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I got my dog in September of last year. He is 7 months old now. Ever since we got him his poop has been soft and diarrhea-y. No blood ever came out or anything, just soft poop. There are times where it goes normal, usually when we get him new food, but he doesn't like eating the food we give him (he insists on getting treats instead.) So isn't getting better. Our vet hasn't really given us any guidance on what to do? Is this something I should be worried about, or are some dogs just more prone to diarrhea/stomach issues? How can I make it stop? It's taxing for me and my mother to clean it up all of the time, especially when it gets in the house from him stepping on it. Thanks for reading.

I had to put my heart dog Jethro down last September due to lung cancer. He had started coughing, and we thought it was from all the fires out here on the left coast. I mean the smoke was so bad we had to wear masks just to leave the house! As the coughing got worse, we took him to the vet. A fast growing lung cancer. There really wasn't anything else that could be done, other than take him home and make him comfortable.

That is the hard part; making them comfortable. Just what does that mean? How will I know it's time? Will I wait too long? Will I do it too soon? I have struggled with this with each dog and each cat. I have 4 dog urns and 4 cat urns, and it is a struggle each time. I finally made the call when he was lying next to me on the couch asleep, then struggled to sit up and gasp for air. This had happened a couple of times, and he had a WTF look in his eyes. His loss was almost as bad as the loss of my mom a couple years ago.

Yesterday someone posted a link on the book of faces, and as soon as I read it, I felt some relief. I hope it helps those of you facing the same struggles. Where we ask "How will I know" or "When is it time", the author asks "What are you waiting for?" Then he goes into those questions and how tricky they are. After reading the article, I feel that I've made the right calls on all my fur babies. I hope it helps those of you facing the same struggle.

Side note: Something extraordinary happened a couple nights after we helped Jethro cross The Rainbow Bridge. He had a way of letting me know when he thought it was bedtime. He'd stand in the hall and stare. You know the stare: it raises the hair on your arms and the back of the neck. Then he'd climb into the bathtub. He loved to sleep in the bathtub. He liked the cool porcelain in the summer, and hubby would put a thick bath rug down in the tub in the winter. Anyway, I was changing to go to bed, and I heard him climbing into the bathtub. I called out "Night, Jethro", then froze. I heard the distinct click-click of first the front feet, then the back feet clearing the tub side, then the "thud" of his hind end landing. Maybe it was an auditory hallucination, maybe it was Jethro come back to make me feel a bit better. I like to think the latter.

Hello everyone,

Recently, pawprint genetics, a company that is used to test dogs for an array of genetic diseases, added two exams recommended to poodles.

The first of the two, hereditary cataracts, is NOT the one I’m going to talk about today.

MDR1, on the other hand, is most common in the following breeds/crosses.

Those of us that are breed savvy will notice this is common in herding breeds.

MDR1 is a deadly gene that can kill dogs when exposed to certain medications.

Obviously, we don’t want it in our breed.

We believe that it’s from crossing in herding breeds—all for the color merle, which we know does NOT occur naturally in poodles.

So before you buy a dog from someone that has merle poodles or is just doodling for color—remember the negative impact that it could have on the dogs and the breed as a whole.

There IS a silver lining! We can now test for this damned gene and know who’s lines were crossed at one point, and breed it out.

Thanks for reading, and as always—support our ethical breeders.

Hi all, I’m going away for work and have to drive and stay somewhere for a week.

My dog is going to be so depressed...that it’s making me super worried about leaving her.

This always happens but since covid I haven’t left her in a really long time this will be the first time in awhile.

I still live with my parents but I’m “her person”, she follows me all around the house all day, i can’t even pee or workout without her having tabs on where I am. She sleeps in my room as well

My parents always tell me that when I leave she looks all around the house for me and stares at the door :/

I’m looking for tips or advice so that she doesn’t like die of a broken heart this week... I’m serious I feel like it’s going to happen!

She’s 13 now and has a heart murmur.

I’m leaving a schedule for my mom and dad to take care of her and everything but I’m looking for other tips or advice for her!

I don’t want her heart completely breaking :(

Is there anything my parents could do too? I’m really worried about it!

Also I might get Wednesday off, should I come home to see her or would that make matters worse? Like would that tease her?

I have 2 dogs, 4 & (almost) 14. Both of them don’t like walking with collar and leash, and I personally don’t like that either because I don’t want to pull on their neck if I have to give a gentle yank or they run a little ahead of me. So, I’ve opted for a harness.

My 4 year old is an angel. She sits on my lap and will actively stuck her head in the head hole to put it on when I’m getting her ready. When we come inside and it’s time to take the harness off, she patiently allows me to take it off before she goes off on her merry way.

My 14 year old, on the other hand, is a devil. When I get her on my lap, she will fight me. Sometimes she lets me put it over her head but then loses it while I’m trying to buckle it, wiggling and jumping away. When we come back, her body language is just fear. Her ears are all the way back, she pulls and resists when I want to take it off of her. After a giant fight to get it off, The second I unbuckle it, she’s violently wiggling her head out before running away.

The 14 year old has always worn a harness and has never reacted this way, only starting this issue maybe within the past year.

The harness is not too small or too tight. Nothing of significance ever happens while on a walk where she might be getting hurt. Just a standard sniff, pee, poop walk. I’m never aggressive or abusive in any way, so I’m not sure what the issue is. She’s in perfectly good health - she just had a physical this weekend and her vet is pleased with her overall health for how old she is. I’m the only one who walks them so I’m there to see everything that goes on. She’s perfectly fine otherwise. It’s just this harness.

Is there a different type of harness I can get for her or something I can do to make this entire situation less frustrating?

tl;dr: Dog suddenly fearful of harness despite nothing ever happening. I stupidly didn’t think to ask the vet at her annual about this. What do?