General Dog Chat 5

[BiteyShark]

A thread for general chit chat about our wonderful but sometimes pain in the arse dogs.

New or old, feel free to join. Everyone's welcome.

BastardPup is flat out on the sofa having had a good run off lead this morning. He did bugger off twice but eventually came back.

Better than yesterday when we set out on a big long field walk and had to turn back after fifteen minutes as we were all soaked to the skin.

We are booked at the dog park this afternoon - secure enclosed field with lots of equipment - so praying that the rain holds off

Hello from sunny Bulgaria!
A cool 33c today . Been told the dog is having a field day. Playing in the local lake, long walks. She won't want to come home.
We went to see our holiday house and it's unliveable ☹️ we would have to take down walls and ceiling to repair the damage. So it's been boarded up and I want to spray paint all the good stuff has gone you robbing cunts across the front of the house but husband won't let me .

Oh bloody hell drinkswine. How awful , so angry for you.

So today we went OUT!

DC2 and I went for lunch at a market-type place. DartyPup came too, part walking, part bussing it, and she was very good while we ate. And totally enjoyed all the attention she got.

We'll go out later for a short walk at the park too. She's clearly a bit wary of other dogs but I was able to walk her post a couple at the market without too much difficulty even though she'd been giving them side-eye and a bit of barking.

I love her already, and while I'm very glad she seems to feel the same way, I'd hoped she wouldn't quite favour me as much as she is doing. She loves the kids but this afternoon scratched at the living room door and whined when left with them (with access to the garden and also her crate) while I went upstairs to work. DC1 tried to play with her but in the end DartyPup spotted an open door and legged it up the stairs and DC1 brought her up to me, where she settled immediately and had a nap.

It'll be better next week when the DC are back at school and I'll have all the living areas to myself and DartyPup can stay downstairs with me while I work.

I bet DartyPup will sleep well tonight with all the entertainment she's had today. It's amazing how much easier it seems when they are allowed out.

I have a very tired BiteyDog curled up asleep next to me. He's been playing with a pal at daycare all day

Drinkswine, that is terrible - you poor things! I hope it doesn't take too much time/money to repair.

How are all the pups coping in the heat? Ddog is taking some time to get adjusted to it - she's currently on the sofa with DH with a fan on her after just a 1-hour walk!

It was so hot when we got her last summer and she seemed fine (though there were a couple of long hikes without much shade that we cut short as she was panting so much even though we were regularly stopping and giving her water), but I suppose she had come from a very hot climate. She's now having to readjust again after a long snowy winter and she definitely prefers the cold and wet. There is still the odd patch of snow around in shaded areas of the forests and she has a good old roll around on them... unfortunately for her I reckon they'll be gone within a week or so.

She's not overweight and not long-haired (seems to be a lab/pointer mishmash).

Thanks distantdog house is trashed, it's a shell.

I'm missing my mugdog . Got sent this picture of her though

I am sure I read somewhere that it takes a certain number of weeks for dogs to acclimatise to extreme temperatures.

It was very hot yesterday but temperatures have dipped again today. BiteyDog has been happily playing in the garden but tends to stick to the shade when running about.

At the moment the streams and rivers are in full flow (and are always icy cold) so she has somewhere to cool her paws and have a drink but if we have another long hot summer like we've had in previous years, we carry bottles of water with a collapsible bowl hooked onto our back packs... to think we were worried about how she'd adjust to the cold and wet! She is still crashed out now - she hasn't moved, though that is probably also partly due to the fact that we had friends over last night so she was awake all evening when she'd normally be snoring on the sofa.

We also get a 1 month period (usually July if it's hot) when there are horse/deer flies in the area - do they bite dogs I wonder?

Aw mugdog is so cute. Love the ears! She will cheer you up when you get home. Quite a while ago now but I've been on 3 trips to Bulgaria and met some really lovely people there and had a great time - such a travesty that someone has so ruthlessly trashed your happiness there.

SquirrelDog and I went to a 'fun' dog show today with some friends and their dogs. Their dogs entered classes and were well behaved and won prizes. SquirrelDog stole some unattended cake, and then peed on my leg. He's had a lovely day.

drinkswine so sorry about the house . MugDog looks like she's having fun.

Oh dear Squirrel looks like SquirrelDog got a bit overexcited at the show but unattended cake does equal dog food

Ha, SquirrelDog sounds so fun... as long as you're not his owner!!

