Ask questions and share about your pet's health to help others.
My dog won’t listen!
She is normally very chill and hasn’t done anything in a long time to get herself in trouble, but right now she is in the bedroom (make shift kennel bc I didn’t think she needed one anymore) because she won’t listen! Her and my other dog got in to it bad and I separated them and asked them each to lay down and she sat but would not my down and just completely ignored me. after a few minutes I let her out, brought her back in to the living room and asked her to lay down again and she continued to ignore me. I don’t know what to do.
My six month old pitbull has a large hematoma after a routine neuter. He was fine with no swelling for two days after the surgery, but day three his scrotum started swelling. We took him into the vet who explained it was normal for some dogs and sent us home with some sedatives to stop his moving around and told us to monitor. Later that day, the scrotum swelled to the size of a medium to large orange. We returned, and we’re given antibiotics just in case, as there was no evidence of fever to indicate infection. The next day, he the wound started draining, a pink substance likely blood mixed with some other bodily fluid. The suture area looks fairly normal, just a small amount of redness and swelling, and the fluid smells of iron, not infected. We were advised to place a warm compress on for a few minutes a couple of times a day, but our pup won’t let us near the area. He is a sweet dog, but the sedatives combined with the pain are causing him to snap at us when we go near the back legs. He refuses to even sit down for hours at a time. Do you have any advice for how to help him through this? My wife and I work 8-9 hours during the day, though we have family that stops by for a few hours at a time to watch him. I’m just worried that he is in so much pain he won’t let us help him heal.
Hello,
These cases do happen. They usually resolve on their own in about a week. If you cannot treat him at home see if you can drop him off at your vets to stay for the day while you are at work. Good luck. It will go down. It will just be an awful 5 days of waiting. And ps I have seen them cantaloupe size. Ouchie!!
My puppy suddenly stopped eating. She will sniff the food then walk away, normally she gets excited if she just sees me open the door to the closet with her food in it. I have to literally beg her to eat.
I agree 100% with Jana. Not eating + puppy = HUGE red flag.
How young is the puppy? What breed? The smaller the dog the more urgent it is to take care of it. Is there any chance she ate a piece of a toy or something she shouldn’t? Is she behaving normally otherwise, playing, running etc, or also seem quiet? These are measures of whether you need to see a vet right now or tomorrow morning. I would definitely not wait any longer than that. If she’s also lethargic, starts vomiting, gets diarrhea or any other signs of trouble, if she’s very young and/or very small, I’d seek a vet today.
3 year old pitbull has been on antibiotics for 1 week, she didnt eat much today,and is a little lethargic. She has thrown up2 times today…. help?!
Hello,
it sounds like you need to call the vet back asap and have them look at your dog again. Any pet who isn’t better within a day or two, or who worsens at anytime needsto check back with the vet as quickly as possible.
My beagle is 4 days out from IVDD Cervical Decompression via ventral slot and is still in horrible pain with all the same symptoms. Neck spasms, rigid stance, head lowered and will NOT lay down. He stands for hours on his bed then finally he lays down. He is on a very very strict medication schedule using Gabapentin, Tylenol 4, Diazepam, famotidine and Prednisone. He is taken out 3-5 times daily using a ramp to get to grass for potty breaks. How long should this take for even a small amount of pain relief?
Hello,
I know it is hard to watch andveey frustrating. Every dog is different but I can say that this is not uncommon. It took Hankrhe dog I wrote about in my blog 10 days before he showed much improvement or relief. I would ask about tramadol buprenorphine and/or a fentanyl patch. Or increasing one of the medications you have. You would have to ask your vet about these. Also I have to admit beagles are not the bravest souls.
Don’t give up. But do call your vet. Add more pain management.
Oh and ask about methocarbamol (robaxin). That was the most helpful medication in the early days f recovery.
Thank you. Yes, I did contact my primary care vet this morning and they added 50mg Tramadol 3x daily. I will be contacting the surgeon in the am.
I appreciate your response so much. I have researched and researched this online with no luck. Yes, he is a bit of a drama boy but his eyes show it all. So much pain. As of right now after 1/2 of a 50mg Tramadol his lying in his bed somewhat sleeping. Neck isn’t showing any spasms right now but the minute he gets up it starts again. This is what made me see the vet in the first place. Does this every go away? And why is it happening?
I recently adopted a 3 year old male treeing walker coonhound from my local shelter. We don’t know any history on him, but it is clear that the shelter did not work with him while he was there for several months. For the most part, he seems to be housebroke. However, whenever we leave he decides to urinate all over the house. He doesn’t do this when we are home, but we don’t let him out of our sight due to this being an issue. He also has this thing where he doesn’t want to do anything for himself. He doesn’t want to move, he doesn’t want to get up, he doesn’t come when called, he doesn’t ask to go outside, he doesn’t want treats for good behavior, he doesn’t eat a lot. It’s like he does what he wants, on his own time, when he wants. We are being patient with him, but we would really like for him to be a family oriented, trustworthy dog. We also do not want to have a dog we have to keep kenneled. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do to fix these behaviors?
