Hello! What a great site this is. I’m really hoping someone can help us here, as we’re stuck with our dog situation!

We have a 10 year old female Maltese called Yuca. She is the light of our lives but is getting old 🙁
She’s healthy but tends to sleep a lot, and we read that keeping older dogs active is essential to keeping them alive!

We both work, and although she’s totally happy by herself, we decided it might be good to get her a companion for the times we’re not around. We hoped this might keep her entertained and engaged more during the day. As we’re both working from home at the moment, we thought now might be a good time to grow our little pack…

So we got another Maltese female, Coco, who is about 5 months old now. We’ve had her for just over 4 weeks. She’s amazing. A really cute little ball of fluff. But things don’t seem to be improving with regards to their relationship.

Of course, Coco is totally obsessed with Yuca. She will run to her and try to lick and play, but Yuca seems terrified of her. She backs away quickly and hides. Yuca has never been an aggressive dog, never. She doesn’t growl or bark or bite, ever. But she also has never been a dog dog, always avoiding them in public when out for walks.
We thought this was just a matter of them being strangers.
She has never once growled or barked or bitten Coco, she chooses to simply run away from her, even when Coco is trying to bite her playfully.

When Coco is calm, usually in the evenings and midday, Yuca is better. They will sit in the same areas, with Yuca sometimes letting Coco get quite close, but always with a cautious eye on her. The best moments we’ve had have been in bed in the evenings, with both of them sleeping almost touching! But then the day comes around and Yuca goes back to being her timid self again.

We’ve tried a lot of things to get them closer, and to help Yuca get used to her being around. They both have their own beds, food and water, and Yuca has a space she can be alone when she wants it. The problem is, she would choose to stay there the whole time! SHe seems anxious about walking around the house, which is not ok for us. We want her to feel dominant and have no fear of being anywhere at home.

We’ve tried using treats to bring them together, which works well in the moment. Yuca is a greedy lil thing and Coco’s existence doesn’t make the slightest bit of difference when there’s a treat around. She would take the treat from our hand even with Coco being right there next to her. But once the treat has gone, Yuca reverts back to scared mode.

We’re being firm with Coco on the rough play, although she’s tiny and couldn’t hurt a fly if she tried! We’re separating them for periods of time, so Yuca has her space and then trying controlled meet-ups several times a day. Of course, with us both working full time, this has been difficult and we’re very concerned about when we have to go back to the office.

We’ve made sure to give Yuca extra love and attention, always treating her as the alpha and giving her attention and food first. She doesn’t appear jealous at all.

As time goes on, we really hoped they would become close but we’re not seeing much improvement. There’s some improvement for sure, but it’s very slow progress. We really just want them to be friends. That was the whole point in getting Coco in the first place.

I really hope someone can help us. We love them both and just want them to get along.

Thank you for reading.

Tomas and Fernanda. Yuca and Coco.

Hiya, my dog has pancreatitis and I have tried different food, medications and probiotics. Nothing seems to work for long and hasn’t went for longer the 3 weeks without a bad spell. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to help him as he is only just 3 and I am fed up of him not being able to be a young dog.

My dog is almost 6 months old and she wont hold her bladder more than an hour while out of her crate, but in it she will hold it for several hours, or all night. So i know she has the ability to, but she just won’t. She also knows its wrong and will come put her head in my lap when she’s peed. She tells me most of the time when she needs out. But she will also just pee while she’s walking around, like so fast in a line I dont even see her fo it. Sometimes she looks suprised it happened. I used to be a veterinary tech, and I know the signs of a uti and I don’t see any of those. Any ideas?

My dog is having soft stool. Giving her Forti Flora in her food with chicken and dry food. Was wondering if I can give her Pepto Bismol

My dog is paralyzed from the waist down. My dog is a 4 year old, 10 pound Shi-poo mix. He suffered from some trauma yesterday (Friday) after getting his paws stuck in some metal grating he seemed ok but then his symptoms exacerbated after running around the park and playing with another dog. At around 5pm on Friday, he was able to poop and urinate and ran around at the dog park but by the evening he couldn’t put any weight on his hind legs. At 8pm, my dog was still able to wag his tail. We went to a doctor this morning and that doctor says he still has sensation in his hind legs (even though they he cannot move them). We have been given the option of MRI followed immediately by surgery but we are not sure if we want to put his body through that much trauma with the risk that he could die on the operating table. We have taken him to a “holistic” vet who has treated him with acupuncture, Chinese herbs, and cortisone. The acupuncturist Vet said he would need 4 weeks with 1 session a week to see if that method could help but also told us we could very well have “missed” his critical cure time if it doesn’t. Nevertheless the acupuncturist said he is very confident as his method has seen much success in IVDD in older dogs. My dog is in a lot of pain and has not urinated or passed stool since yesterday I do not believe he has control over his bowel movements And he is constantly holding his head back and he is constantly propping himself up on his two front legs. I would love a second opinion and an honest opinion of what his chances of regaining full motor function and bowel control are with OR without surgery.

does my dogs neuter incision look normal? I’m trying to keep him blocked off into a small room in my basement and it’s been storming a lot recently and he’s terrified of storms so he knocks down or jumps over everything i use as a dog gate to keep him confined and makes him way to sit up on the stairs. One night he also some how got his cone off while i was sleeping. I can’t control him and keep him confined and nothing i do is working. He just got neutered friday morning.

my dog got neutered yesterday and some how managed to get his come off while i was sleeping, I think his stitches may have came open from him licking it but i’m not sure. I’ve put a picture of his incision below. Does it look abnormal?

Does my dog need a 4DX test before taking a heartworm preventive? My dog is 71/2 yrs old and has been taking Sentinel monthly since he was a pup, and his Lyme vaccination is up to date. I realize the 4DX test is worthwhile and will get it done at the next annual exam. But the vet is refusing to renew the sentinel prescription without a 4DX test, and that doesn’t make sense to me.

My dog was just diagnosed with IVDD. He had The wobbly sailor legs. We are on day 6 of “crate rest” and my husband and I noticed that his Back end almost looks skinnier? Could he be losing muscle mass this soon and is muscle loss even a side effect? His back and doesn’t seem as droopy from when I brought him in on Saturday his legs still kind of cross in the back and he is not strong. I have anxiety, diagnosed, and so I’m just looking for some peace of mind. We could just be over thinking it and maybe his backend always was the size.

my dog had had red skin and was constantly biting and scratching himself and he would get sores where he would scratch so much. He also had some dandruff. I read about it on google and thought it could be a food allergy so i changed his food a while ago and it got better super fast, but he’s still constantly scratching and rolling around and i’m not sure why. His fur is a bit dry and rough so i’m thinking it could be his fur scratching him, i’m not sure. Is there any products or anything at all you would recommend?