Fencing Your Dog Can Protect Him From Parasites
Fencing your dog can protect him from parasites. Fencing your dog can prevent many dangers including car accidents and eating toxic substances in garbage. Though a fence can help keep a dog safe, fencing will not protect the dog from all parasites.
The risk for hookworms can be higher if the dog is unfenced and able to go to an area where a dog with hookworms has defecated. The feces or ground around the feces can contain hookworms. The hookworms can infect a dog by burrowing through its skin.
Threadworms also can be acquired through the skin by being contaminated feces, but the feces can be from infected dogs and other animals as well. Threadworms can be passed through feces of infected dogs and other carnivores. Being fenced prevents the dog from being in contact with feces from infected dogs, cats, or wildlife.
Gnathostoma is a potentially dangerous parasite that can infect a dog that eats an animal infected with gnathostoma. The gnathostoma burrows through the dog’s stomach, travels around the dog’s body causing damage before returning to the stomach. Since a dog fence keeps the dog isolated from most other animals, this is another parasitic infection reduced by fencing.
Spirocerca lupi can be spread the same way as gnathostoma. If the dog eats an infected animal, spirocerca lupi lives in the dog’s stomach. Spirocerca lupi can cause cancer of the esophagus.
When a dog is outside, the dog is at risk for certain parasites whether the dog is fenced or not. Mosquitoes obviously cannot be stopped by fences, but a mosquito bite is the common cause for heartworms.
Though fleas and ticks may live in a fenced area, the risk of fleas and ticks can be greatly reduced by a fence which keeps the wildlife and other dogs out that may carry ticks and fleas. Some dog owners also spray outdoor areas for ticks and fleas which can further reduce the risk of ticks and fleas especially if there is a fence to keep out animals.
Another parasite that cannot be prevented by a dog’s fence is cuterebra. The cuterebra eggs may be found on rocks or in soil and may be ingested during grooming if they get on the dog’s fur. The skin of the dog may be penetrated by cuterebra larvae.
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