My boyfriend’s cousins have this dog that’s an outside dog & ive been feeding him & caring for him since he’s not properly cared for (they know and they’re more than okay with it). On Monday I found him with a bunch of scratches & bite marks on him. He had one big puncture wound behind his ear & two smaller ones on his chest. He’d obviously been attacked by something. I immediately treated them with hydrogen peroxide & we called his cousins over who just seemed to brush it off like he’ll be fine & it’s nothing to be worried about.

Everything seems to be healing fine other than those puncture wounds. Im not sure how long it takes for things like that to heal, but the past two days I’ve been flushing out those wounds with hydrogen peroxide & putting a healing cream (made for dogs) on it.

However he’s been acting kind of funny. My boyfriend and I noticed when we found him that he was standing kind of funny & still is (not as much) . The past two days he hasn’t wanted to stay outside. He’s an outside dog & i let him have a safe place to sleep inside & usually in the morning he’s all ready & excited to go outside & explore. He only goes outside though to go potty & runs in immediately. He won’t go outside unless he has to potty & now that I think of it I don’t thing I’ve seen him poop either. Yesterday i made him stay outside since no one was home for a few hours & when I got back he was there waiting. Usually when i come home to takes him at least half an hour to show up, but it seemed like he didn’t want to leave to property. He’s been sleeping a lot and in random places. He has like 4 designated spots he always goes to sleep, but it seems he’ll just take a random spot. He also doesn’t seem to sit very much. Like he’ll come up to me for attention & ill give it to him & he’ll usually sit next to me, but he’ll just stand there instead. He still has his big appetite which I’m thankful for & he’s drinking enough water.

Now, I’ve considered taking him to the vet, but with my current financial state that’s not an option. I’ve considered contacting the owners to see if they can take him, but I’d rather not unless I absolutely have to - only because I feel like they’ll just brush it off again. I’m not sure if it’s part of his healing process or if there’s more to it. Or if there’s more I need to be doing to help him/I’m not properly taking care of him. I’m just really worried about him & want to make sure he’s okay. Maybe I’m just worrying too soon?