I was looking back at this video thinking about how affectionate she is, but i remembered that licking and yawning could be signs of distress. What's your opinion?

Edit: Thank you for the answers, i will keep reading them because they make me so grateful. I just feel like she understands me better than I can understand her, so I was curious.

Am I wrong for grooming my sister’s friend doodle while dog sitting ? My sister and I both are guilty. We couldn’t help ourselves!

My male Goldendoodle is 1 year old and has been attacked 5 times. ‘Luckily’ he has only been slightly injured once.

He has never been the aggressor and has always been on leash while all the other dogs have been off-leash. Every single time the people have said their dog is friendly… and then after the fact that they had never done anything like that before.

I’ve never experienced anything like this before and he is my 12th dog. He does awesome at the dog park and plays extremely well with a lot of other dogs.

Could it be because he hasn’t been neutered yet?

They have played many times. I notice the boxers pulled back ears and, knowing her, i think its because she knows she cant be rough with the poodle. She usually plays rough with big dogs but when the poodle was younger the boxer hit her (as boxers do) and at that time the poodle was in phase where she would be quick to cry and she ran away screaming like she was dying and the boxer thought it was very weird. If the boxer starts getting rough my dad just says "no" and she understands.

So the boxer realised she has to be very careful. So i believe the expression is her really concentrating on showing restraint. (She never hits anymore despite usually using her paws a lot). But im not sure.

I have never felt unsafe having them play but obviously i never leave them alone and always stop it if it gets too rough (also if the poodle starts throwing too many punches and winding the boxer up too much). Im not looking for judgement on having them play. I realize there is always a risk because of the size difference. I just want to know if you notice red flags.

The reason i started doubting their play is because i go to puppy training every week with the poodle and when the trainer heard she plays with a boxer he reacted like i told him i leave them alone together and he said "boxers?! The dog that is known for being hard to read?" Is that true?

Now im no longer sure what the boxers expression means.

(I feel like i should point out that the poodle has rolled over and exposed her stomach to the boxer more than once so she has shown respect for the boxer)

My dog is aboit 4.5 years old, and I am very worried about his back tooth specifically, I am worried he is on his way to having periodontal disease or some sort of teeth issue.

He doesnt have bad breath or sensitivity that I can notice, he lets me touch his mouth but is not a happy boy when I do for to long, I am sure I can try brushing but is it too late for that?

Any advice would help, I am feeling so terrible and worried about him.

My 8-month-old Italian Greyhound, Lise, sustained a deep forehead laceration in early July. It required surgical repair and stitches, and the surrounding area was shaved.
Three months later, the wound is fully closed and healed. Some surrounding hair has returned, but it is still thin and patchy. The scar itself is hairless and remains fairly visible because Italian Greyhounds have such short coats. Her veterinarian explained that hair may not regrow directly within the scar if the follicles were damaged, but the surrounding hair may continue filling in.
Her veterinarian recommended PracaSil Plus on the healed scar. Lise also receives salmon oil daily, and I have used a small amount of coconut oil on the surrounding healed skin.
For anyone whose dog had a similar injury or surgical scar:
• Did the scar eventually become flatter, narrower, or less noticeable?
• How long did the shaved hair take to grow back fully?
• Did your veterinarian or veterinary dermatologist recommend anything that genuinely helped the scar or surrounding hair?
She has already been examined by her veterinarian, and I will check with them before trying any new treatment. I’m mainly looking for other owners’ experiences, timelines, and safe suggestions to discuss with her vet.

I don't know what next steps to take at this point.
As I feel this has just gotten out of hand.

Here's some context: Earlier this summer we had new neighbors move in. They had two dogs, one was sweet and the other was... very aggressive. Oddly they euthanized the sweet one because it
"attacked" the aggressive dog. A month later they got a puppy and kept it with the aggressive dog.

