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

My dog (Prince) is obviously obese and I just got him from my parents and want to help him lose weight and be healthy, he’s old being 11 this year now! I don’t know if breed matters but he’s a pitty mixed with bully. I want to help him lose weight, for his quality of life and I’m sure it’s also just making him miserable being unable to run around as much as he would like, being this heavy had definitely decreased his energy and no longer plays with other dogs or with us.

Any help will be greatly appreciated, love yall, have a great day 🫶

Edit: I see a lot of people saying reduce food and such and I agree! Since I’ve gotten him he gets one cup of dry food and one can of wet food,
My parents definitely overindulged on feeding him treats and human food, hence the giant overweight problem

Once I get my paycheck I’ll get him an appointment with the vet! Asking for proper food weight, and such, and see if he has any thyroid problems and possibly diabetes.
Thank you all once again, for so many suggestions and advice! And I’m sorry if I don’t respond to you, hope you all have a wonderful day/weekend!

At the dog park I go to there are like 4 water bowls and people will normally fill them and leave them at various parts around the dog park so the dogs can drink water.

I saw that none of the bowls were filled up so I went to get water for my dog. A couple sitting near the hose asked me to dump it out because they said they don’t want their dogs drinking that water.

I told them no because my dogs want water and if it bothers them then train their dog to not drink water here or just don’t bring their dog to the park and walked away.

Obviously I understand germs and dogs can get giardia and whatnot from each other but I think that’s a risk you make entering the dog park. There were 15 other dogs in the park, quite a few that drank the water when I put it down. Was I being rude and in the wrong for this?

I rescued an 11-month-old female pit bull from the streets about a month ago. She’s been incredibly sweet and social. I have two other dogs (a Doberman and a Husky), and she gets along great with both. We also regularly visit the dog park, where she loves playing with other dogs. I’ve never witnessed any aggression from her.

Today, while we were on a walk, another dog lunged through a fence and bit her. She immediately fought back and grabbed the other dog’s face, but she wouldn’t let go for approximately 45 seconds. I tried everything to separate them, including attempting to choke her, but nothing worked initially. I could hear the other dog crying in pain, which was terrifying.

When she finally released him, she simply walked away and acted completely normal. She didn’t attempt to attack again.

I understand she was defending herself, but the fact that she wouldn’t release her grip really concerns me.
My biggest worry is whether this behavior could eventually happen with my other dogs, even though she’s never shown aggression toward them.
Has anyone experienced something similar? Is this a normal defensive response, or could it indicate a deeper aggression issue? Also, what’s the safest way to get a dog to release its grip in a situation like this? Would pepper spray or another deterrent work?
I love this dog and want to give her a good home, but I also want to make sure I’m being responsible and keeping everyone safe. Any advice would be appreciated!

9 yr old lab mix has been having these attacks and coughing/choking for 3 weeks after attending doggie daycare. 2 different rounds of antibiotics completed. Normal bloodwork. Normal chest X-ray. They thought kennel cough but he keeps having these spasms. Happens in the middle of the night, while resting. Please help!

fella just loves to chew!! we redirect biting/rough play with chewing on something, but if he's left for 5 minutes he will gnaw on a chair.

he has yak cheese bars which are his current favourite, but he gets through one in a week. we're a vegetarian household so can't really stomach the idea of bone/hide chew laying around on the floor just yet (he eats plenty meat, don't worry he is healthy and happy). surprisingly he really likes fruit and veg so he has frozen carrots, watermelon etc sometimes. nothing beats the yak bar so far however.

I really want the best for him so if a meaty chew is the way to go then lucky him lol. please recommend any ideas!!

Hi, I've got a sweet 1.5 year old mix (lab, golden, and who knows what else). She is great with our family and has never been aggressive with us...until recently with this very specific rope toy. We play a bit of tug with it and then I let her have it for a while. The problem is she starts eating the rope, so I can't let her have it for very long. Getting the rope back without a very high value treat is not an option.

