Adolescent Dog Survival...Sharing Tips & Tails

[BrodiePup]

Moving on from the puppy survival thread, this is for anyone with a hormonal teenager 🤪

Brodie is just over 7 months now, and is a fun loving pup who is (mostly) a pleasure to be around. My main issue is still walking him which can either be almost a pleasure, or like having a Tasmanian Devil doing breast stroke and bunny hopping down the road 😡. There seems to be no reason for which dog gets attached to the end of the lead, but at least it shows he can do it if he's in the mood!

We've also had our first proper tummy upset this week 🤢 no doubt due to some rubbish he picked up and swallowed before I spotted it. Thankfully it seems to have passed now.

Apropos of absolutely nothing, I just went on the James Wellbeloved site to see if their puppy pouches were any good - Forthglade is discontinuing their wholegrain wet puppy food and I don't want Bill completely grain-free as there seems to be a link with heart disease, and one of his kibbles is already grain-free. Anyway, I thought I'd better check their feeding chart. They reckon he should be on about 21 pouches a day 😄I might look for an alternative...

@Bupster
😆WTF? That's insane! Brie would need 30 😂

I'm getting really bothered about food in relation to grain free & pea proteins being linked to heart disease. Even Millies Wolfheart is high in pea protein. I just have no idea what to look at next.

@Bupster I want my pup to have grains too (also heard the heart disease link) but it's hard to find any sometimes - my pup is sooooo fussy. I've tried so many brands and not had any success.

@PyreneanAubrie @Cavalierchaos I know, it's really hard. I've gone through that AllAboutDogFood site and there are only a handful of wet puppy foods that aren't grain free, and literally all of them are full of chicken - I am letting him take his chances with that as he seems to cope with it fine bar the odd itchy leg, and I can't be sure that's the chicken anyway - plus the alternative is hand-poaching salmon or something. Madness.

Managed to get some just-past-the-best-before-date Forthglade wholegrain duck from PetshopUK (I think it was) which will see us through for a couple of months. I think Pets At Home's Wainwright's brand might also have something that's okay but I've not dug into it yet.

I also need to look at his kibble, as half of it is 'orrible Eukanuba grain free that he's on (a) because his previous Eukanuba that the breeder sent him home on was basically made of the shavings off the factory floor and (b) the Millie's Wolfheart I wanted to transition him to was too big/too much for him by itself, but he can manage it in a mix. Their 50/50 gundog mix has chickpeas but not pea protein - I think chickpeas are actually beans not peas, so should be okay I think? But just in case I would really like the wet food to stay grained as it were. Unless I know he's intolerant to grain, and he's not shown any signs of it, I can't see any benefit to grain-free for him. And I'm not feeding him 21 pouches a day 😄

Caught in the act! The little scamp getting up to her lead biting antics but then grabbing my hand just for fun 😬One day last week she 'held my hand' for the entire length of our street 🤗They're such free spirited dogs and when you get this connection it's just magical ❤ I must emphasise that she never hurts me.

It's a struggle, isn't it @Bupster and @Cavalierchaos .

The Wainwright trays are okay, we've used them for Brie and our previous male. I recently got a tin of Wainwrights Turkey and rice and it was really meaty and tightly packed in the tin. It smelt good and she seemed to enjoy it. I would definitely buy that again.

We're still stuck on the Purina Robust. With Millies Wolfheart I fancied the Countryside Mix but the person at MW said that wasn't suitable and directed me to the Duck & Veg. Brie wasn't keen on that. You could be right about chick peas though...

@PyreneanAubrie might be worth going back to Millie's and saying she doesn't like it? They can usually find you something else with the same sort of protein mix - they gave me a choice from duck and veg, gundog, and something else. I think the kibbles are all the same size.

Bill is wildly over-tired after spanielling with @brushingboots and pupsy then going to daycare HQ for the afternoon so I could teach. He fell straight to sleep at 7pm, then woke up at 9pm. In the last half hour, since we came upstairs to bed, he has fetched into the bed: one wooden half-chewed coat hanger, three socks, one stuffed duck, one rubber ball, a dried rabbit's ear, a plastic chewy rattle ring, and a big empty plastic milk bottle that he's currently loudly dismembering. Can't understand why people don't want puppies in the bed 😄

(at least he's stopped farting)

Sorry guys not been on here much. Milo pulled me hard the other day, I tripped over half thick tree branch fell over it and hurt my leg 😬 in front of my neighbour. Have a huge bruise thanks to edoxaban.
@PyreneanAubrie I am so so sorry to hear about your mum.

I got a knock at my door yesterday at about 2pm, it was the police, they found my mum's car!!! They were chasing it on cloned plates, failing to stop!! They have been charged with numerous offences and it's going to court!!!