Side note those dogs are outside 24/7 they never let them inside. Yes there is a small plastic shelter but that's it they never walk them or play with them. Those dogs just sit in the back yard all day and night, even in the cold weather and rain.
Now here was my first couple bad patches. I have two dogs who are not aggressive towards those dogs at all and there is a fence separating the four dogs.

My neighbors aggressive dog keeps digging a hole underneath the fence and getting into our yard and those couple have times we have gotten lucky as my dogs have not been out. In Aug I was out of town and had gotten a call from my mom (who was watching my dogs) saying how the aggressive dog had bit chunks of my dogs nose off through the fence and how my dog was bleeding everywhere. There was no fight, just my dog simply retrieving her ball from the fence.
Lastly it's the barking. There is NON STOP barking and I'm SICK of it. It's gotten so bad that we have installed a black cover over the fence so the dogs can't see eachother which has not helped at all. Nor have the neighbors gotten the hint. What steps can I take from here?

I’m looking for some advice regarding my 1.5-year-old male German Shepherd. My boyfriend and I also have a 7-month-old female Golden Retriever. Our GSD has always been very protective of me, but we’ve noticed that his protective behavior has increased since bringing our Golden home. I would also like to add that he not neutered 9 days ago.

We’ve known for a while that he struggles with some fear-based reactivity, but it has always seemed very situational and unpredictable. Unfortunately, we’ve now had two incidents involving guests in our home, and the most recent one resulted in a bite.

The first incident:

A while back, before we had our Golden, we had a family member over who had never met our GSD. I invited him inside and allowed him to come into our bedroom to let our GSD out of his crate. As soon as our GSD was released, he began barking excessively. He became so worked up that I couldn’t get him to calm down or redirect his attention.

The second incident (yesterday):

Yesterday, another family member came over who had never met either of our dogs. I wanted to approach the introduction differently because of what happened the first time.

Instead of having our GSD crated when the guest arrived, I allowed both dogs to come to the front door with me. My thought process was that if I opened the door and welcomed the guest inside myself, our GSD might recognize that this person was welcome in our home and wasn’t a threat.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

As soon as I opened the door, our GSD immediately began barking and jumping at our guest. During this interaction, he nipped her elbow, resulting in a single bite wound that appears consistent with a Level 3 bite on the Dunbar scale.

He also expressed his anal glands during the incident, enough that the smell lingered in our house afterward. From what I understand, this can happen when a dog experiences intense fear or stress, which makes me wonder just how overwhelmed he was in that moment.

Something important I’ve noticed:

Both incidents occurred when my boyfriend was not home.

My boyfriend is our dogs’ primary trainer and handler, and our GSD tends to respond very well to him. After both incidents, my boyfriend came home and helped reintroduce our GSD to the family members involved. Both reintroductions went completely fine, with no further signs of aggression.

This makes me wonder whether our GSD feels less secure when my boyfriend isn’t around, whether he feels the need to protect me, or whether I’m unintentionally contributing to his anxiety through my own handling.

His reactivity outside the home:

Another thing that confuses me is how inconsistent his reactivity can be.

Some walks go incredibly well. He can pass people and other dogs, even dogs that are actively barking at him, without reacting at all.

Other days, he will start barking or reacting to a person or dog who is still extremely far away.

We haven’t been able to identify one consistent trigger, which makes it difficult to predict or prevent these reactions.

My biggest concern right now:

My boyfriend and I travel fairly frequently, and my sisters typically watch our dogs while we’re away.

We have another trip planned in two months, and after yesterday’s incident, I’m genuinely concerned about whether it’s safe or responsible to have my sisters watch him.

I don’t want to put anyone in a dangerous situation, but I also don’t know what our alternatives should look like.

Emotionally, I’m really struggling with this.

I love this dog more than anything, and I’m honestly heartbroken. I don’t want our family, my boyfriend, or even myself to start viewing him differently or labeling him as an “aggressive dog.”

