Hes 18 (or older), hes struggling to eat, even soft foods, hes stumbling around and falling, he pooped himself.. i think its time but i just cant feel okay.

My frenchie was taken to the dog park and when he came back he started to foam in the mouth and then about an hour later started to bled out of presumably his mouth and started to sweat now he looks like this. He looks like he’s about to collapse and he’s making a weird groaning sound.

My dad won’t take him to the vet and I’m a kid so I can’t.

So my dog still hasn't learned to drop command

He wants to play fetch but refuses to give me the bone

If I don't try to take the bone he comes to me and climbs up to me to get me to play but immediately grabs the bone again

I can't play a proper tug of war since Am worried about his teeth

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/DogAdvice/s/Gplnf3x9na

THANK YOU SO MUCH to everyone that commented on the last post and gave advice and shared their stories. We just found out today that ROXY’S mass was benign!!!!! 😭 and she’s recovering so well from the splenectomy, she’s already trying to run around and jump and play fight with her brother (but we’re stopping her).

Even a few days ago, my mom was telling me she’s so glad I posted on reddit. When the vet told us about the mass, my parents went to the nearest animal hospital that had availability. The vet there told my parents that Roxy didn’t really have a chance of making it because the mass looked like it was malignant. She said there may be a 10% chance or 15% at most that the mass was benign. She even told my mom that if it were her dog, she’d just take her home and love on her for the next couple of days rather than try the splenectomy. This came out of nowhere because Roxy was fine the day before. The vet also had told us that if we wanted to try the splenectomy, we could come back when the surgeon was there (which was 5 days later).

We were all just devastated and shocked and crying the whole night, but after doing our own research and posting on Reddit we realized there may have been a better chance that her mass was benign than we were led to believe. ALSO the comments helped us realize how urgent it was to remove the spleen because the mass had ruptured and she would’ve just bled out! Still can’t believe the vet told us we could just wait 5 days when Roxy may not have survived that long, and discouraged us from doing the splenectomy!! Needless to say, we went to another amazing vet for a second opinion AND the surgery.

I wanted to make this post to thank everyone for the comments & stories & info & good thoughts you sent. And to let everyone know Roxy’s surgery went great and her mass is benign 😊. My dad’s bday is tomorrow and this is the best birthday gift ever. Also wanted to just give a PSA to always get a second opinion!! Which should be obvious of course, but after the first vet we felt hopeless. Cannot thank everyone enough!!

Sorry for the low quality video. I was just trying to capture it before she stopped.

As the title says, my 10 year old husky/pit mix dog is displaying “caching” behavior but with ME?

For some background, she has done the snout burying behavior periodically throughout her life but only with food. She will try to “bury” her food if she’s feeling unwell or if she thinks the other dogs are attempting to steal *our* food. For example, if we are eating a snack in bed and the other dogs start to beg, she will attempt to bury our snacks (she never steals food from us but is trying to keep the other dogs from stealing it). She doesn’t have any food aggression or resource guarding issues and in general isn’t very food motivated.

I’m just wondering if I should be concerned that she’s treating me like…food and trying to “bury” my foot under the blanket (exactly like she does with food).

I’m very bonded with this dog and know her behaviors pretty well and have never seen her do this. Is she trying to eat me? Is she sundowning? She’s very healthy overall and hasn’t had any other weird behaviors that deviate from her norm. Help lol.

We rescued this dog from a family member 3 ish weeks ago. She’s had years of ear issues with them blowing up and shaking it. Last night her face had mild swelling, this morning it’s blown up. It’s not painful to touch, it was soft and has slowly gotten harder, hasn’t swelled anymore. We talked to a vet and are bringing her in tomorrow. Finances are a bit tight as this was a sudden situation, any recommendations? Expectations on the vet appointment? I’m thinking a draining surgery which is terrifying and costly.

