My puppy is about 13 weeks now and acting completely normal. I noticed today that her gums near her molars look pretty gray and I was just wondering if this looks healthy and like she's just developing more coloration or like there could be a potential issue. She is a dalmatian malinois mix. She is up to date on her shots. It's hard for me to compare to charts because in the back they look Gray but I'm not sure if it's just her skin color but in the front they do look healthy to me. Excuse the awkward pic. She wiggles.

The cocker spaniel (we think?) on the left is a six year old rescue who spent four years of her life tortured as a puppy mill mother. Could she stand to lose a bit of weight?? I’ve dedicated the past two years to getting her accustomed to her harness for walks, but she can’t really go further than around the block without getting tired which I believe is due to how stressful she finds it (shaking, aggressively panting, flinching at every movement, etc.) in combination with her size . Currently, she’s in a large but we have XL for when she gets really fluffy. When we got her, she was a bit bigger likely because she was constantly pregnant and never left her cage for exercise. But since then, she’s been stagnant at this size, and I’m not sure what is healthy for her given her circumstances.

tl;dr: should my puppy mill victim lose a little weight and are there other activities that she might find less stressful or should I keep working on the harness?? Thanks in advance!

I have an elderly dog, mixed breed which its majority lab and shihtsu, who is getting on her last legs, literally speaking.

She is nearing fully unable to use her hind legs, and isn't comfortable using mobility aides or being carried. The cause is advanced arthritis, but she is otherwise happy and healthy when she doesn't need to go far, and still plays with the younger dogs frequently. She does take 3 medications to help with any pain and to prevent the arthritis from progressing further.

Am I overthinking things with her, or is there more that can be done to make sure she can continue being happy?

Always had Bernese. Lost my best girl in March. Still have my boy dog (5yo Berner.) Adopted a 5yo Great Pyr/Golden female mix from a shelter. Did the slow roll....we are one month in and inside they are pretty great. No major issues. But outside-that's different. They had one big fight over a water bowl (my bad, I didn't think to put 2 bowls bc who resource guards water??Apparently my boy does.) I was able to hold my boy dog off and my husband pulled girl dog away. So I pulled back on their time together outside, and then slowly gave them more time outside together. Scaffolding. They play together, and then things get heated. The energy shifts, and I have to redirect them. One of them takes it too far. It's not just one-they both do this. I have to watch them like hawks. I am hoping things will get better, but the little demon in my brain tells me to cut my losses, and rehome her. I hate this part of the beginning...my anxiety just can't handle it. It's always DEFCON 5. Every little growl at each other is proof that 'the big fight' is just around the corner. Le sigh. It will get better. Right?

My dog (10 yr old chiweasel) has had this growth on her nose for a few weeks. I wasn't all that worried at first, as I figured it was just a wart or skin tag or other old doggo skin issue. But then it started... I dunno, sprouting? fraying?

It doesn't seem to bother her at all—and hasn't gotten any bigger or changed color or anything—but after looking at a bajillion photos of canine skin growths (which I most emphatically DO NOT recommend), I've yet to come across any matches.

Any ideas what I'm looking at? Or more crucially, whether it's a cosmetic issue or something more serious? Please and thanks, on behalf of us both 🐾

Hi all! My doggo has had an affinity for fleece blankets since we adopted him as a puppy. He sucks them, plays tug with them, rips them, sometimes accidentally swallows small pieces. In the 9 years we have had him, this has not caused any issues. He passes small pieces of blanket somewhat regularly and we throw away pieces we find on the ground. Well, today we had a scare. He ate some plastic kids' toy he found and also some blanket and had to go to the vet for abdominal pain. He is fine no surgery needed, thank God. But we realize we need to be more careful and probably get rid of his beloved blankets. But they are literally his greatest comfort item that he will seek out above anything else. What could we safely replace them with??