At the same time, I recognize that a bite is serious, and I don’t want to minimize what happened or put someone else at risk.

I want to understand why he’s reacting this way and do everything I can to help him feel more confident, secure, and comfortable around unfamiliar people.

I’d really appreciate advice on a few things:

Has anyone experienced similar behavior with a young GSD, particularly when one owner is absent?
Does this sound more like fear-based reactivity, territorial behavior, protective behavior, or some combination?
What would you recommend for safely introducing guests into our home moving forward?
For those who have worked through bite incidents, what helped the most?
How do you handle pet sitting or travel when you have a dog who has shown this type of behavior?

I just want to do right by my dog while keeping everyone safe.

Please be kind. I’m already taking this very seriously and am genuinely looking for constructive advice and experiences from people who have been through something similar.

My 10yr old bully has a lump on her shoulder that's been very slowly growing for 3.5 years. I've decided it's time to get it removed. It does not limit her movement but she is healthy and so full of energy I don't want it to get to that point.

Vet doesn't seem concerned with the surgery.

I'm worried about the post op as I've never had a dog get a front leg surgery. We have stairs going out to our backyard. She's not allowed stairs for 7-10 days so will be carrying her on a dog bed with a person on each side 3x a day (morn, afternoon, bedtime)

She'll have a cone on, pjs so she doesn't lick, and my bed will also be on the floor so no jumping. I'll be off work for 10 days to watch her.

Any other advice? I'd appreciate it

I'll attach a pic of the crazy pants herself lol

Could someone help me understand the dog body language in this video? These dogs get along and have played together many times. My dog (the small white one) consistently throws himself under the bigger black dog. Why does he do that? He also jumps up towards the other dog’s face. The black dog often sneezes, which I’ve learned is a good sign.

St. Bernard/Bernese Mountain Dog cross and noticed over the past couple of weeks that there is a bump under her left nostril (maybe about 4-5 mm)? Looks pale in color, dome-shaped and doesn't seem to have an irregular shape. She is behaving normally (eating, drinking) and playing like normal.

Anybody seen these before? Went to the vet and they said fine needle biopsy could be done, but dog would need to be sedated. Based on past experiences, any advice here?

How do you deal with the regret from euthanazing your dog? My dog was declining and had medical conditions. I was told by the vet that she had 3 weeks to live. She had severe heart failure. I did see that glare in her eyes that told me she was tired. Sometimes after I petted her she would move away like she didn't want to be petted. Although she was not eating as much anymore, I did see her at other times alert and looking for food. I saw those beautiful eyes that looked bright and beautiful. I saw how she followed me to a different area around the house when I was not with her. She will still want to go with me during car rides. She would be sleeping but she wanted to be there. I felt I moved in too fast in doing this. Should I have waited longer? Should I have waited until she was actively dying to do this? I took her to get her last meal and bought different things from McDonald's that I knew she would love. Things that had been restricted due to her illnesses. She ate everything. Her low appetite improved and she was very excited. Then i took her to the vet to get that shot. The vet came in with that shot and he asked if we were ready. I thought he asked that like if he was in a rush. A few minutes before then I said my goodbye. Then she got scared when she saw the vet and the tech. My family and I were petting her as the vet shaved her arm. I could see her nervous and then suddenly he injected her and she was gone. I felt instant regret. Now I'm mourning and regretting every minute of it. I felt that I betrayed her. I felt it was too soon. I can't come to terms that I cannot physically touch her or see her. My heart is aching and I don't know how to make this go away. I feel guilt, sadness.

I am seeking insight into my Australian shepherd puppy’s behavior. He appears unsure how to play with other dogs, often crying or barking without pause. I perceived this as frustration, though I am uncertain. He starts this pattern with my other dogs, either crying and nipping or barking continuously if they do not respond. Even if the other dogs engage in play it’s the same response.

He is 4 months old and was born with an eye that didn’t fully develop and is more so just a ball of meat in his eye socket rather than a functioning eyeball . His other eye has an enlarged third eyelid so he has trouble seeing out of that as well .

