Dog seizure: what to do during and after

Keep your dog safe, not still: note the time, clear the space and keep your hands away from its mouth. Most seizures stop on their own, often after 1 to 2 minutes. If one is still going at 3 minutes, or a second starts before your dog has recovered, head to the vet now.

Written by Justin Alcalde, AHA and American Red Cross instructor, CPR West Covina · Reviewed September 27, 2026

Read the video transcript

When your dog has a seizure. Step 1. Note the time, clear the space, hands off the mouth. Step 2. Still going at 3 minutes? Head to the vet. Step 3. After, keep it quiet and safe, then call your vet.

Note the time, clear the space, hands off the mouth
Still going at 3 minutes? Head to the vet
After, keep it quiet and safe, then call your vet

What do I do while my dog is having a seizure?

During a seizure your dog is not aware of you and cannot control its body. Your job is to keep it from getting hurt and to watch the clock.

Note the start time
Start a phone timer, or glance at a clock, right away.
Clear the space
Move chairs, lamps and anything that could tip onto your dog.
Block stairs and water
If safe, stand below it on stairs and keep it from the pool.
Keep your hands off
Do not hold it down or go near the mouth. It may bite.
Quiet the room
Lights low, TV off, other pets shut away.
Film it for your vet
A short phone video helps your vet tell what it was.
At 3 minutes, head out
Still seizing at 3 minutes? Start for the nearest open vet.

Time it from when your dog goes down until the paddling stops. Merck notes that owners sometimes count the dazed recovery too, which stretches the number.

Why 3 minutes? Most seizures are over by then. MedVet's advice, reviewed by a veterinary neurologist, is to start for an emergency hospital at 3 minutes. A vet quoted by the AKC also calls a seizure that long an emergency. Leaving then puts you on the road before the 5 minute mark.

How do I stop a seizure in a dog?

At home, you usually cannot. Most seizures end by themselves, and a long one needs a vet's help to stop. Do not pat your dog or splash it with water to snap it out. A vet quoted by the AKC says that adds excitement and may make it last longer.

Put nothing in its mouth, not your fingers and not water. VCA notes that dogs do not swallow their tongues, and reaching in risks a bad bite. RECOVER's 2026 first aid guidelines also advise against giving anything by mouth or on the gums during a seizure, even corn syrup or honey. If your vet has given you a plan for your dog's seizures, follow it.

Get to the vet now if

A seizure is still going at 3 minutes, a second one starts before your dog has recovered from the first, or there are 2 or more in 24 hours. Go now, too, if your dog may have eaten something toxic, such as xylitol, or has trouble breathing.

What should I do after my dog's seizure ends?

Vets call the recovery stretch the post-ictal phase. Your dog may seem confused, pace, drool, walk into walls or seem briefly blind. VCA says it can last up to a day, though the Red Cross notes some dogs act normal soon after.

Keep it somewhere safe
A rug on the floor or its crate, away from stairs.
Keep it quiet and dim
Soft voice, low light, children and other pets elsewhere.
Give it space
A dazed dog may not know you and can snap.
Water first, food later
A little water once it walks steadily, a meal a while after.
Call your vet
Describe what you saw and send the video.
Write it in the log
Date, time, length and what you saw, while it is fresh.

A dog that is breathing but slow to wake does not need CPR. If your dog does not respond and is not breathing, start compressions with our dog CPR guide and get to a vet.

Is it a seizure, fainting, or something else?

Fainting, a balance problem and plain dreaming can all look like a seizure. A video is often what lets your vet tell them apart.

Episode	What you may see	How long	Afterward
Seizure	Falls on its side, legs stiffen then paddle, jaw chomps, drools, may pee, does not respond	Often 1 to 2 minutes	Dazed, pacing or seems blind for minutes to hours
Fainting (syncope)	Often during exercise. Goes suddenly limp, no paddling or chewing	Seconds to minutes	Recovers fast, no dazed phase
Balance (vestibular) episode	Sudden loss of balance, head tilt, falling or circling to one side, darting eyes	Often worst in the first 24 to 48 hours	Improves over days to weeks
Dream twitch	Twitching, paddling or small kicks in sleep, looser than a seizure	Often under 30 seconds, on and off	Wakes when you call its name

Seizure and fainting: VCA Animal Hospitals and MedVet. Balance episodes: VCA and Cornell University. Dreaming: American Kennel Club.

