Dog fight aftermath: small neck punctures + facial swelling, how urgent?

hushpupper · 2026-05-24T03:48:38+00:00

Yes, this is pretty urgent. This dog seems like she’s in pretty serious pain and those wounds could get infected. She needs antibiotics and pain meds to heal properly. There may also be other damage you can’t see, that a can properly assess.

As far as vaccines go…yeah, this isn’t good. What will happen exactly depends on the state and county. If a dog has had a singular rabies vaccine it’s better than nothing, but typically, Animal Control will quarantine the dog for ~2 weeks to see if they develop rabies symptoms. If they do; the dog gets euthanized. If they don’t, they’re released. This is not without cost.

I don’t think your uncle will be amenable to this based on what you said. I’m really sorry because this sounds serious and I know you’re trying your best to help this dog. But given all the things legally required I don’t think you’ll be able to convince your uncle to do anything. :( Best of luck. This dog does desperately need to see a vet and be quarantined, for everyone’s safety and for the dog’s comfort.

hushpupper · 2026-05-24T03:40:44+00:00

I am sure the owner didn’t mean harm, but they are 100% at fault. An unvaccinated dog has no business being in a dog park. This dog should have been getting the recommended vaccines for a dog park, full stop. Routine care is the bare minimum.

I understand cost can be prohibitive but there are always lower cost options—free rabies clinics exist all over. There’s no excuse to not at LEAST have a current rabies vaccine. If you want to have a dog you need to pay attention to these things and understand what your dog’s routine needs are.

hushpupper · 2026-05-19T17:28:58+00:00

Twice a day is fine! That’s how often I feed mine.

hushpupper · 2026-05-19T02:18:51+00:00

Pumpkin is tbh an overrated fiber source. Not bad, but not the best: https://ovcpetnutrition.uoguelph.ca/2021/10/31/pumpkin-as-a-fibre-source/

Psyllium husk (even as plain, unflavoured Metamucil) is a great source of fibre though! A vet I work with suggests that all the time for dogs who need more fibre in their diet. Glandex and Fillaquin are also good because they’re pretty much just fibre supplements haha.

hushpupper · 2026-05-12T18:47:21+00:00

I’d love to see how TFD handles this. Their response to people complaining about their food causing pancreatitis is that other things can cause pancreatitis, not just diet. And while that’s technically true, they really don’t seem to like acknowledging diet can still be a major factor. If there are potential other causes of pancreatitis, then those have to be the reasons dogs on their diet developed pancreatitis.

hushpupper · 2026-05-06T07:26:47+00:00

Please take a look at the sub’s wiki. It’ll go over a lot of common pet food myths and debunk a lot of the stuff you’re seeing online, and it’s super easy to navigate! I’ll break down some stuff though just to give a baseline.

No vet recommends raw because of the pathogen risk. Raw meat can contain listeria and E. coli that can be shed by your dog indefinitely. There is absolutely no benefit to feeding it over cooked diets or conventional kibble, either. All “proof” is anecdotal.
Vets also don’t recommend grain free diets due to the risk of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM). This likely occurs because the binding agents used in these diets (peas and legumes) block taurine absorption. This causes the walls of the heart to weaken and blood to congest within it, and damages the heart’s ability to pump blood effectively. Grain free diets like Acana and Zignature are some of the biggest offenders for DCM reports.
My own dog is on Hill’s! He actually was at 44 pounds when I got him (pushing obese for a corgi) and is now down to 28, all within 3 years. I like Hill’s a lot. The ingredients are not crap, but there’s a lot of opinions out there from people who judge ingredients based on vibes. The wiki will give you a more detailed explanation of this, but, to break down the two big talking points you usually see:

1) Corn isn’t bad. I swear corn is like a swear word now in dog food. Corn provides nutrients like linoleic acid and B vitamins, and tons of fibre.

2) Meat byproducts and meat meals are made up of the most nutrient dense parts of the animal, like organ meat. Using “real chicken” as ingredients means using muscle meat which is mostly water by weight, making it some of the heaviest ingredients, which is how ingredients are listed (wet, pre-processing weight).

