Puppies make messes. Big puppies make big messes.
I’ve mentioned that Tobie seems to have come pre-housebroken, a happy surprise. Unfortunately when certain digestive upsets occur, training doesn’t always help. And especially in the middle of the night, if you see where I’m going with this. When you really gotta go, you really gotta go.
There’s a particularly evil pollen in the air, or maybe I’ve caught a cold. Either way, I spent yesterday in a chair whacked out on antihistamines trying to get my nose to stop streaming. Went to bed early but didn’t sleep especially well – and I woke up promptly at 2:30 when the pills wore off. This is how I know that the problem hadn’t happened yet then – but should have known that a big problem was brewing because Tobie tried to tell me. Unfortunately we’re not communicating well yet.
I went back to bed, and Tobie got barky. I assumed he was reacting to something outdoors, though it seemed strange that he hadn’t just gone straight back to sleep when I turned the lights off. Replaying the incident a few hours later, I figured he was trying to call my attention to an oncoming issue that we could have dealt with together at the time if I had only gotten the message.
Anyway – I rolled out at 5:30ish, my nose so screwed up I couldn’t have smelled a sewage treatment plant. That and my half-asleep state caused me to put a (booted, thankfully) foot right in one of the several gelatinous piles and track it all the hell over the place before I noticed what I was doing.
So instead of diving right into this morning’s intended project, (last night I got a PDF of the latest version of Ian’s New Book and it needs a quick turnaround,) I started out my day scrubbing extremely foul stuff out of my living room rug(s). And we’ve been out in the yard a few more times than normal this morning, since he’s still got the rumbly tummy. No idea what brought it about, but it’s not his fault.
Joel, I bet it was the rawhide bone you gave him. Vets and people in the know will tell you the worst thing to give a dog. My first clue was the: “several gelatinous piles” rawhide is gelatin, or what it cooks down when broken down in heat and steam. It is not good for their intestinal tract. a raw beef bone would be better and better for his teeth. Hard doggie cookies are also better.
I considered that, Cederq. But he hasn’t actually consumed very much of the rawhide at all. LB would have eaten it all by now, but Tobie has barely scratched the ends.
What we are seeing is the laborious process of Tobie training Uncle Joel.
New Dog Syndrome is what I call it. It’s the dog getting used to new everything, new water, new bugs, new allergens, just… new.
And, as you found out, it takes a couple days to a week to kick in. Once he finishes passing gelatinous masses and smelly poops, it will settle down for about a month and then be repeated, to a smaller extent.
It is what it is.
I had a few days where I didn’t want to wake up and the new dog was on the bed, off the bed, poking me with his nose, whining and then… blaaaaaaarrrrghhhhhh.
Just like you I was not paying attention to the warning signs and sounds.
Ahhhh, the joys of having a dog.
If it was a cat, you’d have heard the three-step warning of “Hwuark, hwuark, hwuark” before said cat deposited it’s stomach contents on your pillow. Cat owners can teleport miles and back in time to stop or avoid being hit by the Hwuark.
I think it’s really promising that he tried to tell you. He knows that there are “Things Best Done Outside” and that’s a really huge step in puppy development. He’s a smart little guy.
I’ve had three rescues (shelter dogs) over the past 30 years or so, and every one of them has had that kind of issue in the first few days after we brought them home.
I think most of it has to do with an expanded diet. Shelter dogs are typically kept on the equivalent of a 1200 cal/day survival diet. They are skinny and you can see their ribs. You get them home, and your first question is “Is the puppy hungry”? And yes, they are.
Wanting to be kind to the new doggie, most of us are going to proceed to feed them more than what they are used to getting, and probably other things than straight kibble. Then, we get the result you observed before they adjust to the richer and more varied diet.