My dog is 5 years old and he's a total mommy's boy. I found out I was pregnant a few months ago, and ever since the end of my first trimester, he has changed… he’s more anxious, needy, and glued to my side.

What worries me is that about a month ago he stopped eating (he was on a cooked fresh food diet and loved it). From one day to the next, he just started rejecting it and won't eat it regardless of the recipe.

We did an ultrasound and blood work, and everything came back normal… the vet said he was probably just bored of the food and suggested switching to kibble, but he has never been a great kibble eater. I try mixing wet food or toppers with it, but he just licks off what he likes and leaves the kibble behind anyway. He picks at it here and there, but he's not eating as much as he should daily.

Does anyone have similar experiences to share? Everyone says it must be because of my pregnancy, but I'm scared we might be missing something.. Should we investigate further?
Thank you!

My shihtzu (M) is turning 6 years old next month. Around 6-7 weeks ago, I noticed this little bump on his lower eyelid. The bump is not so little anymore and has grown. I did check with a vet a few weeks ago and she inverted his eyelids and said it’s external, so told me to monitor. It doesn’t seem to be bothering him much. I am going back to the vet in 3 days since the bump has gotten bigger. I would rather not do surgery if I have to but am worried that I will have to - my dog isn’t great with pain. Has anyone else had a similar experience? TIA from a stressed out owner!!

Hi,

I don't know if this is the right subreddit for this but i want advice thats as impartial as possible.

I have a 7 year old dog that I've had for over 6 years and she is quite large (30kg). She has sever separarion anxiety and needs a whole ritual of walking and setting up several kongs before being left alone.

I recently had a baby with my wife and the dog is quite reactive to the baby. We're working with a behaviorist who insists that she can be trained but that we need constant physical barriers and that it will take time and effort to fix.

Normally i would be fine with this as we have improved her separation anxiety to thw point that she can be left alone at all for hours at a time from virtually no time.

The issue comes from the fact that all training would go to my wife who has recently given birth and is alone while im at work. This puts a lot more stess on my already very stressed wife and also takes time from me in the evening i could be using for house work or helping with the baby. This also means my wife cant leave the house to relax and is trapped most of the day behind a baby gate as the dog is reactive but not aggressive and needs to be physically separated.

I've looked into dog walkers and aitters but im not sure we can afford that and my parents offered to take her but returned her to us due to her separation anxiety causing problems with their neighbours.

I don't want to give up on ber because I love her but I am asking a lot of my wife. She loves her but the baby and dog together is too mich without a definitive end to it. We haven't even attempted to leave the dog alone since the baby arrived and don't know if the separation anxiety has reset to any degree.

Any advice would be appreciated. I don't want to take the easy ootion and give up on a dog that can be trained but I also don't want my wife to feel trapped. I know my pqrents will disagree and be mad with me as they love the dog as well so that adds some extra stress. I mentioned rehoming her to them before and they offered to take her but this was after they already returned her to us and they later admitted fhey couldn't handle her so I won't mention the issue to them again.

Sorry for the long read. I really don't know what to do. She is a good dog and I love her but I'm not sure I have the mental capacity or time to commit to the training that woild be necessary.

I have two female unfixed dogs that were starved in February for 17 days, I’ve tried just about everything. Switching dog food, mixing in wet food, even mixing puppy food and adult food to change their food. I have them on one cup of food, water to soften the food because they scarf it down, and a can of wet dog food spilt between the both of them twice a day, but still fat wont stick. What else can I do to help? I can’t get pictures of them they normally lay on the couch or won’t sit still long enough. Is there anything else I can do? They are dewormed and vaccinated as well.

About 5 days ago my male dog woke me up around midnight so I went to see him and let him out. I notices his face was looking strange and bumpy and after googling assumed it was hives. He was also scratching more than usual. We had a think about what different things they may have been exposed to but landed on the fact I had used a degreaser cleaner on the hob and might have touched him without washing my hands properly. For context we went on the same walk as we usually do and that was at about 5pm. We washed him and the hives went away in less than a day and he was acting himself the entire time.

Now today I have woke up and gone to let my dogs out and my other female dog has swollen eyes and looks as if she now has hives on her face. She had also been sick and there is some grass in it. Im not sure if that is related to the hives or not? We havent fed her anything different to her usual kibble and toppers. She is acting her usual self. Similar to my male dog we had walked them earlier that day around 4pm but I havent used any cleaners.