Okay, I’m working on the housebreaking thing. But how do I go about teaching him how to play? Or be around people? Whenever I try he seems scared even though I’m extremely calm with him.
Also, any suggestions on how to get him to “come” when I call his name? He looks, just ignores.
Hello,
Thank you for adopting! It is impossible for a shelter to housebreak a dog. They simply lack the time and resources to do so. Therefore you will need to essentially start from scratch in both housebreaking and crate training as I think it is very very difficult to do one without the other. It is the only way to reward and provide the training your dog needs. I would also presume that your dog might be urinating in the house sullly due to stress when you are away. Your presumption about much of his behavior “he doesn’t want to move get up, ask to go outside, etc” are all things he needs to be taught to do. He needs to be shown what play, walking on a leash, shown how to ring a bell on a door, etc etc are all your responsibility in training. Please see your vet and please ask for assistance in finding a positive reinforcement trainer. I also really like Victoria Stilwells books. It really sounds like your dog needs a friend and a mentor and a whole lot of tlc and time.
Best of luck
I know he isn’t a puppy, but have you looked into beginner obedience class? It’s very good for dogs socially as well a owners for basic training help and how to get started. I highly recommend it. It’s not too expensive (talk to your vet for references and local trainers) and it is money WELL spent. Best if luck!!
In time he will trust you and start coming out of his shell. I see it all the time in rescues. Sometimes it happens in a few days. Other cases take weeks. For now be gentle, use treats to coax him or just pick him up and carry him. He will eventually start to trust and interact.
My dog is limping on her left hind leg and I don’t know why she wasn’t doing so this morning and when she walks she limps all over the house
Hi, sorry to hear your dog is in pain. Have you throughly checked her paw, plus in between her toes and pads to see if there’s a thorn etc ?
Also carefully go down her leg and see if she shows pain when you touch a particular spot. If it is a thorn etc take it out with tweezers and make sure its clean and bathed. If you cannot find anything then please do take her to your Vet…she’s showing pain for a reason. Good luck!
My cat is in pain… I don’t know what happen.. but he cries, he’s lying on the ground hardly breathing, moments later he pees while lying… I couldn’t take it to vet cause of the location we are in. Please i need to save my cat, please help me.
I’m sorry to hear about your cat. He desperately needs an examination to help understand what might be going on. A veterinarian will look, listen and feel him all over and from there try to give some guidance on what might be going on. Even with this it is sometimes necessary to perform a blood analysis and radiographs. The only advice I can give you is to see a vet immediately. I hope he is ok
It sounds like an emergency and you really need to find a vet asap.
I had run out my house leaving butter on my counter to thaw. I arrived home to find 2 large piles of what I assumed was bile. While cleaning it up I realized it was in fact butter, to my horror my dog had consumed 3 sticks of butter. I have a call in to my vet but would love to know how bad this is to ease my mind. My boy is a Border Collie/GSD mix, 80lbs, 4 years and in good overall health, aside from vomiting he seems to be his normal self. (And yes, I know better than to leave anything on the counter.) Thank you!
Well, it may or may not be bad; depending on how strong his system is. Butter is not toxic but it is, clearly, very high in fat. So the biggest danger from consumption of so much of it would be pancreatitis. I imagine some dogs might eat all that and just get a mild stomach upset. Others might get in a lot of trouble. Pancreatitis is painful and can be dangerous. If he’s still vomiting and/or looking ill, do see a vet asap.
I have a notification sounds in my phone and my dog hates it. When.is goes off she starts to shake. She then gets really close to someone. For example, if we were sitting on the couch and the sound went off, she would try to get up on the couch along with us and sit on my lap and she would be trembling. I’m not sure why she is acting this.
I’m sorry but I don’t understand what your question is? Please ask your vet about conditioning behavior training if your dog seems to be afraid.
It sounds as though your dog is fearful of the noise. With noise sensitivities, we can use desensitization and counterconditioning to acclimate the dog to the sound. We would start by playing the sound at a very low volume (low enough so the dog doesn’t have the fear response) and giving a treat about one second after the sound occurs. When we shut off the noise, the food stops. So, the dog learns that the noise predicts the food. You may need the help of a good trainer or behaviorist to do this conditioning, but the god news is that it can be very effective. We use this technique to get dogs to like all kinds of things they previously feared or disliked.
While this video doesn’t involve noise, it’s a good example of the procedure:
https://drsophiayin.com/videos/entry/counter-conditioning_a_dog_to_blowing_in_face/
Am I to understand the other dog isn’t present when you’re asking her to lay down? Is it possible she is injured in some way and that why reluctant to lay down? That would be the main question to find the answer to. Particularly since she’ll sit but won’t lay down.