Hi. My boyfriend and I have a 5 year old Alaskan Malamute. We've known him for about 6 months now, but he just moved in with us about 2 1/2 months ago. (Our friend adopted him back in November, but picked up a new job out of the country, so now the dog is with us.) Our dog is the sweetest big boy, but he can be very stubborn at times. But that's not the problem, as we know his breed is famous for being stubborn. Here are the issues that are alarming to us: 1) He sometimes vomits his food and water inside the house. I read that we should wait at least 30 minutes to feed him after we take him outside. Supposedly, this is so that he doesn't vomit from eating/drinking water right after exercising. But even after doing this, he is still vomiting. 2) He is deathly afraid of my boyfriend. My boyfriend teases him sometimes, and can be very firm towards him. He is also the disciplinary between the two of us. But my boyfriend loves him, takes him out for walks, and pets him a lot. Our dog has mood swings. One minute, he'll be scared of my boyfriend (for no reason), and another minute, he'll be fine sitting next to him. 3) He started urinating and defecating in the house, even though we take him out for walks 2-3 times a day. Why???? 4) He is very lazy. He likes to lay down all day. When we take him to the dog park, he isn't very active. He's not an active dog at all actually, although I believe his breed is supposed to be active. Please keep in mind that we just got him a few months ago, and he's already 5 years old, so we're thinking he didn't get the proper training/exercise when he was younger. 5) He can be sensitive to pain sometimes. If we pet him, especially where his lower back/side is, he'll sometimes yelp. It's not even aggressive petting, but he yelps as if he was just attacked by another animal. We have taken him to the vet in recent weeks, but they were of very little help to us. They prescribed him some pain medicine to get rid of the "pain" he is feeling, but that was only temporary. Please advise!
The first thing I would do is rule out something medical, take a urine and poo sample and ask for an x-ray, if your not happy with your present vet find another one.
There sounds to be a lot going on for your poor pooch, a vet visit is a must, as soon as you can Try to keep a diary of EVERYTHING, it’s so much easier and quicker to explain thinks if it’s written down !
Vet check first and foremost as it sounds like there may be something medical going on. Secondly, when you say your boyfriend is very firm with him, how does he demonstrate this 'firmness'? Similarly, what does the teasing consist of?
