Breed: Irish Setter
Sex: Male
Age: 11 months
Weight: 28.8kg
Food: Acana Large Breed Puppy
Changes: No recent changes

I have an 11-month-old male Irish Setter who’s experienced three episodes of unexplained illness over the past two months, and potentially a fourth, milder episode today.

The episodes come on quite suddenly. He becomes
lethargic, reluctant to move, loses interest in food and develops a fever. During one episode, he also appeared to have significant neck or back pain, yelping when moving.

What’s strange is that he completely recovers between episodes and returns to being his usual energetic, happy self, within literally 24 hours.

We’ve seen an internal medicine specialist and undergone extensive testing, but still don’t have a diagnosis.

His kidney and liver blood results were fine, urine testing showed no obvious infection. We’ve done an abdominal ultrasound which didn’t reveal anything. Addison’s disease was reportedly ruled out, his neurological and joint examinations were normal.

I’ve spoken to his breeder, who hasn’t encountered anything similar in their lines.

He appears completely healthy and active between episodes.

Has anyone else experience this? I’m concerned I’ve been overly cautious with my continuous vet visits (I know that’s not possible when you love your animal!). I’ve read about growing pains and SRMA? I’m working very closely with our specialist but maybe I’m missing something I should be advocating for testing.

Any and all help would be appreciated! This pup is literally the light of my life!

We adopted a German shepherd mix dog two years ago; he’s now three. When we adopted him, he was on a very low dose of gabapentin for anxiety from being at the shelter and we have weaned him off these meds. For the first six months, we were able to walk him without too many issues and even take him to the park for a run but since then he has become incredibly reactive on walks and we now struggle to get him off our street without fixating on houses that have dogs. He lunges and pulls on the leash, making walks extremely difficult. His reaction doesn’t seem to be aggression as once we’re close to other dogs, he’s actually playful and friendly. It’s the reactivity on the lead that we’re struggling with and it’s obviously very intimidating for anyone walking near us.

We’ve worked with three different trainers, all have said he’s a difficult case and recommended using a slip lead. We’ve tried this along with a halter and harness but nothing has really helped.

My husband now feels we’ve exhausted all our options and wants to rehome him. The hardest part is that he’s such a fantastic dog at home — he’s loyal, loving and a real joy to have around. He’s also intelligent so I’ve always made sure he’s stimulated with brain games, scent work and command training.

I’m feeling torn because I don’t want to give up on him but I also understand how exhausting and frustrating this has become as we’ve now got a newborn.

I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar or has any advice on what else we could try before making such a difficult decision.

Does anyone know what’s wrong? He was breathing like this for a couple minutes and then he was okay. He’s 14 year old cairn terrier. He’s blind and deaf. The vet just said he may have a heart mur mur but denied any treatment for him. Should I take him to the vet?

My two cattle dogs (8M and 7M) have lived together with our family for the past 6 years and have been great buds for the majority of their relationship. Over the past year, their dynamic seems to have started to shift and they have had episodes of aggression with one another. It happened very occasionally at the start and now unfortunately it’s nearly becoming a weekly occurrence. I’m currently writing this in the waiting room at the emergency vet at midnight because my oldest dog likely has a puncture wound on his lip from getting bit by my other dog tonight during a fight. I’m desperate for some advice or feedback on our situation.

When they get into fights, it usually seems to be triggered by one dog getting territorial over something (barking at the neighbor dog trying to guard the yard, food bowls, toys) but it has also happened more randomly when one dog got excited and playful and crossed paths with the other dog who did not receive it well. We have tried to remove the obvious triggers and the dogs are fed separately in their own kennels and then the food bowls are removed/hidden entirely. We do not let them play with toys together anymore. They stay home with each other during the day when my spouse and I are at work and seem to do fine together but now I am nervous to leave them alone together.

We suspect our oldest dog is starting to have some health issues and may be trending toward a Cushing’s diagnosis based on recent bloodwork. Our youngest had an orthopedic injury from playing that still seems to bother him at times but the vet could not determine anything to be wrong. I’ve read that injuries and declining health can trigger fighting within companion dogs and I fear we have entered that territory.