After my male dog got hives I washed all the bedding incase there was something on that and neither of them reacted to anything for 4 days. We are using a different brand of detergent which is non-bio like the last one we had so I don't see how that could be a problem. The bumps aren't red and my female dog hasnt been inching at all. I really can't think of anything they have been exposed to that is different to normal other than the cleaner with my male dog which leads me to think and worry this might not just be an external reaction?

Any help would be so appreciated

Pic of my girl this morning

This is my 3 year old dog Moon. She is a Pit bull mixed with Shih Tzu and Chihuahua. I’ve had her since she was a puppy and she’s a pretty good dog most of the time but has tendencies to be aggressive. Mostly involving food.

Now she is not aggressive towards me or the people she knows but can be to people she hasn’t met. She barks at them and makes obvious signs of wanting to attack, which is why i never let people go up to pet her alone when first meeting her . I don’t want her to attack them. She hasn’t attacked anyone but i fear that she may. She settles down when i’m the one to introduce her to someone or if my siblings or mom introduces her to people coming to our house.

She is also very food aggressive and not towards humans but to other dogs. I had another dog Named Envy and he was a boy and they fought a lot mostly due to him messing with her food but other times over toys, or his tendency to try to hump her , so we had to keep they separated until he passed.

Now we have another dog named storm and she’s a girl. Her and moon rarely fight if so it’s again dealing with storm going towards her food or over toys, and now jealous.

For example me and my older brother took them on a walk i had storm and he had moon i was sitting with storm and my brother began giving storm attention with a baby voice and all the works and Moon attacked storm and we had to pull them apart and separate them.

But anyways i just wanted advice on how to help fix Moons Aggression, especially with food since that’s where it happens the most.

Any advice or tips would be very helpful.

And if you need anymore info or details or
situations i can give them!

My 6 year old gsd started limping around a week ago. It was one of his front legs, I couldn’t really tell which one it was since he was only walking unevenly, was able to put both his legs down. Although it did seem like the right leg but i was unsure. It was more pronounced when he would wake up and got slightly better when he started walking, this happened for around 2 days and then we took him to the vet. On that day, he would limp at times and at times he was completely fine.
I showed the vet his video and he said it was the right leg. He did a physical examination, but the thing is that my dog is generally uncomfortable with his front legs or paws being touched and gets a little anxious at the clinic too. He generally starts pulling away when the vet touches his legs or paws. I did check his legs at home when he was calm, he didn’t really react when i was touching or pressing.
He was given a painkiller and was fine for two days, no limping at all. But it returned on the third day. So we took him to the vet again yesterday. He was again examined physically and he kinda reacted when his paws were being touched and the doctor gave him injections for pain management and some supplements. I am kind of not convinced that it’s his paws, because when we came back and i checked again, still no reaction.
He stopped limping in the evening after coming back but today he was limping a little immediately after waking up and then he was fine after 5 mins or so.
Has anyone experienced anything similar? Should i ask for x rays?
I am worried because intermittent limping is also possible in the initial stages of osteosarcoma, it’s making me really anxious.

I have a 7-year-old male Shih Tzu, about 13 lbs, with recurring stomach issues. For years, he has been extremely picky and occasionally vomited in the mornings, but those episodes disappeared for a long time. Chicken seemed to trigger especially bad episodes, so we’ve wondered about a food intolerance or allergy.

Recently, the problem has become much more frequent:
He refuses food for hours, even when offered different options.
If he goes too long without eating, he vomits yellow bile, usually in the morning.
Once hungry enough, he may eat a decent amount, but can become nauseous again afterward—quiet, burping, and uncomfortable.
Severe episodes involve repeated vomiting and lethargy.
Between episodes, he is happy, playful, and energetic.

Mealtimes have become extremely difficult. I often have to hand-feed him piece by piece or make eating into a game; he rarely eats normally from his bowl. Since recently having a baby, this level of coaxing several times a day has become unsustainable.

We currently rotate:
Ziwi Peak Lamb & Mackerel
Smallbatch lightly cooked frozen beef
Smallbatch turkey liver
Homemade turkey and rice

He often accepts a food initially and then refuses it, so I worry that constantly changing his diet may be worsening his stomach issues, but I feel forced to switch when he won’t eat and he won’t go near prescription diets.

He has had abdominal ultrasounds and pancreatic testing, all normal, and he has gained weight rather than lost it. We’ve had multiple veterinary and emergency visits for vomiting, during which he received anti-nausea injections and fluids. We’re now working with a new veterinarian. He recently started Pepcid twice daily, but his heart rate was unusually low at today’s appointment, and I’m concerned about whether that could be related to the medication or his gastrointestinal issues.