Something exciting today... Ddog took it upon herself to swim for the very first time! A hot day so DH took her for a short stroll this morning into the woods down at village level and into some pastures where there is a small natural pond. After a bit of a scary moment for him when she first leapt in (she has never done this before), he was so proud when she started swimming "she's a natural" bless him - he'll be entering her into some sort of swimmer's crufts before we know it

bless him - he'll be entering her into some sort of swimmer's crufts before we know it

Awww bet he was chuffed to bits distant

Lol at “she’s a natural” @distantdog

I started a (young) puppy support thread so as not to overload this group with puppy patter, but after DartyPup bit me properly for the first time and drew blood the other day, then bit through my thin trousers and pierced my leg today, I’ve been thinking of how you said you were often in tears and bloody during the puppy stage @BiteyShark. Perversely, I’ve found comfort in that

But in good news DartyPup, at only 11 weeks and yet to start puppy classes, has been walking well on the lead and made some doggie friends in the dog park.

Duchess I honestly thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life getting BiteyDog even though it has been my dream for over 20 years. The lack of sleep, biting and sheer enormity of responsibility for this 'thing' was overwhelming. I didn't even bond with him until he was out of the puppy stages.

And now DH and I spoil this worshiped bundle of mischief. He shares our bed, we pay a fortune in daycare and dog sitters so he doesn't look sad when we leave him. I spend hours researching his food only for us to give him treats because he used his 'sad face' to guilt us. We have cut back on our no dog holidays as neither us like to be away from him for too long. A total contrast to those early months

I love SquirrelDog like mad, but oh my God can he be frustrating and infuriating - the casual destruction, the neediness, the fact that he’s got his own agenda and he persues it ruthlessly because he’s a tiny psychopath.

If you can find a good trainer, it’s so helpful - just having someone to say ‘yep. That’s annoying behaviour. Here’s something you can do to help with it. Didn’t work? OK, here’s something else.’

BastardPup is both wonderful and completely fucking maddening. He is currently doing circuits between the patio window, the stairs and the gate between the kitchen and dining room, crying. This is because he can see a cat.

It is our cat. In fact, there are two of the buggers but he can't tell them apart and so he thinks it is one magic cat who can appear and disappear at will. Not exactly the cleverest dog ever...

I decided to try and do an exercise video in the living room for the first time.

It was a disaster as BiteyDog got worried something was wrong so when I got down to do some floor exercises he jumped on me and tried to lick my face as clearly I needed help

I tried to do some yoga at home one.

SquirrelDog spotted an opportunity to get EVEN CLOSER to me and tried to climb inside my t-shirt while I was doing downward dog.

Oh Squirell they are so funny aren't they . I am sure BiteyDog thought he needed to rescue me or maybe he thought it was a new game.

Ironically the video had the trainers dog in it sat nicely beside her whilst she did the routine

So nice to have BiteyDog with me at home now I am back to normal fitness.

I wonder if he feels the same as he's been snoozing by my side most of the morning having taken a look at the heavy rain outside and jumped back on the sofa

Home. So is mugdog, and what a homecoming we had off her! She was woofing and skating around my daughters wooden floor not knowing who to go and jump to for cuddles! God I missed her

Welcome back drinkswine. Awww sounds like MugDog missed you as much as you missed her.

Ah that sounds like a lovely homecoming after a stressful time!

If DH is out so can't distract DDog, I have to do yoga in our bedroom with the baby gate shut as there's no way DDog will let me do it without trying to sit on the mat and join in! It's annoying as she literally does a million downward dogs a day - each time she gets up from her bed or when she's just generally hanging out in the kitchen looking for scraps, but she won't let me do one without intervening.

She is shattered today, which is no bad thing as it's a day of post-heat thunderstorms for us. We did a 4.5 hour hike yesterday and I had my tracker on which said we did just over 16km. Ddog's tracker said she did just over 19 (and they use the same system so I know hers is not over-estimating)! She always does an extra km than we do due to running around but 3km is the most she has outstripped our efforts so far, and included a chase into the forest in pursuit of a deer (hence the need for the tracker in the first place).

This was coupled with the fact that our hike finished in the village pub, so rather than coming home and collapsing, she then had 1.5 hours of being on high alert as the owner's small child wanted to play with her constantly... so definitely a day to chill on the sofa I think!

I would hate to think how far BiteyDog goes on a walk compared to me. His tail never stops wagging all the time, so much he struggles to go into a sit when I ask him to