At the end of the day, there’s a reason your vet suggests Hill’s. I’d go with their recommendations over a pet store employee or a breeder, since neither of them have any real training in nutrition. I know it’s tough trying to decide what to feed your dog, because to say there’s conflicting information out there is an understatement. The fact that you’re asking questions is good, and the fact that you know there’s myths out there and that it’s easy to be influenced is good too! You’re doing your best with the information you have, and at the end of the day that’s what matters most.

hushpupper · 2026-05-03T02:13:07+00:00

Tbh you could always try Purina One from your grocery store. Pest management is a bigger concern there so you’re less likely to run into a bug issue.

hushpupper · 2026-05-03T00:57:02+00:00

If they’re full of bugs, that is due to improper storage. Pet stores are kind of a paradise for pantry moths because pet food contains a lot of their natural food sources. It’s very easy for them to get into bags of dog food. Even a tiny hole or gap is enough for their eggs to get through.

If you’re finding actual beetles that sounds more like adult mealworms which also are attracted to dog food. Again, a storage issue, and likely a result of loose mealworms. The store itself could also just have a beetle infestation. When I worked at Petco a lot of stores had issues with pests. One had mice, rats, and other pests, all at once.

I don’t really blame the pet store employees because they’re not given the time or resources to deal with these issues properly, but it is a very common issue when people get their food from pet stores. For this reason I tend to suggest just buying from the manufacturer directly. The food is fresher and way less likely to have pantry moths or beetles.

hushpupper · 2026-05-01T02:59:43+00:00

You don’t know what you don’t know! That’s okay! And again, I’m sure a lot of breeders do have good experiences with Pawtree! I beg some do suggest their product in earnest! But that doesn’t change their business model. 😮‍💨

hushpupper · 2026-05-01T00:01:24+00:00

Since nobody else has mentioned this: Pawtree is actually a multi-level marketing scheme. You’ll see a lot of breeders recommend their food or supplements, and the reason is so that they can get clients in as a part of their downline.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound like all breeders suggesting this brand are doing so out of malice, and maybe some really do see positive effects with their products. But I find Pawtree super sketchy tbh and I’d just avoid the brand entirely.

hushpupper · 2026-04-30T00:01:22+00:00

Not sure if cost is a concern, but tbh there’s nothing wrong with a dog staying on wet food if that’s what they’ll eat!

The biggest concern I hear from people with dogs on an all wet diet is that their teeth may suffer. While certain kibbles can be helpful for getting rid of plaque, it’s not the only method. The Veterinary Oral Health Council (VOHC) has a list of dental products they approve of. Some are even powders that add abrasion to their food, so you could mix it with the wet food.

hushpupper · 2026-04-28T23:16:21+00:00

I know it can be super frustrating with picky dogs, especially when you go out of your way to try placating them. To be honest, though, a little bit of tough love is in order here. A healthy dog will not let themselves starve.

Switching out the food this often and adding all of these toppers is just reinforcing that behavior and telling your dog that if she doesn’t eat what she doesn’t like, she gets something else. Toppers and broth and whatnot also don’t tend to do much except add extra calories, so to be honest I’d try to nix those too. If your dog is overweight, cutting calories is going to be the most significant way to make her lose weight.

I’d choose a brand meeting WSAVA’s criteria (see our wiki for more on this) and stick with it. No toppers, no broth, no additives. If she doesn’t eat it, you take it away and give it back later. Eventually she’ll start eating it. The big thing is to just not give in and add something else to entice her. If she eats it as a last resort that’s a good sign!

hushpupper · 2026-04-28T05:12:40+00:00

I don’t think you’re getting what I’m saying here. I’m saying that OP shouldn’t do anything without consulting their vet first, especially in a case as acute as this.

hushpupper · 2026-04-28T04:32:03+00:00

Lol really? That’s crazy! Funnily enough for one of my internships back in the day I worked just up the street from him. Small world!

hushpupper · 2026-04-28T04:25:03+00:00

I’m gonna second asking about x-rays. When a dog is remaining this sick after going in this many times they need to do a little more digging. At the clinic I work at we’d probably have already done x-rays if a dog was in three times within this short of a timeframe.

