Clarabelle

he loves his food haha. Okay thanks a lot for advices guys, really appreciate it.

he does it only when we're not looking or when we leave the house for a really brief period of time. I guess his last owner really got him scared of messing up the house.

Your dog is NOT deliberately stepping in poo and 'gladly' spreading it. Your chosen living arrangements have removed his option to exercise his natural instinct to defecate outside his usual living area. He has no option but to poo in your apartment unless you give him better access outside. If you want a 'cleaner' place to live, move somewhere with outside access. This is your decision making at work, not your dog's. If I sound a bit annoyed by your post, its because I am. You are the one who chooses how this dog lives. You are the the one who needs to deal with the outcome of that choice. If you want a squeaky clean apartment, you have chosen the wrong pet. It's not fair to put this on the dog. my apartment is HUGE and i have a big space for him to wee and poo so if he decides to pick his poo up and eat it its MY fault ? we bring it multiple times for it to have enough exercise so he can adapt to our new apartment well. You have no right to judge me and saying its my bad decision because I am damn pretty sure me and my partner cares about his wellbeing more than his last owners. So sorry if i decide to get some first hand opinion from dog owners, and if my post angers you, just leave. I dont need YOUR judgemental views.

Premium quality kibble from Royal canin 1/2 cup at 10 am, 1/2 cup at 6 pm, and a healthy snack at 8-9 ( been trying carrots, apple). I've been googling about corophagia, and he doesn't eat other dog's poop. When i walk him and he smells other dog's poop, he would walk away.

hahaha everything that concerns me is normal k thanks (:

we just found out that maple eats his own poop. We have been suspecting it as there are some brown spots on the wee wee pad but today we confirmed it as there are traces of poop everywhere at the hall way. im a cleanliness freak and this really put me off quite a bit.. esp when i think about him touching us with his paw which he stepped on his own poop and gladly spread it on the ground.

haha its okay ! i just scolded him ! he stopped right after and went to sleep :D my boyfriend said the names of your dogs are cute :D

Okay Maple is acting strange... He seems really frustrated and would throw tantrums on his bed, he would begin to scratch it rapidly ( something we've never observed him to do ) Like he's pissed and distressed.. Could there be anything wrong with him or the diet? We still bring him for 2 walks a day.

Okay news update ! Maple is acting DESPERATE for food. He would jump up onto the kitchen counter/ sink to sniff around. He's having food withdrawal symptoms ): He keeps creeping up to me and giving me puppy eyes like he's trying to tell me I AM HUNGRY ! GIVE MEEE FOOD ! hahahaha. i tried to give him carrot, he only had a few nibbles.. I'm gna try apples for his night snack later, hopefully he enjoys it better ! Also, I'm trying to find a decent groomer around VIC clayton area, or any good intro to mobile groomers. Thanks :D

My heart goes out to you.. i don't think i mentioned maple being timid but he is really timid, he gets scared just about by anything.. like when the door creeks or the wind blows or even when we get off the seat and there's just a small thump he'll jump. No idea why. One think he's really afraid of is tearing of paper.. no worries about getting off track..in fact thanks for sharing such a sweet story. Its stories like this that makes me learn how to cherish Maple before he's gone (:

Thanks guys for all the wonderful healthy food suggestions, I will try giving him pumpkin and peas! If he doesn't like them , out of all the healthy food he just has to find one thats to his liking then ! Too bad :D

Don't worry too much about it. If they were traumatized with the vet, they'll still be traumatized when they leave the room. I would know cause Maple was all wobbly when he left ( he kept slipping on the hard wood floor, like his legs were jelly ) He's too big for me to carry or else i would ! Yeah maybe, but i definitely bringing my baby to another vet next time ! :D yeah only my partner can take his weight by carrying him onto the weighing machine then subtracting his own personal weight

I just gave him half a carrot and he doesn't seem to like it very much ): he'll chew on it then give up and abandon it, and then after awhile he'll know that he haven't got a choice so go back to gnawing on it ! haha . Here's a pic ! http://imgur.com/GDgyFxI

If that happens.. I will get him back to a fatty again. HAHAHA . I'm kidding. I want to go on jogs with him, without him panting and breathing so heavily like he's going to pass out anytime. hahaha .

Everything is better today, he seem to have forgotten about yesterday's nightmare ! He seems to respect me more now, when i brought him for walks today he heeled soooo much better. I'm looking at him struggling with a pig's ear. soooo funny and adorable. pig ears arent too fatty i hope ! he just looked too hungry ! ): going to bring him out for another walk soon, thought he could use a snack before. Hopefully he gets more active so he can remain lean so i can watch him enjoy all the food :D Its nice to know my dog isnt abnormal for snapping at the vet, I felt so sad when he had to be treated like a bad dog when he is soooo sweet at home. ):

Dieting for the dog is painful to watch ): I am constantly thinking ' aw poor thing must be starving' ( one little snack wont hurt ) hahaha . hopefully after a week he would get skinnier so i can improve on the quality of his diet. That vet to me was insensitive and unloving ( to me at least, to my boyfriend he thought he was aloof and professional) How are other vets like ?

