Hello everyone, I am brand new to the forum and am here for a very important reason. I'm seeking advice from other dog owners as to what they think.

Max is my 2 year old chocolate lab mut that I rescued 1.5 years ago and is a very important part of our family.

We left for vacation 2 weeks (10/7)ago and returned on Sunday(10/15), Max was kennelled in a place where we put him last year for vacation also(5 days). Although this time when we brought Max home he was very lethargic, which wasn't too big a deal.

The big deal(s) are that he lost about 10 pounds in 9 days and looks like skin and bones now. Max has never been a picky eater but I suppose those things happen(homesick).

The thing that bothers me most and is the reason why I came to the forum is that one of his eyes is constantly moist on the fur around it. My wife also says she sees mucous and cloudiness.

I'm hoping that someone may be able to give me insight as to what may be the problem with Max's eye and perhaps maybe his weight problem?? The kennel does not have a vet on staff though they do require all shots to be up to date, but I am considering filing chargings for what these people did to a member of my family.

Any help on this subject would be very welcomed.

Thank You -Joe

Recently a work colleague left her two nine month old german shepherds in a kennel for a week and they had constant diarrhoea.It took ten days and three expensive trips to the vets until they recovered.How do you know if a kennel is a decent one?

A vet visit is certainly in order. Then if you find that the kennel is at fault you have professional back up. Good luck and sorry to hear about your dog.

While I agree that your dog should be to the vet for the possible eye problem, I think you will find that the weight loss is less related to poor care than to increased activity. Often, dogs who are kenneled in a new place spend most of their time running up and down and being excited about the other dogs and the comings and goings of the staff. They just exercise the weight off. Unless you field trial you dog, he probably doesn't exercise to this level ever with you. He also may have been just to "busy" to eat so did not take in enough food to keep his weight on. Unless he is having gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting or diarrhea, he probably lost weight due to exercise.

I would certainly take your dog to the vets for a check up but the weight lose could be due to pining for you and your family as well as stress(which can be common at kennels thru no fault of the kennel) But I would put him on a high fat/protein diet to try and put the weight back on but the eye problem would be a concern to me and the vets would be the first stop on my list the vet should be able to help determine if that is from the kennels treatment of the dog or if it's just bad luck that it appears to be that way and he has just got a slight eye infection if the vet recommends that it's the kennels fault I would take legal action as well. Well Good luck and I hope your pup recovers well and please do keep us imformed of how it goes!