Random Thoughts - Part Deux [NO POLITICS]

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by humfrz

Sounds good, however, I would have passed on the amoeba -

Looks more like this.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Spuds

Man, humfrz went on one of them old man rampages last night...

So what!

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Looks more like this.

OKaaaaaaaaaa. Looks like giant crayfish to me, covered with frog eggs -

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by spike021

Nobody ever said raising a puppy is glamorous.

Just finished picking up and cleaning poo that he did all over the dining room floor in his playpen.

Surprised to hear about his lack of control assuming you're taking him out every couple of hours. Spitz breeds are well known to keep themselves clean, almost cat-like that way.

What are you feeding him? If you abruptly switched from the breeder's food it may be upsetting his digestion with unintended consequences.

Are his stools normal or runny? If soft, he may be sick and brought something home from the kennel.

And use filtered water, not tap water, to eliminate another variable.

I'd ask your vet what they think. There are hydrolyzed/chelated foods available to eliminate possible food allergies. You could try one for a couple of weeks to stabilize him then gradually introduce another premium, US sourced food he likes. In other words, nothing sold by Costco that could turn him into a poop machine.

Like I mentioned before, this is where Chewy is your friend. You can experiment with foods until you find the best match and Chewy will refund your purchase price on each trial until you do. Hill's is the go-to brand.

https://www.chewy.com/b/digestive-health-10768

Try to be with him on July 4th. Lots of dogs are terrified of fireworks and this will be his first experience with them. Ask your vet about a puppy safe sedative. I use Benadryl on adult dogs.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Surprised to hear about his lack of control assuming you're taking him out every couple of hours. Spitz breeds are well known to keep themselves clean, almost cat-like that way.

What are you feeding him? If you abruptly switched from the breeder's food it may be upsetting his digestion with unintended consequences.

Are his stools normal or runny? If soft, he may be sick and brought something home from the kennel.

And use filtered water, not tap water, to eliminate another variable.

I'd ask your vet what they think. There are hydrolyzed/chelated foods available to eliminate possible food allergies. You could try one for a couple of weeks to stabilize him then gradually introduce another premium, US sourced food he likes. In other words, nothing sold by Costco that could turn him into a poop machine.

Like I mentioned before, this is where Chewy is your friend. You can experiment with foods until you find the best match and Chewy will refund your purchase price on each trial until you do. Hill's is the go-to brand.

https://www.chewy.com/b/digestive-health-10768

Try to be with him on July 4th. Lots of dogs are terrified of fireworks and this will be his first experience with them. Ask your vet about a puppy safe sedative. I use Benadryl on adult dogs.

Thanks for the advice!

But honestly there's way more at play here and it seems like you're immediately assuming the worst.

This is only his second time pooping inside at all. He hasn't done it in his crate. This was in the larger play pen.

For another thing, we'd been carefully going on grass outside and that had been working just fine but the vet recommended against it even though it's a pretty isolated spot just to be extra safe. So he didn't #2 except super early yesterday and then last night post vet visit we couldn't go outside, which he was very obvious he knew he needed to do because he'd scratch at the door and then come whine at me.

So he hadn't gone in almost 24 hours despite me trying different things for him to feel comfortable, since pee pads are still working fine.

I took him out to my balcony and some cement, which the vet said could help, multiple times and he didn't go. So I was busy working and he was in the play pen and he ended up relieving himself while I was momentarily not paying 100% attention to him.

He's on the same food as the breeder used. The doctor also approves of that food. He is also on bottled water.

Again, thanks for the advice, it's definitely helpful. But there's stuff I've been doing and we're also following vet/breeder instructions and things are fine.

Edit: he's also only just nine weeks. So he's not really house trained. But he's learning quickly. Or was till the vet recommended against going on the grass

[Atmo]

Originally Posted by spike021

Thanks for the advice!

But honestly there's way more at play here and it seems like you're immediately assuming the worst.

Sounds like you're doing most everything possible.

Incidentally, I wasn't meaning to assume the worst. I've experienced all of those possibilities and made mistakes like switching food too quickly after picking up puppies from one of the most highly regarded Finnish Spitz breeders in North America and only mentioned the successful remedies after trying several others.

There is one other thing to try to prime the pump. If you still have one of his poops more or less intact, put it outside in the area you want him to go unless a neighbor might step in it.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by humfrz

OKaaaaaaaaaa. Looks like giant crayfish to me, covered with frog eggs -

Flying fish eggs.

[NoHaveMSG]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Flying fish eggs.

My favorite kind of roe.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by Atmo

Sounds like you're doing most everything possible.

Incidentally, I wasn't meaning to assume the worst. I've experienced all of those possibilities and made mistakes like switching food too quickly after picking up puppies from one of the most highly regarded Finnish Spitz breeders in North America and only mentioned the successful remedies after trying several others.

There is one other thing to try to prime the pump. If you still have one of his poops more or less intact, put it outside in the area you want him to go unless a neighbor might step in it.

Sorry, I think I overreacted. I'm low on sleep (heh) due to the sleep schedule change and have had a couple people second-guess some choices I've made.

But I _think_ so far the breeder's instructions have been solid other than that he would be fine on grass, and the vet sounds pretty great as well. I have made sure to do recommended stuff by both of them and definitely don't plan to make abrupt changes other than the one he's adapting to now (coming here this week to stay).

I also ordered a grass thing to put on the balcony and hopefully I can train him to use that for the time-being.

[Capt Spaulding]

Doesn't Ichi have a whole lawn of that stuff?

[Capt Spaulding]

Originally Posted by humfrz

OKaaaaaaaaaa. Looks like giant crayfish to me, covered with frog eggs -

Mmmmmmmm. Crawfish. Love them little mudbugs. Giant ones might be even better.

[humfrz]

Originally Posted by Sapphireho

Flying fish eggs.

Welp, if that's what they told you -

[gen3v8]

Originally Posted by spike021

Sorry, I think I overreacted. I'm low on sleep (heh) due to the sleep schedule change and have had a couple people second-guess some choices I've made.

But I _think_ so far the breeder's instructions have been solid other than that he would be fine on grass, and the vet sounds pretty great as well. I have made sure to do recommended stuff by both of them and definitely don't plan to make abrupt changes other than the one he's adapting to now (coming here this week to stay).

I also ordered a grass thing to put on the balcony and hopefully I can train him to use that for the time-being.

When We got our dog, Rex, home he was scared of the grass. I don`t think he had ever walked on it before.

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Capt Spaulding

Mmmmmmmm. Crawfish. Love them little mudbugs. Giant ones might be even better.

When I used to duck hunt in the rice fields in Colusa California, I used to camp in the fields in my little hunting trailer. After the morning hunt, I would go out and walk the checks with a little bucket and get about 20-30 crawfish, then go back to my trailer and have a duck (or steak) and crawfish dinner. Yum yum!