Oooh, @CaptainBeanThief - hope you're okay. I think we all dread being pulled over, it can happen all too easily if you're caught off balance or catch a foot.

Good news about the car being found, I hope it means that a prosecution will follow so you and your Mum can have some sort of closure on the whole episode.

Re my Mum, thank you. Not totally unexpected, she has had dementia for some years, but the loss still very hard to process emotionally 😢

@Bupster

Your boy is such a character ❤I love that you let him be who he is, with his collection of random objects. Fab photo, as ever.

We have a white woolly hippopotamus lumbering around the kitchen with a big yellow rubber dumbbell at this moment but I'm just glad she seems to be getting over the squidgy tum. No 💩 through the night so hopefully she's over the worst. I have to say she's been an angel; every single squidge was outside despite the urgency. We've only ever had one Brie poo indoors and that was when she was 10 weeks old and we didn't heed the squeaking quickly enough! Mopped up a zillion wees in the first month, admittedly, but for poo she has been faultless.

Millies Wolfheart told me Duck & Veg, Endurance or Gundog but I don't have complete confidence that they are clued up on the nutritional requirements for a giant breed - they do seem more geared towards sporting dogs with high energy levels. Looks as if they have their standard answer for all puppies and have suggested the same options to you, me and Brodiepup. Although the food looks good on paper, I have no faith in what they told me as regards feeding Brie. I still feel that the Countryside mix has the closest nutrient levels to the large breed puppy formulas and would suit her best... I do have a sample bag of that but will wait until her tummy is properly settled before trying her with it. It is quite a small kibble size and a larger one would suit her much better, but I would consider MW as a mixer with either wet food or a larger kibble. The MW canned food looks good and I bought two tins on their sample offer, but again not tried her on it yet. Will report back with the verdict when I do.

I know that disregarding their advice probably makes me sound like an arrogant little shithead 😬but there is a massive difference between a WCS and a PMD in relation to metabolism, even before you consider that Miss FatArse here beside me is almost triple the weight of Brodie. It's just the whole dog is a dog is a dog thing again but a Great Dane is not just a bigger version of a Chihuahua 🙄

Just checking in and catching up - gosh some of you and/or dogs have been in the wars. Fingers crossed for an uneventful few months 🤞.

How is Brie doing today @PyreneanAubrie?

Libi is displaying that funny mix of adolescent "up yours, I'm too busy to come now" with flashes of maturity and "getting it".

She's about the same size as my 7yr old Golden Ret now - and properly chucking her weight about with the other dogs - total pest, then the next minute they are all loved up and playing nicely.

She totally understands using the bells to ask to go out - but of course uses them when she just wants to stargaze.... last night she asked to go out and they all followed, then we heard the bangs and saw the flashes in the sky from the bonfire event in the village over the fields (I'm in Sussex, village bonfire events happen throughout autumn). The two little dogs shot back inside but Libi and River (the golden) just stood there and watched!

Libi's breeder had done a lot of noise desensitisation with the litter (they also work their dogs) and River is also from working Golden lines, good to see she really wasn't bothered. My little rescue terrier used to be a nervous wreck, but being around River has helped a lot.

Just off to take them out now - feels like a lazy morning when the clock says 9:30 ! having got Libi's morning wee to 6am it's annoying that it's now 5am 😆

She's much better today, thanks @LibisMum More like her happy, cheeky self, no poo for almost 24 hours but then passed a much more formed one. I've never been so happy to see a big 💩because I had convinced myself that she had a rawhide blockage. Thankfully not. All the small bits of chew are now in the bin and she can nibble at the large rings under supervision only.

It's interesting about your two bigger dogs watching the fireworks, our big boy was far less anxious about them outside and I note a few people saying similar. We're still not sure what approach to take with Brie as she has, with unfortunate timing, been in the secondary fear period over the last 3 weeks. Your observations here are helpful.

Oh yes, I was up at 5 this morning also 🙄

5:30am over here when I felt the warm touch of a hot tongue in my ear 😄

So glad Brie's better, @PyreneanAubrie , I wonder if it was a bug? and thanks for being so lovely about Bill. As you know I can tie myself in knots over whether I'm doing things right, and I'm sure some people think he's entirely undisciplined and a lunatic, but we coexist really happily, he has lovely dog manners, and at six months I think I have time to work on his lead-pulling (we worked on it this morning) and his jumping up, which are really the only issues I'm currently concerned by. If I had a different kind of household (or a bigger dog) I might have to be more disciplined, but as it is I can just delight in him most of the time, and I can cheerfully live with the slightly deranged side effects such as his bringing his treasures to bed.

You would think that some food manufacturers would focus more on little/giant dogs, wouldn't you? I can completely see that Brie might need a different protein mix - and certainly for longer - than a JRT whose adult size is not far off its puppy size anyway.

