u/ChampignonVert

Hi all! We have a five month old standard poodle who has been an absolute joy for the past three months. We’ve had our rough moments here and there but we’ve been blessed with an easy puppy—no chewing, housebroken almost immediately, and just generally fantastic temperament aside from being super mouthy with us.

He has always had a sensitive stomach, starting with his vaccines. Like clockwork, he would have weeklong bouts of nighttime vomiting and diarrhea after each puppy shot. Unfortunately for us, the vet advised that breaking up the vaccines would probably just result in more bouts of diarrhea. Hills I/D wet food, Fortiflora, and pumpkin would eventually perk him back up.

I figured that the worst of his GI issues were behind us at four months…until teething happened. His appetite went away, he kept pawing at his mouth, and then the GI issues returned. Like clockwork, we’d be up 3+ times a night running to the backyard for the poosplosion. I legit did not realize how one little puppy could be so full of poop.

After a few days of his bland diet (we knew the drill and didn’t need to call the vet yet), his poop firmed up. But the second we slowly introduced kibble back, the diarrhea returned with a vengeance. Off to the vet we went.

Turns out that not only can swallowing saliva and blood from teething cause GI upset, but if you have a sensitive puppy, the sheer pain from teething can result in stress colitis, per our vet. 🙃 The good news is that he’s almost finished teething. The sensation from his molars and canines coming in is just too much for him.

Our pup’s case is more psychosomatic, but it’s so interesting how much these things can affect them.

Here’s hoping the metronidazole kicks in soon and that this story helps some other paranoid first-time owners. Has anyone else had this experience too?

Hi all, I have a 10 week old spoo puppy who has been an absolute gem for the past week and a half. Very few accidents in the house, walks well on a leash, loves people, and has done great with the safe socialization we’ve tried so far.

His only issue is the crate, and I’m worried he’s a bit too smart for his own good. We have a crate in our bedroom and an x-pen in our living room. For his enforced naps (one hour up, two down) he does fine in his pen with little protesting. He sleeps in the crate at night.

Since he’s gotten home I’ve done daily crate games with him, put a blanket with smells from home, his favorite chews, thrown treats, played white noise, and covered it for a more den-like environment. He settles fine at night and sleeps through the night. However, he won’t willingly go in it. When I throw treats in, he uses those long poodle legs to get the treats and then just looks at me, wondering why I’m asking him to go in there.

We’ve been slowly using the crate for enforced naps with mixed success, and yesterday my partner and I wanted to test leaving him alone in the crate to run an errand. He was tired and due for a nap, but he had a total meltdown after he was put in. Screaming, barking, pacing—nothing would soothe him. He started this before we even left.

We checked him from the camera we have set up in the crate, and he eventually settled after 20 minutes. When he heard us come home, he woke up and started screaming again. Not even talking through the camera helped. I know he needs to adjust and figure out that the crate is okay, but I don’t want him to resent it. Eventually he’ll be too big for us to physically put in there, and I’d rather it be a happy space for him.

Any other tips? It feels like I’ve tried everything at this point. Some things I’m considering:

- Attaching the crate to his pen in the living room, not sure how he’d react to this or if he’d willingly go in.

- Feeding meals in the crate, but this feels like a waste of time because he’s picky and we haven’t found his biggest ~high value~ treat yet.