What to do if your dog has a seizure for the first time

Call your vet once it ends, even if your dog seems fine and it was short. VCA says the visit usually includes an exam plus blood and urine tests, which can rule out liver, kidney and blood sugar problems.

Age is a clue. Cornell and VCA note that epilepsy usually starts between 6 months and 6 years. In a dog under 1 year or over 6 years, Cornell says another cause is more likely.

Seizures are one of the emergencies in the Red Cross online cat and dog first aid course, if you want to practice this with the rest of pet first aid.

What can trigger a seizure in a dog?

The most common cause is idiopathic epilepsy, meaning no cause can be found, VCA says. Others include liver or kidney disease, low blood sugar or calcium, head injury, brain tumors and toxins.

Cornell lists toxins that can cause seizures, including dark chocolate, caffeine, antifreeze, rat poison and xylitol. The FDA warns that xylitol, found in some sugar-free products, can make a dog's blood sugar fall fast. If your dog may have eaten one of these, go now, and see our guide to foods toxic to dogs.

In dogs with epilepsy, the triggers owners report most often are stress, lost sleep, weather changes and hormone shifts, Merck notes. VCA adds that seizures often come during play or meals, or as a dog falls asleep or wakes.

How do I keep a seizure log for my dog?

Your vet uses the log to judge whether seizures are coming more often, lasting longer or getting stronger.

Write down	For example
Date and time	Morning, just after waking
How long it lasted	From the moment it went down to the end of the paddling
What it looked like	Whole body or one side, which part started first, video saved
What happened before	A meal, play, sleep, a storm, a new food or a missed dose
Recovery	How long until it walked and acted normally again

Suggested by the American Red Cross, VCA and the AKC.

What if my dog has a seizure when I'm not home?

Clues can include a puddle of urine or drool, things knocked over, or a dog that seems dazed, very thirsty or keeps bumping into things. Since some dogs look normal soon after, you may find nothing.

Call your vet and describe what you found. If your dog has had seizures before, gate the stairs and close off the pool when you leave.

Anyone who minds your dog should know the 3 minute rule too. Walk them through this page, and have them add PetAid, the pet first aid app we built for iPhone, so first aid steps sit on their phone.

What if my dog keeps having seizures and my vet is closed?

Repeated seizures are an emergency, so go to whichever animal hospital is open now, even if it is not your usual one. Your vet's after-hours message may name the nearest.

Long or repeated seizures can push body temperature up, VCA and Cornell note, so keep the car cool and quiet, with your dog lying flat or in its crate. Garden State Veterinary Specialists says never to give human medicines to try to stop a seizure.

How many seizures is too many?

Vets draw three emergency lines: a seizure longer than 5 minutes, a second one before your dog has recovered from the first, or 2 or more within 24 hours. The first two count as status epilepticus and the third as a cluster. Leaving at 3 minutes gets you moving before that first line. A 2024 ACVIM consensus sets a cluster at more than 2, so this page uses the more cautious 2.

Over the long run, many vets consider daily treatment once seizures come more than about once a month, arrive in clusters, or get longer or stronger.

Learn it properly

American Red Cross Cat and Dog First Aid, online at your own pace. $50, certificate when you finish.

Start the course

Keep the steps on your phone

PetAid for iPhone, for dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, fish and reptiles. Free on the App Store.

Get PetAid

Questions people ask

Is a seizure painful for my dog?

VCA says seizures are not painful, even though they look violent. Your dog may still feel confused or panicky, so speak softly while it recovers.

My dog is diabetic. Should I give sugar?

Not while it is seizing. Once it stops, if your diabetic dog is weak or wobbly, RECOVER 2026 suggests rubbing a little corn syrup or honey inside the cheek, near the back teeth. Skip it if a bite seems likely, and never let it delay the drive to the vet.

The seizure stopped on the way to the vet. Do I still go in?

Call the hospital from the car. Cornell says that once the seizure stops and your dog stays quiet, the most urgent danger has passed, but your dog still needs to see a vet. Let the team decide whether that is now or with your regular vet.

Should I wake a dog that twitches in its sleep?

Do not touch it, since a startled dog can bite. The AKC suggests calling its name loudly or making a noise instead. A dreaming dog wakes up. One that does not may be having a seizure, so start timing.

Will my dog have more seizures?

Not necessarily. Cornell notes a dog may never have another, or only a mild one once a year. Others do, so start the log with the first one.

More pet first aid

This is first aid, not veterinary care. Get to a vet or an emergency animal hospital as soon as the steps are done.

Sources