Both dogs are intact and I would be open to neutering one/both but not sure if that would make anything better. The thought of rehoming one dog is heartbreaking and I’m wondering if anyone has had success dealing with a similar issue. I’m so sad for both of them and our whole family, it has been really stressful and exhausting. I would appreciate any insight or guidance that others can offer, TIA.

My boxer has had this on his leg since around age 2, he’s 5 now…as time goes on it grows gradually but he has 0 pain to the touch…seems to be on the outside of the skin…just curious if anyone else has experienced it and if this should require immediate attention..Thankyou!

Hi all! My partner and I took our foster Shih Tzu to his appointment today and he had a ulcer in his left eye, I forget the procedure they did but they put in a contact that was not supposed to fall out for two weeks. Here’s the issue, maybe I bumped it briefly removing his cone or he rubbed it (I took his cone off for a bit supervised when we went home which was okayed but he vet but he rubbed his eye briefly once and I put it back on) his contact appears to be peeling up from the bottom and no longer fully flush with his eye. We were supposed to give his prescribed eye drops tomorrow and I don’t want to unnecessarily irritate his eye by fully removing the contact. The foster foundation is closed until morning and I want to make sure it will be okay until morning. So any advice on what we should do, should we leave it alone? Also important to note he got many procedures done today including a mass removal so he’s on heavy painkillers and sleeping a lot as he’s 15, so I feel like he will mostly be sleeping until the morning and does not appear to be in any pain.

Any advice or words of wisdom help!

This is my year old and 8 week old.

We keep utmost watch on them when they are playing as we know our older could seriously injure our puppy.

This is about the highest intensity it will get. Is this healthy playing? My older is such a pest and will almost never let it rest unless we intervene, and I don’t want my puppy to learn this behavior.

I have tried absolutely everything when it comes to the crate. She has had chews, meals only in the crate, treats only in the crate, toys, potty breaks, playtime before the kennel, kennel in my room at bedtime, everything. She keeps waking me up at night, last night was directly at midnight. I don't know what she wants, I don't know what else I can possibly do. Please help

First time asking in here but my 9 year old American bulldog (mix) lost ability to walk in his back legs randomly last Saturday, the vet said its most likely an FCE, however the x-ray did show he had a “mass” of arthritis right where his back and tail meet. We were given steroids to help the inflammation and I’m waiting it out to see if an MRI is needed asap. However, he never lost his tail wagging abilities, and I definitely see him try and walk occasionally with his sling but I usually have a lot of weight on my end to hold up. Tonight though, he surprised me with standing for a good minute on his own drinking water, and THEN he moved the other foot that wasn’t standing as sturdy as the other, and it landed right next to the other confidently, and he stood there even longer after that. Still cannot walk without the sling but I swear when he’s dragging to go pee outside I see his thigh move and want to take a step, it seems the feet are what’s holding him back. I just wanna know if this is a good sign and has anyone’s dog with an FCE seem to experience this. Makes me wonder if it really was just the arthritis compared to lots of other cases I’ve read about recently.

I am begging for help. My previously healthy 5 and a half year old black lab, Bode, started having severe pain in June. He was hospitalized for 6 days fighting for his life with a high fever, shaking, and severe neck pain. They ran every test under the sun and found nothing.

The whole summer was vet appointments and so much pain. About a month ago we finally got answers from an earlier spinal tap (they had missed it). It showed elevated white blood cells and neutrophils. He was diagnosed with meningitis caused by an autoimmune disease.

Meds so far:
- Prednisone 50mg daily for 2 weeks. Awful side effects.
- Then prednisone lowered to 30mg, plus leflunomide 80mg every 24 hours
- He was SO much better for a week. Like his old hyper self again.

A few days ago he suddenly started shaking violently, panting, and in so much pain again. Back to the neurologist. His MRI was clean, we're waiting on the rest of the spinal tap results, and they put him back up to 50mg prednisone daily.

Gabapentin and codeine have done nothing for his pain. At home he keeps shaking, panting, and can't settle. I've started red light therapy on his neck too.

If your dog has had SRMA, MUO, or any autoimmune meningitis:
- Did your dog relapse like this? How long until the meds caught up?
- What pain management actually worked?
- Did you switch immunosuppressants (cyclosporine, mycophenolate, cytarabine, etc.)?
- Is there anything you wish you'd asked your neurologist sooner?