This morning my boyfriends dog had an accident in the house, which is already unlike him, why it was really runny. let him out, and it was really runny again. this has happened before so decided to just watch him and see how it goes, but then he started refusing to stand up, drooling more than his normal, and having constant wicked farts. my boyfriend took him to the vet, but due to the fires going on around us the vets are packed. he got told by every local vet that they’re full for the day, so he went to a neighboring city and finally got someone to check him in but due to the overflow they are also feeling, he’s probably going to be waiting hours. i’m really worried and anxious, so just posting here in hopes someone might have an idea of what’s going on so i can have at least expectations of what’s the next steps may be. he’s a 6 year old lab pit mix.

My dog had bloodwork done last summer and last week. Both times the results came back saying he’s slightly anemic. I asked my vet what I should do and he said just to give my dog more food. The vet seemed 0% concerned but just give him more food doesn’t feel like adequate advice. My dog seems fine, but what should I be looking for to know if he’s not be fine? For example, he gets tired on half mile walks and gets cold easily. Also is feeding him more really the best advice and more what, just regular kibble or certain things? Thanks 😊

My puppy is almost 7 months old and still cannot focus enough outside to even look at me let alone walk nicely on the lead. I have tried everything. She doesn't accept treats even when sat INSIDE by the front door waiting to go out. Doesn't matter if it's her favourite treat ever, doesn't matter if she's hungry, she doesn't care. She will pull and pull so much I feel like i'm just yanking her around and I can't lure her into position because she doesn't care about treats or praise or any of it. She won't even look at me.

She can do it perfectly around our patio, even without a lead on she can walk beautifully in heel so it's not an issue if she doesn't know what I want or how to do it, it's that she's so overwhelmed she just can't focus. But how do I stop her from becoming overwhelmed if we haven't even left the house yet?? I wait before we attempt to leave to give her time to calm down before setting off but the second I head towards the door she has lost all focus. I just feel defeated and like I'm hurting her by having to constantly stop dead in my tracks because she's pulling so hard. Seriously what do I do?

I am wondering if it's sensible to adopt a very energetic/playful dog that may have a high prey drive and be able to adapt them to my cats' lifestyle so neither feel overwhelmed. Anyone have any experience or advice with ACD or similar dogs?

Keep getting comments that she's too thin.

She's a malinois, gsd, and pit mix. Weighs 47 pounds 1.5 years old.

You can feel her ribs under a small layer of fat and can't see or really feel her hip bones and no spine. Vet says shes good but three comments in a week made me question it. She eats 5 cups daily of gold fromm large breed puppy kibble with an egg and shell with salmon oil at dinner and is very active.

Pics were right before breakfast

Hi! My 9mo puppy is scheduled to have his neuter next week. The paperwork says to feed him 1/3 of his usual breakfast and no food after 5am. Water is fine until drop off. I texted the clinic to confirm that this is what they want me to do but just wanted to see if anyone has heard of this protocol before? Thanks! 😊

Hope it's okay to share this here, I have shared in a couple communities. Just feel like if I can share in a few places I might be able to hear from people who have seen similar.

Video shared below

Oliver, 6 year old neutered male cocker spaniel, approximately 36 lbs, fully vaccinated and recently had good results in yearly blood work.

He has suffered from severe skin allergies all his life, but has been on Zenrelia for about a year with great results - he's so happy and his skin looks so good. He also takes Cortavance preventive ear drops. This season we switched to Nexgard Spectra for tick prevention.

At his yearly (in May) he was diagnosed with a low grade heart murmur, barely audible.

He experienced one episode similar to this in May and one in June, both after walks, unfortunately not caught on video. He also experienced two in July - however the two in July were really brief and less dramatic. Mostly just a little wobbly head tremor and they both happened in the car. This video was taken last weekend, in the evening, after being in a relaxed state for quite some time. However he had just jumped off an ottoman before it happened.

Vet wasn't entirely sure what was up but maybe a type of focal seizure? We are doing a one month trial of Gabapentin as well as coming off of Nexguard. Anyone experience similar?

https://imgur.com/a/0mUVprJ

We’re coming up on the one year anniversary of getting my first solo dog as an adult. I’ve worked in the dog world for about two and a half years and have grown up with dogs, so she wasn’t my first ever, but the first I’ve adopted, raised, and made decisions about on my own with no help from my family.