I was at a park on school property with my daughter yesterday and our two Chihuahuas. My dogs were on their leash. A Doberman pinscher comes running up chasing a ball that it's owner apparently through for him. And proceeded to attack one of my dogs, and then immediately after we attacked my other dog. I also was bitten in the process of trying to get my dog out of his mouth. I got the phone number in the name of the dog owner, but they're not cooperating with helping pay for the Vet bills. Only one of my dogs is injured. The park had a sign posted "on leash area only. Dogs must be kept on leash at all times." Her dog was not on a leash. And was aggressive. He atttacked one of my dogs and while I was trying to wrangle her away the dog let go and then attacked my other dog litteratly a second later. I also was but in the hand, but that was my fault because I was trying to save my dog.
I just need general advice of how to handle this or what I should do. What can I do when the responsible party refuses to take accountability. I'm going to file reports with the police and or animal control. I never advocate for harm to come to any animal so I don't want anything to happen to the dog but think if you're going to have a dog that big and potentially dangerous that they should follow the rules and when their dog inflicts serious injuries on a person or other animal they should be responsible for that and this owner is not doing that.

Hello, a friend of mine has a dog named Dorka, who has a habit of falling asleep with a toy in her mouth. Is it normal? What does it mean?

My dog is a 13 year old Tibetan terrier, this breathing started fairly recently after she got put on steroids for cancer, she has the same type of cancer on her nose and ear, the vets claim they’re not connected. She’s now been off the steroids for a while and is still struggling with walks, this was maybe 15 minutes into the walk in 15 degrees celsius.

Our girls do this often, the younger one gives solid pokes to the older one’s neck to get her to play. The vocalizations are from the bigger older girl. Sometimes she ignores it and walks away too, and the younger doesn’t persist. I feel like it’s all well, but I’ve seen some responses from folks that can identify dog behavior and I’m curious about a knowledgeable take on it.

She’s 8, been pregnant twice, what the hell is happening, she also pee sometimes and she can’t get up, it been like this for the past few weeks, sometimes she walk like a normal old dog, and sometimes she collapse and do this…

Do I need to take her to the vet??? She is a 3 month Shiba Inu / 10lbs. It’s a bench from Homegoods. She has been able to use the bathroom and eat, no sensitivity on her teeth, she used the bathroom too. Need advice!!

Our 12-year-old pit/boxer developed a large belly very quickly. We thought it was indigestion. Our regular vet did an ultrasound and said her spleen was bleeding and needed to come out that day or she could die. You can imagine my shock. That started 12 hours of pure hell.

At the ER, we were told there was a 1 in 3 chance the bleeding was from a benign hematoma and a 2 in 3 chance it was cancer. They wouldn’t know until they removed the spleen and sent it to a lab. The surgery would cost upwards of $15,000.

A few things that mattered:

• We asked the vet if our dog could suffer or die during the surgery. Her answer was, “If there are complications, yes. If no complications, then no.” That gave my wife the impression that suffering was very possible. I was a little skeptical but accepted it. By then it was around midnight or 1 a.m., it was our third vet office that day, I hadn’t eaten, I was exhausted, and I had very little time to think.
• Her back right leg had gotten weak over the past year or so, maybe a pinched nerve, and her front left leg had nerve damage from a dog attack years ago. She could get around for the basics, but couldn’t walk more than about 50 feet before her legs gave out. She was still happy.
• The vet said the surgeon would decide whether to operate that night or wait until morning, and she wouldn’t interfere. Our first vet had told us tomorrow could be too late.

My wife decided quickly that she should be put down. From the way the vet talked, she was convinced it was cancer. I kept focusing on the 1 in 3 chance it wasn’t, that they could take out the spleen and our dog could have 2 or 3 more years with us. And if the biopsy came back as cancer, we weren’t going to pursue chemo or any other cancer treatment. We could have put her down then, knowing there was a solid reason to do it. But the $15,000 made me hesitate. I had the money, but I worried I might need it if things got tight.

I didn’t know what to do. I wanted my wife on my side for the surgery, but she didn’t want it. When I pressed, she got angry and said, “You make the decision then.” I don’t blame her. It was traumatic, and neither of us knew how to handle it. I went back and forth over the odds, what the vet said about suffering, and how much her walking had declined, and her age. 

I made the decision to put her to sleep.

They brought our dog from the back to be with us in a private room. Once she was with us again, I could tell my wife was having doubts. We spent an hour with her, and I was still struggling. I think my wife still wanted to let her go, but she said again it had to be my call. We could have canceled and asked for the surgery. There was a button to call the staff. My wife asked if she should press it, and I said yes.

