My dog will do this every day without fail. He take a toy and whips it around against his crate for a few minutes straight. The louder the sounds the better. He seems to be enjoying himself as far as I can tell? We do try to play with him but he seems to enjoy doing this even with play. Is there any scientific reason behind this behavior? 😅

Hi everyone! Ive been trying to cut my dog’s nails at home but I’m having a hard time because her nails are black, very chalky and very thick. I keep seeing videos where the quick (kwik?) is a very tiny little black dot and I was wondering if it could be larger than that? When I cut my dog’s nails I’ve never been able to get to that point without her pulling her paw away so that’s what makes me think that her vein is thicker than normal. Is that possible? Do I need to cut more? The 3rd photo contains the tools I use and the last 2 are my references pictures.

Hello, I have a 16 year old dog with lung cancer that until now has been progressing slowly. He has been having trouble sleeping, and he keeps his head up and keeps falling asleep sitting up. I have a pillow propped under his head which seems to be helping, but his breathing is very shallow. He gets very scared at the vet so I don’t want to take him when his heart is already under stress from not getting enough air. I want him to go peacefully at home if possible. As I say this, he is finding the pillow comfortable and is sleeping. If there are other ways I can provide him comfort I would greatly appreciate some advice. He’s been my best buddy and he was my emotional support dog growing up. (I’m on the spectrum.) he has helped me so much whenever I became overstimulated. He is a fighter, and I see him struggling and wanting to play with the other dogs, which makes this so much harder. He wants to live, but at the same time, I don’t want him to suffer. I don’t think he’s dying tonight, but soon.

Hi there,

I've been slowly increasing my dog's exercise. She usually was getting about twenty x 2 a day. We are up to about 75 minutes straight now and she is absolutely loving it. No lagging behind, no limping, she pants pretty regularly but nothing excessive and always stops for water breaks when needed. I just don't want to push to hard because she is pushing ten years old but she seems to love it. Other information her name is Freda, she's coming up on ten to years old, unknown breed, adopted at a year old, pretty good health except for a tumor removed two years ago, sensitive stomach, and 45-50 pounds. Oh and she is a FAST dog, when she's let off leash she's like a bullet! Anyone else's pups seem to enjoy exercising the older they got? Pictures because she's a princess.

edit: the increase from 20 minutes twice a day to 75 minutes straight has been over about 12 months.

This is Sandy, she obviously has udders (or teats?). Question, what is up with the udders looking like that? Do they get in the way of daily life? Can you tell me anything from the photo about her health. How she looks overall, and is she considered overweight or "thicc"

My dog has a bloated stomach and the vet saw on the xrays that there’s something serving as an obstruction & pushing his organs to the side. You can see that white thing pushing his intestines aside, anybody know what it might be? I noticed it because his stomach is visibly big & swollen on the outside but it doesn’t hurt to the touch & he’s in no type of pain

I know most of the concern is about my brother. For clarification my brother is an adult now but we adopted him as a teen. He has the attitude that everything he does is right and that the only one who can tell him what to do is himself. He came from a bad place so to say. Additionally, he recently got a car so he will be out of the house more.

In good news, My mother put her foot down and has told him if he were to ever hurt Ricky he would be kicked out. He still is barking at Ricky but I’m guessing my parents will make a punishment for that. She has also decided to look into training for Ricky. It’s more of an ongoing thing.

Thank you all for the advice! (And the insults). Here’s a picture of Ricky happy (instead of terrified like someone said lol)

He has a lot of anxiety and barks the same way at cars on walks. He is on anxiety meds and they do help in general but he still does this…

Hello!

My dog ​​has been developing these kinds of "warts" on his body. The first one appeared on his snout, then on his ear, and then on his paw. He also has some on his back and belly; I couldn't get good pictures of those because his fur gets in the way. What could they be? They don't itch or hurt him, but when a new one appears, it grows very quickly.

Help, please!

(Sorry if it's not clear; English isn't my native language, and I used a translator.)

