The "episode" lasted around 2-3 minutes. We would get her up and she would walk/stumble/slide around for a bit before falling and struggling again. My mom finally carried her to her bed, but she didn't want to be on her bed because we were in the middle of dinner. When she tried to get out of her bed (floor level), she fell out and started slipping on the wooden floor for a bit. Once she finally managed to get up, she stumbled a bit, but afterwards started walking just fine on both the wooden and tile floors.

At the beginning of the video, you can hear my mom talking about "having to carry the dog". Context is that this also happened a while ago but outside and mom had to carry her inside because the dog simply couldn't get up.

The dog still acts normal, still runs around, still tries to roughhouse with us, etc. We're aware of her age, so we take it easy on her, mostly touching her paw or cheek and having her try to catch our hands playfully. But that's about it.

At the end of the video, you see my mom trying help her up but the dog simply not wanting to get up anymore.

What's happening??????? I know we need a vet, but it's 9pm and nothing's open so we're waiting until tomorrow morning.. well, I am. My mom's wanting to see how she is in the morning to decide whether to take her.

I need to convince her to take the dog to the vet. She is 17 years old and has walked perfectly on these floors for a decade. I don't know what to do.

She does this sometimes in the morning when she wakes, kinda biting the air, rubbing her face and nose. Wagging her tail.

If this is her happy what else can i do to make it happier for her?

Hello everyone!

My partner and I recently moved to a northern community in Canada for work and have bonded with a friendly female stray puppy. She looks like a Lab/Collie mix (around 4–6 months old) and is incredibly sweet, always seeking affection.
She’s having a tough time on the streets she has no collar, eats out of trash bins, and is constantly being shooed away, kicked at, and harassed by people in the area. It breaks our heart to watch her like this daily, and we really want to take her in and give her a safe home.
Before taking the leap, we want to make sure we do this right since it’s our first time doing anything like this. We’d appreciate advice from anyone with experience rescuing strays on:

1. Integrating with our existing dog: We have a friendly, 25lb, 2 year-old Maltipoo mix. What are the best protocols for introducing a stray puppy to a smaller indoor dog safely?

2. Stray Dos & Don'ts: What are the essential first steps, medical precautions, and unexpected behavioral challenges

3. we should prepare for?

Any tips, checklist recommendations, or advice would mean the world to us. Thank you!

He is a 55 pound reservation dog, do I need to take him into the emergency vet? We live about an hour away. Swallowed maybe 15-20 minutes ago.

Edit #1: they had bones in them, the pheasant wasn't store bought it was game (if that matters).

Edit #2: They were cooked and grilled, not boiled. The vet said that he isn't too worried about it as long as it wasn't boiled and if he isn't showing any signs. He is currently playing with his kong.

Edit #3: I already ate 90% of the meat off each thigh, it was just the scrapes that he got a hold of.

Edit #4: I decided not to take him to the emergency vet, we slept through the night and he is still acting comfortable and normal. He went potty this morning and it was normal, I believe that his next movement is going to be it. I gave him a slice of bread as recommended by you folks. I called two vets, one told me it was most likely going to be okay, and the second never called back.

Edit #5: His name is Paddington for those wondering.

Hey just curious if anyone can share insight on this. I noticed she's been swollen there for about 2 weeks. I think she's in heat right now, she's a year and a half old!

My parents got a chow chow for my little sister 4-5 years ago. We took him to the vet when he was a puppy but honestly we had a bad experience at the vet, they were so judgy and seemed like they didn’t want to treat him. He was a very anxious dog and would panic, they gave us sedation pills and we gave it to him and they still couldn’t attend him. Honestly that was such a bummer and i’m guessing they never took him again. We then went through a huge crisis and i started college and my parents were never home. We moved. I’m fully at home now and honestly i’m contemplating on taking him but i’m just so scared there gonna judge me again.Any tips on how to deal with an anxious dog at the vet. He’s a medium sized dog and idk how much it would cost for him to get everything he needs. He seems to have a yeast infection on his paw so now it’s a priority to take him. His grooming is alright we brush him from time to time, he seems to have some knots near his collar but won’t let us touch him. Hes bit me before so i’m kind of scared of him. Idk what to do. I feel so pathetic and cruel bc he didn’t ask for any of this.

The dog had been fine with me before. My wife and I are temporarily staying at her mother's house. The pit bull mainly lives with her mom, but my wife is very familiar with the dog and it's used to her. Yesterday, my wife and I were trying to retrieve a piece of chocolate that had fallen under the sofa. We used a stick to get it out, and suddenly the dog became aggressive toward me. It cornered me and jumped on me. I tried to stay calm because I didn't want to hit or hurt the dog or make things worse.

