It's most often transmitted through contact with mucous and watery secretions discharged from eyes and noses of infected dogs. Contact with the urine and fecal material of infected dogs can also result in infection. The many signs of distemper are not always typical. For this reason, treatment may be delayed or neglected. The disease frequently brings about something like a severe cold.
Most infected dogs have a fever and stuffed up head.
Exposed animals may develop bronchitis, pneumonia and severe inflammation of the stomach and intestines. The first signs of distemper are squinting, congestion of the eyes, and a discharge of pus from the eyes. Weight loss, coughing, vomiting, nasal discharge, and diarrhea are common. In later stages the virus attacks the nervous system, bringing about partial or complete paralysis as well as fits or twitching. Distemper is so prevalent and the signs so varied that any sick young dog should be taken to a veterinarian for a definite diagnosis.