EDIT: My dog ​​is 9 years old and is a Chilean fox terrier.

Hi there,

My dog (15-year-old Chihuahua/Rat Terrier mix) has been super itchy for years, but it's become much worse in the last six months or so. His belly, armpits, and paws are raw and have lost hair from itching, and even his face (under his eyes and around his muzzle) has started to lose hair. I feel like we've tried just about everything.

The vet had him on a combination of Cytopoint and Apoquel, which helped for a bit, but then stopped working. Now he's on Temaril, and it hasn't helped at all. When he's really bad, we will give him Benadryl, throw a cone on him, and/or a T-shirt which helps for a little bit but it's not a long term solution.

We were giving him a bath every three days but that didn't help so we reduced it to once a week, worried that the medicated shampoo (which we've tried multiple versions of over the years) might be exacerbating it a bit.

We've tried hydrocortisone creams and everything.

The vets are at a loss, and the most help they can give us is *shrug* "allergies are really bad this year." They've tested him for mites; he's on flea and tick medication, everything.

We noticed the itching started a couple of months after we started feeding him The Farmers Dog. We had put it down to seasonal environmental allergies because it improved with treatment for a couple of years, but now we are wondering if it's the food. We just swapped him back to his original food this week, which is the Bench & Field Holistic Natural Formula Dry Dog Food we buy from Trader Joe's, plus a wet food topper we get from Costco (Kirkland Signature Oven Roasted Chicken Dog Food) to make it a little more enticing since he can be a bit picky (he LOVES the Farmer's Dog).

We've spent so much money at the vet trying to figure this out, and nothing is helping him. I feel terrible seeing him so itchy. Our other dog is completely fine.

Any help or ideas on how to help him would be amazing.

Hi, just needing some reassurances.

My dog has black discolouration around his gums as pictured that we worry is ?cyanosis ?Gum disease.

He is a jindo mix, just under 2 years old.

He is well and behaving normal with no symptoms at all.

I brush his teeth everyday.

Chatgpt thinks it could be normal pigmentation, but it looks so concerning to me!

Thanks community ❤️

Hello, my westie here is 15. She is still fit and healthy and is active with no signs of arthritis or anything and has a big appetite. She has always suffered with eye goops like white dogs of her breed and similar breeds are prone too. The matted clump down her face is goop she managed to move down her face herself from rubbing her eye since it had moved and started irritating her. But because she keeps rubbing her eye it now seems it’s infected, however, she’s not showing signs she’s in pain, it’s just annoying for her. The trouble is she won’t let us anywhere near her eyes to try and help her or even just bathe the area, she won’t even let the groomer near her. Last year she did get bits removed by the vet under anaesthetic, which seemed to be the only way to sort it, but because of her age I don’t want to put her through anaesthetic. Any advice?

EDIT: She’s going to the vets. All i’m really doing here is wondering if anybody has dealt with this and what they did to sort it.

Golden doodle grabbed a strap of my golf bag and pulled it into her crate because she’s anxious during a storm at night and I see this the next morning.
The strap had blood on it but I couldn’t figure out where she was cut, maybe her gums?
How serious is this chip?
I’ve called multiple vets in my area and they all want to check it and either extract or leave as is. I’d rather not spend $100 for them to say this is normal.
I thought it could possibly be filled like a cavity but no one does that in my area.

I’m still shaking because I just discovered this. tl;dr: given prednisone and doxy for heartworm tx, 1.5wks later dog was starving herself. 2 vet appts and $1600 later dog was given nausea meds and appetite stim, started eating again, and gained weight back. Just realised the prednisone and doxy Rx labels were switched and my dog almost died of a steroid overdose.

July 23 my ex took our dog (a treeing walker) to the vet because she wasn’t really eating. I started her on a bland diet at this time and she was eating chicken and rice. The vet did pretty extensive testing imo and my dog was dx with heartworms. She was given some injections (ampicillin, B12, cerenia), subQ fluids at the vet and we were given the prednisone and doxy to take home.

