r/DogAdvice

This weekend I took my golden retriever to the vet for lumps under her chin, tonight we got the official diagnosis of large cell lymphoma, at least stage 3. My sweet, sweet Daisy girl is only 5, and has only been with us for 4 years. I am crushed. This dog is truly incredible, the closest thing I’ve ever seen to a ray of sunshine - even for a golden. She loves everything and everyone, has never had a bad day, and can be thrown anything without a slight change in temperament. Every day is the best day ever, and the world would be a lot better if we were all like Daisy. She’s got the biggest smile and the biggest heart, she is vibrant and full of joy and all the other adjectives that don’t do her justice.

I’m 6 months pregnant with my husband and I’s first baby, and she’s supposed to be around to help me raise him. I counted on waking up together for feedings, picked out a stroller keeping in mind my favorite walking buddies, and having the perfect dog for my son to grow up with. Instead I feel so robbed of all the memories we probably won’t be able to make together, and how huge of a loss it would be to lose my happy, sweet girl. She has so much life in her spirit, I can’t wrap my head around the possibility that she might not have much time to live it. I’m mostly grieving for me and all that my family could miss out on without her in our lives, but I am also so devastated for this incredible girl who deserves a long, healthy, happy life full of memories.

Coming here to vent because I don’t know what else to do, but also some advice on coping with the grief I’m feeling. We are located in the Bay Area if anyone has any oncology recommendations. Looking to treat this thing depending on how the rest of her testing comes back.

Hi guys! Nash just came from outside. I try to make sure he’s getting enough exercise, so I will rotate throwing two balls back and forth and he runs for 30 mins straight.

He was panting worse than this prior to the video. I have all the fans on, his water is full, etc.

Am I doing anything wrong here or is this too bad of panting? Should I decrease the time or intensity?

So yesterday I noticed that my dog had these weird little brown things on her ear I was naturally worried so I asked my mom and she said that it's probably fleas and I don't have to worry but after looking closer I cannot tell if these are ticks or something else they are near the ear and a little bit spread out across the body if anyone needs more pictures I can take another one but they are mainly around this ear I'm just afraid and need help!

My boyfriend’s son’s dog impaled herself while on a hike this Saturday. I sent the second photo to the vet and I am waiting for them to take a look but it sounds like it will be a bit. Does this look like normal healing? White-ish/ clear, no odor that I can tell but I also have a bit of a head cold. Just trying to put our minds at ease as this has been extremely stressful already.

Update: We took her to the emergency vet, they don’t think it’s infected. This has been really stressful and very expensive which is why we didn’t want to rush her to the emergency vet again and wanted opinions outside of our household. I wouldn’t come to Reddit for definitive medical advice and the first choice is always the vet. Obviously with things like this it can be hard to discern whether something is an issue or if it’s just overthinking especially when it comes to your own dog. Thanks for the advice and nice comments.

The first 3 pictures are from when I had him and the last 2 are from this past weekend. Gonna try to keep this short but my dog bolo (hes around 3 i think im not sure hes a rescue) has been living with my grandparents since october and he’s basically doubled in weight. when i got him he was underweight but by the time he went to live with my grandparents, he was a perfectly normal weight. The plan was for him to live with them until I move out bc basically my dad scared him really bad on accident and bolo bit him. after that my dad wanted him out of the house so my grandma offered to keep him until i move out (hasn’t bitten anyone since). now my grandparents are saying they love him too much to give him back and i was sad about it at first but i thought it might be better for bolo to not be switched back and forth so much. i thought maybe it would confuse him if i took him back so i was okay leaving him with my grandparents. i still visit them all of the time so i still get to see him fairly often. but every time i go to visit, he is fatter and fatter. all my grandparents dogs are overweight, they think they aren’t but they’re all fat. i knew bolo would gain some weight being there but now i’m worried about his health, especially if i let them keep him once i move out of my current house. Bolo has 2 “floating ribs” that poke out more than his regular ribs and then vet said when he’s a normal weight you’d still be able to see them, there’s literally no sign of them anymore. No matter how many comments I make about his weight they don’t care/ don’t think he’s fat. they don’t walk their dogs (mobility reasons) but they’re have a huge yard that they play fetch with all the dogs in. i just feel like that’s simply not enough and i’m wondering if i should just upset my grandparents and take him back once im ready.

edit: i really appreciate all the advice. i love my grandparents so much but the way they let their dogs get so fat is definitely not okay.

