We will assess or triage your dog to see precisely what's going on, and we’ll check the dog’s vital signs. We need to know just how critical this is right away. And based on those findings, we find out whether we need to start an IV catheter and fluids, a shock dose of steroids, or perhaps we need oxygen. Those kinds of things will be immediately assessed because, first and foremost, you’ve got to make sure the dog is stabilized.

Basically, we're just looking for anything abnormal. To say that there's one thing I'm searching for is not true. It's just once you know what a normal mouth and healthy gums look like, you're looking for anything that varies from that—tartar, gingivitis, any of those things. So we start there, and then we kind of dig a little deeper if necessary.

I would recommend it unless there's some reason why not to do so in their history. It's always good to have that immunity on board, especially for our older patients if they can tolerate the vaccines. It’s beneficial for them to have that extra immunity against diseases.

Spaying or neutering can help because sometimes testosterone and estrogen can affect marking. However, if this is happening, I highly recommend that you bring your animal to the veterinarian because there can be some other medical conditions as well.

Maybe a male dog who is becoming territorial. So the answer to that question could possibly be yes. If you had an intact male dog that was urinating in your house, then absolutely I would recommend neutering him and see if that curbs that unwanted behavior. A female is a little less prone to do so based on territorial reasons. Usually you have either a bladder infection or just a not so well trained dog. So they can help is the short answer, but I wouldn't hang my hat on that for certain.

Possibly. There could be a medical issue with your pet. It could be a urinary infection. They could have bladder stones. There could be anxiety. There are many reasons that spaying or neutering would not help but, if they are marking, then yes, changing their hormones could be a big benefit for that. After a full medical workup, then we may recommend that as a way to fix it.

Well, that's one I actually hear quite a lot. There's really no health advantage to letting your dog have one litter. We like to keep looking like puppies and kittens. If you let them have litters, they're less puppy-like. There is a significant increase in the risk of mammary tumors in pets if you wait for them to have a heat cycle. The published rate goes from about 99 down to 95% as prevention of breast cancer if you wait for them to have the heat cycle.

I would recommend not doing that. Breeding animals can be complicated. Also, I used to work at a low-cost spay-neuter clinic as well, and so I've seen that we have a significant overpopulation of animals. I would recommend that, if you love your dog, spay her before her first litter so she has less of a risk to have breast cancer.

Yes, certainly the accommodations we were talking about to the environment—make it brighter, make it less slippery, and make fewer steps. Nutritionally, we're going to want to probably have foods with fewer calories in it and less protein so it’s safer for the kidneys. We’ll also probably want to add joint supplements to their foods so that the older and larger breed dogs get help with their arthritis. There's a lot we can do and adjustments we can make as they get older.