Things to do with teenager and dog

[olivethegreat]

I'm in the first week of having a rescue dog. Having similar emotions to when I had a baby 'what the hell have I done' , 'I miss my old life' etc. Think it lasted about a month with baby (but the dog sleeps better!) so hope it will pass soon...And that it's not been a huge mistake . I did a ton of research before making this decision over more than a year and normally my life decisions are right but I do always wobble massively !

I think it would help me to think about all the exciting new life we have. For me, I think it will be more sociable and healthier, I like walking much more with company! I've put on weight and got a bit of a bad hip so I think more movement is in order. My anxiety is also really out of control (mainly why I am finding it so tough I guess). But I've got a teenager upstairs (to be fair is reading !), and I'm having guilt about not doing much these last few days as we've got a new rescue dog to settle in (I'm off work )

What do you do with a dog that teenagers also enjoy? Dog friendly cafes?, National trust walks?

Taking it easy for now as she's a pointy hound and jumping at everything so no big days out yet, but I am trying to think positive for weekends and school breaks rather than 'WHY DID I DO THIS ?!'

Might see if I can book a nat trust for weekend / cake ... dogs on lead is helpful atm

Very familiar story here! I rescued my girl in April and the “what the hell have I done” feeling is all too recent. But it does go!

WRT your teen- have you got any local agility clubs?

My DS(12) gets a real sense of achievement out of teaching our girl new commands and tricks. To start off she clung to him like a limpet and bounced on him every time he entered a room. He found it overwhelming and didn’t like her for a while despite her loving him! So giving him control over how to manage her really helped and they’re best buddies now.

Both dog and teenager like the beach. They both like chasing a football! We have gone to a few dog friendly cafes and pubs too which went well.

Football is a great idea ! We can get to the beach although fairly long drive but I'm going to put that on list as it would be lovely once the dog is ready for more experiences .

When we picked her up she got her leg caught in the doggy seat belt and was in pain and we had to stop very quickly - so now I'm wondering about getting a head rest one instead ? The one we have clips onto seatbelt . DD said she'd sit in back but id worry about sleep startle on a long journey

@MrsRobbieHart I hadn't really researched training but have just found a brilliant booklet from the greyhound trust on training which looks very simple , I think we will do that together one at a time. Thanks for the idea, that will help with our bonding

I have had pointy hounds for 15 years now and honestly, my teens just love a nice quiet walk with them. You can head to somewhere like a Costa drive through on the way there to buy hot chocolates or whatever to make it more of a treat for your teen. We do National Trust walks, followed by the cafe for treats too. If your new girl is nervous, you could maybe look into hiring a secure field to limit what she’s exposed to and take the pressure off you as well. Secure Dog Walking Fields.

Mine teens now 13, 17 and 19 are all actively involved in my old boy’s care too. Can’t get them to tidy their rooms and get the usual eye rolls and moans if I ask them to do housework etc, but nothing is too much trouble for the dog!

I agree with pp, that training sessions are fun and important for bonding as well.

My favourite things to do with my dog are:

• trips to the beach
• hiring a secure field with agility equipment so they can run and play safely without the fear of them bolting off
• trips to doggy friendly places - cafés, shops, garden centres, pet shops etc. they really tire him out even though we don't do much exercise.
• walks with a pub or nice cake shop/ice-cream parlour at the end

Brilliant I'm going to rejoin National trust, yes dd will always go for a walk where cake is involved - and it's normally on lead at NT sites which is helpful for us. Thank you. Tbh we normally just do walks/occasional beach / cafes, but for some reason I'd got myself in the mindset that we'd be missing things, as we did a few museum etc trips this summer - but those are a rarity really. Shopping might be an issue as DD likes to go with me every now and then but I'll use a dog Walker for that once we're all settled .

I used to like taking the dog out with my friends, without my parents. Even the non-outdoorsy friends would walk for 3-4 miles with the cute dog and the promise of hot chocolate and cake.

We also used to do agility, and I taught him the fun things like spin and splat (he'd drop down all splayed out).