I'm so confused and scared and feel completely lost on how to help my baby. Anything helps. Thank you. 🖤

To everyone who have had a dog since early 2010s. How's your pup doing now?
I think my sweet 14 year old puppy is coming to her final chapter. I just wanna say to everybody who is going into their final chapter with their furry family member. That you are not alone. I am extremely sorry it's going on. Hope you have someone close with you to share the lovely memories you have had with your doggie

Do you think this will pass safely ?

Any idea what this could be? Dog is eating and drinking like normal but has been coughing and reverse sneezing

We're at a loss and hoping for some advice. I will try to condense this down as much as possible.

About 10 weeks ago, we adopted a dog. He is a rescue from a puppy mill. He is a black lab, but we suspect a mix, possibly pitbull. He is about 8 months old. He is a sweetheart of a dog. Fun, playful...everything you want a dog to be.

After about a month, I had him outside with our other dog, a 3-year-old female yellow lab, purebred from a breeder. He vomited. Right after he vomited, his hair stood up on his back, and he lunged at our yellow lab, not playfully like he had done before, but in anger. She did nothing to provoke him.

We were concerned that he might be in pain, maybe from a blockage, so we took him to the emergency vet. No blockages, nothing wrong, just an upset stomach. The vet there said the aggression isn't likely due to illness, but given that he is a rescue, it's resource guarding. We gave him soft food like canned pumpkin to help. It did help, but he aggressively defended it. He does not resource guard most things, just vomit and soft food, though he did guard his stool once.

After a couple of days, things were fine. A week or so later, he vomited again, and became aggressive. Lunging at me, barking, growling, hair raised and ready to fight. I had to get around him, then grab something to offer him in replacement of the vomit. He took it, I got a gate up and was able to get it cleaned up. Unlike the other times he has vomited, when it's just food or stomach acid, this time it had non-food items in it as well (pillow stuffing). He normally eats his vomit, though this time I was able to get him away from it.

A couple of weeks after the first incident, he had a vet appointment. He was aggressive there, but only once they started trying to poke him. He otherwise was friendly and let the vet examine him. The vet said many things about the behavior, but the gist was that this type of behavior can't be cured, only mitigated with training.

A couple of nights ago, he was sleeping in our bed, which is routine. He jumped down from the bed, which is his indication that he needs to go outside. No problem, I usually just get up, take him out, everything is awesome. This particular morning, he jumped down, and when I went to meet him at the door, he momentarily came at me like he was guarding. This time, there was nothing, and he snapped out of it quickly, we went outside, all was good.

The next night, early in the morning, I had fallen asleep in the recliner in the living room. He usually sleeps on the couch and will wake me when he wants to go out. That morning he either tried to wake me and I didn't, or he didn't try. Either way, he had an accident and pooped on the floor. I went to clean it up, and he jumped off the couch and tried to get me to stop. He was again being aggressive and started eating the poop. I was able to coax him to the kitchen, where I tossed down a treat, then quickly put up a baby gate. I was able to finish cleaning, but he was trying to get over the gate and was very upset.

Then we come to this morning.

He was in bed with us. He jumped down. I got up thinking he needed to go out. What actually happened was that he had vomited. As soon as I got to the corner of the bed heading for the door, he attacked. I retreated back onto the bed. He was between us, the vomit, and the door. I was on the bed, back to the wall facing the dog and the door. He had his front paws up on the bed, being highly aggressive. We tried to talk him down, couldn't distract with a treat. We were essentially cornered.

After a few moments of him being off the bed and warning us off, he jumped up onto the bed and came at me. He was coming straight for my face and I used my left hand to push him back. He lunged again, and I pushed him again. He bit my wrist, puncturing the skin in three places and causing nerve numbness. I am glad he didn't get my face. I remembered I had PB cups in my nightstand, we took one out, and he ate that. The high-value treat snapped him out of it. I was able to get up and get past him, open the door, and take him out. By that time he was back to normal.

We took him to the vet today to rule out a medical trigger. His 4Dx SNAP test was completely negative for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases. However, his panic response to being handled was so severe that even after giving him a sedative, it took three vet techs to hold him down for the blood draw.

