u/AeroNoob333

Our dog used to be on a kibble, but it gave her the worst quality loose stools and a dull coat. We’ve switched her over to an air-dried dog food, Ziwi Peak, which made her coat shiny and soft, while her stools are now small and firm. Although Ziwi isn’t WSAVA technically, I have ran their complete nutritional analysis into my NRC formulation spreadsheet and it meets her RDA for every single micronutrient. However, the price point is completely unsustainable.

I’d like to switch her over to food that meets WSAVA standards, but I don’t know which of these have the highest quality ingredients that will maintain the stool and coat progress she has made with Ziwi Peak. Also, she is a hard gainer and needs to be on an active/performance formula with at least 450 per cup, so she isn’t eating so much volume. She’s on 1800-2000 calories a day right now. Which of these choices have the best quality ingredients:

- Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Beef & Bison

- Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Chicken & Rice

- Purina Pro Plan Sport 30/20 Salmon & Rice

- Eukanuba Premium Performance 30/20

Leaning towards Beef & Bison or Salmon & Rice. Open to other food as well. Thank you!

I’m making some dog toys like snuffle mats, shuffle balls, and rope toys for flirt poles using thrifted fleece. Do you think these need a Spa Day or just a hot wash?

We just adopted our foster 2 weeks ago. She is 1 year old and it seems like she has separation anxiety. It’s not the worst I’ve seen. She isn’t even destructive at all. She’s just in a constant state of panic and she stress pees and poops, regardless of taking her outside prior. We leave her on our large outdoor deck where there is a lot of shade and provide water. It makes the accident cleanups easier, but she is still full on panicking. No barking or whining. Just constant pacing.

Since it’s only been 2 weeks, could this just be a settlement issue? Like, maybe she’s just not fully relaxed and confident just yet. If it is, in your experience, how long does it take to resolve on its own if it’s truly not clinical separation anxiety?

I’ve been reading a lot about desensitization treatment protocols for SA through books by Malena deMartini and Julie Naismith and their recommendation for never leaving the dog alone beyond their threshold isn’t practical for us given the limited resources available to us (no family, friends too far away, hubby doesn’t trust sitters, dog has motion sickness so can’t take to daycare). We live in a rural area where everything is 30 min drive at least. We try to alternate doing errands but there are just times we need or want to leave at the same time.

We are hoping this isn’t true SA and resolves on its own just through daily living. For those that have been in a similar situation, how long did their SA resolve if it was just a settlement issue? Just looking for a timeline to see when we need to make an adjustment to more serious treatment protocols. My hubby will just have to either get over his distrust of sitters or we will just never be able to go out together.

Has anyone dealt with a dog that has motion sickness? When we took River home, she drooled so much all over the car and proceeded to throw up. Not sure if it’s motion sickness or she’s scared or both. I’ve never dealt with this and was wondering if anyone has any advice. We are getting ready to go to her first wellness exam. We live out in the country and the vet is a 45 minute drive.

We all know the adjustment period it takes for a new foster or adopted dog. I’m mostly curious about how long, you as a human, get back into your own routine? Really, what spurred this question is crate training. I remember when I first adopted our now senior dog that it was impossible to make her love the crate and I basically had to take the chance of just letting her sleep on my bed while I was gone for work.

If you work, do you take a few days off from work? How are you doing gradually introductions to crate/enclosed space when you HAVE to leave to go to work or literally to do anything other than stay in your house for a month?

Since adopting our pup, I’ve basically stopped working out, taking care of myself, eating more takeout, and it feels like I’ve been under house arrest the whole time. At least until she learns to love her crate. My only refuge is when it’s my turn to get groceries. Even taking a shower took a while to get back to routine. Luckily, I’m on sabbatical from work right now, so I can actually do this, but I feel most people are not as lucky as I am.

I suppose this is how parents of 2 year old toddlers feel like. Can’t do anything for yourself because you have to keep an eye out on them at all times, at least until nap time.