Health
Most German shorthaired pointers are tough, healthy dogs, but according to Mayor B. Loney, DVM (NAVHDA Versatile Hunting Dog Magazine, April, 2003) the breed can be subject to a number of hereditary disorders just as any other purebred due to their breeding. A few individuals may suffer from hip dysplasia, genetic eye diseases, epilepsy, skin disorders and cancerous lesions in the mouth, on the skin and other areas of the body. As with other breeds, unspayed female GSPs are prone to breast cancer. But they are less likely to get breast cancer if they are bred.
Like many other deep-chested dogs, German shorthaired pointers are highly prone to gastric torsion, AKA bloat. Correct precautions, such as refraining from feeding immediately before or after exercise, feeding several smaller meals throughout the day instead of a single, large one and avoiding the consumption of large amounts of water with dry food, should always be taken.
As with any other hunting dog, contact with game can cause the spread of fungi and bacteria that can easily colonise in the gums or cause infections on open wounds and small cuts from scratching against plants and bushes during a regular hunting session.
Read more about this topic: German Shorthaired Pointer
Famous quotes containing the word health:
“Youth no less becomes
The light and careless livery that it wears
Than settled age his sables and his weeds,
Importing health and graveness.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“The middle years of parenthood are characterized by ambiguity. Our kids are no longer helpless, but neither are they independent. We are still active parents but we have more time now to concentrate on our personal needs. Our children’s world has expanded. It is not enclosed within a kind of magic dotted line drawn by us. Although we are still the most important adults in their lives, we are no longer the only significant adults.”
—Ruth Davidson Bell. Ourselves and Our Children, by Boston Women’s Health Book Collective, ch. 3 (1978)
“The sick man is taken away by the institution that takes charge not of the individual, but of his illness, an isolated object transformed or eliminated by technicians devoted to the defense of health the way others are attached to the defense of law and order or tidiness.”
—Michel de Certeau (1925–1986)