Bichon

The Bichon Frise (French: Bichon Frisé, meaning "white curly-haired toy dog"), originally called the Barbichon, later shortened to Bichon, is a small-sized breed of dog.

This dog is small yet robust, with elegant movements. It has a gentle and sensitive nature, playful and adorable, alert and brave, intelligent and clever, loyal to its owner, and easily satisfied with small things. This likable characteristic is also one of the criteria for judging the purity of the breed.

The Bichon Frise is mainly distributed in Europe, but in recent years, people from some Asian countries have also begun to enjoy keeping these cute small dogs, and their distribution range is gradually expanding.

The Bichon Frise originated in the Mediterranean region and is believed to be descended from the Barbet and Water Spaniel. The dog first flourished in the Canary Islands, specifically on the island of Tenerife.

In the 13th century, Italian sailors discovered these small dogs and brought them to the European continent, where they gradually became pets of the aristocracy. They were particularly favored by the Spanish. In the late 14th century, Spanish sailors often used them as trade goods during their voyages, eventually leading to the gathering of many dogs on an island called Tenerife, which later became the famous Bichon Frise. These dogs were brought to Italy through the trades of Italian sailors, where they quickly became pets of the Italian nobility and beloved animals among the European nobles. In 1500, when France invaded Italy, the French were enchanted by the cute and fluffy appearance of the Bichon Frise, and they brought it back to France as spoils of war. The importation of the dog to France began during the reign of Francis I in 1515, and the period from 1574 to 1589 was the peak of its development. In several surviving works by the renowned Spanish painter Francisco de Goya, the Bichon Frise can be seen vividly depicted. By the late 18th century, the breed declined and eventually ended up living a life of vagrancy on the streets with street performers. It was not until the 20th century that the Bichon Frise again flourished and even became popular worldwide. The dog was officially introduced to the United States in 1956 and gained recognition in 1972. It made its first appearance at the Crufts Dog Show in London in 1980. The Bichon Frise was once divided into four categories: the Bichon Maltese, the Bolognese, the Bichon Havanese, and the Bichon Tenerife.

The Bichon Frise is cheerful, lively, intelligent, brave, alert, and emotionally rich, with strong adaptability.

It doesn't shed much and requires a small space to move around, making it very suitable as a companion dog or family dog.

However, the Bichon Frise has high requirements for living environment and tends to be clingy to its owner, often needing someone to accompany it. It is not suitable for busy office workers and students to raise this breed.

Cold

Bichon cold has two situations, one is generally more common in early spring, late autumn, and sudden changes in climate. The cause of the disease is mostly due to sudden cold stimulation, such as winter wind or cold air invasion when sleeping indoors, sleeping in cold seasons, being rained on, not drying the hair in time after bathing the Bichon dog, etc.

The main symptoms of a cold are: depressed spirits in sick Bichon, decreased or refused appetite, congested conjunctiva, teary eyes. There is a cough, nasal discharge is purulent, accelerated breathing, increased body temperature, chills and shivering. If not treated in time, it may develop into other diseases such as tracheitis and bronchitis.

Simple cold, if treated in time, can be cured quickly. If not treated in time, Bichon puppies may develop bronchopneumonia. For treatment, Bichon pups can be given 1-2 ml of Chaihu injection, administered intramuscularly, twice daily. It is said that giving Bichon dogs oromycosis radix isatidis or cold solution is also good.

Canine Distemper

1. Once Bichon gets canine distemper, the body temperature will rise at the beginning (up to 40°C), but after 1-2 days, it will drop to normal. Just when everyone is relieved, thinking that the Bichon puppy is just a minor cold and will recover soon, the body temperature of the Bichon rises again.

2. When Bichon's body temperature rises for the second time (some cases die at this time), the urine is reddish-yellow, the eyes have sticky or purulent secretions, the spirits deteriorate, and there is appetite.

3. Next, the respiratory system of Bichon is affected. Bichon will have an increased body temperature, serous to purulent nasal discharge, cough, accelerated breathing, and auscultation of lung sounds, indicating pneumonia symptoms. (So in the early to mid-term, it is often misdiagnosed as a cold or pneumonia.) With the appearance of respiratory symptoms, the dog's eyelids swell and have purulent conjunctivitis.

4. In the later stage of the disease, Bichon often develops corneal ulcers; there are millet-sized red dots, edema and purulent papules on the lower abdomen and inner thighs; frequent vomiting; initial constipation, followed by diarrhea, foul-smelling feces, sometimes mixed with blood and bubbles.

Diarrhea

Possible causes:

1. Bichon eats too greasy.

Many dog owners are very concerned about their dogs, afraid of malnutrition, so they often feed Bichon with fatty fish or animal liver.