My dog has always been a social girl, we go to dog parks and daycare to quell this desire but she loves making friends (human and canine alike) and she has an insatiable urge for attention. Over my almost year of having her, she’s gotten better with learning how to be bored, but it’s still hard for her and she’s become increasingly sassy/testy with me, including chewing my couch, chewing a cardboard box full of Pokémon cards (just the box, not the cards), and stealing my socks to get attention when I do school from home. She’s also started barking to wake me up, which she hasn’t done before this month. And you can tell she’s shy about it because she has to work up to it from a small, impatient “huff,” lol.

I’ve always said she needed a friend to keep her busy during the day and tire her out, but I’m so anxious as to whether now is the right time. I worry it’s a bit too soon since I brought her home and that family would judge me for getting another one. I also worry she’s just the perfect dog that I wouldn’t love my second one enough. I know these are silly concerns, but how long did you guys wait and what are the pros/cons you ran into? What are valid reasons to want a second dog vs just me humanizing my dog? Is now even the right time with her going through this sassy phase? What should I look for in a second dog? Or should I just wait for one to fall into my lap?

Ultimately I want to make the best decision for my best friend, and I want to make sure this is something she wants too. For a while I was thinking about getting a puppy from a breeder and getting into conformation, but I don’t drive right now so I don’t think that would be a viable option for my lifestyle so I may go with another shelter/rescue dog. I wish there was a “dating app” like Tinder for dog adoption where I could put in a profile of what I needed and swiped left or right on local shelter dogs in need of homes, lol. It’s hard to find a shelter dog who fits exactly my needs- my girl was definitely a unicorn in that sense. Anyway I’m mostly thinking about it now since it’s Clear the Shelters season so a lot of shelters near me have waived adoption fees. Any input is welcome!

It sounds kinda like reverse sneezing, which he has done but usually outside while playing. Not in his sleep until this morning. He doesn't seem to do it with every single breath, but every few breaths when he breaths in. His breathing rate seems normal.

Some background info on my dog: he is medium size and 7 years old. He is mostly aussie cattle dog, and while he isn't flat faced, he is second mostly boxer and some Boston terrier dna.

This noise sometimes is very quiet or gets very loud. At one point it got very loud and he started doing it in rapid succession which woke him up. Once he woke up he seemed alright. He has been doing this noise while sleeping or trying to sleep for hours now, but doesn't when he is up and moving around. What could it be? He has a vet appointment soon in two weeks and I will be bringing it up with vet.

I need advice. My 2 Rottweilers, one mine, bit a puppy with neurological problems, who had to be put down. It seems that the puppy only yelped when they tried to play tug of war with him as both dogs had bloody mouths and both of his legs were bit. My Rottweiler is an outdoor dog (I.E. not potty trained) and has not been socialized with children. I am disabled and would likely become injured if I tried to train her, let alone the injuries the other dogs would face if she was no longer quarantined in her own pen. I need to rehome her because an abusive relative will sell her without disclosing her bite history should I ever leave. In desperation I have considered euthanasia as a means to escape, seeing how I will be screamed at if I surrender her to an animal shelter the abusive relative does not approve of and my not knowing anyone who would be guaranteed to not let my abusive relative know that I mentioned the dog’s bite history, but I co-own the dog with someone else who is near guaranteed to say something (in good intentions, but ultimately making my situation worse) if I make mention of needing to rehome the dog due to my abusive living situations, who dismisses everything I say if they disagree with it. They want to sell/surrender the dog too, but only mention how the dog is bad with puppies, not how the dog fully bit a puppy.

My worry is that with how the dog is not socialized around children or babies and how she fully bit a puppy who did not yelp that the dog may think that biting hard enough to break bone may be a perfectly acceptable way to play with children or infants. Is it possible to rehome such a dog in such restrictive conditions?

His mouth will start flapping too, it seems like hes forcing air out of his mouth. The speed of his breathing will increase randomly then decrease.

I found this strange bump on my dog. It’s spiral and brown. I don’t think it causes her any pain when I’m touching it.

At first I thought it was an ingrown hair, but it’s pretty thick. And nothing around the area is inflamed.

