What to Do When Your Dog Has a Seizure: A Step-by-Step Guide

It’s 3 AM. You wake up to a sound you’ve never heard before. Your dog is on the floor, rigid, shaking violently, drooling. You have no idea what’s happening. You freeze.

That was my first night with Walter’s epilepsy. I did everything wrong. I tried to hold him down. I tried to open his mouth. I was crying, screaming his name, convinced he was dying in front of me.

He wasn’t dying. He was having a seizure. And if I had known what to do — and more importantly, what NOT to do — those five minutes would have been terrifying but manageable, instead of traumatic for both of us.

This guide is what I wish someone had handed me that night. Print it. Put it on your fridge. Share it with everyone in your household. Because when a seizure happens, you won’t have time to Google.

Step 1: Stay Calm

I know. It’s the hardest thing anyone can ask of you. Your dog is convulsing on the floor and someone is telling you to stay calm. But here’s why it matters:

Your dog is unconscious during a generalized seizure. They can’t see you, hear you, or feel your panic. But the decisions you make in the next few minutes can protect them from injury — or cause more harm. Panic leads to mistakes. Calm leads to action.

Take one deep breath. Then act.

Step 2: Don’t Touch Your Dog (Yet)

Your first instinct will be to grab your dog, hold them, comfort them. Fight that instinct.

During a seizure, your dog’s muscles are contracting involuntarily with extreme force. Even a small dog can bite with enough power to break a finger. This isn’t aggression — it’s a reflex they can’t control. They don’t know they’re doing it, and they won’t remember it afterward.

What NOT to do:

Don’t try to hold your dog down or restrain their movements
Don’t put your hands near their mouth — for any reason
Don’t try to pull their tongue out
Don’t try to give them water, food, or medication during the seizure
Don’t pick them up (unless they’re in immediate danger — see Step 3)

The myth that won’t die: Dogs cannot swallow their tongue during a seizure. It is physically impossible. This myth has sent more people to the emergency room with bite wounds than almost any other piece of bad advice. Do not put anything in your dog’s mouth.

Step 3: Protect the Environment

You can’t stop the seizure. But you can make sure your dog doesn’t get hurt during it.

Do this immediately:

Move furniture, sharp objects, and anything hard away from your dog
If they’re near stairs, block the stairway with your body or a cushion
If they’re on a bed or couch, gently guide them to the floor if you can do so safely — or place pillows around the edge to prevent a fall
If they’re near water (a pool, a pond, a full bathtub), this is the one time you physically move them to safety regardless of bite risk
Turn off loud music or TV — reduce stimulation

Don’t move your dog unless they’re in danger. Let the seizure happen where it’s happening. Moving them can cause injury to both of you.

Step 4: Start Timing

This is the single most important thing you can do during a seizure: grab your phone and start a timer.

Why? Because a seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes is a medical emergency called status epilepticus. It can cause brain damage, hyperthermia, and death if not treated with IV medication. Your vet will need to know exactly how long it lasted.

The problem: Time perception during a crisis is completely distorted. A 45-second seizure feels like it lasted 10 minutes. A 6-minute seizure feels like 2. Without a timer, you’ll guess wrong — and that guess could mean the difference between monitoring at home and rushing to the emergency vet.

Start the timer the moment you realize a seizure is happening. Even if you missed the very beginning, start it. An approximate time is infinitely better than “I think it was a couple of minutes.”

Step 5: Observe and Remember

While the timer runs, watch. Your vet is going to ask you specific questions, and the answers you give will shape the diagnosis and treatment.

Try to notice:

Which side did they fall on? Left or right? Or did they stay upright?
What did the movements look like? Paddling (like running), jerking, stiffening, twitching? Full body or just one side?
What happened with their eyes? Wide open? Rolled back? Flickering?
Did they lose bladder or bowel control? This is common and normal during a seizure.
Did they drool, foam at the mouth, or vocalize? Whining, howling, or chomping sounds are common.
Was the whole body involved or just part of it? A seizure affecting only the face or one limb (focal seizure) is very different from a full grand mal.

If you can, record video. Even a shaky, poorly lit phone video is worth more to your neurologist than any verbal description you can give. You don’t need to capture the whole thing — even 10-15 seconds gives them critical information about the seizure type.

I know the idea of filming your dog during a seizure feels wrong. But every veterinary neurologist I’ve spoken to says the same thing: video is the single most useful thing an owner can bring to the appointment.

Step 6: Know the Emergency Threshold

Not every seizure is an emergency. But some are. Know the difference before it happens.

Go to the emergency vet NOW if:

The seizure lasts more than 5 minutes — this is status epilepticus and is life-threatening
Your dog has two or more seizures within 24 hours without fully recovering between them — these are cluster seizures
Your dog doesn’t regain consciousness between seizures
It’s your dog’s very first seizure ever — the cause needs to be investigated
Your dog is injured during the seizure (bleeding, potential fracture)
The seizure happened after ingesting something toxic (xylitol, chocolate, medication, chemicals)
Your dog’s gums turn blue or white during the seizure (oxygen deprivation)
Your dog has a known condition (heart disease, diabetes) that complicates seizures

Monitor at home and call your vet within 24 hours if:

The seizure lasted under 3 minutes
Your dog recovered fully within 30-60 minutes
It was a single, isolated seizure
Your dog is eating, drinking, walking, and recognizing you after recovery
Your dog is already on seizure medication and this is a known breakthrough seizure

Write this list down and put it on your fridge. At 3 AM, you won’t remember the numbers.

Step 7: Manage the Post-Seizure Phase (Post-Ictal)

The seizure is over. Your dog is alive. Now comes the weird part.