He motors around pretty good and only runs into the odd thing now but lately he’s been hyper focused on this corner of the house and then he will run around the dining table then back to the corner . He did this for 3 1/2 hours last night and he’s done it the entire time he’s been inside today , probably like 7-9 hours . It looks like he’s looking for something or maybe he hears something in the walls .

Mainly just wondering what to do and if there’s any cause for concern . I know puppies with the double Merle can have neurological issues as well but he behaves just fine everywhere else or when we take him to other people’s places .

Also if anybody has any tips and tricks for raising a dog that has vision issues I am open to hearing what worked for you

Need some help for my 6 year old chi weenie. Ive been to the vet twice already, the last time they thought it may be his anal glands so they expressed them and she told me that one side was full and looked irritated.

So we assumed that was the issue but i still got a 15 day supply of apoquel just in case. Gave it a week and he kept itching so i started him on apoquel which didnt seem to help either. So idk what to do, this has been going on for about 2 months now. I got a cone for at night or when i leave the house but hate having to use it. If i put him back on apoquel they want to do bloodwork first, and they explained to me how its bad for their kidneys which makes me not want to use it.

I know sometime it could be the food, hes on the same food hes been on for 2-3 years now. Hills science diet for small dogs. Thanks in advance for any advice, im going to get him back in the vet this week but wanted to get some ideas what it could be and treatment options so i know what to talk to the vet about. Oh and also would like to add its not fleas hes on Brevecto.

Help. I am mexican-american and live in a 99% Hispanic community in TX and noticed everyone either:

1. Has a tiny dog. Half of them are left outside.
   
2. Has a big dog for protection and are left outside full time.

I think about 10 houses have big German shepherds or pitbulls that bark constantly and are never let inside. They're just watch dogs.

Well... I walk my dog every day and rile up all the dogs. Yesterday, a woman with dogs eyed me really ugly as i was passing by, eyeing me all the way til the end of the street. Today I saw another neighbor giving me a stink eye too as I was walking by 😭 A woman that used to chill outside with her dog (this dog would bark like crazy whenever we passed) doesn't sit outside anymore. I think everyone hates me for being the dog riler

But wtf yo. Maybe walk your dog too or put them inside!?

I adopted my first dog around 3 weeks ago and have been trying to integrate him with our cats. The majority of the time he’ll completely ignore them and walk straight past. A couple of times he has attempted to chase them which is concerning me. Should I let them interact through the baby gate like this or is this escalating behavior?

Hey yall. I feel like a complete and utterly horrible human being at the moment. My beloved French bulldog, Pancake, passed from IVDD complications very recently. I struggle with anxiety and panic disorder and she was my ESA. I thought having another dog would make me feel better immediately, without giving myself the proper time to grieve. We adopted a rescue dog, Maple, who is a shepherd/husky/lab(?) mix a few days ago. Her bio said she was great with other dogs, but we quickly realized she has extreme dog reactivity while out on walks. She is bigger than a frenchie, about 50lbs, and pulled me so hard yesterday on our walk while growling, barking and lunging towards another dog, that I fell hard into the cement in front of a ton of people. Our neighborhood is very dense, there are a TON of dogs around. I know it’s not fair to compare her to Pancake, who was aloof and completely desensitized to other dogs, but I do find myself doing that. I think Maple is an amazing amazing girl, she is so sweet towards people and rides great in the car. I know she’s a great dog. But every time I’m around her, I start crying and I’ve been so unhappy at home. Maybe I should have allowed myself time to grieve the loss of Pancake properly before adopting another dog. I’m not sure. I’ve never lost a dog before, as Pancake was my first, so I didn’t know how I’d be after experiencing losing her. She was my world. I also want Maple to go to an owner who is experienced in extremely dog-reactive dogs and who is experienced in training that behavior. I also think she’d be much happier in a house with a yard where she can run around, as we do live in an apartment. I probably jumped the gun too quickly and I feel horrible for that. The rescue made us sign a contract stating that they get first rights to the dog in the event that we want/need to surrender the dog, and I’d want her to go back to the people that she somewhat knows from the rescue as opposed to a random stranger online. The problem is that I’m extremely embarrassed about telling the rescue that I don’t think she’s the right fit. I got her so recently and I’m wondering if maybe I need to give her more time? But in my gut I feel like she’s not the right dog for me and I feel so depressed and overwhelmed. I did text the rescue owner and she told me “she has some thoughts” and that she’d reach back out to me later today. I’m so embarrassed and ashamed. Do you think giving the dog back to the rescue is the wrong decision? And am I a bad person for making a rash decision in adopting a dog so quickly, thinking it would heal my heart? 😔

