Last summer as we approached Howie, one of our neighborhood’s sweetest, best-behaved dogs, his guardian stopped us from allowing our dog to get close to his. The gentleman told us he was keeping Howie away from others because the pup was being treated for kennel cough.
Naturally, we thanked him for being so proactive, considerate, and helpful. He is exactly the kind of person we all hope to have as part of our dog community. He has raised a dog to be a good citizen, he follows the rules that govern being out and about with a dog, and he is as careful with our dog as he is with his.
Happily, Howie made a quick recovery and our Poppy was able to have a sniff fest with him again.
It helped that Howie pays attention to his person when asked and we were able to slip by without contact.
Know What Is Contagious
You should not only know what is contagious among dogs, but also how the disease is spread and what you can do to prevent your dog from becoming sick. For example, Mary Fuller, DVM, writing about Kennel Cough for Vet Street wrote, “This extremely contagious respiratory disease, also known as canine infectious tracheobronchitis, isn’t always caused by a single organism.” Your dog can get it from inhaling the virus or bacteria left behind by a sick dog at places where dogs congregate.
Other highly contagious canine diseases include: distemper, adenovirus [hepatitis], parainfluenza, and parvovirus. These all have vaccines that your dog may have been given by your veterinarian. Once initial immunity is established, you can do titer testing for all but rabies to be sure your pup is protected from one year to the next.
Our cat friends should also be protected from contagious diseases. (photo courtesy of American Veterinary Medical Association)
You may be offered vaccinations for other contagious diseases including coronavirus, leptospirosis, bordetella, lyme disease, and canine influenza.
There are also parasites that one dog can pass to another. We know that fleas and ticks love to ride on one dog and jump over to another like subway riders switching from the Red Line to the Green.
Other unwanted guests like roundworms, hookworms, sarcoptic mange, and giardia can be transmitted via feces, on soil, or in standing water including shared bowls.
Puppies like this one plus elderly and frail dogs need special protection from contagious diseases.
Doing Your Part in Prevention
In general, it’s a good idea to keep your dog away from other dogs when he is not feeling well and ask your friends to return the favor when their dogs are a bit under the weather. Something that a very healthy pup can shake off could be a death sentence for a frail or elderly dog.
We are often alerted when some sort of canine gastrointestinal issue that may be contagious is going around the area. You just have to observe the smears on the sidewalk where people with the best intentions try to pick up after a sick dog.
While our little Poppy has been a very healthy girl, we did face more health issues with our last dog Maggie Mae. Because of this, we know how difficult it can be to clean-up after your dog if they are suffering from an upset tummy or diarrhea.
We found that slipping a newspaper or a couple of paper towels under her would often catch most of the what she released. We’d then deposit the mess in a plastic bag and take it to the trash.
Today we still carry small absorbent puppy pads
Thanks to all who do their best to alert us to sick dogs and clean-up as best they can when out and about.
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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2017 Penny & Ed Cherubino
(Adapted for BostonZest from one of our City Paws newspaper columns.)
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class with him many years ago and have kept up with his work at Harvard and MGH and read a number of 
