Your Purebred Puppy, Honest Advice About Dogs and Dog Breeds

Sensible advice for raising your Brussels Griffon puppy so he lives a long healthy life and seldom needs to visit the vet. Learn about the most common health problems and issues in Brussels Griffons, the best dog food diet for feeding Brussels Griffon puppies and adult dogs, the truth about vaccinations, spaying and neutering, and natural health care.

How To Raise a Healthy Dog

The Best Dog Food For Feeding Your Brussels Griffon

The Second-Best Dog Food

Vaccinations and Booster Shots: Are They Needed?

The Type of Veterinarian I Recommend

Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons


11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy, my best-selling dog health book

Brussels Griffon dog breed

Brussels Griffon Health Problems and Raising a Brussels Griffon Puppy to be Healthy

By Michele Welton. Copyright © 2000-2011

How To Raise a Healthy Dog
Feeding the Best Dog Foods
Vaccinations: Needed or Not?
Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons

The most common health problems in Brussels Griffons:

The leading health issue in toy dogs is INJURY. You must keep a Brussels Griffon under constant surveillance and leash/arm control. Too much can happen to these small creatures in the blink of an eye.

  • Bone fractures or a concussion can occur from jumping off furniture, or being hit on the head by a thrown or falling object, or falling or leaping from your arms, or being stepped on.
  • Brussels Griffons can choke on small objects and it takes very little to overdose them with anything toxic.
  • Brussels Griffons can squeeze through doors and fence slats and be lost.
  • If you allow a Griffon to act foolishly aggressive toward larger dogs, their neck can be broken with a single grab.
  • If you let them off-leash, their excitable chasing instincts may send them under the wheels of a car.

Because of their short face, all Brussels Griffons suffer from some degree of brachycephalic syndrome, which causes all kinds of health problems.

The American Brussels Griffon Club conducted a health survey that found a nearly 50% C-section rate for Brussels Griffon litters in the United States. The puppy mortality rate is high – on average, one puppy out of four dies due to birth defects or fragility.

Eye diseases in Brussels Griffons include corneal ulcers, corneal dystrophy, cataracts (which usually progress to blindness), progressive retinal atrophy (PRA), and eyelash abnormalities.

Several orthopedic diseases are common in the Griffon, including hip dysplasia. The Orthopedic Foundation of America has evaluated only 32 X-rays of Brussels Griffon hips, but nearly 16% of those were dysplastic, and the true rate is even higher because most of the obviously bad X-rays were not sent in for official evaluation. That's a terrible rate for a tiny dog. Luxating patella (loose knees) is also common, and luxating shoulder can occur, as well.

Allergies cause itchy skin and can lead to pyoderma.

Other health issues in Brussels Griffons include epilepsy and occasionally hydrocephalus. Griffons are also prone to dental disease and harmless episodes of reverse sneezing.


Can you prevent health problems from happening to YOUR Brussels Griffon?

Yes, often you can.

  1. Some health problems are genetic, which means inherited from parents. Genetic health issues are common in Brussels Griffons today because of unwise breeding practices. My book, Dog Quest: Find The Dog Of Your Dreams, shows you how to find a Brussels Griffon puppy who is genetically healthy.
  2. Other health problems are environmental – caused by the way you raise your dog. My best-selling dog health book, 11 Things You Must Do Right To Keep Your Dog Healthy and Happy shows you how to prevent environmental health problems by raising your Brussels Griffon puppy (or adult dog) in all the right ways.

Here are my dog health tips for raising a healthy Brussels Griffon puppy or adult dog:

Obedience instructor and author Michele Welton How To Raise a Healthy Dog – My Philosophies
Read my advice on sensible feeding and health care so that your Brussels Griffon lives a long, healthy life and seldom needs to see the vet. An excellent goal, yes?


Real homemade dog food The Best Dog Food For Feeding Your Brussels Griffon
The best diet for feeding your Brussels Griffon is real food. Real chicken, turkey, beef, bison, venison, fish....This is not "people food" and I'll tell you why.


Natural dog foods for your Brussels Griffon. The Second-Best Dog Food For Your Brussels Griffon
If you can't (or won't) feed what your Brussels Griffon really needs, the best I can do is to point out what to look for – and look out for – when choosing a brand of kibble or canned dog food.


Information on booster shots for your Brussels Griffon. Vaccinations and Booster Shots: Needed or Not?
How many vaccinations does your Brussels Griffon puppy really need? Does your adult Brussels Griffon need yearly booster shots? The vaccination guidelines have changed. Find out what many vets aren't telling you.


Information on choosing the best vet for your Brussels Griffon. The Type of Veterinarian I Recommend
Does your veterinarian belong to the AVMA or the AHVMA? They're not the same at all, and which one you choose can make a world of difference to the future health of your Brussels Griffon.


Information on spaying or neutering your Brussels Griffon. Spaying and Neutering: Pros and Cons
Advantages and disadvantages of spaying your female Brussels Griffon or neutering your male.