Interesting about the fireworks, @LibisMum - Bill is from working lines and is entirely unbothered by distant shotguns or gunfire on the telly, though he did wake up concerned from a nap the other evening because someone on the TV was sobbing. I wonder if he'll be better with fireworks because of that? Oh, I do hope so. He's coming out of his fear period I think but of course you don't know...

Yes @Bupster The vet said she thought it probably was a virus, which is very weird because we've never experienced anything like that before. I know people get noro etc but had no idea such things existed in dogs. And your Bill had something similar literally two days earlier... Very odd. Must be "something going around" as people always say 😆

Be warned everyone, a dog poonami/pukeathon could be on its way to you soon. I'm sure CaptainBeanThief mentioned Milo having an upset tum recently too...🤔

Still, better that than a rawhide blockage I suppose🙄

Yeah, I think I'll go with my instincts re the Millies Wolfheart and opt for the Countryside mix as potentially the most suitable for Brie.

I've had a BIT of a breakthrough with the lead pulling leaving the house - and the jumping at my other dogs - by giving her a ball to carry. Only tried it the once so far, but it does seem to be an interesting solution. She doesn't want to open her mouth to drop it...... is Bill keen on balls @Bupster ?

Ooh that’s a thought - thanks @LibisMum

So, we went for a walk up the hill. The girl is definitely better and she had her wild and crazy head on today! It was a masterclass in dog handling incompetence. She gives me side eye while we're walking and she knows it cracks me up then she grabs the lead.

Lovely news, @PyreneanAubrie. Glad she's feeling better! I love a bit of side eye.

Before I got pupsy I used to love the dark winter evenings, but I'm finding myself frankly revolted by the fact that the light is very much disappearing already, at half 4, on only day one of this stupid GMT nonsense. Every year I forget how dark it gets. Last year she was still small so didn't need (and couldn't have) as much, but she's used to a good 45 mins plus in the evenings now. We did a long walk this morning so I reckon I can get away with a shorter one tonight, maybe half on pavement. My imagination is very vivid so woodland walks are out, as are big open fields where nefarious men surely lurk – and yes I do appreciate how silly it sounds.

This post has no particular point except to have a general whinge about living in this silly, dark country. Ugh

I took Bill out at 3:45pm today for his evening dog park play. Luckily others had the same idea so he still got his roll around in the mud. But sunset's about half three in December! I'm going to have to strap a spotlight to my head - taking him out at half two for his evening walk is ridiculous. I have a little light to put on his harness but that only means I can see him, not what the little bollox is eating...

That's rather ironic @brushingboots I wish I could swap locations with you -I'm very much struggling with light pollution here and that is the reason I won't do evening walks. I'm a migraine sufferer so car headlights trouble me and I do agree that dog walking is more of a chore when the nights are drawing in.

I lived in the Eden Valley in Cumbria for 16 years and I loved the dark skies up there, we used to go for long walks late at night. For me that was bliss, it's much too urban here.

Brie had her usual short walk this morning then we went up the hill at 3. She was too poorly for a walk on Friday so I didn't mind her silly antics this afternoon.

Sorry joining in here again!

We just did our evening walk and by the time we got back at 5 it was pitch black. Agree that I can't bloody see all the rubbish V decides to pick up but equally don't want to wear a head torch 😂

Don't think it helps that V is all black with a black harness and I am slightly blind at the minute as he chewed my glasses, so I can't see until my new ones arrive...

I thought I was on a different page when it came to dog training but today, after being on that other thread, I've concluded that I was wrong. I'm actually on a different planet 😨

It is making me panic slightly. I need to stop thinking about it.

@PyreneanAubrie I would love a bit of light pollution, in the most ecologically-safe way possible! I just get so spooked and convinced I’m about to be abducted. Horrid. I hear you about car headlights – I get ocular migraines which I know aren’t the same thing at all but I find driving at night a real challenge if I’m tired, especially with the LED headlights that so many cars have now.

No panicking here, ma’am! This is a non-judgement zone.

@YorkshireFelix tonight pupsy found and delivered to me a dead hedgehog which was… charming! I could only praise though, bless her, and then gently remove it, unsuccessfully avoiding the spikes. I forgot my head torch tonight and regretted it when trying to pick up poo using my phone torch and hold the lead as she decided to go on the side of the road, helpfully. Black dog problems, for sure. I’ve just bought a really good light-up collar though – last year she had a temporary one as she wasn’t fully grown and now I’ve finally been able to get a proper one and it makes a world of difference.

@YorkshireFelix
Please stop apologising for being here, just make yourself at home 😊

I have the opposite problem from you two; I have a luminous dog 🙄She's like a Hattifattener, she glows 😆

I just had to look up Hattifattener and I'm so glad I did @PyreneanAubrie 😄