Hi everyone,

My 2 year old golden retriever named Apollo goes for his surgery next Tuesday. I’m so anxious, just around the anesthesia part and him being sedated. I know that it’s routine and these vets preform it all the time, but I’m just so scared something bad will happen. How do I not freak out and worry? Here is a pic of my baby

basically what it says in the title. my ~8 or 9 supermutt (we haven’t run an official dna test on him but the vet says he’s likely a chihuahua/terrier/bully mix) seemingly pisses all around my bedroom and our upstairs area everyday. his last annual a few months, which was when this problem first started, back came back completely clean for any issues, but now it’s becoming unmanageable. my breaking point was discovering that he’s been peeing all over a collection of books i’ve been storing on my television console, some of which i’ve been collecting for years.

i’ve been trying everything, from walking long walks to keeping a close eye on him and everything in between. he is slightly overweight, which i’ve been trying to manage, but my father insists on giving into my dog’s constant treat begging as well as not giving him the weight loss kibble my vet recommended for him because “my dog won’t eat it.” it’s hard because i work in healthcare and have weird hours, so i often leave the care of my dog up to my parents, but i can’t place all the blame on them.

i don’t know what i’m doing wrong. please, can anyone point me in the right direction for this? i’m desperate for answers.

UPDATE: i called his vet’s office to lay down the timeline of what’s been going on, and they said it was best to schedule an appointment. we’ll be seeing them tomorrow afternoon. really hoping for the best here because i love my little man and i don’t wanna lose him just yet ❤️

Last week, my 17yo westie mix was diagnosed with renal failure following routine bloodwork before a dental cleaning. His bloodwork was done 8wks ago and things looked fine, so the sudden spike is concerning.

I was so blindsided, I didn't ask enough questions about what we need to do next. They sent us home with K/D Science Diet, both kibble and wet, and they stressed "NO MORE PEOPLE FOOD".

Up to now, his treat has been goldfish crackers, pieces of cheese, etc. We know we need to change things up, but what is actually okay? We got him some prescription K/D treats per the vet's recommendation, but can he have blueberries and carrots and plain greek yogurt?

Is this *really* the best food for him? I take great pride in what my dogs eat and I have been far, far away from this quality of kibble for a while. They've been on orijen since 2024 and have tolerated it well.

I'll feed raw, I'll find a butcher, I'll scramble him eggs. I don't care what he needs, but I want to make sure we're doing what we can.

So long story short, my Chihuahua passed out from I suspect is my cousin handled him too roughly which made him pass out, my grandpa gave him mouth to mouth and he is conscious again although he lost some energy I gave him some food and water and he didn't lose any appetite he ate all of his food and drank he even played with toys but throughout all of this he still has low energy. Now he's asleep and I've been keeping watch on him, it is currently night and we have no near vets here and the nearest vet we know is 2 towns into the city I just wanna know if this is an emergency please respond immediately if possible!!! Thank you!

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She is an 8-year-old English Pointer and this is completely new — she has never had issues like this before.

Symptoms started with her licking/chewing at her vulva area and then we noticed bright red blood. The blood/discharge appears to be coming from her vagina rather than her urine/bladder. It sometimes pools while she’s laying down and then slowly oozes out when she stands up or moves around. It often looks like mucus/stringy discharge with streaks of bright red blood (sometimes 2–3 inch mucus strands).

Important details:

She is spayed

Urination seems normal (not straining, frequent peeing, etc.)

Blood seems separate from urine

Otherwise acting normal overall

Appetite and energy are normal

Vet work so far:

UTI test was mostly negative, though vet mentioned a small amount of microbes/bacteria

Ultrasound was done and apparently looked reassuring/normal

Vet initially suspected vaginitis/vulvar irritation

She was put on Amoxicillin for 10 days

Bleeding/discharge improved a lot on antibiotics but never fully stopped

After a longer 2.5 mile walk, bleeding/discharge increased again

Follow-up visit included vulvar/vaginal slide/cytology that showed some bacteria, but vet did not want to continue antibiotics because they were concerned about disrupting normal bacterial balance

Vet instead gave allergy/anti-itch meds and wipes for vulva cleaning

Things we’ve noticed:

Exercise seems to aggravate it

We are now limiting activity and using a cone because licking definitely makes it worse

Shorter/rest days seem to help somewhat

No major swelling or severe bleeding, mostly intermittent blood-tinged mucus/discharge

We’ve discussed possibilities like:

vaginitis

vulvar irritation/chafing

recessed vulva/fold irritation

foreign body/grass awn

less likely urinary issue since urination is normal

My main questions:

Has anyone dealt with chronic/recurrent vaginitis like this in an older spayed dog?

How long did discharge/blood take to fully resolve?

Did exercise make it worse?

Did anyone end up needing vaginoscopy or finding something that ultrasound missed?

Just trying to figure out whether this still sounds consistent with inflammation/vaginitis healing slowly, or whether we should push harder for deeper diagnostics.

Edit: it's been about 16 days since she first was bleeding and is still bleeding in small amounts with very restricted exercise. It just doesn't seems to be getting any better.

Edit 2: a 3rd follow-up vet appointment is scheduled in a few days.

