General dog chat

[BiteyShark]

Anyone fancy a general dog chat thread?

BiteyDog is now almost 15 months old and it's about time we ditched the puppy survival thread for general chit chat but it's still nice to chat about our doggie dilemmas and days so if anyone wants to join me in wittering on saves BiteyDog having the listen to my incessant talking at him then welcome aboard.

How's all the dogs coping with the snow in the northern parts? I am sick of the rain and I guess fortunate enough that BiteyDog doesn't like it much either so apart from a 20 min ball run we are snuggled up in the house today.

Fortunately he's now had a poo (which hurt him as he jumped and growled before running outside ) so the smells have subsided. It was so potent you could smell him in the rest of the house so we had to air the rooms [boak]

He's still restless a bit at night (hence the post at stupid o'clock) and I know he's a bit uncomfortable even with the tramadol. What was so nice though was that he give me a waggy tail earlier which was lovely to see so he must be feeling more like himself

How’s he been today Bitey?

Hope he's feeling better.

I have been dozing on the mattress with him most of the day. It's shattering and I admit I feel quite low knowing we have a good 2 weeks to nurse him through this again .

He has been much brighter in himself today, even bringing us a toy as a greeting. But he also appeared uncomfortable and kept jumping as if something was stabbing him. We left it a few hours but decided to get checked out at the emergency vets (as neither DH or I could take any more worrying) but because of his IBD decided to stick with his painkillers for now rather than risk upsetting his stomach any further. He's also struggling to poo and only had a tiny one today. Fortunately he has got his appetite back .

Feeling much more positive today. I got more sleep and BiteyDog did a normal poo (much rejoicing in the BiteyHouse ).

Poo rejoicing, yay 😁
Yesterday cocodog managed to control herself and respond to leave and this way when she disturbed two ducks, passed a group of walkers without leaping all over them and generally was a delight. Can’t believe it was this time last week when she disgraced herself chasing a bunny through our neighbours farmyard and got covered in slurry😬

Great news Bitey!

Awww good Cocodog mine hates ducks, geese and really anything that flies

If I am close to her I can stop any misbehaviour...she has stopped bombing off to investigate things and generally sticks pretty close now unless we are in our woods, but that is a safe place to have a charge about and often where she meets known doggy pals to race around with. Think I have come to the conclusion that if you have a spaniel or spaniel cross walks are always going to involve due vigilance and rarely are going to be a relaxed potter🙄
Glad biteydog feeling better and another sunny day ahead!

I read some literature at the gundog training and it said if you want a relaxing walk with a dog where you can chat to people and not have to constantly watch your dog don't get a spaniel so yes it does seem that way doesn't it

That sounds very positive Bitey

And well done cocodog - it’s not only spaniels who make for ‘interesting’ walks .. we quite often get remarks on how well behaved teatimetoller is, but that’s only because we’re constantly scanning the horizon for potential hazards - if we let down our guard he will go freelance and the consequences aren’t pretty...

Ah yes Coco - I am still scarred by the time PestDog found a lone goose a substantial distance from the Serpentine in Hyde Park. Naturally he gave chase and suddenly went deaf. Thankfully the goose knew the drill and flew in large circles about a metre above his head until I managed to rattle the treat pot and his hearing miraculously recovered. Being Hyde Park we had an audience for this debacle and I got to look like irresponsible dog owner du jour

Yesterday he rolled in something obnoxious, but I didn't realise until we were in a confined space - the bus. Turns out Lush Twilight lavender scented shower gel is surprisingly good at removing awful smells from dogs...

This is not a dog suited to polite company

Oh dear, our dogs do love to show us up

I don’t have to constantly watch my dog...because when we’re out he’s generally attached to a running lead which is clipped round my waist If he wasn’t I wouldn’t be able to watch him because he’d have disappeared into the distance!

Does anyone get problems with drones being flown low over dog walking areas? There is a model aeroplane flying area on the huge grassy plain near me (which is major dog walking territory) and we can just about put up with the aeroplanes but now some wretched person has a drone and they swoop it, making weird buzzing noise and flashing lights, about 15-20 feet above the ground and my dog goes MAD. She chases it all over (I wish she would catch it and destroy it when it goes to ground but I'm a bit scared of the teenage louts who own it). There is a vast area they can fly it over but they always do it all over the area particularly used by dogs and the other day they sent it across a busy road at the far end - good thing I grabbed my dog or she'd have run after it under a car. When it was fairly new, I was passed by a riderless horse running from the area back to its stables. Another dogwalker and I scoured the darkening forest for the rider but never found her/him. I am convinced it was the drone that set the horse off (it was being flown at the time).

Thankfully drones haven't become a big thing here. There are, however, all sorts of legal rules and regs around their use issued by the Civil Aviation Authority and I'd be shocked if they aren't breaking numerous laws, and hence can be reported to the relevant authorities

Squirrel that made me laugh and shudder at the same time. I still remember BiteyDog tearing after a deer once and not seeing him again for what seemed like a life time.

Avocados geese seem very attractive to BiteyDog and he once started barking ferociously at them in a pond. I was just grateful he was on the lead that time

mrsjoyful I have only seen the odd drone and fortunately it kept its distance from us. Unfortunately they can be a menace in the wrong hands

Yep, I scan the horizon too, pretty good at deer but not fox poo which she has comprehensively rolled in this evening . @avocados, no bus journey thank god but I was tired and couldn’t be bothered to do more than spray her with tea tree oil for tonight and comb her through. Regretting that decision now as she is lying in front of the fire like a steaming manure heap☹️

You will have to hope you soon become nose blind to cocodog

BiteyDog stank of awful smelling poo when he came home from the vets as he must have laid in it in his crate and we obviously can't bathe him for ages. Fortunately I have got used to it as he seems to smell 'just fine' now

First post formal adoption trip to the vets tomorrow - now the insurance waiting period has ended and the vet is back from his holidays.

I've emailed the vet a list of things I want checking / doing - booster vaccinations, teeth (petplan requires a check), anal glands, probable patella luxation and a general check up

Not sure how much mine cost as they are covered as part of his 'vet plan'

Bitey soon after I got SquirrelDog his walker slipped and dropped his lead and he took off after a deer. It took her 2 and a half hours to recapture him and she had to call for reinforcements She now walks him on 2 leads...(but at least she’s still willing to walk him!)

Squirrel26 that makes BiteyDogs misadventure minor. I suspect he was only gone for 10-15 minutes and that was bad enough so I think I would have been a gibbering wreck at over 2 hours. Fortunately he has grown out of that and tends to stop quickly when he disturbs one as he knows he can't catch them.

Coco dog is v grumpy this morning, has been confined to kitchen and garden so far. Am planning to take her on a rainy, muddy walk let her get absolutely filthy and then a bath when we return😀 Have had to wash all her bedding, collar etc. Are walk in showers easier to manage than the actual bath, I have never tried because it seems easier to confine the shaking etc to the bath but think shower may be more effective for rinsing properly. Gosh, listen to me...as my DD would say “first world problems”. #dog bath

Do you have a shower attachment on your bath taps? I put BiteyDog in the bath but we have a shower on the wall so I shower him off with that whilst he stands sulking in the bath.