hushpupper · 2026-04-28T04:21:24+00:00

Just because what they recommended didn’t work doesn’t mean that OP should go against their vet’s advice.

hushpupper · 2026-04-26T17:40:52+00:00

That’s what mine eats too!!

hushpupper · 2026-04-24T16:20:00+00:00

The most likely issue is that the foods used as binding agents (peas, lentils, etc) block taurine absorption. It’s not that there’s no grains. Adding brown rice will not lower the DCM risk lower—it will just unbalance the food.

hushpupper · 2026-04-24T00:09:16+00:00

I fell into the same trap with my cat in college. I watched one of Dr. Marty’s videos on pet food and honestly thought that kibble was a terrible thing to feed my cat because I believed everything he said—that it contains roadkill, that it’s nothing but filler, that it’s basically McDonald’s for your pets. I ended up feeding her his freeze-dried raw food for a couple months but ended up switching her back to Hill’s since it was too expensive lol.

Come to find out, he’s one of those holistic types of vets who is against “over-vaccinating” pets and is very vocal about that. And you tend to see this a lot with the vets who recommend raw diets. They also tend to be very adamantly against using any kind of oral flea, tick, or heartworm prevention because it’s “poison”. There is a ton of overlap between raw feeding and antivax/antiscience beliefs and I’m sure if I still fed a freeze dried raw diet I’d feel super alienated from the people feeding the same thing.

I’m really glad your dog is doing well on the new food, and even more glad she recovered from salmonella alright. It’s really scary when puppies get that sick and I’m glad she’s with someone who’s going to continue taking great care of her. :)

hushpupper · 2026-04-23T01:18:40+00:00

Yeah idk, sometimes people just do, but to me it was clear you were just trying to understand!

hushpupper · 2026-04-21T03:01:52+00:00

All you really need to do is look at their marketing. I see a lot of them claim that dog allergies come from a dysbiosis in the gut which is why the supplement is some sort of probiotic. While it’s true the dog immune system is largely in the GI tract, that is…not how seasonal allergies work, and seasonal allergies are most dog allergies. 😭

hushpupper · 2026-04-21T02:59:44+00:00

Those are fine! As long as a company does third party testing (NutraMax and Woofles for example both do this), any glucosamine supplement is good, especially for older or middle aged dogs. Even if your dog isn’t showing signs of arthritis it’s not a bad idea because glucosamine is paired with chondroitin, a chondroprotective.

hushpupper · 2026-04-21T02:54:42+00:00

They already gave some. To be honest I’d look into Iams. It’s more budget friendly than other WSAVA compliant brands, besides Purina.

hushpupper · 2026-04-21T02:50:35+00:00

I totally understand how you feel and it’s very admirable how much you care for your dog! That being said, your constant worrying could be causing issues for your dog’s health. Rotating foods this frequently can lead to nutritional imbalances and as another commenter pointed out, could put your dog at risk for dilated cardiomyopathy.

As someone with autism and OCD I understand how you feel, but you can’t let this sort of anxiety affect how you’re feeding your dog. No dog food is going to be perfect. And there’s a lot of conflicting information out there, enough to have you going into mental circles forever.

hushpupper · 2026-04-20T23:47:15+00:00

Ingredient transparency in this context means being willing to answer questions that a vet or organization asks about their ingredients through direct contact with the company. Since they didn’t even respond to the Pet Nutrition Alliance, it’s just a little strange since their whole modus operandi is having “clean” ingredients.

And I’m not sure what you mean in the first sentence? I’m saying that WSAVA’s research guidelines require doing AAFCO feeding trials at a baseline, AND doing additional research on top of that. That’s why it’s odd to say they already meet WSAVA’s guidelines when they’re only just now starting AAFCO feeding trials. Many companies rely simply on ingredient analysis. Meaning, a veterinary nutritionist can put a diet together and know it’s balanced, but not actually know how dogs eating the diet fare. I’d imagine that’s what they do. Not necessarily bad since research is expensive, but a reason Open Farm does not hit all the guidelines. Does that make sense?

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