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There are many things that you should be doing during the year to keep your canine healthy.
Keeping Your Canine Healthy
Generally speaking, a healthy dog is a happy dog. That said a healthy dog has a happy owner. In this case a healthy canine has a happy handler and a happy police administrator. Typically you should only have to take your canine to the vet once a year for shots and a general exam. But there are many things that you should be doing during the year to keep your canine healthy and out of the vet's office until the regular yearly visit, unless there is an injury.
Part of having a healthy canine is having a clean canine. Being a police canine, s/he is probably going to get dirtier than the average dog, so bathing will be more frequent. Going through various shrubs, and other obstacles, let alone rolling around in the dirt with the latest suspect can get a canine quite dirty. You may not really see it, but after a while you will know it by the bad odor. If you can, you should give your canine partner a bath before the odor comes to life. Bathing will not only remove whatever may cause a bad odor, but also will help remove anything else that your canine may have been exposed to. During the bath, make sure you rub the canine (not human) shampoo in well and feel the skin as you rub. Feel for any bumps or abrasions that weren't the before. Bumps that you might find could be a tick, so when you feel any bumps take a closer look, investigate what that bump is. If you feel what maybe an abrasion, again investigate and determine what it is. Treat any abrasions with basic first-aid and if necessary call the vet for advice. If during your shift your canine has gone through a stagnant body of water, meaning non-moving, you should be giving s/he a bath later on in the day. This especially applies if you see green scum floating on the surface, or anything else out of the ordinary. You never know what kind of parasites or insects that your canine may have come into contact with....