However, they don't know that this can be too greasy, and the liver contains a high unit of vitamin A, excessive intake can cause vitamin A poisoning or vitamin A excess syndrome, the less severe is Bichon diarrhea.

2. Bichon ate something it shouldn't eat.

Some foods are not suitable for Bichons, such as chocolates or grapes, chicken bones, etc.

Especially when drinking milk, if Bichon has symptoms such as flatulence, dehydration, diarrhea, or skin inflammation after drinking milk, immediately stop feeding it milk. This indicates that your Bichon is not used to milk.

If you really want to give your dog a little, you can feed it milk or yogurt without lactose. Problems may also occur.

3. Improper drinking water.

If Bichon drinks unclean water or the water is too cold, it can also cause dog diarrhea.

4. Bichon eats too much.

Sometimes Bichon eats too much and cannot digest it, which can also cause diarrhea and vomiting. At this time, the number of feeding and the amount of feeding should be reduced appropriately, and the dog food should be soaked until it becomes soft. Generally, Bichon will gradually recover after a few days.

Skin Disease

Why does Bichon develop skin diseases? Generally, it is related to bacteria, mites, and fungi.

If it is mites, it is generally on the abdomen and subcutaneous of Bichon. The symptoms are small red dots on the inside of the thighs or on the skin, redness and hair loss around the lips.

Fleas, lice. Generally, they are located on the surface of Bichon, inner thighs, armpits, under the neck, and deep in the fur. They can be seen with the naked eye. The eggs of fleas and dog lice are white, so if you see small black spots in circles on the Bichon, it is their excrement.

Sometimes Bichon's skin disease can also be caused by a certain type of nutrient deficiency, such as skin disease caused by a lack of fatty acids (fatty acids are the main components of cell membranes and have the functions of synthesizing prostaglandins and preventing epidermal water loss). So when a dog lacks essential fatty acids, besides the decrease in reproduction rate of Bichons, it can also develop wet skin inflammation.

The Bichon Frise is a small-sized breed of dog with long fur, so it often dirties its fur when drinking water, making it difficult to clean. It is recommended to use a regular water bottle and poke a few small holes on the cap. Then hang the bottle upside down in a container placed close to the ground or on the cage. It's best to make sure that the Bichon can reach the water by simply raising its head. As long as the Bichon touches the cap, it can lick the water without dripping or dirtying its fur.

The Bichon Frise has unique fur, with soft fur and curly hair that is quite fluffy and feels soft to the touch. However, this type of fur is prone to tangling, especially in the armpits, back, neck, and hind legs when using a harness. Moreover, it does not naturally shed. Therefore, the fur needs to be combed daily and professionally trimmed regularly. Of course, this care also includes regular baths and blow-drying to keep the fur fluffy. It is necessary to take it for grooming every month and regularly brush and groom it.

The Bichon Frise has excessive tear production in its tear ducts, so careful care is needed. It is necessary to wipe the eye secretions daily with cotton soaked in eye drops.

1. Can't bathe frequently

When bathing a dog, of course, it cannot be too frequent. The frequency of bathing a dog depends on the dog's hygiene. In hot weather, you can bathe the dog more often, reduce it by one or two times in winter, but overall it should not exceed 5 times. Otherwise, it will damage its fur and skin!

2. Brush regularly

Dogs shed almost every day, especially in spring and autumn, when seasonal shedding is more severe. To promote good fur growth, regularly brushing the fur is an important step. Pet owners can use special pet brushes to help the dog remove naturally shed hair and avoid tangling. Brushing once in the morning and evening for about five minutes is sufficient.

3. Enjoy the sun

Sunbathing is beneficial for the growth of a dog's fur. In addition to making the fur more shiny, allowing the dog to sunbathe can also help kill bacteria. While sunbathing, pet owners can also let the dog exercise a bit, which can improve the dog's physical fitness, promote blood circulation, and help grow healthier fur.

4. Deworming

Poor fur condition is closely related to parasites. Parasites absorb a large amount of nutrients from the dog's body and compete for nutrition. Therefore, deworming is essential. It is recommended to do internal and external deworming together. Deworming medicines can cause great harm to the dog's stomach and intestines, so it is advisable to feed probiotics regularly to alleviate gastrointestinal discomfort.

5. Pay attention to diet

In order to have shiny fur, dogs must have a good nutritional foundation and pay attention to daily diet. On the one hand, feed the dog with nutritious and healthy dog food, choose a dog food that is suitable for the dog and is rich in nutrients to meet the dog's needs. On the other hand, you can also feed the dog lean meat, cooked egg yolks, and vegetable oil in appropriate amounts.