Sarah

I just recently found out that I m allergic to soy a few months ago, it kind of came out of nowhere. I had a rash around my mouth the first time, and again when I purposely tried food with soy a few weeks later but it was worse and more painful. Just a day or so ago I ate food that I did not know had soy and I ve been breaking out in hives ever since, as soon as the older ones fade new ones pop up. They are all over my body except my face, but even where I don t have hives I m just itchy all over. I have been taking benadryl and it helps but is not making the hives go away completely. I am starting to worry that maybe the next time I accidentally eat soy I could have something even worse happen, my question is am I worrying too much or should I go see a doctor and see if I should be carrying an epi pen with me just in case?

Shortly after I ate dinner, like a few minutes later, I noticed redness around my lips that wasn t itchy or anything but was very sore. It s been a few hours and it s almost gone. As far as I know up until now I ve never had a food allergy in my life but I can t think of anything else it would be. Can you develop allergies to food as an adult?

I just got a pug mix a few weeks ago, he's 2 or 3 years old. He is protective of the house and yard, which I don't mind I like my dogs to bark when people come over. But he is now barking at people when they leave, he charges the door and barks til the door closes. He gets really close to people's feet. Why would he bark when they leave?

So this is just out of curiosity, I'm an adult and it's been a really long time since any of this happened I am fine. Me, my mom and my brother were all physically abused by my dad til my mom left when I was 7. I have maybe 9 or 10 memories of my childhood before age 10. I still have the after effects like ptsd but I barely remember anything, which is probably a blessing considering all that my mom remembers is pretty bad. I know repression is common in sexual abuse victims but I can't really say one way or the other if that happened to me. I don't think so but my dad was one sick individual known to prey on young girls and I can't remember so this has been really bothering me.

My German Shepherd has been acting aggressively to male dogs lately. He is 1.5 years old, not neutered.

What happens is, he sees a dog and starts to get very excited and pull very hard. I try not to let him near the dog but usually the owner will see him and want the dogs to meet, then I have to ask what gender their dog is. If the dog is female, they can meet and everything is fine. If the dog is male, I have to say no because 9 times out of 10 he will attack the dog. He never makes a sound and seems like he wants to play right up to the second he strikes, so there is little to no warning. He seems so friendly that people tend to not believe me and let their dogs run up to him anyway and I have to step in front of them.

My conflict is, he is very people friendly and he really enjoys people coming up to pet him so I don't want to scare people off by muzzling him. I am aware he needs training, I am talking about when he is in public places where I have no control over other people and their dogs like at the vet's office (which is in Petsmart, where we have the majority of our incidents) or on a walk.

My 10 month old pit bull mix has had 3 seizures in the last month and a half, 2 focal seizures and a grand mal earlier this evening. Her first 2 seizures all she did was snap her jaws and foam at the mouth, this last one she fell to her side, kicked, urinated, chomped her jaws and foamed at the mouth. She also hit her head on the wall when she fell to her side and has a bruise there now. (You can see it because the fur on her head is white.) She was VERY disoriented after the grand mal, she tried to get up and run around the house, she bumped into walls, crawled into the dog food bag and just stood there and ate from it. I called her name and shook her back gently but she didn't respond to me, when I pulled her out of the bag she seemed dazed, and still wasn't very responsive. She drank a TON of water, has been coughing on and off all night, and has been very lethargic since. Sometimes it seems like she's breathing pretty hard.

I called the vet immediately after the seizure, I described everything to them and they said to monitor her for the rest of the night and bring her in first thing tomorrow, which I am going to do. I also wrote down everything that happened tonight and the last 2 times she had focal seizures. What else can I do? What can I expect from the vet tomorrow? What would cause a dog under a year old to have seizures?

My 8 month old American Pit Bull Terrier spends pretty much her whole day searching for anything and everything she can chew up and swallow. She picks up bits of pretty much anything off of the floor, jumps onto the kitchen table to get to the cat food, counter surfs, will eat food off of your plate right in front of you, take it from your hands, drink from your glass right in front of you and gets into the trash. We've got lids on all our trash cans and when she gets into things we jump up and clap our hands and say no and she runs off, but she'll come right back and do it again, staring at us the whole time like she's doing it just to make us come after her. We push her off when she tries to take food from our hands but she comes right back. She'll walk by the table and stick her tongue into our glasses, take a drink and keep walking. We asked the vet if she thought the dog is underweight, she says she's at the ideal weight for her size so she's getting the right amount of food. If it was just begging when we ate I'd put her away at mealtimes but it's constant, 24/7 whenever she is awake she's looking for things to eat. I spend a fortune on toys that she just rips into pieces and tries to eat, and I'm constantly chasing her around the house and yelling at her. My roommate has a fairly cluttered room and the dog will headbutt his door until it opens to get in there and try to find something to eat. Pretty fed up at this point and I have no idea what to do now.

