A dog can’t say “I don’t feel right,” so small changes often matter. Catching trouble early helps do everything possible to make your dog feel better as quickly as possible. In this guide, built on materials from thePawChamp app, you’ll learn the earliest signs your dog needs to see a vet, why they matter, and what to do in the first few minutes.
What can it be? A dog that avoids touch, a clean pup that starts licking one spot, a steady walker that begins to wobble. These are dog health warning signs that deserve attention right in the moment they happen. Here, you’ll get a clear plan: how to know if your dog needs a vet, when to worry about your dog’s behavior, and when to take your dog to the vet.
Even when your dog seems perfectly healthy, they still need routine vet checkups. Plan your dog check-up frequency by life stage:
- Puppies need to go a lot, every 3 to 4 weeks until they're about 16 weeks old. That's when they're getting their vaccines, being checked for parasites, and making sure they're growing as they should.
- Adult dogs (roughly 1 to 7 years old, although it varies by size) typically need one visit per year. That's when your vet does a complete exam and runs any screening tests.
- Senior dogs and giant breeds should go every 6 months. Things tend to pop up faster as they get older, so more frequent checkups help you stay ahead of issues.
Here is a quick vet visit checklist for early detection of dog health issues:
Bring notes on food brand and portions, medications and supplements, vaccine and parasite records, recent travel, and any new behaviors. Keeping these records up to date helps your vet provide the best care. Ask for preventive vet care for dogs:
- Weight trend and body condition score
- Dental exam and cleaning plan
- Heart and lung check, abdominal palpation, skin and ear exam
- Fecal test and heartworm test
- Core vaccines and region-specific boosters
- Screening labs: CBC, chemistry, urinalysis
- Add blood pressure and thyroid for seniors
Find a trusted local veterinarian to support your dog's ongoing care and well-being.
Early Signs Your Dog Is Sick
Sometimes the biggest problems start quietly. As mentioned in the article about symptoms of illness in dogs published in the PawChamp Journal, dog health must be monitored to catch the early signs of dog disease before they snowball.
But how to monitor a dog’s health at home?
- Sudden behavior changes in dogs. Withdrawing from the family, hiding, agitation, clinginess, or unexplained irritability can signal pain or illness. Subtle signs of pain include restlessness, trembling, or avoidance of touch.
- Dog not eating or drinking: skipping a single meal isn’t unusual, but refusing to eat for ~24 hours, being unable to keep water down, or a significant drop in interest in both are red flags. If drinking more than usual, measure it for two days. Intake >100 ml/kg/day is considered excessive and warrants a call to your vet. It often travels with increased urination.
- Labored breathing, dog coughing or sneezing, fast breathing at rest. While your dog is asleep, count breaths for 60 seconds. Consistently >30 breaths/min is abnormal and needs prompt advice.
- Hesitation to jump or use stairs, stiffness after rest, limping, or a hunched back can point to orthopedic pain, injury, or abdominal discomfort. Persistent paw or joint licking is another indicator of pain.
- Bad breath, new drooling, dropping food, or chewing on one side may indicate dental disease, nausea, mouth injury, or a foreign body. If drool is foamy or tinged with blood, call your vet the same day.
- Licking one spot, hot spots, hair loss, new lumps, or a distended belly can signal allergies, infection, parasites, tumors, or internal emergencies (e.g., bloat). Track any unexplained weight loss or gain over 2-4 weeks.
When to Seek Emergency Vet Care?
Use this checklist to recognize emergency vet signs and act fast.
What symptoms mean a vet visit immediately:
- Breathing trouble or discolored gums. Fast, labored, or open-mouth breathing, gums turning blue, grey, white, or brick red.
- Bloated, tight abdomen with retching, especially in deep-chested breeds.
- Seizure over 5 minutes, repeated seizures, collapse, or fainting.
- Suspected poisoning that can be provoked by chocolate, xylitol, grapes/raisins, meds, chemicals, and unknown plants.
- Major trauma, uncontrolled bleeding, eye injuries, sudden paralysis, or extreme weakness.
- Heat illness: heavy panting, drooling, wobbling, vomiting, confusion, or collapse in warm conditions.
- Persistent vomiting/diarrhea, black or bloody stool, or blood in vomit.
- Straining to urinate or no urine produced.
Wondering when to book a vet appointment? Here's what you need to know: if something seems minor, gets better quickly, and your dog's mainly acting normal, you can probably handle it yourself for a day or two. But when your dog's clearly hurting, something keeps happening over and over, or you just can't figure out what's wrong — that's your signal to get professional vet advice for dog owners.
The most important thing? Pay close attention to what's happening. Keep track of whether they're eating normally, drinking their usual amount, and having regular bathroom trips. Write this stuff down in your phone, because it helps you see if things are getting worse, and your vet will definitely want to know these details.
Some situations absolutely can't wait, though. So, as the PawChamp dog training app suggests, save the number of your local dog emergency vet on your phone. If you notice any of the health red flags in pets, head to the emergency vet immediately.
Caring About Your Pup with the PawChamp App
One more thing that makes everything easier, including vet visits, is having a well-behaved dog. A pup who stays calm, listens when you need them to, and doesn't pull or panic makes caring for them so much simpler.
That's where tools like PawChamp are useful. It's a dog training app that walks you through exercises at your own pace with no need to schedule classes or leave the house. With this app, you can avoid common mistakes dog owners make, work on basic commands, deal with pulling, or help your pup feel more confident in stressful situations.
PawChamp has an Ask Experts feature where you can chat with professional dog trainers and care specialists anytime, day or night. Got a weird behavior issue at 2 am? Need advice on how to track dog health signs? Just ask. You'll get personalized answers and dog wellness tips fast, tailored specifically to your dog.
If you've been putting off training because it seems overwhelming or you don't have time for classes, download PawChamp and start, because it really makes a difference.