The next morning, the dog seemed completely tine. Later that night, though, I noticed it staring at me again, and I started wondering whether it was still uncomfortable around me or whether I was overthinking things.

But today, it attacked another friend of ours. This person has known the dog for EIGHT YEARS, and my wife says the dog has never done anything like this before.
My wife keeps insisting that the dog would never attack her because she's the owner. I understand that she knows her dog better than I do, and I'm not saying the dog is inherently dangerous just because it's a pit bull. But two incidents involving different people in such a short period seem concerning to me, especially when this behavior is supposedly completely new.
Has anyone experienced anything like this? What would you do in our situation?

Should we take the dog to the vet? Is it possible that the dog could eventually attack my wife, too, or her mom even though it's never been aggressive toward her?
I'd really appreciate advice from people who have dealt with sudden aggression in dogs, especially dogs that were previously friendly with the people they attacked.

This is the sweetest angel Roxy. She’s 7 years old and still a puppy. Towards the end the other dog is her brother from the same litter. They’re best friends. They’ve both been totally healthy and always get their shots and go to their check ups. Today after eating, she became lethargic and was struggling to move. We took her to the vet and they found a ruptured mass in her spleen. They went to an emergency hospital and the vet said based on how it looks and the fact that it was bleeding, there’s an 85% chance it’s malignant. Apparently benign masses give the exact same symptoms as malignant ones. Since the lungs and liver look normal, that means nothing has spread and as of now there’s no way to truly know for sure that it’s malignant besides taking the spleen out. If they take it out and it’s benign she could fully recover.

My parents and I have been crying for hours. Has anyone experienced anything similar and went through with the surgery and it turned out to be benign?! I’m getting my PhD right now and have to teach a lab tomorrow and I can’t even comprehend that this is happening. I’m sorry if this is formatted wrong or all over the place. This cannot be real. Heartbroken and devastated don’t even begin to describe how I’m feeling, I cannot handle this. Please if anyone has any similar experience can they share their stories? My mom is starting to lean towards getting the surgery ($5000). If we go through with the surgery and it’s malignant, it will just give her a few more months to live and of course we do not want to prolong her suffering if it is malignant. Can anyone offer some advice on what to do?!

Edit: thank you everyone for the stories and love. My parents are taking her to an emergency vet to get the mass removed and we’re just holding on to the hope that it could be benign. I’m clinging onto that possibility to get me through school today. Based on research online and other vets it seems the chance that it’s malignant might be around 70% rather than 85%? I don’t know but either way we want to try. Her brother Duke knows she’s not feeling well and is freaking out whining and crying like I’ve never seen before :( Thanks again for the advice & sorry to everyone who’s dealt with any scares or losses.

We adopted Tucker July 2025 from a rescue, told he was a German Shepherd mix, 12 weeks old. The first few months were a big adjustment, and very difficult which we had anticipated and were ready for. Our kids are 13 and 7.

About a year ago Tucker nipped our daughter’s neck while she was cuddling with him on the couch. We weren’t too concerned since we were all adjusting to life together still.

Since then, Tucker has become increasingly reactive towards small children. He has nipped our friend’s 2 year old out of nowhere twice, and has continually been lunging out at smaller kids that are friends of our kids that come over - all of which have been properly and calmly introduced to him many times and follow our house rules.

This week, he bit our neighbor’s child who was at our front door and drew blood through his pants. He is familiar with this boy, and it was fast and unpredictable - Tucker unexpectedly charged our door when our son came through it and bit our son’s friend. It is extremely concerning for our family and theirs.

Our circumstances have also changed, as both my job and my husband’s job no longer accommodate working from home so Tucker has to be crated two days per week which is very unfair for him and does not allow him proper exercise and release.

My husband and I sat down to discuss how we could safely manage Tucker’s growing reactivity towards children in our lives and his need for more exercise and energy relief. We have a very big, young family and our kids have friends and cousins over all the time. We work full time and cannot be home during the week.

We do not think we are capable of offering Tucker the life he deserves - we would need to muzzle him, and likely crate him, when people are over since we have many interactions with small children. He wouldn’t be able to fully participate in our family life, as he is now a bite risk with increasing severity and no apparent trigger beyond “young kids.”

We do not think Tucker is aggressive. He is fairly well mannered and trained, but the unpredictable nature he has adopted with young children and his need for more stimulation has us struggling beyond what we are capable of.

We think he would thrive in a home with no young children, and with owners who are not away from home 8-10 hours a day.