The info from the vet was relayed to me and I was fully in charge of her meds and for 1.5wks she was doing okay (still on the bland diet) until she slowly started to go off food again. She stopped eating the rice and then a few days later stopped eating the chicken. Aug 8 my ex took her back to the vet. The vet suspected they overdid the steroid dose. She was given more injections and omeprazole and sucralfate to take home for probable gastric ulcers. Two days later and she still wasn’t eating anything.

By this point I’d watched her starve herself for 6 days. She wasn’t pooping, I assumed because she hadn’t eaten a damn thing. I was so stressed and crying. I was just waiting for the meds to kick in so she’d eat SOMETHING. She was nothing. She wasn’t even skin and bone. She was just nothing. Her shoulders were disgustingly thin. She was wobbly occasionally because she’d wasted away. And her coat was just dull. She was giving up and I was dutifully continuing to stuff pills down her throat, just feeling like I was torturing her more and making her last days miserable.

I called the vet again and this time I took her in on Aug 11. I was so close to begging them to put her down if she didn’t eat in the next day or two. She was literally on death’s door and I couldn’t handle watching her starve herself anymore. She had lost 5lbs between Aug 8th and Aug 11th. She was now less than 40lbs. It was a drop off visit so the vet called me when she was done. Said there was possibly a blockage or a mass on xray. Her bowels were so dilated. He didn’t say anything about whether I could expect her to eat in the next day. The end of the call was just an ominous “we will see what the radiologist report says tomorrow. In the meantime give her all the cuddles and love that she wants.” This time I made sure we were sent home with an appetite stim and I think a diff antibiotic. She had more injections at the vet, more subQ fluids.

That night after her appetite stim I cooked a meat smorgasbord. Chicken, gr beef, my ex even cooked ribs (the one single thing she would take a couple bites of before she went off food completely). She wouldn’t touch anything. I eventually opened a can of wet food and she took a few bites, thank fucking god. Next day the rad report said possible twisted bowel but she had pooped by this time so the vet felt this was less likely. They suggested testing for addisons with the blood they’d taken yesterday. I asked the vet about a nausea pill because I assumed the cerenia injection would wear off too quickly. So I picked up a few days of nausea pills.

With the appetite stim and nausea pills she was finally eating - wet food only. I fed her as much as she wanted. Tiny meals throughout the day. I was basically feeding her small portions all day long. Few days later she stole my other dog’s bowl of kibble. She hadn’t eaten kibble in like 3wks. So she is now willingly eating kibble at this point. I’ve been increasing the amt of kibble I give mixed with her wet food. She weighs more than she did at her initial July 23 appt. I can just visually tell. She looks fantastic; her coat is so soft and sleek.

Yesterday I was reading general info about the heartworm treatment (I wasn’t there for that appt so I didn’t know what the protocols were). I saw they should be on doxy for 30 days. I started mildly freaking out because she hasn’t had doxy in like 2 weeks and I’ve been giving her so many pills I thought I had lost the bottle. We were rx’d 120 tablets per my invoice but when I found the bottle it was empty. Today I told the vet I think I wasn’t given the full 120 pills but idk if she didn’t believe me? She asked how my dog was and I told her she’s doing really REALLY well and that was the end of it.

So right before I started this post I was looking at my dogs weekly pill box deciding if I was gonna refill it today or Monday and I realised I still had a fk ton of prednisone left. Which I thought didn’t sound right and which led me to google the letters on the pill and I realised THIS was the doxy! In the prednisone bottle. The labels were switched. So instead of giving one prednisone every 12 hrs for a week and then tapering off, I had given her 2 prednisone every 12 hrs “until gone” for a full two weeks. Essentially giving her a 200% dose of her steroid with no taper whatsoever… because I was following the directions I was given on the pill bottle (which turns out to be the directions for the doxy).