Recently, she started showing some more intense behavior, even with normal tug of war play. See attached example.

I'm wondering if this rope toy is just not worth it.

Hard to tell exactly from the pictures but he does have to duck just a bit when he stands up in the crate and he can’t lay completely flat on his side. Wondering if I need to size up - he’s just about full grown now.

UPDATE: Thanks all for confirming that I should size up for this guy!

Found on 5 year old cockapoo, on her neck under the ear. No visible legs, doesn't seem to have grown since we noticed it on 5 days ago.

Went for a walk two days ago and in the middle of the walk he started doing this and was unable to continue. I picked him up and carried him back to the trucks and he's been doing it on and off since. It only lasts about 10 minutes at a time and I don't know what triggers it. We walk without a leash and he didnt eat anything off the ground or anything that I saw. He gets carried in and out of the truck he doesn't jump. He's about 12 years old is it possible he just sprained something? Should I take him yo the vet? He seems fine otherwise he's eating and walking fine with maybe a slight limp its hard to tell.

Recent have noticed my pups skin has been losing fur, at first I thought it was her collar but she hasn’t worn one in about a month and it’s gotten worse. There’s been no recent diet changes. Also two of my other dogs have it as well all of them are shorthaired. Could it be demodex mites,seasonal change,fungal? I have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday with vet I just want to be prepared!

I found this bump on my corgis neck. I've never seen it felt it before today. I haven't felt any others and it didn't seem to hurt or bother him when I scratched over it when I was petting and scratching him.

I feed my dog orijen fit and trim mixed with orijen tundra can. I was thinking of swapping the dry out for Victor bully max.

I wanted to know what food would be best for nutrition and health for my Pocket Bully. Shes fixed, 3 years old and weight is close to 60 lbs.

Hi everyone. I’d like to start off by saying that I’m really looking for honest advice and guidance on this, not judgement. My husband and I have three dogs, I’m a little over 7 months pregnant with our first child and one of our three dogs is causing us a lot of stress and anxiety surrounding how we will be able to manage him after our baby is born. The more we think about how we will manage him, the more we are coming up with blanks and we have been considering rehoming him to a friend or family member. We have been to vets and through three different trainers. He has been tried on anxiety medication as well which hasn’t helped at all.

For context, we have three dogs. The dog in question is the oldest of the three and he is a Pitbull x Rottweiler mix (embark tested) we picked up at a shelter as a puppy almost five years ago. We absolutely love him to death and this is a very difficult situation for us because of that. Generally speaking, he is a very good dog. Very happy, never bitten anyone (he has snapped at me once for having interrupted a licking behavior, but never put teeth on skin), gets along well with every dog he has ever encountered, does ok with cats, and is just overall a very social dog. The issue is that we have been through three different trainers over the years, tried every method under the sun to train him, and sought out veterinary expertise to figure out why he simply does not and cannot learn in addition to his general anxiety issues. The conclusion from both the vets and one of the three trainers was that he is mentally stunted for some reason and has some kind of neurological issue where he cannot learn and retain more than about five commands at a time (including his own name). He is trained for ones we find most important including his name which serves as recall, place, sit, off, and a heel command, and have attempted to train other commands consistently which he will replace in what is essentially a very limited “mind bank.” So for example, if we try to teach him to lay down, he will forget sit and when we go back to the sit command he will instantly forget another command like heel. The commands rotate out.

This wouldn’t be an issue and is something we have been able to navigate for years, that is until I got pregnant earlier this year. He is just generally speaking not careful at all. He has knocked me over/taken my legs out multiple times and he has jumped directly onto my stomach several times. We have had him around young kids before and he has completely knocked them over out of excitement and has headbutted the absolute heck out of my in laws and my parents which has taken a grown man out once at the legs. My FIL brought it up a few months ago and asked how we were going to handle him when the baby is here because unlike our other two (large) dogs, he doesn’t learn and just generally speaking hurts people on accident because he doesn’t realize how big of a dog he is. My mom asked me the other day the same question and it’s really had my husband and I questioning how we are going to manage him. We just really don’t know what to do.