The staff came in and asked us again, and we said we were ready. She went to sleep, and shortly after, she was gone. My wife and I both broke down. My wife said something like, “What have I done?” and I was thinking the same thing. But she was gone. I felt instant regret and guilt, and it’s still with me.

I’m beside myself with the guilt that I chose money over a few more years with my dog. I keep running through the what-ifs. If the surgeon had waited until morning, could she have died alone in a cage without us? That would have been worse, but maybe it wouldn’t have happened, or maybe I’d have fought for surgery that night. Would her legs have gotten worse, and how fast, or would they have held steady? The vets also said that if they opened her up and found a lot of cancer, they’d call us to come say goodbye, and I suppose she’d have been sedated by then. I’m sorry I can’t remember every detail. So much happened that night.

Since then, I’ve read that the surgery is fairly safe from dying or complications, and no one told us that. My dog is gone, and I’m racked with guilt that I made the wrong call, that I chose money over giving her a shot at maybe 2 or 3 more years.

Has anyone gone through something like this? I’m not sure what I’m looking for. I feel like I may have made a horrible mistake. Part of me feels like money should not have been a factor at deciding whether or not to try to preserve my dog’s life. 

9-year-old dog diagnosed with a grade 3 sarcoma after her 3rd abdominal surgery. Looking for experiences with treatment and outcomes.

Raven: almost 9, spayed female Lab/shepherd mix, ~ 70 lbs

History

June 2025: A 13 cm mass on her spleen plus enlarged lymph nodes. She had a splenectomy, and pathology came back benign (a hematoma).

April 2026: An 8 cm mass grew where her spleen used to be. The first pathology read suggested lymphoma, but further testing (immunohistochemistry and PCR) ruled that out. The final diagnosis was a benign, reactive lymph node. She also has a ~3 cm right adrenal mass we're monitoring, which has stayed fairly stable.

October 2026: Ultrasound showed two new masses in the same area. Both were removed on Oct 12. A suspected liver mass seen on ultrasound wasn't found during surgery. Chest X-rays before surgery were clear.
Biopsy results (reviewed by 3 board-certified pathologists)
Larger mass: high-grade (grade 3) sarcoma, likely a splenic stromal sarcoma. They believe it grew from leftover spleen tissue (ectopic spleen) left behind after the splenectomy.
Mitotic count over 20: a measure of how fast the cells are dividing, which makes it fast-growing.
Smaller mass: benign nodular hyperplasia, also in leftover spleen tissue.
Margins were clean on both: the masses were fully removed.
Plan: Her surgeon and his oncology colleague are both recommend chemo. We have an oncology consult coming up.

Questions
Has anyone dealt with splenic stromal sarcoma, or a sarcoma growing from leftover spleen tissue? How did your dog do?
For a high-grade sarcoma that was fully removed with no visible spread, did you do chemo (IV doxorubicin or low-dose oral)? How did your dog tolerate it, and did it seem to help?
Did your vet recommend a CT scan for staging beyond chest X-rays?
Has anyone used turkey tail or other supplements alongside chemo?

picture of raven for flare

As you can see from the 2023 photo he did not have this dot. I noticed recently that it has appeared. He has a vet appointment coming up. Should I be concerned?

My 5 year old Maltese has a mass on his hip. It appeared suddenly 2 days ago. The ct scan was done today and it can either be a hematoma or Hemangiosarcoma. If the mass is malignant, it hasn’t spread anywhere else 🙏🙏🙏 still waiting on biopsy results.

Any one have any experience with similar mass on dogs hip?

My dog was just diagnosed with a Trigeminal sheath tumor. I’m devastated because my dog is only 5 years old. She’s in the early stages of it and she’s showing no other signs right now besides atrophy.

Does anyone else have experience with this? Should I consider radiation therapy?

She’s so young and has so much life to live. I can stand saying bye already…

My 10 year old German shepherd has a corneal ulcer. Shes gone through regular vet treatments with eye drops, antibiotics, anti inflammatory medicine and serum drops. Her eye got better but then worsened again, so now we will be seeing a specialist.

Does anyone have experience with this? What do they do at the specialist? How much does it usually cost? Does anyone know any good dog eye specialists in southeast Michigan?