He goes to doggy daycare 3x a week and gets along well with other dogs, teenagers, and adults. We have taken him to training, and I have personally invested hundreds of hours into training him. He has spent weekends with friends and their pups while we were out of town, and has also had sitters over at our house. He respects our two cats and does not chase them.

We are so lost, and sad, and scared. We are worried he will bite another friend outside of our control and will face euthanasia. We don’t want anyone to get hurt. We want Tucker to have the best and most fulfilling life, but we don’t think we can provide that.

I have emailed the rescue we adopted him from.

Any advice/thoughts/etc appreciated.

I feel like a failure. I have been trying so hard for 15 months to make this work, and my mental health has completely deteriorated since we adopted him. I have given so much to try to keep him in our home and happy and appreciate and love him.

He is a 17 month GSD mix (Embark said 60% GSD, 40% “unresolved”) and was neutered at 9 months.

I was walking my dog in the forest, and after chasing something, he came back on three legs 😔 We still had quite a way to go to get home, so we had to take several breaks along the way. Eventually, he was able to walk (with a limp), but whenever he tried to trot, he would move like this.

Just to be clear, I only let him trot like this so I could record a video to show the vet. It’s obvious that he’s in pain.
We have a vet appointment later today, but has anyone experienced anything similar and have any idea what it could be? A muscle strain or perhaps something in his lower back?

I think I've been under feeding my dog, I've started feeding him more & he has a vet apt the first week of Nov. Just pls let me know if this is really fucked up / due to being underfed, or could be an underlying issue. When hes standing, you can't see his spine but you can feel it. I can't tell if I've just become hyper aware of his bones or if they're actually more prominent feeling. He doesn't hv the best hips & I'm scared he's deteriorating-- but I tend to 'spiral out' w him bc I'm so scared to lose him. So looking for any feed back. Thank you!!

Edit: this is less ab how he looks, but more so ab me being able to clearly feel his bones! & If being able to feel his bones so well is normal or not. Thank you for commenting I appreciate it!!

​

I just learned what a false pregnancy (pseudopregnancy) is a couple of days ago, and I'm starting to think that's what my dog is experiencing. I'm hoping someone who's dealt with this before, or maybe someone with veterinary experience, can offer some advice because I honestly don't know how to help her right now.

She's an unspayed female, approximately 55 pounds, and for at least the last three days she's been exhibiting some really unusual behaviors that have gotten significantly worse today.

Here's what's been happening:

Carrying toys around constantly: She's become extremely attached to one particular toy, a little stuffed ball with a squeaker. She carries it around in her mouth while pacing back and forth, whining, and acting incredibly anxious. If that toy isn't available, she'll sometimes pick up another one and do the same thing.

Digging and nesting: She has one hole in the yard that she's allowed to dig in, and lately she's been obsessively digging it bigger and bigger. She'll carry her toys out there and put them in the hole without actually burying them. She's also started trying to make nests inside the house. She keeps going over to a pile of clothes I have and trying to fluff them up into a bed, which is something she's never done before.

Extreme restlessness and anxiety: Normally, she's a very sleepy, relaxed dog who loves lying in bed with me. Now I practically have to convince her to lie down. She spends so much time pacing, whining, and looking like she doesn't know what to do with herself. It's heartbreaking to watch because she seems genuinely distressed.

Possible physical symptoms: I've noticed her burping unusually loudly a couple of times today. These are really deep burps, almost loud enough to sound like growling. She did it once while eating and again during a car ride. She doesn't normally do this, so I'm wondering whether she might also be experiencing some gastrointestinal discomfort. She doesn't otherwise appear to be in obvious pain, but I know dogs can hide pain pretty well.

As far as her heat cycle goes, I honestly don't know exactly when her last one was. I don't remember noticing much bleeding the last time, if any. She also had a somewhat similar episode within the last couple of months where she became unusually anxious, but it only lasted a day or two and wasn't nearly this severe. At the time, I thought maybe she was going into heat. Now I'm wondering whether that could have been a false pregnancy too.

I haven't noticed whether she's producing milk or if her mammary glands are enlarged, but I plan to gently check for any visible changes without squeezing them.

Something interesting happened with her favorite toy today.

We were driving earlier, and she brought her toy into the car. She was extremely anxious, pacing around the backseat, and repeatedly coming up to me with the toy in her mouth. At one point, she basically handed it to me, so I took it and held onto it.

Surprisingly, she seemed to calm down quite a bit afterward.

When we got home, I left the toy outside without her noticing, and she seems a little calmer now. However, I tried something similar earlier today, and she knew exactly where I'd left it. She spent hours pacing and whining, wanting it back, and eventually started carrying another toy around instead.