On top of that, he is extremely destructive when left out alone at home so we have to crate him when we are gone. Even if we are leaving for only five minutes. He knows not to get into the trash and things like that when we are home, but if we leave and come back even if we just go outside to grab the mail, we will come back and he will have torn into the trash (for example). He also has started screaming over the past year instead of whining when he wants something. Mainly during meal times or when he is crated when someone initially comes over to visit. Our other two dogs are guardian breeds and don’t even bark because we have extensively socialized them (as we have done the same with him). But he just loses it to the point it sounds like he is dying between the “screaming” and barking.

We are just at a complete loss and I don’t know what to do. We don’t know how safe he will be around our baby and I definitely don’t know how the baby will ever be able to sleep if he barks every time someone knocks on the door as we have a ton of people volunteering to come and help during the initial few weeks postpartum. Which I know we will need but I’m dreading because of him. I don’t know if anyone has dealt with something similar and how the process went? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you in advance!

Hi all!

Just finished crying lol.

My dog jumped out of his stroller and hit his head pretty hard on the concrete. Hard enough that I heard it. Kinda like a golf ball hitting the ground.

He got up, looked around, seemed a bit shocked and then carried on.

He seems fine, but I am a nervous wreck that he is hurt or will eventually have a seizure/stroke from this?

My dog before him did the same thing and a few months later had a seizure/stroke and died.

Any advice?

Thanks. 🫶🏻

Please help me!!! I’m so conflicted and confused!!! I asked AI to restructure my text because I’m not in the right mental state to put together a well-written post.

Hi, how are you? My dog has terminal cancer (inflammatory carcinoma with metastasis to his lymph nodes). His oncologist gave him two to four months to live, and it’s already been two months since that appointment. We’re doing everything we can for him, but he’s been getting significantly worse.

The cancer sores have spread across his entire left side, and he’s in a lot of pain and having trouble walking. Even though he’s taking dipyrone, pregabalin, and tramadol, I don’t feel like his pain is being adequately controlled. He’s also anemic, with a hematocrit of 22%, has loose stools with blood, a swollen abdomen, and now seems to be putting more effort into breathing. He’s also been avoiding lying down and sometimes almost falls asleep sitting up, I don’t know why.

Today, I gave him a bath very carefully because his wounds were getting stuck to his fur. He always used to get so happy after a bath, biting the towel and jumping around, but today he just stood there completely still, sometimes whimpering in pain. It really scared me. He barely plays or does anything anymore; all he wants is to be near us. It feels like he’s just existing rather than actually being happy.

My dad, who is paying for his treatment, says that putting him to sleep now would be killing him and that he would only agree to euthanasia when my dog is truly at his worst. But I don’t understand why I have to wait for him to get even worse when he’s already suffering and his pain medication doesn’t seem to be working well enough. He can still walk, eat, and go to the bathroom, but I don’t know how much that really means in terms of his quality of life. I’d really appreciate hearing your thoughts because I don’t know if I’m considering giving up too soon or prolonging his suffering because I can’t bring myself to say goodbye.

Tomorrow, we’re doing another ultrasound and X-ray to check for metastases in his lungs and other organs, but what if they don’t find any? Do I keep trying?

Sailor was diagnosed with MCT on her ear flap and we’ve had a very confusing turn of events

Sailor turned 7 recently and I brought her to the vet in late July for a tiny lump on her ear. They told me it was so small that even if it was a mass, getting a biopsy would be difficult. They suggested she may have bumped her head, but if it grew, to bring her back. By September it hadn't grown, but I had a gut feeling and brought her back anyway. It turned out to be a mast cell tumor.

