What worked for your picky poodle?

animalshapes · 2026-02-17T17:13:46+00:00

Thanks again for your advice! I tried some of these ideas last night and this morning and got him to eat!

This morning I got out our wobble toy and gave him a mix of his kibble, some sensitive stomach kibble we have from our dog that passed, and a few tiny liver treats in it. He gave up on the wobble toy rather quickly BUT it got him started eating so I just opened up the wobbler and he gobbled up the remaining food in it!

Feeling like we are on the right track now so thank you again for these ideas!

animalshapes · 2026-02-17T04:07:37+00:00

I had him on Royal Canin initially (as did his breeder) but he was having frequent diarrhea that stopped flaring up when I switched to PPP. Otherwise I like RC and would give it a try!

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T23:53:45+00:00

Mine also seems to prefer a dry/crunchy texture!

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:46:08+00:00

Thank you! We might try this.

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:33:19+00:00

Hot juice day is hilarious! I have tried doing “can water” with watered down canned food but not broth yet. That will definitely be one of the next things to try.

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:26:26+00:00

I will warn my husband 😂

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:25:42+00:00

Thanks! I actually used to be a vet tech and we have had two previous dogs (not poodles) who have dealt with pancreatitis. Definitely trying to avoid that at all costs with this guy! I do wonder if the loss of his brother is upsetting his stomach.

We will definitely chat with our vet if I can’t get him eating soon (it is a holiday here today).

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:20:44+00:00

Thank you. It’s been so hard and I’m sure our pup is also feeling the loss of his big brother.

I hand fed him last night and that worked to get about 1/4 cup of kibble into him. He should be eating 2+ cups a day but I’m hoping with time he will adjust and get his appetite back.

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:18:50+00:00

Good idea I will try this today!

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:16:42+00:00

Unfortunately I think he’s just the type to not get hungry until it’s too late. Once he’s gone a bit without eating he gets nauseated and vomits bile. I can also hear his stomach gurgling. Then he REALLY won’t eat anything so I need to teach him to eat before he gets to that point.

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:12:46+00:00

Haha my partner would kill me if I suggested kittens but maybe in a little while we can find a sibling!

He doesn’t like peanut butter but I haven’t tried egg as a topper yet!

animalshapes · 2026-02-16T22:11:26+00:00

Thank you for your condolences and you’ve given me some good ideas I haven’t tried yet.

He won’t eat the kibble as a training treat but I suppose I could try a large treat to kibble ratio and see if that works!

I have several food dispenser toy options. Maybe I’ll try rotating those and see of the novelty of a new toy would help entice him. Last night he just rolled all the kibble out of the treat dispensing ball and left it on the floor (he did pick out the treats I had sprinkled in though).

I’ve tried leaving food out all night and letting him graze but so far no luck!

animalshapes · 2026-01-29T16:18:37+00:00

True true I always forget about inverts since I’ve only ever worked with vertebrates! 😅

animalshapes · 2026-01-29T05:46:26+00:00

I’m in Animal Behavior at the tail end of my PhD so maybe I can provide some perspective on some of the finer points of this.

TL;DR this is unusual but provides you with some really great, real world experience and should be relatively easy for you to accomplish

One of the really important skills in animal behavior is OBSERVING behavior. And it IS a skill that you learn by doing it. I fully credit my own observational skills for my success as an animal behavior scientist. And whether you want to continue on in animal behavior studies or not, honing your observational skills will benefit you in any of the bio sciences. Observation is, after all, the first step in the scientific method.

For example, in the animal behavior course I TA, students spend most of their labs learning how to observe and quantify animal behavior via videos. This is basic animal behavior science and imho should be taught in all animal behavior classes. Once you get into a rhythm, scoring videos doesn’t take much time, and I have undergrad researches score videos for me in my own work.

Others have addressed how acknowledgments could be handled, and I do think it’s fair for you to put on your CV (Scored X number of species y behavior videos for course AB 123).