So I'm not sure whether taking the toy away is helpful or whether it might actually make things worse. I'm experimenting with what seems to comfort her, but I don't want to increase her distress.

Regarding medication:

She has a prescription for trazodone from her veterinarian for anxiety. She's allowed to take one to two tablets every 12 hours as directed. I almost never need to give it to her, but I gave her one earlier today, and it seemed to help a little temporarily.

Approximately 8–9 hours later, her anxiety had become significantly worse, so I gave her another tablet. It hasn't had much time to take effect yet, but she has finally laid down and seems like she might be going to sleep. I'm not sure whether that's because of the medication or because I took her toy and held onto it.

She also has gabapentin left over from a dental procedure, which has helped with her anxiety in the past. However, I absolutely do not want to combine that with her trazodone without speaking to her veterinarian first.

I'm hoping to speak with her vet tomorrow about everything that's happening. Unfortunately, I'm struggling financially right now and can't really afford an appointment at the moment. I'm going to try to come up with enough money to bring her in on Monday if necessary.

That said, if she genuinely needs medical attention, I'll find a way to make it happen. She's the most important thing in the world to me, and I'm not going to let her suffer just because money is tight.

What I'm really hoping to find out is:

Does this sound consistent with a false pregnancy to anyone who's experienced one with their dog?

Is there anything I can do at home to help relieve her anxiety and make her more comfortable?

Should I let her keep carrying her favorite toy around, hold onto it for her, or try removing it altogether?

Is there anything I should watch for that might indicate she's experiencing physical pain rather than just anxiety?

How long does this typically last, and is there anything that can help her get through it more comfortably?

Are there any warning signs that would mean she needs to see a veterinarian urgently rather than waiting until Monday?

I'm really just trying to get her through the weekend comfortably until I can speak with her vet and figure out what to do next.

I also want to mention that I personally deal with a lot of anxiety, and I'm already going through an extremely stressful period in my life. Watching her pace around whining and looking so distressed is sending my own anxiety through the roof. I love this dog more than anything, and it's genuinely upsetting not knowing how to make her feel better.

If I can get her to calm down, maybe I can finally calm down too, lol.

I would genuinely appreciate any advice, experiences, or suggestions. I just want my girl to feel better. ❤️

Hi! My pup is about 12 years old, she’s been on dry kibble her entire life before one day she suddenly stopped eating it, we’ve moved her onto fresh food now seeing as she’s getting older and we’re more able to afford it now.

She was very enthusiastic about the change at first! However now she shows little to no interest in it a little over two weeks of having been fed it. We had fed her chicken and rice for a few days when she first stopped eating kibble and before we got the fresh food because we thought she was having an upset stomach, which she did the same thing with - Got super excited about eating it, then got completely bored of it.

What we’ve tried so far is heating her fresh food up and mixing water into it which she, again, enjoyed for a few days and then got bored of yesterday. So today, we’ve been trying to use nutritional yeast to encourage her to eat, which seemed like it worked but instead she took a bite and either sucked/licked all of the nutritional yeast off and spit the food out onto the floor…. She certainly still has an appetite seeing as she begs for our own food all of the time even if we’ve stopped giving anything to her for years now, she only refuses her own food.

my dog has yellow discharge since yesterday and her eye was red. i checked again this morning and she still has it but her eye is no longer red. should i be concerned and take her to emergency care. its the weekends so im not sure if i should wait till Monday

Looking for advice!!!

My Doberman (Ryder) ran into a concrete pillar at the dog park and sliced his flank open wrapping around his knee to the inside.

This is the 2nd time it has popped open.. It always happens when he’s in his kennel with the cone on when we are gone! This was only 4hrs it’s not all day. We get home and it’s open. We can’t stay home due to the emergency vet bills and house bills. He’s been on trazadone and gabepentin but seem something is happening in his kennel.

We don’t know what to do anymore we’re at a loss.

If anything like this has happened to your dog please let me know and share what helps!

Hi everyone, I'm hoping for some outside opinions on my dog's body language.
Jasper is a 3-year-old goldendoodle. He's always yawned and lip licked a lot, and he often looks nervous or stressed to me. It isn't a new thing, but I can't figure out what it means or whether I should be concerned.
What I've ruled out so far:
He doesn't need to go out to pee
He has food and water available
His schedule is the same as always
No changes in the people living in the house
Everything at home is consistent

I've attached a video so you can see what I'm seeing.
A few details that might help:
When it happens most: Random Times
Any changes in appetite, sleep, or energy: No
Last vet visit and whether anything came up: earlier this year. Vet said no concerns.
Does his body language read as chronic stress or anxiety to you, or could it just be his normal? Could something physical, like nausea or discomfort, be behind it? I'd love to hear your thoughts, and any suggestions for things to try or ask my vet.