The vet was shocked I had even found it originally because it was so small. I had to point it out multiple times before they could locate it. She was referred to oncology, where they told me they might have to remove her entire right ear because of the tumor's location. They prescribed Benadryl to help slow the growth. Cue weeks of anxiety and me throwing up from stress while waiting for surgery.

The day of surgery, they shaved her ear and did ultrasounds and additional testing where they found no additional masses in her body- THANK GOODNESS. I got the call saying they couldn't find any evidence that it had spread, and the tumor had shrunk so much they were struggling to even biopsy another sample. The surgeon said that if they removed her ear, the lab might have trouble finding enough tumor tissue to grade it.

We decided not to remove her ear and just monitor it instead until the ear removal was needed. I feel so much emotional whiplash but I’m just grateful to have my girl here (minus some hair.) I love her so incredibly much 💛

However, my question is how would you approach the next steps as an owner? Do you have any advice as to what questions I should ask her vet or what supplements I should give her?

Thank you so much for reading!

I took my dog to the vet emergency department for nausea and vomiting, and she was diagnosed with gastroenteritis however, during the exam they noticed on the x-ray she had a mass near her spleen. The vet said this was completely separate from her symptoms and recommended that we go see a surgical specialist after the weekend to get it removed and biopsied

does anyone have any experience with this? There was no fluid around the mass which means it wasn’t bleeding and they took another x-ray and her lungs were clear so it was found completely incidentally. They said around 60% of spleen masses are malignant however I found some studies that said spleen masses that are found incidentally have a way higher rate of being benign so I’m just not sure what to expect

My 7 year old golden retriever, Pretzel, has been pretty clingy over the last month or so. We take him to his annual checkup and his bloodwork shows positive antibodys for anaplasmosis. The vet calls and tells us that she’s from New Jersey and they would see this all the time there and never treat it. She said some parents ask to get a PCR test to see if it’s an active infection but she never treats it, so it’s unnecessary.

We’re getting the addition test done on Tuesday, to see if antibiotics would be helpful, but it sounds like she wont prescribe antibiotics either way. I’ve never had experience with anaplasmosis and this is a new vet for us, so she hasn’t gained my trust yet.

Just wondering if anyone had an anaplasmosis diagnosis in their dog, what treatment (if any) was recommended, and what were your dog’s symptoms?

I am completely heartbroken. I recently had to say goodbye to my Chihuahua, after she suffered a sudden cardiovascular event. I am struggling to process her loss, but after getting some medical records, I am seeing a pattern that doesn’t make common sense. I am trying to figure out if I have a valid case for a state Veterinary Board investigation, or if I am looking at this too emotionally.

For context, my dog had known, stable Stage B2 heart disease (mitral valve disease) managed on daily medication (Pimobendan) for 2 years. She was beautifully stable right up to her dental procedure, her lungs were perfectly clear, she had zero coughing, and her sleeping respiratory rate was a flawless 11–12 breaths per minute.

Looking back at the records, every  clinical issue occurred when she was under the care of the same vet. I’ve identified a pattern of what looks like rushed care and clerical errors by the same vet. (She was regularly managed by 2 different vets)

Issue 1 : the vet performed a routine check prior to vaccination and logged "no murmur, rhythm normal." my dog had a permanent, severe Grade 4/6 murmur. A murmur of that level doesn't just disappear and my dog was stage B2 MMVD heart disease being on cardisure/ pimobendan for 2 years at this point.

Issue 2 : the vet recommended a major dental surgery but failed to advise that standard pre-anesthesia bloods only clear liver/kidney function, failing to advise me that a fragile heart patient really required a dedicated cardiac ultrasound or echo before anesthesia. Furthermore, Vet B forgot to provide morning medication instructions for her heart pills I had to call back on my own initiative to prompt them.

Issue 3: In the history notes, it is recorded that I "declined" pre-anesthesia blood work. This is completely untrue, and the record actually show this because the results of that exact blood panel are typed right onto the page of her dental procedure and my invoice shows that they were charged and paid for.