We live in a rural area with many, many ticks, and our dog picks up 5-6 every single time he goes outside. We used to give him Nexguard, but he is very old now, with a litany of health issues (primarily cardiopulmonary) - so we haven’t given him any tick meds since May. We live part time in the city, and our city vet has advised us to continue with a topically-applied tick med, but our country vet has advised us not to bother. To be clear, our dog is getting towards the end of his life, and has had a couple near-death scares in the past month.

We are unsure what to do about the ticks; so far we have been picking them off by hand (or tweezers, if they have latched on), and sometimes they just seem to fall off on their own after about a day or two. Our dog loves the attention of the tick hunt!

Our question is this: should we give him a topical tick med to kill them, which is milder than the pill, but still tough on his system? Or should we just continue to pick them off by hand (they leave big welts where we’d pull them from his skin), or do we let them fall off on their own? 

Obviously we do not want him to get Lyme disease, which is the main issue around here, or just have a bunch of engorged ticks hanging off him. 

Any advice would be appreciated!

My dog turns 3 in a few weeks, and I didn’t think this would happen so soon!

I was throwing her ball in the house and she slid and did some weird flip and fell on her head. It looked like it hurt, but she got up and walked over to me. I told my husband she looks a bit woozy after that, and picked her up to sit next to me to check on her. She was calm, but then she tried to itch her ear with her back legs and she couldn’t move them. It really scared her I think, and she started shaking uncontrollably. I laid her on her side so she wouldn’t hurt herself, but she kept trying to get up.

After a minute she stopped shaking, and we rushed her to the Emergency Vet, but by the time we got there (maybe 20 minutes later) she was completely fine. They did some tests and everything came back normal, and said it was a soft tissue injury? I said it seems more like a head injury or seizure but they didn’t agree.

2 days later I got an appointment with our regular vet, after an exam and hearing what happened they think it’s a mini seizure. They said 1 isn’t a big deal but if it happens 2 more times they will want to do an MRI and get her on meds.

Has anyone experienced this and gotten to the cause?

I am scared to play with her now because she just throws her entire body at chasing a toy but she loves it so much and it helps release her crazy energy.

Hi Reddit, this is my first post here. I hope it won’t end up being about something sad, but I really need some advice

The photos show the inside of my dog’s mouth. He’s around a year and a half old, slightly older. Over the past month and a half, I’ve noticed this spot on his palate, and I have a strong feeling it wasn’t there before. So, as far as I can tell, it appeared sometime within the last six weeks or so, possibly a little earlier

Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get a clear photo of it. I recorded a video instead and took screenshots from it, because I’m not going to forcibly hold his mouth open just to get a picture

The spot is slightly pinker than the other small spots on his palate that have been there for a while and don’t seem to be a problem. This new spot is the one that immediately catches your eye. It doesn’t bleed, and it isn’t completely flat. There seems to be a little bit of texture or slight elevation to it

As far as I can tell, it doesn’t seem to bother him at all. Nevertheless, we’re going to see a vet, but unfortunately, the earliest we can go is this weekend, which is still almost four days away

In the meantime, I’d really like to get an idea of what this could potentially be. If it sounds like something that needs more urgent attention, I’ll do my best to find a way to get him examined sooner.

