WoofGate - The Dog Lovers Community

g/dog-allergies

our 3 year old yellow lab has been on apoquel for two years for environmental atopy and this spring her skin got significantly worse despite the meds, trying to decide between adding cytopoint vs starting intradermal testing for immunotherapy vs switching to the newer JAK inhibitor and i cannot tell which path is right for where we are

Juniper is a 3 year old yellow lab, we got her at 8 weeks from a hunt line breeder with no family history of skin issues that the breeder disclosed. The first 18 months were uneventful. The first sign...

Posted by lab_atopy_three_years_mom•12h ago

g/dog-nutrition

our 6 year old beagle has been diagnosed with chronic acid reflux after a year of intermittent regurgitation, the GP vet wants to start with a feeding tube trial and the GI specialist is recommending a hydrolyzed diet plus prokinetics, and i cannot tell which path actually addresses the underlying problem

Hazel is a 6 year old beagle, we got her at 9 weeks from a working line breeder, no medical history of note until about 14 months ago when she started doing this thing where she would regurgitate...

Posted by beagle_reflux_6yo_mom•16h ago

eighteen months in with our vizsla and i did the breed research properly before getting him and i still got the velcro temperament reality wrong, writing the honest review because the breed club page and the rescue page both undersell what daily life is actually like with this breed

Beckett is an 18 month old hungarian vizsla, we got him at 9 weeks from a hunt line breeder with health testing and we did the breed research thoroughly before we committed. I read the AKC standard,...

Posted by vizsla_18mo_velcro_reality•17h ago

g/separation-anxiety

our 4 year old rescue lab spent 18 months in slow behavioral rehab for severe separation anxiety and we are finally on the other side of it, writing the honest long arc version because most online content stops at week 12 and the part that actually matters happens after that

Roan is a 4 year old lab mix, we got him at 2.5 years from a rescue that pulled him from a rural shelter where he had been picked up as a stray. The intake notes mentioned "may have some separation...

Posted by rescue_lab_sep_anxiety_win•21h ago

g/dog-allergies

standard poodle 5 years old with 18 months of recurring ear infections, full allergy panel just came back showing 23 environmental allergens including 9 grasses, and three vets are giving us three different answers on cytopoint vs apoquel vs immunotherapy

Beatrix is a 5 year old standard poodle, came home at 12 weeks, was a healthy dog with no allergy signs at all until about 18 months ago when her right ear started acting up. We did the usual thing,...

Posted by poodle_chronic_ears_5yo•1d ago

g/french-bulldog

our 4 year old french bulldog had BOAS soft palate surgery 8 months ago, sharing the honest version of recovery and outcomes because the post op content online is mostly success montages and skips the ugly middle months that almost broke us

Pierre is a 4 year old french bulldog, we got him at 10 weeks from a breeder who tested for the things you are supposed to test for but did not do BOAS grading on her dogs, which i now know is a red...

Posted by frenchie_boas_8mo_post•1d ago

g/crate-training

our 8 month old lab loved his crate for six months and then one day in march decided he hated it and now wont go near it without screaming, is this a phase or did we genuinely break something

Gus is an 8 month old yellow lab, came home at 9 weeks, was crate trained from day one and was honestly the dream case study. He went in willingly for naps by week three, slept through the night in...

Posted by gus_lab_8mo_crate•1d ago

wally turns 13 next month and we are in the slow decline phase that the senior golden books skip over, sharing the daily reality because the senior dog community online is mostly memorial posts and not enough about what the in between looks like

Wally is a 12 year and 11 month old golden retriever, getting his birthday cake in three weeks, has been the central animal in our family since he was 8 weeks old. He has been a healthy dog his whole...

Posted by wally_golden_13yrs•1d ago

first time mini dachshund owner and ive been told three completely different things about whether ramps actually prevent IVDD or if its mostly genetics and im trying to figure out what the actual evidence says before mira is big enough to hurt herself

Mira is 10 weeks, a 4 pound mini dachshund from a breeder who does x-ray screening on her dogs. We got her on saturday and she has spent the last week trying to launch herself off the couch every time...

