When to Take Your Dog to the Vet, and When Not To

"Should I Take My Dog to the Emergency Room?"
PetLvr Blog for Pet Lovers (January 20, 2009)

"There’s lots of instances when a dog owner may wonder, “Is my dog sick? Should I take him to the 24-hour emergency veterinary clinic?” Making the decision to take a pet to the emergency clinic can be a difficult one, especially since most emergency vet clinics charge $100+ just for an exam. So monitoring your pet’s vital signs at home can be a great way to determine how sick your dog may be.

But unfortunately, few dog owners know how to check a dog’s vital signs. In fact, many dog owners still believe in the myth of checking the dog’s nose for wetness or temperature...."

The rest of the post is a pretty good introduction to how to check your dog's vital signs - and what they're supposed to be. For starters, if your dog's temperature is around 101° Fahrenheit: that's probably normal (that's oversimplified: read the post for more). For a human, that's a fever. But dogs? Well, they're not human.

Just as well: they probably wouldn't fetch sticks, if they were.

I'm getting off-topic.

Don't know how to take your dog's temperature? This video should help.

"Emergency Dog Health Care : How to Tell if Your Dog Is Sick"

expertvillage, YouTube (October 22, 2008)
video, 3:10

"Learn the proper way to take your dog's vital statistics and tell if your dog is sick in this free pet health care video, with tips from a veterinarian. Expert: Dr Adrienne Mulligan Bio...."

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A tip of the hat to PetLvr, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this post - and for directing me to the video. Thanks!