My pit bull puppy is about 7 1/2 months old and already rips kong toys to pieces. Are there any other toys out there for VERY aggressive chewers?

My APBT puppy has very sensitive skin, she chafes under her arms just from running around and playing, if she scratches at her collar her claws will leave welts that take a day or two to fade, when my German shepherd plays with her his teeth leave little red marks and scratches and I know he's not biting her very hard at all. She's not itchy at all really, just a scratch for a second on occasion, but I don't know if she will have allergy problems in the future. Her fur is thin to nonexistent on her stomach. Are there precautions I should be taking to keep her skin healthy?

My male dog is a one year old German Shepherd dog, I've had him since he was 8 weeks old, and we just recently got an American Pit Bull Terrier puppy, she's almost 5 months. He is very protective of his pack, and won't let dogs be all over or rough with the puppy. If they are calm, he is fine. If not he gets very agitated and aggressive, but not towards people, just animals. People can pet and play with her and he's fine. He's not fixed yet, we are letting him mature first, we just had the puppy spayed so I don't think it has anything to do with her being in heat or anything. It's been going on since we got her. He is submissive to me and my boyfriend, and very obedient. Any guesses as to why he's doing this? And any suggestions on how to train him to see that he doesn't need to be so protective over her? I don't want dogs to be rough with her, I wouldn't allow that, but I want him to see it's not his place to guard her so closely.

I have an APBT mix puppy and when we got her we were told she was 14 weeks old, which seems to be pretty accurate since she just started teething she has her adult teeth in the very front but her canines and all the teeth behind them are still baby teeth. We have an appointment to have her spayed in early May, when she will be six months.

But lately I have noticed my intact male German Shepherd sniffing her more than usual. Then today when he sniffed her, she had her tail to the side, which was unusual. When I took a shower before work tonight and tossed my dirty socks in the washer, I noticed some red stains on the bottom of the sock and my feet are not bleeding anywhere. I can't say for sure they came from her, I haven't seen any blood come from her at all. She has sat on the couch and whined a couple of times for no reason, that is also odd behavior from her.

I guess its possible she's older than I thought, I was told she was born in mid to late November so that would put her at about 4 1/2 to 5 months, give or take a week or so. Is it possible she is in heat?

Just got a puppy, no pedigree, all the woman said as to her breed was American Pit Bull Terrier. She looks pretty pure to me, but we have been telling people she is a lab mix to make them more comfortable around her. My boyfriend also thinks she is pure. She is 15 weeks old, so I know it's pretty difficult to tell. I am just looking for your best guess, if she is mixed or pure it doesn't change a thing we love her to pieces and she gets along perfectly with my other dog. Her name is Xena. :)

http://s290.photobucket.com/user/Dreworski/library...

I just got a 15 week old American pit bull terrier puppy this week from a friend. She said the home she originally sold the puppy to gave her back and when they did she noticed the puppy was now very shy and fearful so she believes they were abusive to her. I took her home and she pretty much instantly bonded to me and is never more than a step behind me. She is having some severe separation anxiety even if I just leave the room she cries and howls if she can't follow me. I live with my boyfriend and our roommates who are also both guys I am the only girl in the house. She is always very lively when she sees me after I've been gone even for a second she wags her tail and puts her paws on my leg and gives kisses. But when the guys enter the room she just stares at them and then hides behind me or gets in my lap. She moves away from them when they reach out to pet her but she doesn't growl or snap and will allow them to touch her she's just really scared. If a stranger reaches out to touch her she presses up against me as much as she can and shakes whether they are male or female but the reaction is stronger with males.

I would love for her to be more sociable with people she has been great with my other dog once she got used to him, he is the only one she is comfortable with besides me. But she doesn't seem to be getting used to the guys even though she seems to be adjusted to her new house. We have a lot of people over to our house all the time but I haven't really pushed her to go see anyone because she's just a puppy and has had a rough life even though she's so little. But at the same time because of her breed I want to socialize her to a point where she is at least indifferent to strangers. I have tried having them give her treats but she flinches when they bring their hands toward her face. I also need to work on her separation anxiety because as bad as it is after a week if I don't do anything it will get worse and I can't be with her 24/7.

He was asleep in his cage, when he suddenly started barking a really high pitched panicky bark. He stood up in his cage and thrashed around trying to get out. We jumped out of bed to let him out and as soon as we did he bolted out and hid in a corner and expressed his anal glands. We checked him over, he was not hurt, and he was walking fine. We let him outside and when he came back in he was fine, he grabbed a toy and laid on the end of our bed. It seemed like once he was out of the cage everything was ok. Did he wake up confused from a bad dream or is it something worse? He is a one year old intact male German Shepherd he has never done this before. He recently got his vaccines, a heartworm pill, a comfortis pill, and is on cephalexin for a skin infection.

