Category: Top Dog

Do I take him to the vet? He is not acting abnormally aside from licking his paws (but I think it is because there is leftover candy on them — I saw a clump of blue sour patch kid under his dewclaw). Please let me know what you would do.

I've never had to take care of a pregnant dog and I dont know what to do could somebody please give me some tips on what to do while my dog is pregnant and what to do while its giving birth and what to do after please

How can you explain to someone who much your dogs mean to you? I feel like my partner doesnt understand. To him, they might just be animals, but to me, my dogs are part of my life. They are the only ones who have been there for me even before I met him, they are the ones with me if im having a bad day or if im crying or if im feeling sick, they can sense everything about me and always just show genuine love to me so that is why i am the way i am with my dogs. He doesnt have that and i wish he did so he can understand how that feels and maybe he would care more. He was lucky enough to have an animal any timehe wanted growing up and him and his family took that for granted. An animal in his eyes is just an animal they arent part of your family, he doesnt have a connection with any animal because all they did growing up was have it for a little and then get rid of it. My two dogs are the only two i have ever had and thats why i dont take it for granted.

Lately I’ve been wondering what it would be like to have a child, but it’s hard to picture a bond deeper than the one I already have with my dogs

Got my (we think) 3-month-old Shichi around Oct 10. He was dewormed then but couldn’t get his shots because he was only 2 lbs. On Sunday he had a check-up to see when he’d be ready for vaccines, but a few hours before that he got really lethargic and wobbly, so I rushed him to the vet.

He’s gained a pound, and his vitals looked good (no parvo or parasites), but they found low body temp and mild liver inflammation. He got another dewormer and perked up once we got home. After that visit, he actually started eating fairly normally again—about 2–3 times a day—for a couple days.

Now today he suddenly refuses everything. He’s super picky and only wants the cat food (which is now put away). Earlier he even tried to drag around a bag of chips and wanted those instead. The vet said to try baby food (ham/chicken) mixed with his wet food, which worked for a bit, but now he won’t touch wet food, dry food, or even boiled chicken. He only nibbled a few kibbles around 4 a.m. and hasn’t eaten since.

He’s on Royal Canin, but won’t eat it if it’s softened with broth or water. We have Karo syrup on hand in case his sugar drops, but I’m scared he’ll get lethargic again. I’ve tried taking food away for 10–15 minutes and offering again, but no luck.

The vet said he might just be finicky, but he’s supposed to be eating at least 3 times a day. Any tips to get a picky puppy to eat? I’m at a loss and really worried.

My 10 month old terrier mix has developed this habit of laying down in the street and staring at when she sees other dogs walking by. She lays with her head fully on the ground, playing cute and waiting for the other dog to notice or the parent to walk over. While this sounds cute and inviting (it is), when she gets in this mode there’s basically no treat or command that can get her out of it, which of course makes our walks somewhat long, and I feel like it definitely increases her anxiety, especially if the other dog doesn’t want to play.

Has anyone ever dealt with this behavior before? This is clearly a reactionary behavior that, while positive at face value, indicates that we need some more training work. I’m also worried about it coming off as aggressive (sometimes she just stares)

My wife and I recently adopted a 7 month old Golden Retriever (Copper) and until last week he had a pee accident at least once a day every day for about 2 months. My wife and I both felt hopeless and felt like we were trying everything, including scouring Reddit for a solution. I found a lot of people in similar situations we were in and I feel like I would have appreciated a post like this, so here it goes:

Some “symptoms”: He was only having pee accidents, so we knew he knew to go outside, and he knows how to ring the bells on our back door to go outside. He still has never had an accident in the middle of the night (we let him sleep in our bed). He was also obsessed with water and would constantly empty his water bowl and then paw at it for more when he was finished. He was probably peeing 7-12 times a day and 2-3 of those a day would be in the house when he would just suddenly seemingly lose focus and pee. No warnings, no sniffing, no attempt to go downstairs, just a sudden blank face and squat.

After almost losing all hope I found a post of someone with a similar situation and a comment suggested taking the dog to a vet to rule out a UTI, but these were all female dogs and I knew that UTIs in males were very uncommon. I was so desperate that I took him in anyways and sure enough – he had a UTI! 5 day dose of antibiotics later, he stopped having accidents. He still drinks a ton of water and pees a lot, but he hasn’t had an accident in over a week. I am so proud of him and at one point never thought I would be posting this.