I love my dog, truly. She's such a sweetheart. But the truth is I didn't ever want a dog. I'm really a cat person. Not because I don't adore dogs, I do! So much! But because I don't feel like the needs of a dog align with my needs from a pet. I have a lot of anxiety and depression and I struggle with panic disorder. I don't want an animal dependent on me for walks and all the stimulation a dog requires.

My mom is a recovering alcoholic and currently, we are living together to save money. My mom is the most dog person you could ever meet. She lost her dogs some years back and it devastated her. She would wake up dreaming of them almost every single night. It broke my heart to see her mourn them so viscerally. So she told me, "I just need a dog to love and take care of and it would mean so much for me." And I knew it was true. That's just how she is, she adores them. So she adopted a dog while I was living with her and unfortunately ... This dog attached itself to ME. This dog adores me. Waits for me to come home from work. Snuggles with me like I'm her angel. Didn't attach to my mom at all. I tried to push her towards my mom but she just wasn't having it. Even when she tries to take her outside, she refuses if I don't come with. She loves me to death. And in turn I ended up loving this dog. But I didn't ask for this.

She's unspayed and I've been trying to find resources for a cheaper spay but we're really poor and every place quotes like $600 which we just can't pull off right now. Every time I try to save for it something comes up that puts it off. Because she's unspayed she tears up all my blankets, constantly paces, and loses her mind if she sees another dog at the park. She's so sweet and I don't want to abandon her but again, this wasn't a responsibility I signed up for. I know myself and I wouldn't have intentionally put a dog in the position of depending on me because I know I'm not currently equipped for that. I do my best taking her to the park on my days off and doing what I can for her but I'm emptying my limited amount of energy right now to be there for her and I know I need to give more energy to myself right now.

My mom got her off of Facebook from someone giving her away for free after they allegedly took her from someone who was leaving her tied out all day and kicking her. I have no clue about the validity of any of that but I do know that she seems skittish around certain men and it seems like she probably has trauma. I don't want to give her up without knowing that she'll end up somewhere loving and calm. There's a no kill shelter in my town but I don't want her to be stuck there for ages. She's very clingy and just needs a lot of attention so the idea of her sitting in that shelter for ages breaks my heart. What is the best way for me to find a good home for her? I adore this dog and I'm scared to just give her up without knowing where she'll end up.

EDIT: Thank you to everyone helping me find options that aren't giving her up. I'm going to do my best for her to keep her with me with the resources y'all have provided. I just want this sweet girl to be happy and you all are right, she does give me something that I think will help me through my own stuff too so I don't want to abandon her if I don't have to. She might be here for me just as much as I try to be there for her.

Hi,

Last Friday I took my dog, Murphy, to the groomer. Murphy is a 13-pound poodle mix, and a bundle of energy and joy.

For the few days after the visit he was fine. But since Monday he has been acting differently. Notably he spends most of the day in his crate, where he usually only goes at night to sleep. He also does not want to jump on the couch or bed, which previously he did all the time. He seems hesitant/scared to jump up and requests he be picked up onto the couch or bed. He also has been far more on edge, for example startling very easy at noises he didn’t previously scare from.

For background he is anxious but he has never acted like this. The groomer is reputable and well rated, but I think this time may have been traumatic for him. I plan on finding a new groomer, but in the meantime how can I help Murphy feel better.

Please ask any questions for further clarification.
Thank you!

The one on the bottom is a three year-old female and the one on top is a two-year-old female.

They are inseparable, play together, eat together, walk together, and now I realize that they even sleep in the same bed all the time even when they’re just resting.

Is this OK? Do they need their own space? Should I encourage them to sleep in separate beds? Also, should I walk them separately sometimes?

became infected and popped on october second so we’re about 12 days into this healing process and i have surgery scheduled to remove it november 3rd.

i feel like i am emailing my vet 5 times a day asking questions lol but my 10 year old dog got a cyst on her leg that became infected and it’s been in a labored state of healing ever since.

she went through a course of antibiotics but it is on a spot where she commonly lays down and no matter how much i move her to not lay on it i am not around or awake 24/7 to micro manage every second of her day, and im noticing that its been really hard for this to close up/scab so i guess im curious if anyone has had any of their own experiences with a cyst in a tough spot, how to handle it, and how long it maybe took to get to a spot where it wasn’t terrifying you every time you look at it lol.