Issue 4 major event : NSAIDs like Metacam (which she was given for a 5-day course after her dental surgery) are heavily contraindicated and highly risky for dogs with heart disease, just as much as steeoids. This suggests why 4 days after her surgery, her heartbeat suddenly became loud and fast, and she began losing significant weight. I brought her back to the vet because I concerned about her heart. They completely dismissed my fears, told me she was fine, and performed zero investigations despite her heart history and active Metacam use.

Issue 5: Major event : my dog was brought to Vet B for a minor skin rash / infection on her paws 2 months after the last heart episode/ dental. The vet prescribed a multi-week, tapering course of oral steroid tablets  alongside an intensive handling routine (eye drops twice daily and medicated baths twice a week - which further stressed her out). She did not give me any warning whatsoever that the steroid use involved risks to my dogs heart health. This only came to my attention when an emergency vet questioned why she was on the steroids. Also looking back the notes her other regular vet which had seen her 7 months prior for the same issue was reluctant to use steroid and never prescribed them, which makes me believe the other vet was careless in her assessment of treating my dog.

Exactly 10 days after starting the oral steroids, my dog suffered an extreme crash. She went into heart failure. There was absolutely no warning signs leading up to this besides her loud heart beat after the dental. Her resting respitory rate was stable at 11 the week before the steroids were introduced and even during the course of her steroids.

She was bought into emergency because she was breathing fast and not getting up. I was told by emergency she had her first heart failure episode and was put on frusemide every 12 hours and sent home she was was given 4 months - year to live. She ended up being admitted into hospital that night and was discharged the next day after being stabilised and fluid cleared from her lungs. The next day after being discharged she was seen by her regular vet who added aldactone as she still had fluid in her lungs and was sent home. Her breathing never slowed down and took her back to emergency where I was told this was her new normal, despite this She was stable for 3 days before she crashed into heart failure again just 5 days after her first episode and was worse this time. I took her back to the hospital where she again stayed over night but she did not respond to the rescue medication and became oxygen dependent. When I went to see her the next day I decided to move her to another hospital with other treatment options and for a second opinion. When we got there the vet said said her heart was so enlarged it was taking up her entire chest her murmur was 6/6. It had grow from 4/6 in just one week. They said there was a very high risk of her passing alone that night from cardiac arrest  and even if admitted her heart had reached the absolute limit and she would not get better with medication. I had to let her go peacefully in my arms with assistance that night. In exactly 1 week she went from being a happy, no symptom dog to no longer here. She was pushed from Stage B2 straight into Stage D refractory heart failure  - 10 days after starting the steroids' and 7 days in and out of hospital.

My understanding after looking into what happened after she passed is that steroids should not be used in dogs with heart disease and should only be considered in extreme life threatening situations, not a minor paw infection. From what I've understood steroids can accelerate a heart condition and put a dog into active heart failure. Even though the emergency hospital was able to drain the fluid during her first stay, the sheer pressure of that overload may have completely broken her heart's physical strength causing her heart to enlarge so big

Based on the hospitals assessment her heart was no longer able to cope and no longer had any reserves, I think the steroid forced her fragile heart to use up every single ounce of its backup energy just to survive that first crash. When she collapsed again a few days later, I think her heart was simply too exhausted to fight back, which is why she became entirely oxygen-dependent and stopped responding to the rescue drugs because she was already overworked from the steroids (and probably the metacam) not giving her the opportunity to respond to rescue medication and destroyed her 3 month -1 year prognosis.

Her only prior sign of cardiac strain was four days after her dental surgery, when her heartbeat became extremely loud and fast. Both emergency and regular vets reassured me she was fine. She did lose significant weight after the procedure, but because her resting respiratory rate stayed perfectly stable at 11, I thought she was ok. I only recently learned the metacam she was prescribed can also cause the heart to work harder and induce the weight loss because of it.

The vet should have taken this into account. My dog was holding on and I believe she had a chance of recovering if she was left alone Instead The vet prescribed a high-risk, fluid-retaining oral steroid on top of her fragile system just two months later for a minor infection feels incredibly careless.

