All Dog Breeds >>Health of Otterhound
The breed lives to between 10 and 13 years old, although at least one hound is known to have lived to be 16 years old. The Otterhound enjoys considerable exercise, but can also be a couch potato. They can be good family dogs but need to be kept in a secure property since they can jump fences up to 5 feet high. Common problems that can occur are elbow and hip dysplasia which is a malformation of the hip and elbow joints.
They are not always painful but can cause lameness and impair mobility with arthritis a possible result. Badly affected hounds should not be bred but most otterhounds have a fairly poor hip and elbow score. This problem can be reduced by making sure that developing otterhounds do not jump down from high places, go up and down the stairs or walk too much on very hard surfaces while bones are still growing. Otterhounds can also be subject to ear infections, due to the shape of their ears, and bloat (or gastric torsion), due to their deep chest. Bloat is the biggest killer of large dogs and is very painful. There are ways to reduce the risk of getting bloat: 1.
Raising the feeding bowl so that the dog does not take in too much air while feeding 2 wait an hour either side of feeding before or after the dog is exercised. 3 do not feed them high cereal cheap food 4 calm the dog before feeding 5 if the dog eats quickly then put something large in the bowl to reduce the speed of consumption as this will reduce the amount of air in the stomach. If your dog shows signs of bloat then immediate veterinary attention is required.