Thanks :D I've been reading so much on dogs nowadays, I fear that I might not even read this much for my next human baby hahaha. He is much better now, he would wee wee in the wee wee pad. ( For two consecutive days already ) Didn't even have to wee wee pad train him that much ! He really needs socialising.. he seems so confused when he sees other dogs and all the other owners doesn't want him near their furbies at all ! Rejection for my dear boy. Will sign us up for some training sessions soon :D

wow 10 kibbles.. aww thats nice to know that im not alone with this attitude... he is alot better now, he's responding to me calling him but just not that excitedly. he loves his pats and belly rubs too much to stay angry.. haha. thanks for the pep talk ! really worked (: hopefully after everyone get some sleep ( including me ) tomorrow will be a better day :D he's so tired he totally konked out since 830.

I'd not be banking on that DNA test to confirm anything breed wise - its not an exact science and members here have had some pretty iffy results. A frightened dog will do a lot of things you might not expect. I would recommend you go to dog training - in addition to teaching you some skills, its a great way to bond with your dog. Getting weight off him should see him become more lively. Yeah I will consider dog training (: man .. I should've consulted you guys before that DNA test then . To save the $$

Vet told me to just cut down to half cup kibble twice a day . He's not responding when I call him to come now ): aw heart broken .

Just came back from the vets ... Oh god ): it was a nightmare... First he tried to bite the vet, ( I couldn't believe my eyes) then when the vet tried to muzzle it, he literally leapt off that high table and almost choked himself because of the leash around his neck. The vet told me he is at least 2 years old, ( so the previous owner lied about his age) and is severely overweight, ( cause he said he could feel tons of fats around his rib area ). I had to do a DNA test to confirm his breed. Paying that 130 bucks was least of the problems, he looked TERRIFIED when the needle went into him. It took 3 people, me, my boyfriend and another helper to hold him down before the vet could draw his blood. We think that the previous owner just fed it whatever from the dinner table and couldn't care less about his health.. I was also told by the vet to be stricter to him so on the walk home, I was so strict and he did heel way better, but when we got home, he usually comes and snuggle by my leg etc. but he didnt, and just stayed in his bed. ): ah ): bad dayyyy.

I'll go to the vet and hopefully he can tell me what age he is. I got a JS thinking exactly that, of having an energetic puppy around. Maple just seem like a company dog, he does seek out for affection but not attention ( he wont bark or bite to get attention like other puppies we had, he doesn't bite/nibble while we play with him either) How much does your puppy sleep? maple sleeps a lot . everytime we're not doing something with him he'll either take a stroll around the apartment or just sleep . (usually sleep)

oh dear.... reading those comments made me worry. I will bring him to a vet next thing tomorrow. He is really quiet.. not at all active and sparkly. ( unless we get really excited then he would get excited too , or else he would just sit or lay by our feet as we're on the computer etc.. ) He gets excited by food mostly (haha) And i haven't brought him to the vet yet because, the previous owners just got him vaccinated 3 days before we bought him over, c5 c3 so it didnt occur to me to visit the vet again so soon. They handed us a receipt with his microchip number on it. He is also desexed, he has no testicles. I just started trying to cut down on his food and feed him fish and he now weighs 13.6 kg. We put dry food out and he doesn't finish it. ( previous owners asked us to give 1.5 cups ) we're cutting to just fish in the morning ( twice a week) and raw chicken necks for breakfast and dry food ( 1 cup ) for dinner. We walk him twice early morning for him to poop pee about 10 mins for so, and then evening for an hour or so. He is doing very well with obedience training, we train him twice a day, he can obey sit, lay and leave it.

My guess is because he hasn't had much exercise, and he gets more food than he needs ... Two walks a day would be terrific for his wellbeing , physical and psychological :) I know you say how wonderful he is ... has he lived the apartment life before? he may get bored/frustrated after some weeks of sitting inside all day ..and you may well see some behaviour change. At present everything is novel , and for all he knows, tomorrow he might be doing something different ;) His last owner although had a yard kept him indoors the whole time , ahhhhh fingers crossed cause now he's such an angel , the last owner said he had toys but yet they didn't bring any toys over , ( kinda shady owners ) didn't reply my texts when I started questioning about the dog , sigh .. Maybe I will start buying some toys for maple , but not sure as to what he wants . He sleeps ALOT . And he doesn't even bite anything around the house . Would giving him toys to play with start that habit of biting house furniture ? ):

How do you keep her lean ? Mine doesn't eat much at all and he's so fat ! Hahahaha ! Fat genes . Aww that's so sweet ! In the near future I would love to have two dogs and see them get along :D jealous *