Another thing I think that really helped that we got a little lazy on was giving him a treat every single time he goes potty outside. He’s to the point now where I think he intentionally goes outside and pees a little just to get a treat, but honestly I am happy to do it! So proud of my little man!

TLDR: if you’ve really tried everything and your puppy is still peeing inside, go to the vet and rule out a UTI before you drive yourself crazy

My dog Pepper found a dead mouse in the garden earlier today, ever since then she has been pacing, barking, whining and stress yawning/licking. Nothing we have tried has been able to distract her, and as far as I can tell the mouse is the only cause for this stress, I asked her if she was feeling sad or hurt and she chose sad (she knows how to pick between 2 options and how to identify her own emotions, so I trust that her stress isn't being caused by any sort of pain). I said to her "Pepper sad, mouse hurt?" And she ran over and sat down in front of me, which is her usual indication for “yes”, so I'm sure thats the reason for her acting this way. This behavior is very odd for her because even though she absolutely loves animals, she understands the concept of death and has never been bothered by it before. We have had several pets that Pepper was close to that died (2 rats, 1 rabbit) so she knows the word "dead" and that it means she can't see that animal any more. We also always point out dead animals that we see on walks to reinforce the concept. When she first found the mouse in the bushes, she picked it up and brought it over to my mum. Pepper was whining and licking it as if she was asking for us to help it. My mum took the mouse away and told Pepper that it was dead, which she usually understands and accepts, but for some reason this time it really upset her. The only other time I have seen her react like this was when my other dog Clover got surgery, and Pepper was very upset at the fact that Clover was in pain. Pepper is very empathetic, if I tell her I'm sad she will run up and lick my face until I smile. I should mention she's a border collie and therefore has a tendency to get fixated on things (especially to do with animals) so I just want to make sure this doesn't become an obsession. She has had an obsession before about a spider she saw and it took her a month to stop staring in the corner looking for it. We tried taking her mind off the mouse with play, training, a walk and hugs but she was just so distracted and distressed the whole time. She's in bed right now, so hopefully she will have forgotten about it by morning, but if she continues to fixate how can I help her get over it and feel better?

I adopted Luka a year ago from a no-kill shelter. He was 13 years old then. I still say he's 13, even though he's probably 14. I'm not even sure his real age. His passport says he's a senior dog, but he's such a sweetie, full of energy, and life, that there are times I wonder if he isn't younger! But he definitely have arthyritis, several health issues that popped up throughout the year and that were fixed after long visits at the vet, and he's constantly slipping on our floor.

He also is potentially a bit blind, from the many times he walked into a door. I think he's also partially deaf, unless he's just being selective about listening to me.

But to be short – he's just a sweatheart. The softest gentleman out there, so patient and kind.

But he is also my first dog. There were a few reasons I didn't want to adopt one, such as executive dysfunction and depression. I'm absolutely awful at going outside, even for my own health. But when I saw Luka in this shelter last year, the only senior there, shaking from the cold, and winter fast approaching, I was just incapable of letting him stay behind.

So i adopted him, despite the many reasons I had not to.

I found a few solutions throughout the past year. He has two different walker per day that walk him a reasonable amount of time. I give him one morning and evening walk of around 5 minutes or less for pee/poo. If i'm feeling alright, i'll do a bit longer.

But my question here is:

Is my dog unhappy? He seems to have gained in energy and youth through the year, becoming more confident and energetic than when he first arrived. But. Because he was never before inside a home or a flat, he doesn't have the proper education if I may say so. He'll destroy the room searching for food of any kind (he's extremely food motivated). So whenever I can't keep an eye on him, I put him inside a large crate that has his bed and his waterbowl. His own room where he can stretch and stand and walk in circles if he wants.

Every night when I turn off the lights and go to bed, he barks. For around fifteen minutes. Perhaps even longer. I don't go back to the living room to tell him to stop because the vet told us not to. But he just doesn't seem to understand that I'm still there, just a room away. Why is he barking? Because he's anxious? Because he's sad? Because he's afraid?

Another problem.

No matter if I walk him at midnight, and then at 9am. Or 7pm and 7am. No matter when was the last walk and the first one in the morning is. His diaper, because I refuse to be on my knees all day long cleaning I'm so sorry, is soaking wet. I just can't conclude it's incontinence because when we are together, lounging, and he'll wake up abruptly, he won't just go and start peeing in the room. He'll be agitated, but clearly waiting patiently to go outside.

What can I do?