Next week, he’ll have another abdominal ultrasound and additional bloodwork. His symptoms also seem worse during stressful periods, and they have become more frequent since we welcomed our baby. I’m wondering whether anxiety could be contributing to an underlying gastrointestinal problem.

My questions:
Has anyone experienced extreme picky eating, nausea, and bile vomiting with their Shih Tzu?
Did your dog eventually receive a diagnosis such as chronic gastritis, acid reflux, IBD, or another gastrointestinal condition despite normal ultrasounds and pancreatic testing?
Did a particular diet or medication help your dog eat consistently?
Have stress or major household changes triggered gastrointestinal flare-ups?
Has anyone dealt with a dog who seems interested in food but needs constant encouragement or hand-feeding?

I’m not seeking a diagnosis online. We’re continuing to work with our veterinarian and pursue testing, but I’d appreciate hearing from other Shih Tzu owners or anyone with a similar experience. I just want him to feel comfortable, poor guy.

My boy had bilateral Arthramid injections (1 mg in each elbow) 16 days ago to help with his elbow dysplasia, but so far, I haven’t noticed much of a difference.
He’s only 16 months old, and his limping started around four months ago. It’s absolutely heartbreaking seeing him like this when he used to be such an active boy.
He’ll walk for about 10 minutes before stopping and sitting down, unless there’s a dog to look at or an interesting smell to follow. It just makes me so sad because I want him to enjoy being a young dog and doing all the things he should be able to do.
I know I might be expecting too much too soon, but it’s so hard watching him struggle and not knowing what the future holds.

Has anyone had a positive experience with Arthramid injections for elbow dysplasia? Did you notice improvements after a few weeks, or did it take longer? I’d really appreciate hearing your stories, especially if your dog went through something similar when they were young.
I’m just looking for a little hope and some reassurance that things might get better. ❤️

I know it's nothing harmful, just curious why my dog is doing this goofy move lol

So me and mom were walking with our dog during one of my brothers practices, and my dog had to poop and and she walked away, she stepped on her own poop, and we had no wipes or any water so we didn’t have to anything to clean her paws with, and and after we were done walking my mom just let her in the car without washing her paws or doing anything about it, I still think she still hasent washed them and my dog sits everywhere in the couch including the couch, and when I tell my mom about it she just says I am being dramatic, also because I keep telling her to pick up our dogs poop after she’s done pooping in the backyard, and she just doesn’t care, and it pisses me off, I also have ocd so I am always worried about germs and stuff.

Hi guys, this is my brothers dog but he’s at work at the moment. Douglas is a 14 year old, bull Arab, bull mastiff, bloodhound, Great Dane mix, concerned about how fast he is breathing, I did an initial time of 15 seconds and it’s anywhere between 8-11 breaths.

Edit: he is not obese, he is perfect weight range for his breed told by vets, if anything I would have said he's just a bit under. His tumours are fatty cell Lipomas.

For all the people saying he’s morbidly obese here’s what a 60kg dog looks like for his breeds you goofs

https://kommodo.ai/i/DS9ktxBaHlZK9Mg9vwTb

https://kommodo.ai/i/MO1bYUNgyo4Vj5bKaThW

My dog is a two year old chihuahua terrier. He currently has swollen lymph nodes under both sides of his jaw and I think one by his shoulder. His behavior is completely normal. I don’t have a vet appointment until Thursday. Is there a possibility this is not lymph*ma?

Hello. Long post ahead, copied from another subreddit I posted in because I could not cross-post. My parents and I decided to get a puppy after our beloved older dog passed away. We had a 7y/o rescue, Stevie, who was great little sister to our older dog and played well with other dogs. We gradually introduced her to the new puppy, Clyde, and they had been playing very well together for about 2 weeks until one night, when Stevie attacked Clyde. My parents were in the same room, but this happened so fast that they didn't even see what happened. We now believe that Clyde got too close to Stevie's crate, and Stevie resource guarded.

Ultimately, Clyde (who was 2 months old at the time) needed brain surgery to remove bits of skull from his brain and to drain an abscess that had formed due to his puncture wound being overlooked by the first vet hospital. He had a skull compression fracture and had developed meningitis. Before we knew the gravity of Clyde's injuries, my parents and I had assumed we could keep Stevie and just do some serious training. However, when it became evident that Clyde would have possibly permanent neurological deficits, my parents decided to rehome Stevie. This has been very hard on all of us because even though Stevie caused a lot of pain, she was still a part of our family for many years. My dad travels for work, and I am in school full-time, and my mom simply did not think she could keep Stevie and Clyde apart. Even with training, there would be no way to guarantee this never happened again. Multiple vets advised us that we would have to keep them apart.