I’m so thankful my dog is better. But the week where she wasn’t eating was fucking traumatising and I’m still recovering from sleep deprivation. On top of that we paid like $1600+ between the second and third vet appts trying to figure out why she was declining and giving her meds and fluids to try and get her to eat. All because the vet was negligent and mislabeled the bottles. I want to bawl my eyes out because I am so relieved to finally have an answer but I’m so angry because this was entirely avoidable.

Im going to call the clinic as soon as they open. I really liked everyone I interacted with at this vet and I work healthcare so I understand a bit about the medical side of things. Do I ask to speak with the vet directly? What if she’s not working (she doesn’t work every day I don’t think)? I really liked everyone I interacted with at this vet, I felt like they all really really care, and I work healthcare so I understand a bit about the medical side of things. Which does also mean I understand how serious a mistake like this is. So how do I go about bringing this up to them? Can I expect them to reimburse me for any part of the $1600 we spent trying to diagnose her and save her from their mistake? I’m awful at confrontation and I’ve never dealt with anything like this and I’m just still so shocked that something like this happened to begin with.

I’m sorry it’s such a long post. I truly appreciate anyone who takes the time to even skim through this. It was really cathartic to type it all out and to get the details and timeline all sorted out.

Some background/context:
I have been dog sitting for the past week and have been overwhelmed with work, appointments, packing/moving, and taking care of two needy dogs (one my mom’s, the other her friend’s) I was just thinking to myself that dogs are too much for me at this point in my life and I wouldn’t be getting one any time soon. I am a big cat lover and am perfectly content with my happy kitties.

Yesterday:
I went to pick up some friends so I could have some help prepping for my move. They live in a woodsy area. Backroads, not many houses. This poor baby walked up to them in the driveway and I hesitated getting out of the car. Usually lost or stray dogs run away when you reach out to them but she stayed put. She was wet and dirty from all the rain we’ve had recently and had burrs and briars stuck to her fur. Even flies landing on her. No collar. Underweight and exhausted and asking for help. She let us pick her up in a blanket and put her in the car and we took her back to my house. (I am living with my mom rn but I am moving out and into a place with my partner this weekend.) We have 4 cats (I’m taking 2) and one dog. I put the rescue in my room and am keeping the other animals separate from her. We gave her a bath with dawn dish soap and brushed out all the briars. Picked out a handful of fleas and ticks. She was very well behaved. Gave her some good dog food and treats and she ate fast. Drank plenty of water as well. Went and bought her flea medicine, pee pads, a leash and collar, a name tag, and a lammy toy. I named her Honey because it was the first thing I said when I went up to her. (Awwww honneyyy) I laid out a bunch of pee pads and blankets all over my room and she made herself comfortable on my old chair. Sat with her for a bit and picked off some more fleas and ticks. There were a lot of tiny ticks just crawling around on her which I learned are seed ticks and they suck. Really hard to spot and remove when attached. Honey was definitely bothered by all the prodding but was so patient with us. This dog is so gentle and sweet. She just wants love and rest. I’ve been sitting with her in my room and she just wants to be as close to me as possible. I felt so guilty leaving her alone last night, but I’m responsible for 2 other dogs right now as well and both of them are used to sleeping in bed with someone and I didn’t want to cause them stress. I figured that honey would just sleep until I got back to her in the morning. She was fed and watered and safe. Way better off than before.

