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For the first time in his four years of life, we left him to a boarder while going away on a trip. When we picked him up he lost a significant amount of weight, from roughly 25 pounds to 20 pounds. He got home, was excited but has been drinking a lot of water and appears to always be hungry! Before boarding, he used to be a picky eater, not drink a lot of water, and would rarely finish his kibble, but now he cleans up the whole bowl and even appears to ask for more. It's been 2 days now, is this normal?

Hi everyone, I’m looking for a little support and perspective. I brought home my 5-month-old Boston Terrier, Loki, a couple weeks ago. At the breeder’s when we first met him he was super social — wiggly, happy, and loved everyone. He jumped right into our laps and gave us kisses, no signs of fear. But since coming home, he’s been barking and growling at strangers and new situations.

We have only had a couple guests come over, he hasn't been able to get comfortable with them yet. No pets, no wiggles. He did take treats still, but still on high alert and initial reactions were barking/growling.

I think the transition plus hitting a fear period has made him nervous about people and new things. I’ve been working on going slow — keeping things calm, doing short car rides, and letting him observe people from a distance with treats — but sometimes it’s discouraging when he reacts again after a few quiet days, or if someone walking at the end of our driveway while he goes potty-barks, growls, hackles up.

We also had to do a wellness check within 5 days for the breeders contract, it went super awfully. The vet said that this is not normal for a puppy his age, it definitely counts as a medical illness 😔

At home he’s the sweetest boy — cuddly, playful, and affectionate with me and my boyfriend. I just really want to help him feel safe with the world again.

I am worried he wont be the go everywhere dog I had dreamed him to be, like our last Boston, if he can't get out of this phase. I am also worried I could either go too slow or too fast, I want to expose and socialize. But I also dont want to flood or overdo it.

Has anyone else gone through this with a 5-month-old puppy who suddenly became this fearful after leaving the breeder? How long did it take before your pup started feeling confident again?

Side note: he is kennel trained. Sleeps throughout the night and we have left the house for up to 2 hours by now. He fortunately has not whined (I have camera set up). So he understands kennel and alone time means nappy and relax time.

Any reassurance or tips and support from people who’ve would mean a lot 💚

Hi guys, the title basically says it all. What are the strangest things you've ever caught your puppy eating? What breed and age are they? And if it did require a tri0 to the vet, what did that cost with or w/o pet insurance?

I recently got pet insurance and now I'm curious

We've had our 3-month Cockalier puppy for almost 3 weeks. She's doing pretty good, but I'm struggling with the potty training.

We live in an apartment and have a fresh grass patch on our balcony for her. Since her second vaccination, we've also started taking her down to a grassed garden area we know is safe. We went for a trip to my mum's place over the weekend, and we've had some visits to other friends' houses (with other dogs,) and she has never had an accident in any of these places. But at our home, I'm cleaning up (mainly pee) multiple times a day in the apartment and on the balcony.

Often she will pee on the tiles outside, and we have a couple of accidents in the house a day, too. I know she is probably confused after coming back from Mum's place, as it's a new toileting experience, but I'm trying to figure out what I do next.

What I've tried:

– Treat and praise party every time she uses the grass patch

– Deep cleaning the tiles and floors with enzyme cleaner (although she still seems to use the same spots, either right next to the grass patch, or at the door threshold to the balcony). I generally hose down the balcony every day and then spray enzyme cleaner on the tiles and mop the house with vinegar and water, and then spray the enzyme cleaner.

– Taking her out after sleep, drink, food, play and every hour – but she doesn't always want to go? Should I hold her on the patch with her lead so she can't just walk off the patch and sit on the tiles?? When I do keep her on the patch, she gets a bit pissy (haha) with me – she whines, barks, yells. and I worry that that makes the patch a bad experience its self…

– Keeping the door to the balcony open so she can go when she wants (70% success, but still pees on the tiles)

– Keeping the door to the balcony closed so she has to signal (70% success and she signals, but will then still pee on the tiles)

– We have a 'Hurry Up' cue we've been using since we got her and use it every time she pees and poops (we learnt this from McCann Dogs Youtube), and it works maybe 60% of the time – but she'll go on the tiles…

– When she does have an accident, I generally catch it mid-stream/poop. I pick her up and put her on the patch to finish and say 'Hurry Up'… more and more she won't finish on the patch, and just go again on the tiles. She doesn't get reprimanded, but a re-direct.

– We're changing the grass every week. It seems to be the max it lasts before the flies start swarming and the smell even for us gets funky.

– She does not pee in her crate. Yay.

I get we're asking a baby to differentiate the big wide outdoors, where we let her pee and poop everywhere, and a 1m2 patch of grass where she has to have great aim… I know it will take time… but what else can I be doing? Or should I suck it up… and keep mopping up pee until it clicks for her?

I have a puppy coming home in the new year (lab retriever). I’m in a town house without a yard.

I have a green space outside my front door that we can use for potty breaks, but it’s also used by a bunch of other neighbourhood dogs. I’m worried about taking my pup out there before he’s fully vaccinated.

I have a balcony on my main floor, so I’m thinking about getting one of those artificial turf “puppy potties” to use out there until he’s fully vaccinated, then move the turf “potty” down to the patio outside my front door, then move to using the green space.

I’m never going to use pee-pads in the house – I’d rather him use the patio, but I also don’t want that to be a long term habit.

Good approach? Any thoughts?

I've been mixing a can of puppy food, varies but Amazon basics puppy food seems to work well, with my English Cocker's dry kibble. What I generally do is put half the can in then pour the dry kibble over it and mix it in. He seems to be growing fine but when I read the back of these cans they say 3/4 can for every 5lbs. That would be roughly 3 full cans a day which seems like absurd volume. If it were dry kibble it would basically be one can a day. Looking at the dry kibble there's about double the calories per volume and I have to htink it comes down to a puppy only being able to eat so much.

Is there more to it? I can't imagine this pup eating three full cans right now. They're cheap so I don't really mind but my lord he's taking bigger #2s than I do and I'm a 200lb man.

About a month ago i lost my job and i’ve been selling everything (while searching for a job) My partners entire checks went to rent and we’re still behind. This morning we ran out of food and i’m struggling deeply. i had no choice but to give them treats, fritos and pepperoni for dinner… please don’t judge me. i’m trying my best. I have a 110 lb golden retriever and a 80 lb rott/pyrnees/lab mix that are both seniors.

I can comment my info if anyone is able!

Can anyone help me get dog food? They have eaten the purina pro plan (blue bag) their whole lives. It’s almost 9pm for me and i have no car