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My husband and I adopted a 2 year old lab mix (we think possibly mixed with Newfoundland) in November 2015. He’s 94lbs and we are his 3rd owners (first two owners were within the same family).
Shortly after adopting him, he started developing sores on his belly near his penis. They didn’t seem to ooze, but were bright red, dry, and scabbing over. He also was scratching at his lips and frequently shaking his head.
We took him into the vet who suspected allergies and suggested we change his food, removing any sources of chicken and beef from his diet. She prescribed 3 weeks of cephalexin, and we switched him to a salmon and sweet potato, grain free food. This was in January 2016.
The sores did resolve with the antibiotics, but the shaking his head and scratching at his lips did not. Two weeks ago I noticed a small sore on his belly again, in the same spot as before, and today I noticed there are now two of them. I also noticed that the inside of his lips seem to be very red (unsure as to whether this is new, or I just didn’t notice beforehand).
We can’t afford to keep throwing hundreds of dollars every few months towards vet care, so I’m wondering if anyone has ideas as to what this could be. I have doubts about allergies since the lip scratching and shaking of his head never went away.
Any help or ideas greatly appreciated
I have a one year old chocolate lab. He chews all my clothes while I’m sleeping or not watching him. He gets into my garbage and tears things apart. This morning be knocked my side table over by my bay window and broke a flower pot.
crate training is something i’d look into, as well. if he cannot be trusted, then he should not have full access to your home. i agree with Dr. Magnifico, he needs a lot more work from you to keep his boredom in check.
eventually he may get an obstruction if you allow this to continue. obstructions are costly and can be fatal. nip this in the bud NOW.
Oops my question got cut off. I was asking how do I stop this? He was to the vet yesterday. He does have an ear infection which I got drops for. Other than that the vet said he is healthy. It is mostly during the night when I am sleeping that this behavior happens. Except for the trash picking. I have to keep the bathroom door shut so he doesn’t get into the garbage. Also it seems like he knows he is in the wrong when I acknowledge this misbehavior. He gets out for walks just not as much due to the cold winter. He is not nutered. Could that play a big part in it? Thank you for your reply.
again: obedience training and crate training. the obedience training will help tire him out, the crate will keep him contained.
Okay I will look into obedience training and keeping him in the crate at night. Thank you.
Also, any recommendations on dry itchy skin? I brush him daily and put canine omega 3 in him food which has helped a bit but not entirely.
this could be potentially fixed with a higher quality food. what does he eat now?
i would consider wiping him down with coconut oil, too.
i have a puppy 4 month old lab, yesterday the vet he did a surgery for the stomach,because is not well for the last 4 days ,he has diarrheas and vomiting ,is in the vet on in the fluids and medication the vet said to me he has gastroenteritis .someone tell me is chance to survived?i miss him so much i really want him to come back home
i BELIEVE gastroenteritis is something a dog can survive but you need to change his diet drastically. what do you normally feed him? have you asked your vet what food you should be feeding?
the food is royal canine ,i am relly worry for him i don’t want him to die,he is still in the vet clinic with the fluids
yesterday he has surgery for the stomac to see if he has eating a toy or something not good,and he find out he has gastroenteritis thanks to talk with me
hmm. that’s odd…i don’t believe Royal Canin should be causing gastroenteritis.
beyond this, i don’t know if I can help you. i am not a vet and i am not a nutritionist. but talk with the vet about what could have caused this and how to avoid it in the future.
thanks so much i wish his to come back home i love him so much and i miss him
i understand! he’s so young to be away from home!
i dont want him to die
hi i need hell please.
my mane is alexandra and i have a puppy lab mix golden retrieved 4 months old and for the last 3 days is not eating,not drinking is vomiting and had diarrhoea,i was bring last night in to a vet clinic and i left him in to the drops and antibiotics,and i did a scan for the stomach and check is blood and is fine.is possible to tell me what is wrong with him or if is change to die?i don’t want to lost him thanks so much
hi i need help
Alexandra, this is a question for the vet that took a look at him. what did they say? what other diagnostics did they do? i would also talk with YOUR vet this morning about it, because emergency vets aren’t necessarily as thorough as your own vet would be.
he said he cannot not find anything ,he said he need to open his belly to see if is something in his belly .i am really worry for him
so he didn’t do x-rays or anything like that?
go to YOUR vet, tell him your concerns.
is still not make improved after 24 hours in the vet,
and the belly he se is in pain,and look full
thanks so much
wait, are you saying his belly is distended and in pain? that’s bloat. vet, NOW.
