What’s a pet myth or lesson you had to learn the hard way?

Growing up, I always assumed the traditional dog years to human years rule (1 dog year = 7 human years) was solid truth, and that you just follow whatever feeding portion is printed on the back of the bag.

Once I started digging into the actual research while building "My Pet Calculator", I realized how much nuance we miss. A 2-year-old Great Dane is in a completely different life stage than a 2-year-old Chihuahua, and standard feeding guidelines rarely account for how active your pet actually is day-to-day.

It made me realize how much "common knowledge" around pet care is actually outdated.

I'd love to learn from everyone here:

1. What’s one pet care myth or rule of thumb you used to believe until a vet (or research) set you straight?

2. Does your pet have any funny or weird daily habits you swear only they do?

Tell me what kind of pet you have and what you've learned—would love to swap stories! 👇