Want to walk into the vet's office feeling confident and well-prepared? Explore our dog health archives to learn about symptoms, diagnoses, medications, and more.
To ensure that everything you see here is accurate and up-to-date, our health guides are either vet-written or vet-reviewed. Scroll down to start browsing.
Count your dog's breaths while they sleep: more than 30 a minute at rest is a reason to call the vet the same day. Labored breathing with an extended neck, blue-tinged gums or an unwillingness to lie down is an emergency. Common causes range from heat stress and pain to heart disease, pneumonia and laryngeal paralysis in older large breeds.
Dogs cool themselves by panting, so heavy panting after a run or on a warm day is normal. Panting at rest in a cool room is not. Pain, anxiety, steroid medication, Cushing's disease and early heat stroke are the usual culprits. Flat-faced breeds such as pugs and bulldogs overheat faster and should be watched closely in summer.
By age three, most dogs have some periodontal disease, and that is the usual source of bad breath. A sweet, acetone-like smell can point to diabetes, while a urine-like odor is sometimes linked to kidney disease. Daily brushing with a dog-safe toothpaste makes the biggest difference, with dental chews as a supplement rather than a substitute.
True food allergies are less common than owners expect, and the trigger is almost always a protein the dog has eaten for years, most often chicken, beef or dairy. The only reliable diagnosis is an 8 to 12 week elimination diet using a novel or hydrolyzed protein, with no treats, table scraps or flavored medication in between.
A single vomit followed by a normal, hungry dog can usually be watched at home with small, bland meals. Repeated vomiting, retching without producing anything, blood, a bloated belly or lethargy need a vet the same day. Unproductive retching in a deep-chested breed can be bloat, which is a life-threatening emergency.
Most bouts settle within 48 hours on a bland diet of boiled chicken and white rice offered in small portions. See a vet sooner if there is blood, black tarry stool, vomiting as well, or if your dog is a puppy, a senior, or seems weak. Keep water available throughout.
Spaying removes the ovaries and usually the uterus, preventing pregnancy, heat cycles and the life-threatening womb infection pyometra. Timing matters by breed size: many vets now recommend waiting until after the first heat in large and giant breeds to protect joint development. Discuss the right age for your dog.
Core vaccines protect against distemper, parvovirus, adenovirus and rabies. Puppies need a series of shots because antibodies from the mother's milk can block early doses. Non-core vaccines such as leptospirosis, kennel cough and Lyme depend on where you live and how your dog spends their time.
A healthy dog drinks roughly 50 to 60 ml per kilogram of body weight a day, more in heat or after exercise. A sudden rise in thirst is one of the earliest signs of kidney disease, diabetes and Cushing's, so it is worth knowing your dog's normal...
Vet-written guide covering causes, the signs to watch for at home, how it is diagnosed and what treatment and recovery usually involve.
Vet-written guide covering causes, the signs to watch for at home, how it is diagnosed and what treatment and recovery usually involve.
Vet-written guide covering causes, the signs to watch for at home, how it is diagnosed and what treatment and recovery usually involve.
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