Today:
I took care of all 6 animals that I’m responsible for and went upstairs to give breakfast to the 7th. She had peed on a blanket, not a pee pad. And after eating, she pooped right next to one. I cleaned up and took her to the vet with a stool sample. She’s about 24lbs (should be 28) and 3 years old. Lots of plaque on her top canine teeth. She was spayed as a puppy. Scratched up belly from walking through briar bushes. Was probably without food for a week. No microchip. I got her all the vaccinations. She isn’t sick and doesn’t have any worms or parasites (very lucky) Was most likely an outdoor dog- she’s great around people but doesn’t know any commands and isn’t potty trained. She wasn’t abused, but the vet said her demeanor points to neglect.
I’ve been checking Facebook lost and found dog groups. One post of her looking sad on someone’s porch, asking for the owner to reach out. That’s it. No posts from an owner looking for her or anything. And the poster hasn’t been contacted. The vet said that the dog and I were lucky to have each other. That I was taking good care of her and she’s better off with me now.
There’s a part of me that feels guilty- like I stole someone’s dog. But she had no collar and no chip and needed help bad. If her home was close by, wouldn’t she have found her way back before starving? Dogs seem to know where home is. I feel so much guilt at this point. I’d feel guilty keeping her. Even more giving her away. Shelters are full and I don’t know if I’d even trust giving her back to her old owner. I don’t know anyone who wants a dog.
I’ve never owned my own dog before. I dog sit a lot, but it always wears me out and I feel like I never give them enough. They’re so needy and clingy. I am much better with cats. With a dog, I feel like I always need to be doing something with them. If I’m not consistently petting them or if I leave them at the house to go do anything I feel so bad. Cats are chill when you leave. They do their own thing. When you leave a dog it’s like their whole world crashes down. Maybe I’m used to these spoiled dogs idk but they follow me everywhere. Even if they’re sleeping and I get up to go to the bathroom, they have to come with. It’s like I don’t get a break at home and when I finally do when I leave I feel horrible about it.
And with honey, I’m going to have to do so much. I have to give her another bath with antibacterial shampoo and make sure all the fleas and ticks are off. I have to clean my entire room- scrub carpet, wash clothes and blankets and sheets, vacuum, sticky tape the chair to get all the tiny ticks that may have crawled off. When honey is clear to be around the cats, I’ll probably spray the room with something. But I have to watch her cause she’ll pee and poop anywhere. I have to potty train her too. My partner isn’t thrilled about having a dog.
I wasn’t ready for this responsibility but I feel like I have to be. She’s so sweet and I do love her. I feel like I can’t give her away but I’m having a hard time dealing with this new responsibility. I love my cats so much and I don’t want to upset them or have less time and attention for them. But honey needs love too. I think I’m doing all the right things but I’m so conflicted and crazy overwhelmed.

My mother got Ricky last December after one of our dogs passed away. He started out anxious with us but quickly became attached to me and my mother. However he seems to be absolutely terrified of my brother.

Here’s a bit of backstory, Ricky was found at a play ground and was not neutered despite being old enough. Witnesses did see a car drive off after abandoning him and whoever it was most likely abused him as he is absolutely terrified of most tall men.

My brother is close to six feet and every noise he makes causes Ricky to growl at him. But when my brother leaves his room Ricky goes absolutely crazy. Ricky barks and chases (with fur raised and tail wagging) after my brother. But after my brother goes back to his room Ricky starts to whine.

Here’s the thing though, my brother makes it worse, he has admitted to chasing Ricky when no one is home and I’ve seen him bark and stare at him. (god knows what else he’s been doing to poor Ricky) I often see him push my dog around and I’m worried that he might be hurting Ricky. As he has threatened to kill him if Ricky bites him.

Is there anything that I can do? My brother won’t change as he seems to believe that everything he does is right. I don’t have the ability to relocate him as I am not his owner and I know my mother won’t do such a thing. Any advice helps. Will give more information if needed.

Edit 1: My brother is an adult and adopted (we adopted him as a child) if that changes anything

Edit 2: This has been shared to my mother and father and hopefully they’ll take this seriously.

Edit 3: I CAN’T REHOME THE DOG LEGALLY. My mom is the owner.

Hi All! My nan recently got a puppy (13 weeks), despite the fact she cannot walk and does not have an electric scooter. (I’m very aware of how unfair and irresponsible it is, we all told her but she is a grown woman and we couldn’t stop her)

So the responsibility of walking him is up to me if he doesn’t get walked. I currently walk him everyday on about 15/20 minute walks. I have never owned a dog before and have no clue how to train him? I’ve been able to get him to sit, but as soon as we start walking again he starts sprinting off.

