usually a number of things that can go wrong with certain breeds. In general, larger breeds are more prone to having hip problems because of the added weight. Other breeds like the boxer are more prone to certain forms of cancer. Dogs like the Shar-Pei need to be very well taken care of, especially between their wrinkles.
One of my friends has one. The dog’s name is Willy and he was given to him as a present by his father. Willy is 4 years old and a very cute dog. My friend told me that taking care of him is not that much of a hassle. The only thing is that once you bathe him, you do have to make sure you dry all his wrinkles very well or you could risk him getting an infection.
As you know, breeds like the French Poodle need to get regular haircuts or their hair will tangle and knot. I know this because I used to have one. His name was Terry. He was given to me by my best friend about 20 years ago. Her dog had had puppies and Terry was one of them. Terry was very well-liked by everyone in the house, especially my mother.
Terry would accompany my mother to run errands and to go to the supermarket. My mother gave Terry a couple of haircuts, but when she saw that grooming a dog came with its own set of challenges, she decided to leave it in the hands of professionals. Fortunately, Terry lived a long, happy life. He really died of old age and I got my chance to say ‘good-bye’ and to thank him for all the wonderful years.
Another of my friends had a Golden Retriever. Her dog’s name was Sasha and she was a beautiful dog. She was adopted from a shelter and after many years fell ill. It turned out she had a tumor that needed to be removed. After the surgery, they were told that the chances of it being cancerous were very high. The test results came back, and they confirmed their fears. Sasha was euthanized when the pain got too much for her to bear.
The following video has a very similar case. A Golden Retriever has just been operated on and a tumor was removed from her spleen. Because of where the tumor was found, it was almost certain that the tumor would be cancerous. Today is the day that the test results arrived, and her owner is about to give them to her.
