Responsible dog owners should understand the consequences of worms in dogs and the potential harm they can cause to people too. A type of internal parasite, worms in dogs can cause ill health in both humans and dogs.

Although worms in dogs do cause damage to their health, there are often no symptoms until the damage is already being done.Although worms in dogs are hard to spot, the symptoms to look out for are general loss of condition, sickness and diarrhoea. The two types of worms in dogs are roundworms and tapeworms.

Roundworms

Pale white or beige in colour, roundworms look as though they are coiled like a spring and may grow up to 100mm long. You might be able to see them in your dog’s faeces or sick. Roundworm larvae find their way into the dog’s body when they are ingested and adult worms then develop inside the dog’s body.The eggs are then passed out in faeces, allowing the worm’s life cycle to be completed.Unfortunately, the most common roundworm to affect dogs is known as the Toxocara Canis and it can affect people, particularly children. When children ingest eggs as a result of contact with contaminated soil, larvae can grow in their bodies and migrate around the body.Should the larvae reach the eyes, they have the potential to cause serious damage to the eyesight. For this reason, dog owners must always pick up after their dog.

Tapeworms

Tapeworms look like flat segments filled with moving eggs which look a lot like grains of rice and you might be able to see them in the dog’s faeces or around his anus. Dogs become infected with tapeworms when they swallow fleas whilst grooming because fleas carry tapeworm larvae. Inside the dog, tapeworms can grow as long as 5m.

As with most conditions the old adage ‘prevention is better than cure’ is true of worms in dogs.Therefore worming your dog every three months is important. Young puppies require worming even more regularly than that. Effective worming medication can be bought at either a pet shop or a veterinary surgery, but you should ask your vet to suggest the most appropriate one.