All,

We recently went on vacation and left our pup in the care of relatives. Upon returning and collecting Achilles, we've noticed some of the following:

1. He is lunging on the leash while outside. Before, he was pretty good (though not perfect by any means) at loose-leash walking. Any chance this is just due to his nose getting keener? (He's four months old now)

2. Every time he meets a new dog/a dog he knows, he will get all rigid, raise his hackles, and then slowly lower them and sniff the dog (and then wag his tail).

3. He has developed a productive (phlegmy/mucous-y) cough over the past couple days. We're not sure if it's to due to ingesting other dog fur during playtime (the dogs shed a lot), eating more sticks/paper towel rolls than usual, or a URI. We're watching him carefully to see if it gets better, and seems to at least have decreased in frequency.

4. Achilles had been gassy lately (the past few weeks) with intermittent diarrhea. We had the vet check him out and we were told that he had Clostridium under the microscope, but he didn't have any parasites. He went through a course of Metronidazole, and things seemed to be getting better, but, according to our relatives, the day after he finished the meds he was having diarrhea again. We feed him almost exclusively raw chicken with Nuvet supplements, and this seems to be a recent issue. We bought some higher quality chicken, in case that was the problem, and I'll let you know how it goes. Given that, are we missing something obvious?

Any thoughts on any/all of these issues, and what we should do to prevent these sort of behavioral changes in the future?

Thank you in advance!

PS-I promise I'll upload more pictures of Achilles when able. Just started a new module (semester) in school, so I'm trying to get into the swing of things.

In terms of the GI issues, I had an ongoing problem with my pup when he was this age as well and I too was feeding him raw chicken. I tried everything and the only then that solidified his poop was putting him on kibble for a couple of months. Around 7 months of age, I put him back on raw and he has been fine since. The kibble that finally worked best for him was actually a lamb and rice puppy kibble by merrick. The grain free higher quality kibbles were too high in protein and too rich for him. I hated to do it, but it worked for him so I went with it until he was a little older. He's been full raw now for a while and everything is good. You may want to try a different protein. You could try ground turkey or ground beef and use bone meal for his bone content if he can't handle harder bones yet.

In terms of the training and social changes, you will notice as he matures that you encounter different issues along the way. One day, he's great on the leash, the next he acts like he's never seen one before. Puppies go through various stages as they develop, some are blissful and some are, well hellish. I remember 4 months as a particularly hellish time with Dizzy. I call it his asshole phase. Seriously, dog was a jerk! Just stay the course with your training and be patient. If you deviate every time one of these issues pop up, you'll go crazy. Just do the best you can to be consistent with him and expect him to change. My best friend likes to say it's an ebb and flow of puppyhood and then adolescence. You can't prevent these types of behavior changes, just understand that when they happen, it's nothing that you have done wrong, it's part of his development. The first year is a wild ride, just hang on, try not to grind your teeth, and try not to cry too much.

#3 sounds like Kennel Cough.

All, thanks for your input. The cough resolved on its own (go figure, eating sticks leads to coughing them up.)

The hackles-raising thing is apparently normal for puppies. Dogs know when it's aggressive, but until around a year old, they may raise their hackles in excitement (which is what Achilles does).

His stomach is better, mostly, though he does get gassy very easily. We switched his food for now, and we're going to switch it back to raw after this bag is done, with more bone for sure.

Just wanted to update everyone, thanks for your advice!