Posted by mira_doxie_firsttime•1d ago

gretel is 14 months past her osteosarcoma diagnosis and the oncologist gave her 4 to 8 months last april, writing the long survivor post i wish i had read when we were sitting in the parking lot of the vet hospital trying to figure out if we should even start treatment

Gretel is a 7 year old harlequin great dane, 142 pounds at diagnosis, was limping intermittently on her right front for about three weeks in march 2024 before we took her in. The x-ray showed a lesion...

Posted by gretel_dane_11years•2d ago

g/border-collie

my 4 month old border collie is starting to herd the kids and the broom and im genuinely not sure if i should redirect it now or let the genetics play out, looking for people who chose either path and can say which they would choose again

Kade is 16 weeks, red merle, from a working line breeder in idaho who places into both sport homes and pet homes. We are a pet home with two kids (6 and 9) and i was honest with the breeder about that...

Posted by kade_bcpuppy_4mo•2d ago

pippa is 8 months out of the 47 dog hoarding seizure and writing the long arc post i wish someone had written before i adopted her, because month 4 was nothing like the rescue website prepared me for and i almost gave up at month 5

Pippa is approximately 11 years old (vet estimate, no actual records), 8 pound chihuahua mix, came out of a 47 dog hoarding case in central indiana in september. She had matted fur removed at intake,...

Posted by pippa_hoarding_survivor•2d ago

our 13yo lab is showing what the vet calls early canine cognitive dysfunction and im trying to decide between starting anipryl now or pushing supplements first, looking for people whove been through this decision

Murphy is 13.5, black lab, 78 pounds, our second dog and the love of my life. about 5 months ago we started noticing small things. he would stand in the corner of the kitchen for a minute before...

Posted by murphys_mom_13yr•2d ago

i bought a working line rottweiler 18 months ago thinking working line just meant "from working stock" and im writing this so the next person searching reddit before buying their first rottie understands what i did not

Kasimir is 18 months, 95 pounds, from a serbian protection sport kennel that imports semen from titled working dogs in europe. on paper he has SchH3 / IPO3 dogs in his pedigree four generations deep....

Posted by kasimir_workingline•3d ago

g/dog-nutrition

eight months of chronic soft stool in our 4yo poodle, three diet switches, two vets, and i finally caved and saw a veterinary nutritionist, sharing where we are because i wish someone had told me to skip the bouncing around

Otis is a 4yo standard poodle, intact male, 52 pounds, otherwise totally healthy. starting around last september his stool went from picture perfect to soft and inconsistent, sometimes pudding...

Posted by switched_food_three_times•3d ago

g/behavior-issues

14 months into reactivity rehab with our rescue and i cant tell if we are doing well or stuck in a plateau, looking for honest perspective from people further along

Juno is a 2yo aussie mix we adopted at 8 months from a rural shelter. she came with bite history listed but no other details, was returned to the shelter twice before us. on leash from day one she has...

Posted by reactive_pup_progress•3d ago

g/hiking-with-dogs

first multi day backpacking trip with my dog last month after 4 years of day hiking, the gap between day hiking fit and overnight fit was bigger than i expected and im writing this for anyone planning their first

Jasper is a 6yo aussie shepherd mix, 42 pounds, in genuinely excellent shape for a dog his age. weve done day hikes together since he was 2, probably 800 trail miles by now including a few 14 mile...

Posted by trailpaws_jasper•3d ago

g/multi-dog-households

brought home a 9 week old puppy when our lab was 11 and an only child his whole life, six months in and the result was not what anyone warned me about

Wickham is an 11yo yellow lab and has been our only dog since we got him at 10 weeks. he is the calm low key kind of lab, sleeps 18 hours a day, never destructive, would happily live alone with one...

Posted by two_dog_house_finally•3d ago

g/work-from-home-dogs

i was full WFH for 4 years and went back to the office 3 days a week last month, sharing what actually happened to our dog because i was not prepared for it

Ozzy is a 4yo mini aussie, we got him in march 2022 when i was already a year into being fully remote. for the first four years of his life i was home essentially every day. i worked from the couch,...

Posted by wfh_4yrs_to_hybrid•4d ago

had a really rough first visit at a new vet last week and i cant tell if the practice is bad or if i am being unfair, looking for help thinking through whether to switch or give it another chance

Background. Mosby is our 7yo cavalier king charles, we have had him since 9 weeks, he has been a patient at the same family practice his whole life. our previous vet retired in march and her practice...

Posted by newvet_uneasy_questioner•4d ago