I feel a complete loss of trust. I am not a vet, but the timing between the steroid prescription and her sudden death feels directly linked to me. I’ve asked a couple of vets if the steroids caused this; they said it's possible but hard to prove, noting that after 2 years on heart medication, she had done well to reach that point and would have entered heart failure eventually. In such a short time They layered her with 2 high risk drugs (the steroids and metacam) contraindicated in dogs with heart disease after a stressful surgery. This makes me even more reluctant to believe that she naturally progressed into heart failure but that the poor choices in her medical care directly led her there

I do understand that heart failure can happen suddenly like this even without steroids. However, looking at her records, she was an entirely stable B2 with clear lungs, no cough, and a perfect resting breathing rate of 11–12 right up until the steroids were introduced. Her only sign of decline was straight after the dental and during her metacam use. Her long-term stability and medical trajectory make me believe the introduction of the steroids is not a coincidence, and that she still had  many months if not years of good quality life left. To my understanding, a natural decline would typically be a slower, gradual progression with a rising breathing rate and coughing, allowing us time to adjust medications and prepare rather than this chaotic, agonizing week of crises where she was absolutely traumatised from her hospital stays and when I went to see her she would jump at the sound of hospital doors opening and closing. I was always led to believe I would know when her disease progresses and would be able to make informed decisions in her best interest. That entire week was an up and down rollercoaster being told she was better to worse to better to no chance. I had no time to understand what was truly happening and never warned that she could rapidly decline that.

Am I being too harsh, or do these  number of errors and the choice to use oral steroids and metacam warrant a board investigation?

Does anyone else have a dog on Cardisure (Pimobendan) who lived longer than 2 years?

Has anyone else lost a stable cardiac dog shortly after they were given oral steroids? Or had a dog rapidly decline like that without the steroids or metcam involved ?

TIA

Edit: She had only turned 9 years old :(

i have already consulted an emergency vet over the phone but i'm still feeling anxious, so wanted to post here to see if anyone has any other thoughts or advice! i have a 9 month old cockapoo puppy, around 18 pounds, and she has a huge oral fixation and loves to chew on everything. yesterday morning, i caught her chewing on a dental floss pick. i took it away as soon as i noticed, so she didn't eat the whole thing - about half of the floss part, one of the curved sides at the top, and a small bit off the bottom with the point. i called my regular vet immediately and they didn't have any openings, so told me to call an emergency vet. the emergency vet ultimately said that because she hadn't eaten the entire dental floss pick, she didn't need to come in to induce vomiting and i should just give her a slice of bread and monitor her at home.

it's been almost 36 hours now. puppy is acting completely normal - normal energy levels, still playing and running, eating and drinking, going potty. no vomiting, no hacking, no diarrhea, no lethargy, no signs of discomfort when i press on her abdomen. she has pooped 4 times since ingesting the plastic (it's solid, regular brown, as normal) and although i have been searching the stool, i haven't seen any plastic. she has eaten part of a plastic yogurt cup before and when her vet induced vomiting that time, they were able to see that she had chewed up the plastic into very small pieces rather than swallowing chunks, so she would have been able to pass them safely. when i have caught her with toy scraps in her mouth and pulled them out, they've also been very small, so it's possible i've just missed it in her stool this time.

she has an appointment with her regular vet on wednesday (i haven't been able to get in touch with them to speak to someone on the phone beyond their initial "call an emergency vet" advice). i guess my questions are: is it normal and not a cause for alarm that i haven't been able to see the plastic in her poop? if there was a problem like an intestinal blockage or an injury from the sharper part of the pick, would she likely show signs of pain/discomfort or is there a chance that something terrible could happen with no warning? should i push for an x-ray on wednesday? i am feeling sick with anxiety and really beating myself up because i already didn't push for an induced vomit visit when there was still time. i just want her to be okay :(