After a seizure, dogs enter a “post-ictal” phase that can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. During this phase, your dog might seem like a completely different animal:

What you might see:

Disorientation — not recognizing you, bumping into walls, staring blankly
Temporary blindness — walking into furniture, not responding to visual cues
Extreme hunger or thirst — some dogs become ravenous
Pacing or restlessness — walking in circles, unable to settle
Excessive sleeping — crashing hard for hours
Clinginess — following you everywhere, unable to be alone
Aggression or fearfulness — snapping, growling, or cowering (they’re confused, not angry)
Loss of house training — accidents are common and temporary

What to do:

Stay with them but give them space — don’t crowd them
Speak softly and calmly
Offer water once they’re alert enough to drink safely (not during confusion)
Don’t force food, but offer it if they seek it
Keep the environment quiet and dim
Block stairs and remove hazards — a disoriented dog can easily fall
If they’re pacing, let them pace — trying to stop them increases stress
If they’re aggressive, don’t take it personally. Keep your distance until they come back to themselves

How long does post-ictal last? It varies enormously. Some dogs bounce back in 10 minutes. Walter would be “off” for 4-6 hours after a bad seizure. Some dogs take up to 24 hours to fully return to normal. If post-ictal signs last more than 24 hours, contact your vet.

Step 8: Record Everything

Once your dog is recovering and you’ve caught your breath, write everything down. Right now. Not tomorrow, not “when I get a chance.” Now, while it’s fresh.

Record:

Date and time the seizure started
Duration (from your timer)
Type of seizure (full body vs focal)
What your dog was doing before the seizure
Any unusual events in the past 24 hours (weather change, missed meal, late medication, stress, new food)
What the seizure looked like (or save your video)
Post-ictal behavior and how long recovery took
Any rescue medication given (what, dose, time, and whether it worked)
Whether regular medications were given on time that day

Why this matters: One seizure is an event. Five seizures with detailed records is a dataset. And datasets reveal patterns that single events never can. Your vet can adjust treatment based on data. They can’t adjust treatment based on “he’s been having some seizures lately.”

Step 9: Prepare for Next Time

If your dog has had one seizure, there may be more. Preparation is what separates panic from action.

Build a seizure kit:

Your vet’s phone number and the nearest emergency vet’s number — printed, not just in your phone
Written emergency protocol from your vet — when to give rescue medication, when to go to the ER
Rescue medication if prescribed (rectal diazepam, nasal midazolam, or Sileo) — stored where you can grab it in seconds
A towel — for cleanup and to place under your dog’s head if on a hard floor
Your phone — for timing and filming

Prepare your household:

Make sure every family member, roommate, pet sitter, or dog walker knows what to do during a seizure
Print this guide and put it on your fridge or near your dog’s sleeping area
If you have children, teach them age-appropriately: “When [dog’s name] shakes like that, come get me right away. Don’t touch him. You’re not in danger, and neither is he.”

Prepare yourself:

The emotional toll of watching your dog seize is real. It doesn’t get easier. Give yourself permission to cry after, to feel shaken, to need a minute. Then write it down, check your dog, and breathe.

What Your Dog Experiences During a Seizure

This is the question that haunts every owner: “Is my dog in pain?”

The answer, as best as veterinary science can tell us: no. During a generalized seizure, your dog is unconscious. They are not aware of what’s happening to their body. They don’t feel pain from the muscle contractions. They don’t feel fear during the event itself.

The sounds they make — the whining, howling, or crying — are not expressions of pain. They’re caused by air being forced through the vocal cords by involuntary muscle contractions. It sounds horrible. But it’s mechanical, not emotional.

The one who suffers during a seizure is you. And that suffering is valid. Don’t minimize it. Don’t let anyone tell you to “just get used to it.” You won’t. And that’s because you love your dog.

A Note for First-Time Witnesses

If you just witnessed your dog’s first seizure and you’re reading this with shaking hands — I want you to know something:

Your dog is not dying. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological conditions in dogs. It’s manageable. Many epileptic dogs live long, full, happy lives. What just happened was terrifying, but it was survivable — for both of you.

Call your vet. Get an appointment. Start the conversation about what happened and what to do next. And know that thousands of dog owners around the world are going through exactly what you just went through. You’re not alone.

Walter had hundreds of seizures over the years. Each one scared me. None of them took him from me. What we had between the seizures — the walks, the play, the quiet mornings — that was his life. Not the seizures.

Track Every Seizure. Every Detail. Every Time.

After losing Walter, I built DogEpiMonitor because I never wanted another dog owner to sit in the vet’s office saying “I don’t remember how long it lasted” or “I think it was last Tuesday… or Wednesday?”

DogEpiMonitor lets you:

Time every seizure with a built-in timer you can start with one tap — even at 3 AM, half asleep
Log every detail — type, duration, pre-ictal and post-ictal behavior, possible triggers
Track medication with reminders so you never miss a dose
Spot patterns over time that you’d never catch in a notebook
Generate vet-ready PDF reports with your dog’s complete seizure and medication history

It works from your browser. No app store download. Available in 8 languages.

→ Start tracking at app.dogepimonitor.com

Because when the next seizure comes — and it might — the best thing you can have is a plan, a timer, and a record of everything that came before.

Your dog needs your calm. Your vet needs your data. DogEpiMonitor helps with both. 🐾

DogEpiMonitor was created by Alejandro Di Russo after losing his German Shepherd Walter to epilepsy in 2014. This guide is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for veterinary care. If your dog is having a seizure lasting more than 5 minutes, contact your emergency veterinarian immediately.