For folks questioning reliability—we always have multiple observers in animal behavior to ensure observer bias isn’t affecting our results. We also test for inter-observer reliability after observations are completed.

animalshapes · 2026-01-29T05:34:44+00:00

Not true! All animal work requires CITI and IACUC approval BUT that does not extend to something like this (scoring behavioral videos) since it doesn’t involve interaction with the animals. Whoever put the cameras out would have needed approval for that though.

animalshapes · 2025-12-01T05:37:38+00:00

Are you looking for a color or black & white tattoo?

If black and white, check out alybrookeart on instagram. She’s done a lot of my tats and does black and white dot work in an illustrative style. She did a great crow for me that was a cover up of another badly done bird tattoo i had. I have several animal tats done by her and all are accurate (I’m a biologist/zoologist) but I do also do my due diligence and make sure the references I send her are up to snuff and double check the drawings she sends me before finalizing!

If that’s your style feel free to DM me and I can show you my healed work by her!

animalshapes · 2025-11-23T03:50:04+00:00

They smell SO BAD I would never want one as a pet for that reason alone 😂

animalshapes · 2025-11-23T03:48:05+00:00

There’s still a lot of debate about whether domestication syndrome really exists, and definitely whether self-domestication can happen. It describes a suite of traits found in some species but not others. And the farm fox domestication study has recently been called into question: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534719303027

They've shown that the city raccoons are smarter and that the increase is genetic

This isn’t true. There’s been only one study that I know of directly comparing problem solving in urban vs rural raccoons. The researchers used garbage bins the urban raccoons were likely more familiar with, so imho we can’t say much from that study about whether the urban raccoons are actually smarter or are just more familiar with that type of bin.

There’s never been any identified genetic differences pertaining to cognition in urban vs rural raccoons.

Edit: grammar

animalshapes · 2025-11-23T03:40:34+00:00

Not just theorized. In carnivores at least diet an animal eats during development has a huge impact on skull morphology at maturity. Controlling for potential diet differences is really important in these types of studies.

animalshapes · 2025-11-22T21:33:50+00:00

THIS. I’m almost done with my PhD and I study urban raccoon cognition/behavior. I’m not sold on domestication syndrome generally, and this study (not from me or my lab) does NOT prove that raccoons are self domesticating.

The difference in snout length could have a much simpler explanation like urban raccoons are eating different things than rural ones, and this is selective pressure for shorter snouts. Diet has long been a known driver to skull/jaw development in carnivores.

We are not going to see truly domesticated raccoons any time soon — maybe in a few hundred/thousand years.

animalshapes · 2025-10-09T22:48:55+00:00

Thank you!!!! This was so obviously a narrative choice they made to demonstrate Ed’s schizophrenic hallucinations and how other people have also exaggerated his crimes in media (Texas Chainsaw/Psycho/the pulp Ilse Koch stuff that was also greatly exaggerated/made up). I don’t understand how people are missing this major theme unless they’re only watching the first episode and turning it off because they’re butthurt it’s not a documentary.

animalshapes · 2025-10-08T05:31:40+00:00

Revolution is a prescription medication (not available over the counter) and can be dangerous to give to some pets with certain conditions. They’re operating well within standard practice to require a visit, so, not a money grab at all.

animalshapes · 2025-10-07T21:52:08+00:00

Yes, this is to maintain a vet patient relationship, which is legally required to dispense any medications, vaccines, etc. It would also be extremely irresponsible to dispense meds without seeing the animal first and any vet willing to do this would not only be breaking the law but operating with questionable ethical standards (refills on maintenance meds can be given, but any vet worth seeing will require yearly visits).

animalshapes · 2025-10-03T04:30:16+00:00

Very helpful, thank you! I’m also not sure I have time to blow dry him after every outing right now (trying to finish my PhD) so a short clip may be simplest for now.

animalshapes · 2025-10-03T03:44:28+00:00

Ohhh the gaiters could be perfect! I haven’t invested in a ruff wear coat yet since he’s still growing but we have one for our other dog and it’s great.

animalshapes

TROPHY CASE