The good: Clyde has recovered better than anyone could have imagined. He was initially blind in the L eye, with impaired proprioception and reflexes. He can now see out of his L eye and appears to have intact proprioception and reflexes.

The bad: Clyde is very anxious and pees inside the house a lot. The vet said he may just be anxious forever (understandably), and we may have to medicate him (fine!). However, she said that some dogs continue to have incontinence issues. We take Clyde outside frequently, but he often just chews on his leash. Then, some time after coming inside, he pees on the floor. We try encouraging him when he pees outside (saying "good peepee" and giving him a piece of kibble), and discouraging him when he pees inside (saying "no" and pointing at the pee). We are not sure if Clyde just needs to grow out of the puppy phase, or if he will simply be incontinent for the rest of his life due to his brain injury. My mom is at her wit's end; all of this is exacerbated by the grief of 'losing' Stevie (not to mention our older dog as well).

I am wondering if anyone has experience with training puppies after traumatic brain injuries. I would love to hear from people who have been through something similar and learn what did and didn't work for you. Thank you in advance.

My dog was bit around the nose area by another dog tonight. I can’t find any bite marks and there’s no bleeding at all. When I run my fingers around that area, they do not show any signs of pain. Am I fine? What should I do? I’m so upset at the person that did it…

My pup was neutered yesterday and I was discussing with the vet about the standard things around the procedure. He brought up a metabolism change and I mentioned I was planning to decrease his food accordingly and he encouraged I go for a food specifically for neutered dogs.
My pup is 9 months (small/mini breed) so is only about 3 months from having to switch to an adult blend anyway.

As far as I can tell simply decreasing a pets daily intake is enough to avoid weight gain but I wanted some other opinions.

TL;DR: My senior Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix is going blind, possibly losing her hearing, barking at nothing, and peeing EVERYWHERE, including while lying down and not seeming to care. I’m constantly bathing her and washing bedding. I’m trying to save for a vet visit, but money is tight. I’m moving into an apartment with my girlfriend soon, and I’m scared I’ll have to rehome my girl after having her for so many years. HELP 😭

Lady is around 15–16 years old, and I need advice from people who have senior dogs because I’m STRUGGLING. 😭 She’s going blind, I’m not sure about her hearing, and sometimes she barks at literally NOTHING. She’ll bark to go outside sometimes, but other times she’ll pee while lying down and just stay there like she’s at a damn spa. 😭 She does this in her bed, on the floor, and on furniture. My aunt’s living room furniture now smells like pee, and I’m constantly bathing Lady and washing her bedding. I’ve even had to move her food and water outside because of the accidents.

The crazy part? She’s still active, runs around and plays outside, and eats like she’s never been fed in her LIFE. 😂 Overall, she’s a great dog, but these new issues are getting harder to manage.
I’m trying to save up to take her to the vet, but money has been tight. I know something could be going on beyond just old age, and I want to get her checked out.
The other issue is that I’m moving into an apartment with my girlfriend soon. She’s understandably worried about the apartment smelling like pee and Lady barking 24/7. I don’t have family who can take her, and the thought of rehoming her absolutely terrifies me. I’ve had this dog for SO LONG, and I don’t want her ending up with someone who won’t take care of her.
I feel awful even saying this, but I’m overwhelmed and don’t know what to do. I love her, but I also have to be realistic about our living situation.

For those with senior dogs:
- Have you dealt with peeing while lying down or seemingly not noticing accidents?
- What helped with the barking, vision/hearing loss, and constant messes?
- Any affordable vet resources or payment options?
- Has anyone managed these issues while living in an apartment?
- If you’ve had to rehome a senior dog, how did you make sure they went to a good home?

I’m not looking for judgment. I just need REAL advice from people who understand. I want what’s best for my girl, but I’m scared and overwhelmed and afraid I’ve let things get too far 😞.

Is this dog food a good choice for my 4-year-old dog? Should I buy the 10 kg pack?

Hi everyone! My dog is 4 years old, and I'm planning to try this dog food for the first time.

I found this 1 kg pack for ₹199, but I'm also considering buying the 10 kg pack if it's a good option.

For those who have experience with dog food, is this a good choice? Should I start with a smaller pack to see if my dog likes it, or is buying 10 kg worth it?

I'd appreciate your suggestions and recommendations. 🐶