Health
A fox that will not run, a strange dog that bites you, a record with a lapsed vaccine. With rabies you never wait and see: prevent it, and after a bite act that same day.
Caution. If you or your dog have been bitten by a fox, a bat or an animal of unknown status, or a dog suddenly changes character, drools and cannot swallow: ring your own vet today, and the person bitten sees a doctor today. Keep your hand out of the dog's mouth.
Do not look for the answer in a Facebook group, on TikTok or on a forum. Look for someone trained for this: your dog's own veterinarian, the only person who can examine, investigate and treat them.
Use this page to know what to observe, what to note and what to ask at the appointment, not to treat at home. If you still have doubts after a consultation, ask another vet or a specialist (dermatologist, internist) for a second opinion, not a group. And if you do not have a regular vet yet, find one now, while your dog is healthy: how to choose a veterinary clinic.
Your dog got into a scrap at the edge of the woods with a fox that did not run when it saw you. Or a stray dog you only wanted to stroke bit you on the hand. Or, leafing through your rescue dog's paperwork, you found a single rabies stamp from three years ago. With rabies there is no "let's wait and see". Once the signs appear, it cannot be cured, in dogs or in people. It can, however, be prevented almost completely. What you need to know is what it looks like, what to do in the first few hours and what you never attempt on your own.
Rabies is a viral disease of the nervous system. The virus lives in the saliva of an infected animal and gets in through a bite or through saliva landing on a wound or on the eyes, mouth or nose. From the bite it travels slowly along the nerves to the brain. That trip usually takes a few weeks, sometimes months, and the whole time the dog looks perfectly healthy. So call today, without waiting for any sign, if:
Call straight away, too, if you see any of the changes below in a dog, especially one who is unvaccinated or whose history you do not know:
That last one is the most deceptive. Not every rabid dog looks like the films. Vets describe a furious form and a paralytic, quiet form, and the quiet one looks like a dog with something stuck in his throat. Plenty of people have been infected by putting a hand in a dog's mouth to fish out a bone that was never there.
Once neurological signs appear, the disease kills within days, usually in under ten. That is where the observation rule comes from, which you will find below.
With rabies, there is less to watch at home than with other illnesses. You are not the one making the diagnosis, and you cannot afford to take chances. Here is what you can do, in this order.
Wash the wound straight away, thoroughly, with soap and running water, for at least 15 minutes. Then see a doctor the same day (A&E, an urgent care centre or your GP, depending on where you live). Proper washing is the World Health Organization's first recommendation and it cuts the risk considerably. Do not wait to see what the dog does. Treatment for people after exposure works precisely because it starts before any signs. Write down where it happened, what the animal looked like, whether it had a collar and who it belonged to.
Put on gloves before you touch the wound, because the other animal's saliva may still be on his coat. Do not let him lick other people or children. Find his vaccination record or passport and check the date of his last rabies vaccination. Photograph the wound. Note what animal it was and where.
Do not go closer, do not try to catch it, do not hand-feed it. Keep children and your own dog well away. Call the local authority or the state veterinary service and tell them exactly where it is. If you find a dead wild animal, such as a fox by the roadside, do not touch it either; report it in the same way.
| What you see | Could it be rabies? | More often it is |
|---|---|---|
| Heavy drooling, trying to swallow | Yes, in an unvaccinated dog with exposure | Something stuck in the mouth or throat, nausea, poisoning, a broken tooth |
| Unsteady, falling over | Yes, in the paralytic stage | Balance problem (inner ear), slipped disc, poisoning |
| Sudden aggression | Yes | Pain, fear, brain ageing |
| Snapping at the air | Rarely | Focal seizures, a compulsive habit |
The table is not there so you can rule rabies out yourself. It is there so you know that, in a dog with up-to-date vaccinations showing one of these changes, your vet will think of other causes first.
There is no blood test that tells you whether a living dog is infected. A definite diagnosis is made in the laboratory, on brain tissue, after death. So everything rests on the vaccination, the history and observation.
For a healthy dog, what counts is the routine visit. The rabies vaccine is given at the required age (the first one usually after 12 weeks), entered correctly in the record or passport, and boosted at the interval your vet gives you. In Romania, as in many countries, rabies vaccination of dogs is compulsory by law. To travel within the European Union on a pet passport, a first vaccination must be given at least 21 days before departure.
We work our dogs in woods, on the edges of villages and across fields that foxes use as their highways. Our rule is simple: every dog who comes to training has an up-to-date rabies vaccination, checked in the record. If you see a fox that does not run, that walks in circles or that seems friendly, shorten your dog's lead, leave and report it. It is not the moment for photos.
Rabies has all but disappeared from everyday city life precisely because people vaccinate their dogs and foxes are vaccinated with baits dropped from aircraft. Your part is a stamp in the record, on time, and a phone call the same day when something is not right.
What dog owners search for most often on the internet about this problem, with the short answer. The answers are a guide only: the decision belongs to your dog's own vet, after an examination.
Usually the first sign is a change of character: the friendly dog hides and turns irritable, the shy one clings to you or becomes aggressive. Then come heavy drooling, because he can no longer swallow, a changed bark, snapping at nothing, an unsteady walk and paralysis. There is also a quiet form that looks like a dog with something stuck in his throat. Any mix of these in an unvaccinated dog means an immediate phone call.
Usually a few weeks, sometimes months, because the virus travels slowly along the nerves towards the brain. The closer the bite is to the head, the shorter the trip. All that time the dog looks healthy, which is why you never wait for signs. After a suspect exposure, ring the same day, and the vet and the veterinary authorities decide what happens next.
Wash the wound at once with plenty of soap and water for at least 15 minutes. Then see a doctor the same day, with everything you know about the dog: who owns it, where you met it, whether it is vaccinated. If it has an owner, ask for proof of rabies vaccination. Treatment for people after exposure works precisely because it starts before any sign.
A dog carrying the virus in his saliva dies within days of showing signs. That is why the World Health Organization recommends ten days of observation: if the dog is alive and well at the end, the bite did not pass on rabies. The exact procedure is set by the local veterinary authorities. For a dog whose vaccination is up to date, it is usually a formality.
Far less than twenty years ago, thanks to vaccinating dogs and foxes, the foxes with baits dropped from aircraft. Several Western European countries are officially free of rabies in land animals, while parts of Eastern Europe, Romania included, still see occasional cases, mostly in foxes. Bats can carry related viruses almost everywhere. Keep the vaccine current, especially if you travel with your dog.
The information on this page is educational and does not replace an examination. For full details and a diagnosis, consult your dog's own veterinarian.
They often come together: the same causes, plans that complement each other.
A stamp with no date on the record card, a seven-week-old puppy, a rescue dog with no paperwork. The schedule is simple once you know what was done and when.
Two small holes on the neck, hardly any blood. With dog bites, what lies under the skin is nearly always worse than what you can see on top.
Three dogs come out barking from behind the garages. You stop, turn sideways, keep your bag between you and back slowly out of their patch the way you came.
A growl by the bed, a hand grabbed "out of nowhere". The dog tells you something every time before he bites, and the cause can nearly always be found if you know where to look.
We work with your dog's behaviour, not its health. For any sign described here, book an appointment with your own vet; the related services page explains how to choose a clinic.