We have young kids and a 4-month-old grandson. If at the moment the dog had been in that state and our 8-year-old opened the door—which she had done just 20 minutes before—what happens? If he vomits, which dogs do sometimes, and the baby is nearby, what happens? They are sobering thoughts.

The advice we're seeking is: could there be something else physiological affecting this dog? Can he be saved? Would training actually help manage this in a house with kids? We don't want to get rid of the dog, but we also have serious safety concerns. Thoughts?

I left my purse on the floor with a half eaten chocolate chunk cookie. I got it from a Barnes and noble cafe. I looked up the ingredients and didn’t see xylitol listed thankfully. What do I do?

We were playing outside tonight, then he started whining and limping. I picked him up and his paw pad was wrinkled up. Does he need to go to vet?

Anyone’s dog do this air licking? Anxiety, focal seizures, or something else?

He’ll sometimes do it after eating or when he seems irritated. Usually brief, but tonight it happened on and off for about 10 minutes after waking up thinking the cat was touching him. Sometimes he pauses and looks when called, then resumes. He’s acting normal now.

Already talking with my vet and sending videos. Just looking for people who’ve dealt with something similar, what did it turn out to be, and how did you figure it out? Trying to get some perspective before spending even more money.

Hi everyone! I was wondering if anyone had any tips or training video recommendations to help with training my puppy!

The goal is to train her to be non reactive around people and other animals, to the point she can have full focus on me and not be bothered. her reactivity is not aggression, but rather a ton of excitement, but she whines, barks, jumps, and lunges at people any time we walk past anyone.

Also any tips on making the "leave it" process easier?

I have a 3 year old dog and I feel like I am doing everything I'm supposed to for his teeth, but he is still getting tartar buildup. His daily dental health routine consists of:

- 1 whimzee chew

- PlaqueOff dental powder added to food

- brushing with Petsmile toothpaste

Most of the teeth are good but these specific ones have tartar. I focus on them in particular when I brush but it doesn't seem to matter. Should I buy a VOHC approved water additive? Should I get tooth cleaning wipes? I don't want to overload on adding things to his diet but I don't want him developing a tooth or gum disease.

Hello, I'm in desperate need of help, my 13 year old Yorkshire Terrier got her gallbladder removed due to the huge amount of biliary sludge she had and we were told all her tests pre-surgery came out really good for a senior dog and a surgery would be perfectly ok.

She stayed hospitalized for a week till yesterday and around the 5th day she started to develop problems on her liver, yesterday the vet told us we could do some trial days until saturday to see if a change in her environment (she's very anxious) would lessen reflux. However both yesterday and today she won't eat, I've tried forcing her but the amount I've managed is very little, we also regulate how much water she drinks because we noticed she will drink A LOT and immediately have reflux, she also has very little energy. She still has liver issues because her pee is very yellow and so are her eyes, she's on 4 meds.

We were advised to give her mostly chicken or other foods/treats she really likes, but none have worked, we have also given her a bit of electrolyte.

Please, if anybody has tips on how we could lessen her reflux/vomit, and what to do about the food or about the liver problems, I would be very thankful, if there is more info needed I'll provide it. (Not a native english speaker, sorry for any mistakes)

Well we made it almost two years before the other leg ACL tore. We have a 9 year old shepard mix. He tore his first ACL in 2024 and we did surgery. Recovery was hard but a successful surgery. We suspect it’s a partial tear and have a consultation next week with his orthopedic surgeon who did the first TPLO surgery. We likely won’t be able to do the surgery till early December. But I’m not sure how long it’s been partially torn. Maybe 2-3 months? Anyways, I’m getting a little anxious about waiting till early December, and wondering if it makes more sense to do it sooner. I know the surgeon will say it probably won’t be too life altering but considering he’s already at risk for arthritis from his first surgery I don’t want to make anymore risks.
Has anyone waited a month or two while before they did the surgery and still had an okay outcome months later?

We're seeing the vet soon anyway, and I'll bring it up, but I've been assuming this to be a cutaneous horns and was curious what you all think. It is definitely quite solid, does not feel fleshy at all. Doesn't bother him in the slightest. It's not that ruddy irl, that's caused by the camera flash.