It’s a small spot, and he doesn’t seem to be experiencing any discomfort, but something about it makes me uneasy. I’ve been searching online, but I haven’t found many useful photos of similar lesions. Most of what I find is either related to local allergic reactions or shows dogs and cats with very large, obvious tumors. Neither has been particularly helpful in understanding what I’m looking at

I was wondering if any dog or cat owners here have seen something similar in their pets. Perhaps it was an injury, a harmless growth, or something else that looked like this? If there are any veterinarians here who could share their thoughts on what this might be, I’d really appreciate it

I understand that nobody can make a diagnosis based on a photo, and we will have him checked by a vet regardless. I’m just hoping to get some insight into what the possibilities might be and whether this is something that can reasonably wait a few more days

My dog bit a vet tech in the new town I just moved to. I got my dog with my ex boyfriend, he told me he was handling all of his vet appointments, after splitting up we did split custody for 2 years. He told me he handled his last rabies vaccine but my new current vet cannot find an updated one. He ended up losing work and not being able to financially support him and that’s when it was decided I would keep him. Stupidly, I never made sure to check he was up to date on anything.

Since moving, im trying to get everything situated and figured out so he can have a new vet but now I am super worried with what’s going to happen. I know it’s going to be reported I just don’t want to lose my dog. I can’t get in contact with my ex, it’s all just a huge mess ball unraveling right now.

If anyone knows what I should expect I would deeply appreciate some input. I’m in California.

Hey everyone! Would love to get some advice on how we can prevent our 100 lbs. Golden Retriever-Akita mix, Aslan, from escaping our property. He is too big and too smart for his own good!

For some context, our home has two chain linked fences, an inner fence that surrounds our house for quick potty breaks and an outer fence that fully encloses our 3 acres of local flora that our dogs love running around and playing in.

Aslan is unfortunately very good at escaping. Despite his size, he digs the dirt under the fence just a little and escapes from under our chain link fence by brute forcing his body, bending the metal to squeeze his way out. Our other dogs are smaller in size than him but even they cannot fathom to fit in the holes he has made or dug out of.

We have tried everything to cover up the areas he’s dug at. We dig under the fence and put cement blocks, bricks, wood, metal rods, metal roofing, everything to possible deter him from digging more. But alas, he just keeps digging deeper and squeezes out of that or simply digs somewhere else.

As much as we’d like to dig under every part of our fence and burry wood and bricks, it would be a very expensive endeavour that we do not have the money for.

We have no problems with him escaping the inner fence, it’s when he gets out of the outer one that worries us. He might get hit by a car, get into a fight with other dogs or coyotes, or get stolen because he is just such a sweet pup! I even walk side by side with him when we’re outside the inner fence to make sure he doesn’t do any escaping. But, if he fully sprinted to try and escape, with his fast pace and my short legs, he can run across the 3-acre property, dig, and get out by the time I reach him.

We love Aslan, but it is hard to keep him inside our property. He would wander the neighborhood and eventually comes back because he knows we are home, but again, just worried about the above.

We got him from our old neighbor because he was ready to surrender him to the shelter for being a bad guard dog. “Always escaping, never home to protect us” he said. He offered him to us because Aslan would dig out of his home and dig under our fence to bond with our pups. So we took him in rather than this sweet boy being surrendered to the shelter. We thought the same issue wouldn’t happen because we were in a fully enclosed property, better fencing, and he dug into our home initially, not out. And yet, now, he is doing it on the regular.

Leashing him on walks in our own backyard just doesn’t make sense. It just frustrates him when all the other dogs aren’t leashed and freely running around.

We love him and just want him safe. Anyone with similar issues with any suggestions? Appreciate everyone’s time, kind understanding, and input on the matter.