hi laura,my dog is not well for the last 3 days and i bring in the vet,and he make scan to his stomach and nothing is see ,he is in fluid and antibiotic,and check is blood 2 times,nothing show,and the vet ring me and he said he need operation to see in his stomach if is something stock.and i get the answer for the operation ,nothing inside but is inflammation and irritation and he said is virus tummy bug , the vet is said is give a chance for live but not 100 pro-cent,is sleep now and is still back in antibiotic and fluid and pain relief, and tonight i going to see him. please god to make some improve.thanks
after the surgery the vet said to my my dog has gastroenteritis ,i really want to back i really miss him so much
Hi,
We have an almost 13 year old chocolate lab named Koko. About 5 weeks ago, she had a seizure. We took her into the vet and they prescribed Phenobarbital to help control the seizures. Since then, she has been incontinent in the house, and has to go outside very frequently (which is a side effect to this medication). This is a problem when my husband and i both work Monday-Friday, 8am-5pm. She has accidents in the house almost every day. Thankfully we put her in our laundry room which has wood floors so clean up is a little easier, but it still is stressful being that she usually pees, and then walks through it all day long tracking it everywhere in that room and gets urine all over herself. Especially when she has seizures, she paces for hours afterwards until finally calming down. We have tried NUMEROUS different types of diapers, doggy diapers (vets best from Petco, womens depends, XXL childrens diapers) and even tried buying suspenders and attaching those onto the diapers and around her to try to keep it on, but NOTHING stays on throughout the whole day. I just bought the “Dog Diaper Keeper” off Amazon today so I am crossing my fingers that it’ll work, if not i dont know what to do.
Besides that, my husband and I also have noticed that she has become increasingly anxious during the day and night time. She has always been on the more anxious side but lately it’s been getting worse, fast.
Since starting the Phenobarbital, she has had 3 more bigger seizures that we are aware of and since then have been to the vet and they have also prescribed Potassium Bromide which she is taking alongside the Phenobarb. We also noticed she started having facial seizures which the vet said could either mean the Phenobarb/Potassium Bromide are working and controlling the bigger seizures, or if the facial seizures continue along with big seizures it could be time for a CT scan.
In the last couple weeks, she has begun to wake up very early in the morning (3am) barking. We thought that maybe she was scared to be alone since having seizures, or is starting to get Alzheimer’s. Her kennel is in our living room so we thought that moving her into our room would help knowing that we were there, but it hasn’t. We also take her outside to go to the bathroom and that doesn’t seen to solve anything either. We are afraid to feed her too early because we don’t want her to get in the habit of eating that early in the morning. We have tried everything we can think of and she still continues to bark at all hours in the morning. The vet also prescribed her Diazapam to calm her down after seizures, but we are reluctant to use that to calm her down just because she is barking at night and hasn’t had a seizure.
We fully understand that it’s not her fault, and that she is getting old and is needing some extra TLC. But we feel so bad because we can’t figure out what she needs/wants. We desperately want to help her and keep her comfortable throughout the night.
Do you or anyone else have any advice for us? For the early morning barking or the diaper issue? Anything is greatly appreciated!
-Ashley
-history, my ex husband and I got her at 7 weeks old. He already had a lab (approx 8 months old). We separated and I was able to keep my girl, he kept the boy. She has had 2 litters. The first, 11 puppies all healthy- the second, all passed away. (The litters were in no way planned) Not directly after the second litter but within a year she started getting severe ear infections. She was fixed and treated for yeast infections for the ears- she never full relief. After a couple rounds of antibiotics my vet recommended getting blood work done as well as allergy testing. Turns out she is allergic to 21 different things and is in the early stages of kidney failure.
I am taking complete care if her medical issues and spend a good amount of time with her. We go on morning walks, I come home at lunch and take her out, we go on evening walks, and she sleeps in my bed with me.
She is the sweetest pup I’ve ever known, but she is overly clingy. At first it was cute but now anytime I move, she moves. I walk into a different room, she follows. I go to use the bathroom and she sits at my feet. Literally, if she could, she would crawl inside me. Again, I love my pup, I’m just concerned this is not healthy.
Any advice??
Thank you for the feedback. I will look into local trainers to help!
My lab is 10 and I’m pretty sure it’s arthritis but I don’t get paid till wed
No please don’t give Ibruprofen to dogs as its toxic. Only give medication prescribed by a Vet.
why did my 13 yr old chow lab mix start seizures and kept having them until i had her put to sleep this morning she was on epilepsy med to.one after another that never happened before
first: i’m very, very sorry for your loss.
second: a necropsy is the best way to determine this at this point. i would consider it.
Can two female pit bulls get along in the same house one is 6 and the other is 2 I also have a golden retriever male and chow lab mix female 16 they all get along fine together but wanted to add my rescue 2 year old female
It all depends on the dogs attitudes and they all should be fixed.
i understand pit bulls are dog-aggressive as well as same-sex aggressive, particularly the bitches. i don’t know that i’d want to add another to the mix you already have going in your house. it could upset the balance and cause problems.
My 8 week old chocolate lab twitches her eye and bring up her left side of her mouth. Was just wondering if that a weak muscle because that what a vet said or what?
It is still allergies, just less likely to be a food allergy. I would contact your vet by phone and inquire if they want to start him on an anti-histamine etc.
Good Luck
Dr Dawn
Just wondering…..Did your vet say what is causing the head shaking? Head shaking usually indicates an ear infection, but it could also be from a rash inside his ears or fluid in his ears like otitis media in children. This very likely is allergy related. Probally not a food allergy but rather something airborne like pollens or grass or dust or maybe something like a brand of carpet cleaner which is a contact allergy. I had a Chihuahua once that was allergic to the brand of laundry soap I was using. Maybe you can call your vet and see if he’ll be ok with you giving him benedryl and get the correct dosage from him.