So over the weekend, on friday night, I was bitten by a spider on the back of my left hand in my sleep. I live in Kansas, so it could have been a brown recluse or a black widow, but I honestly have no idea because I didn't wake up and felt no pain until I got up the next day. When I got up it was already an open wound. It looked and felt like a cigarette burn, but I know that's not possible. Over the weekend I felt very ill, my back and stomach hurt, I got headaches, and I slept alot. My arm was numb, tingly, and stiff; my fingers and wrist also ached at the joints. There is also very light blue bruising around the bite and over most of my hand almost to my wrist.

So today, I feel better overall, still some stomach pain, mild headaches, but better. My only concern is that my wrist and fingers still ache, and now the joint pains have moved up to my elbow and shoulder. The bite itself is also still very tender to the touch. I've been cleaning it out and putting neosporin on it several times a day.

So, my question is, am I out of the woods as far as the venom is concerned or should I still make an appointment since the joint pain is not improving and is moving up my arm?

I have pictures if needed. I moved this from first aid to pain and pain management since its been several days since the bite.

I woke up with a small open sore on my hand, looked and felt almost like a cigarette burn but that is not possible. There's no swelling, but it's red around the sore, my hand is very painful and stiff, and there is a little bit of numbness and tingling in my hand and wrist.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll254/Dreworski...

That's a picture of my hand from a few hours ago, sorry for the terrible quality. I cleaned it and put neosporin on it, took some tylenol, but I'm still a little concerned. The wound has not changed at all since that picture, and I don't feel sick, just a very sore hand. Should I just continue to wait and see or make an appointment?

My boyfriend's friend came over today to hang out. He's always all over the dogs, making them jump up on him and lick his mouth (which I find disgusting) and teasing them with their toys. Irritates me, but I put up with it. While I was cooking dinner my puppy came into the kitchen and I decided to give him a milkbone. I made him sit and shake for it, then gave it to him. I also gave one to my roommate's dog. My boyfriend's friend took the milkbone away from my puppy and started breaking it up into bits to make my puppy do tricks for him. I got pissed and told him to let the damn dog have his damned bone.

The reason I got upset was because the puppy had already earned his bone! Don't take it away after his master has already given him his reward and make him earn it a second, third, fourth and fifth time. He didn't take the other dog's bone away. Would this bother you?

My German Shepherd puppy is 13 weeks old today and has had lots of pre-training in the backyard on a leash, he is spot-on, always on my left side and right next to me.

In our neighborhood, he's been either trying to trip me by leaning in too close or he's behind me trying to get off of the street into the grass (our neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks). The WORST is when a car goes by. He goes into a full panic, stopping dead in his tracks or bolting onto the grass or hiding behind my legs on the right side. I try to stay calm and just keep walking and some times are better than others but it's really hard to see him so scared. He doesn't pull forward, ever. He's normally so confident but cars just terrify him what can I do to help him relax on our walks and see cars are okay?

My german shepherd puppy LOVES to paw.

He loves to have his chest rubbed, and when I do it, he puts his paw over my arm. If I move it off, he puts it right back. Sometimes when I reach out to pet him before I can even touch him he's pawing. If he's excited and I stare at him, he'll paw at my face, then take a few steps back and jump at me with his front paws open wide like he wants a hug.

Is this a dominating behavior? I did teach him to shake and high-5, is he trying to get a treat?

I'd just like to know if I should discourage this behavior, it's so darn cute though. How can you say no to this face?

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=4436445123...

My 3 month old German Shepherd won't let my roommate's 2 year old pit bull mix into the living room, he charges at him and headbutts him in the chest and chases him into the hallway into my room or corners him at the end of the hallway and barks, making the older dog tuck his tail and shake. When I am able to drag the older dog into the living room, the puppy nips at his face, neck, sides and feet until he gets up onto the couch. If we try to pet the older dog, the puppy will physically put himself between us. He doesn't bite or anything, just blocks us from petting him.

They also fight over toys, they only want the toy the other dog has, and they'll growl at each other until I put the older dog on the couch, where he can have some peace away from the puppy.

I need some serious help, I can't allow my 3 month old puppy to bully my roommate's 50 pound dog! It sounds ridiculous but it's true, he terrorizes him until he is literally trembling, the older dog is very sensitive. What can I do? The puppy is two weeks away from his last immunization, so he cannot be walked to get rid of some of his energy.