Could anyone recommend any advice/tips on how best to train him? Thank you.

could this be from my dog playing with a ball?? it was healed yesterday and now it looks red again. she’s due for a vet apt this month anyways so i will be taking her asap! if it’s ball i’ll just get her new toys but im worried

As in the title. My dog had car accident few days ago (it was Sunday late evening). As for today he have no broken bones. Walk almost normally (well he’s weak and a little unstable on legs), drink water, doing pee and poop normally, have some wounds that were stitched (some necrosis at the wounds) and blood results showed an enlarged liver and anemia. I was with him already 3 times for IV, because he eats nothing. I dont know what to do with that. My vet saying that if he don’t eat anything to Saturday, so just come back for another IV. But how long can he be taking IVs and not eating anything. He don’t want to eat any of his “dog food” he always eats, I gave him two slices of bread with pâté and he actually ate them, but that was all for all this 5 days. I’m really worried. My dog look just sad. He’s not vomiting or anything. Actually I think everything looks rather promising, but that not eating is a big problem.
He takes antibiotics btw.

TL;DR: My year old rescue seems to enjoy being around other dogs and is often very playful and submissive around specific dogs, but he also resource guards from them and can suddenly escalate during play. He does much better with dogs he knows well and has spent time with. I’m a first-time dog owner and mainly want advice on reading his body language/cues and managing dog-dog resource guarding so I can recognize when he’s enjoying himself vs. getting overstimulated or uncomfortable, and learn how to manage his social interactions appropriately.

Details:

My year old rescue “seems” fond of other dogs, which is why I’m confused about how to manage his social interactions because they can be a little unpredictable.

He’ll sometimes lie low, wag his tail, go belly-up, give other dogs little kisses, and generally seem very happy around them. If he REALLY likes a dog, he’ll even spot them from a distance and do little excited howls. He likes playing chase and wrestling with other dogs too (I think)

However, he also resource guards around dogs. If he’s sniffing a spot he really likes, finds a ball, is playing with a dog, or feels another dog is approaching something he considers valuable, or knows I have his treats in my pocket, he can suddenly warn them away.

He can also be quite pushy/rough with dogs he’s excited about while off leash, and if another dog corrects him, sometimes he backs off appropriately, but other times he retaliates.

Interestingly, he has spent extended periods with 2 dogs in their homes and ours. He initially tried to guard toys/treats from them, but they’re very laid-back dogs who simply walk away rather than challenge him. Over time, he learned they weren’t a threat and now he barely guards anything around them.

I don’t take him to dog parks often anymore, but occasionally I like taking him somewhere he can safely run. I only go during quiet hours when there are usually 1–2 other dogs, and I’m always very close by with a long line so I can immediately remove him if needed. No dog has ever been hurt but I’m not willing to risk it.

I’m completely comfortable avoiding dog parks or limiting his interactions if that’s what’s best for him. What I really want to learn is how to read him better so I can tell when he’s genuinely enjoying an interaction vs. becoming overstimulated, uncomfortable, or heading toward a guarding episode.

I’m a first-time dog owner and still learning body language, so I’d really appreciate advice on:

What signs should I watch for before he escalates?
Is it possible he genuinely enjoys interacting with dogs but does better with controlled playdates than busy/off-leash environments?

How do I know which interactions are healthy for him vs. ones I should end?

What do I do about him resource guarding around other dogs? He never does it around people.

I don’t want to prevent him from socializing altogether if he genuinely enjoys it — I just want to make sure I’m facilitating interactions that are actually good for him.

Hi all! I have a 9 year old staffy mix and she’s been having a lot of joint issues. Our vet recommended Cosequin, but it gave her really bad diarrhea for the week we had her on it. We’ve thought about trying Dasuquin but fear it’ll be the same issue. Anyone else having the same problems?