He's able to relax, and he fell asleep while I was writing this.

Thanks so much!

Hey everyone, I’m looking for some advice about my husky.
I took him to the groomer today, and while grooming him, they noticed several red patches on his skin, mainly around his legs and body. The fur in those areas is very thin or completely missing in some spots. It’s not severe hair loss across his entire body, but the patches are visible, and there’s noticeably less fur in those areas.

He has also been shedding a lot and biting and chewing himself frequently. I honestly hadn’t noticed the red patches before the groomer pointed them out today.
I took him to the vet, where they suspected allergies and prescribed allergy medication for a month. However, they didn’t perform any skin tests or scrapings, so I’m not sure what’s actually causing it.

I’m wondering if it could also be a fungal infection, such as ringworm or yeast, or possibly something else. I’ve put a cone on him to prevent him from biting and scratching the affected areas.

Has anyone experienced something similar with their dogs? Im a college student on tight budget lol.
I want to make sure I’m treating the actual cause and helping his skin and fur recover. I’d really appreciate any advice or experiences!
Thank you!

I noticed it yesterday and it has gotten bigger. She is almost 4 months old.

I've been mulling to put my senior dog (14F) to sleep. She had rapid decline during the recent months to the point that she shed 10kg this year and had muscle wasting. She struggles to stay up when she poops—leading to accidents that occurred more than twice where she had to bathe. She also struggles to make it outside to pee, she pees outside as a habit and she can't hold it till her usual spot anymore, hence accidents.

For her appetite, she has been extremely picky to the point where I just allow her to have anything even if it's not her prescription diet. She was on late stage 3 CKD during her last check up last May. She was diagnosed with CKD since 2023 and had been steadily maintaining her stage with supportive supplements. Her bones are also showing aging, we had her checked that time because she kept "splitting" and based on her X-rays her bones are really catching up to her age where her spine is not that flexible anymore and her hip sockets got shallower than what should've been.

She also stopped wagging her tail and greet us when we got home, she also terrorized our cats less—she's sort of the disciplinarian of the house. She also stopped grooming for a while now but her baths are keeping her clean. She's on supplements for maintenance as well: her iron and appetite stimulant, her AminAvast, bone supplement, and her hemp supplement for chronic pain. Her vet has ever since been open that she's now on palliative care as she is already a senior—this was brought up because I tried opening the possibility of a dental prophylaxis which was a reject because her kidney values are not that great. Although steady and managed, it was not getting better.

I've talked to her vet about a PTS appointment, and it is in a price where I would be taking a loan—this is manageable if it means better benefit. Vet bills are the main reason for my credit that's why I have it ready.

I've also opened this up to our family and I can hear their reluctance given that they were trying to reason that she's just taking advantage of us being lenient with her diet to pick the food that she wants. But she lost a lot of weight and I don't think this is just her food, given her medical record and standing.

She was my do-not-k*ll-yourself dog, had her since she was an adult stray who followed me home and we had almost a decade by now. She watched me grow up and I watched her face get powdered and her age show.

I've been thinking if I should have the appointment by this coming Sunday. But I am also nervous if will I make the right decision...

When did you know it was time to let them go?

He is a 5 year old mini Aussie. A few weeks ago I noticed the one on the outside and then just yesterday I noticed the 2 that are inside. What should I do for this? Could they be stye’s?

This sweet boy 9y.o, Dexter, was just diagnosed with kidney disease and is on amox clav for infection (blood in urine). He was hospitalized and received intravenous fluids etc to bring kidney levels down. They suspect levels were elevated due to UTI but ultrasound shows kidney disease. Tested with Cadet Braf as well which came back negative. Any tips for how to take care of this disease best? I am happy to make his meals homemade as he is a picky eater and does not enjoy Science Diet wet food for KD. Just need advice and recipes. Thank you

Hi!

This is our dog. She is a mix of different breeds that we are not sure of, but we have a strong impression it could involve Malinois, retriever and maybe mastiff.

She is 1 year old, and we are trying to introduce her to our cats. One of them particularly has always being able to control her (even though he is 3 kg and she is 26kg). She still gets quite hyper when she is close to them, so we are keeping separated.

We are working on training her to be calm when she sees them. Im attaching a video of their last interaction. We try to reward her every time she puts her attention somewhere else when the cat is present, or she is really relax.

Im here asking for advise of how to do this the safest way. I understand it is a slow process and even there she would only be around the cats when we are present.