This is right underneath my dog’s mouth. I don’t believe it is a tick, but looks like a skin tag. I want to hear from other dog parents of they know what this could be?

Our 7 year old samoyed went to the groomers today and the groomer pointed out his paw was a bit slimey. He was licking his paw a bit last night so it made sense that its probably irritated. She shaved between his toes to help it breathe more.

Weve already made a vet appt for 3 days from today. The dog isnt limping or licking it (also a velcro dog who follows us into every room)but every few hours i put a paper between his toes to dry it out and its very moist. No wierd smell or color on it either. We havent changed food or deterrgent recently so i dont believe its allergies

My question is: other than keeping it dry and cleaning it regularly is there anything i can do until the vet in a few days? I have both (triactin?) For athletes foot and cortisone10 for eczema but unsure if theyre dog safe. Last thing i want to do is irritate it more.

Thanks for your time!

Can someone help us, my dog (Aspin—dog from Philippines) (3y/o) (male) started twitching for days and he's crying out loud as in LOUD and NONSTOP 😢😢 we visited vet yesterday and they test him, the dr. said it is a test for airborne desease something and it went negative.. the dr. said that we need to do blood test for my dog to know if it's because of kidney, but we don't have enough money for that, because of the price of the test, and she doesn't also know why is he twitching 😢😢 the dr. gave probiotics i think and she said it is for nerves and something that you need to put to her water. but she doesn't know what happened to him.. please help my dog is crying every day and every night 😢

trying not to be a helicopter dog parent but just noticed this near my 6yo dachshunds elbow. she had her yearly vet appt last week (of course) and all annual tests came back fine. curious if anyone else has had a dog with something similar looking?

I really need advice on what to do about a situation in my city involving a homeless man and his dog.

The dog is older, limps very badly, and honestly looks like he’s in pain just trying to walk around. I’ve personally seen the man hit/choke/cuss out/be rough with the dog, and other people I’ve talked to have said they’ve seen it too. They also told me to be weary of the man because he has mental issues and “can switch very quickly” and told me to be careful. But I can not just sit aside while this animal is treated this way. When they are walking down the street the man is always so far ahead of the dog and the dog is barely making it, limping, while being dragged by a tight leash!

One day my boyfriend gave the dog water because he had no water in his bowl. The dog growled while he was pouring it, but didn’t bite or lunge or anything. And honestly… the dog is abused, scared, in pain, and probably in protective/survival mode 24/7, so I can totally see why he would be that way. That same day I talked to the man and asked him about him and the dog and if there was anything I could do to help both of them. He said that he needed some money and asked if I could help him. I did give him a little cash and asked what was wrong with the dog. He told me that the dog needs medicine but didn’t know what kind or anything. They are currently living behind a building (which I attached pics of the dog behind the building)

I’ve thought about calling the police or animal control, but my fear is that they’ll just take the dog to a shelter. And with how old he is and the physical issues he already has, I’m terrified that would just end with him being put down. I genuinely do not want that for him.

I don’t know what the right thing to do is here. I just know this dog deserves better than what he’s going through right now.

Has anyone dealt with a situation like this before? Is there a rescue, foster, organization, or literally anything else I can do that could actually help this dog without it ending badly for him? It breaks my heart every time I see him.

So, a couple months ago I posted a question about dog grooming.

Original post

I took all of your advice and found a groomer who was willing to work with us. Since my dog hasnt been to a groomer, we had to do a training session w⁵ith the groomers assistant. It was goin,g ok, until the assistant used the razor in a spot my dog didnt like, and my dog bit her hand. Nothing serious. I thought that was the end of our grooming journey and they would kick us out. But the assistant was chill about it and said we can make an appointment.

After half an hour in to the session the groomer and assistant asked me to come in and help. I was supposed to pet him so ge would feel safer i guess. It did not work out great. He would chill for 5 minutes but as soon as tge groomer hit the wrong spot he would freak out. So they put a muzzle on him. He would still freak out and jump at the groomer quite occasionally. I was sure they would give up. The session took 4.5 hours. After 3 hours my dog just plopped to the floor and fell asleep, exhausted 😀 Finally the groomer could do his back legs and belly. Then they took off the muzzle to do his face with scissors. Well, my dog wasnt a fan of the scissors either and bit the groomers hand twice and that was the end off the session 🤷‍♂️ But Im very happy with the result, I did not think that they would be able to do so much.

He looks like a completely different dog, my cats are fraking out lol. I just hope he feels better 🙂 and isnt that angry with me.

So, thanks for all the advice.

Any advice on the next steps? They said they can shave him every couple of months if we dont want to deal with the long fur or figure out the lenght later and shave at that lenght. I guess if we let the fur grow out we have to comb him every day so he doesnt get matted again?