If you don’t have your pet screened often, you will have to become familiar with the symptoms of worms. One of the most obvious ways to determine if your dog has worms is to take a quick look at your pets feces. Worms can be seen protruding from your dog’s waste without examining closely.

In addition to recognizing signs of worms in dogs, it is important to recognize what the different types dog worms look like. Round worms look like spaghetti and tapeworm segments look like grains of rice.

In dogs, stomach worms also cause a dull coat, inability to exercise, and a distended abdomen. You will also find worms in your dogs fur, fecal matter, in his paws, in his ears, and sometimes you will find them in his food bowl.

In addition to your dog’s food, dog worms can be found in on or buried in your dog’s fur, around his anus, around his paws (from scratching) and it is not uncommon to find them in your dog’s ears.

At three feet, the tape worm can have as many as 90 segments. These segments look like grains of rice.

Worms in the stool can indicate any number of worm infections ranging from hookworm to tapeworm. The parasitic hookworm is around a half-inch-long while a tapeworm can reach up to a staggering three feet long if left untreated.

Whipworm and roundworm eggs can remain infectious for years, and hookworm larvae can multiply in the soil in and around a dog run.