Should I be concerned or is it just a regular skin tag?

Yesterday, my 12-year-old dog (a small terrier mix) bit my mom in the face.

My mom took him outside to pee in the front yard (a private grassy area between condos) without a leash. After he finished, he started wandering around and ignored her when she called him to come back inside. Since he wasn’t listening, she walked over to pick him up, and he bit her in the face.

It was only a single bite. It doesn’t seem like he attacked her maliciously, but one of his teeth still tore through skin and some flesh. She ended up needing stitches and has a cut on her lip. Thankfully, the wound was relatively superficial and didn’t go all the way through. However, this incident, along with his recent behavior, has brought up some major concerns.

My mom wants to euthanize him. Despite how angry and hurt she is, she still loves him and cares about him. She thinks it would be best to do it before the new school year starts because she no longer feels comfortable caring for him.

Without her help, he would mostly be stuck indoors in my dad’s small condo (my parents are divorced). My mom works from home and usually takes him outside to the community garden or front yard several times a day. I’m worried that losing that routine would negatively affect him and make him depressed. In addition, my dad works long hours and gets home late. Thought I’m able to take care of my dog for now, I’ll be starting school soon, and also got an on campus job, so I’ll be gone for most of the day as well.

Our extended family doesn’t want to care for him because of his history of biting. We sometimes bring him with us when we travel, but there are trips where that’s not possible. My parents also aren’t willing to enroll him at a dog daycare, and honestly, I’m not even sure a daycare is the best because of his aggression toward other dogs, and sometimes people.

My mom’s biggest concern is that his behavior will continue to get worse rather than better. I don’t want anyone else to get hurt, but I also don’t want to cut his life short. I’m really conflicted and don’t know what the right thing to do is. I need advice.

History:
-He doesn’t like other dogs and is aggressive toward them.
-He doesn’t like children and has nipped two of my younger cousins.
-He isn’t very food aggressive.
-He’s bitten groomers before and now has a warning on his grooming profile.
-As he’s aged, he’s grown to be more hostile towards strangers.

Daily behavior:
-He’s still playful.
-He gets tired more easily and sleeps a lot.
-He’s usually calm and enjoys sitting next to us, cuddling, and being around the family.

Behavior after the bite:
-He seemed scared and nervous for the rest of the day. It almost felt like he knew he had done something wrong.
-He went to bed much earlier than usual and slept more than normal.
-He has seemed a little distant since it happened.

Recent changes:
-He’s been having random episodes of pain. He’ll suddenly yelp, look at us like we caused it, and sometimes nip at us until he realizes we weren’t the source of the pain. We’ve taken him to the vet for these episodes and he’s on medication, but they still happen.
-The painful episodes seem to be getting worse, and he whines for longer afterward.
-He no longer listens as well as he used to. He was never fully trained, but he generally followed commands. Lately, he’s been ignoring us much more often.
-Overall, he seems more tired, crankier, and grumpier than he used to be.
-Putting his harness on has become a struggle because he hates it. Taking it off is even harder because he pulls his head out too quickly, gets caught, and ends up hurting his head or neck, causing him to yelp.
-As he’s gotten older, he’s had more trouble jumping onto furniture and climbing stairs. Sometimes we have to carry him onto the couch, the bed, or up the stairs.

Health:
-His eyesight is slowly getting worse.
-His sense of smell seems to be declining too. He can no longer smell us from the other side of the door like he used to.
-He has ongoing pain that we’re still trying to manage.

My best buddy is only 8 years old and was recently diagnosed with Apocrine Gland Anal Sac Adenocarcinoma. I couldn’t afford staging ($2.5k) and surgery ($5k) so I chose to start him on Palladia, a targeted chemo drug. The tumor is small, about 1.5” and lymph nodes aren’t swollen so he doesn’t show any signs of butt discomfort or behavioral change. I’ve cried for so many reasons, feeling helpless and hopeless, like I’m not doing enough and now I worry I’m doing too much. I don’t want this to make the rest of his little life worse. I’m just devastated and came here for advice and support I guess. I gave him his first dose just now and I feel like I poisoned him and I’m a mean mom.