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.

@CaptainBeanThief good news on the dinner time thing! I might get a baby gate on the door for the same reason. Shame to hear about him disliking the head collar so much, especially since it's working so well for you.

@brushingboots oh no poor girl! There was a dog in the waiting room today who did the exact same thing. His owner said she swears he had been ill but he was just being cheeky and causing chaos 😄

@PyreneanAubrie gosh it's so expensive isn't it. This was our first ever illness related trip and I didn't know what to expect price-wise. I guess this is our life for the next however many years now!

There's a few fireworks here tonight but not as much as I was expecting. V doesn't seem too bothered about it apart from barking at a crackly one earlier. He's now fast asleep across my legs being my own personal hot water bottle.

Bill's okay with the fireworks so far. He got startled by one about 8pm last night when I thought they were over and was trying to talk him out for a wee, but only startled, so I didn't push my luck - we had an urgent outing at 4:30am instead which I could have done without, but better than having him actually frightened. So far tonight he's had a wee with distant fireworks and seems utterly unbothered by hearing them outside the house. But they're quite distant. I'm more worried about tomorrow's when they're going to be really close by 😬

My friend took her pup of the same age out in the dark last night to get him used to the fireworks, but that feels like a massive risk to me - especially if one of them is really loud and really close and they're not expecting it, like Bill last night on his wee break.

There's been a few fireworks around our village this evening but nothing close by. Brie hasn't been bothered by them so far but I suspect it will be a different story on Tuesday.

I'm apprehensive about wee breaks and timing it wrong; sorry that happened to you @Bupster , it's really unfortunate but hopefully Bill will be fine. Sounds as if we'll all be glad when Bonfire Night is over.

Pup's response to fireworks.

Our older one is a bit more concerned with them but nothing major.

We had just the same, luckily! One night down, three more to go before the Christmas respite (lol)

Really proud of the little bug tonight. We had fireworks really close, and even with brown noise and the TV (I'm watching random foreign dramas so they have subtitles) they still startled him awake twice. He had a bit of a woof, and we looked out of the window together but we couldn't see anything, and he gave me a bit of a muzzle licking, and then he was okay and got on with his evening of over-tired-no-nap-whining-for-stinky-chews (distracted with find-it games and about three dinners). He even managed a poo outside when a firework went off and didn't even run inside. Of course, he's had so many dinners/treatos/chews tonight that he's going to be farting like a firework display all night, and we share a bed, but still, so long as I don't go near him with any naked flames, that's still a result 😄

Stinky bum himself in his favourite sleeping position.

Awww, that's great @Bupster . Well done and a gold star for Bill for his bravery in the face of noisy fireworks.

Good luck with the gale force winds later 😬💨

Love Bill, he is such a character!

I've joined you on the dark side @PyreneanAubrie I tried B with a rawhide chew! 🤣
He really enjoyed it, he's still alive, and it didn't upset his tummy.

We had an almost perfect loose lead walk through the centre of Leeds yesterday, even with endless distractions and a gazillion pigeons. I was so proud of him! We had tea in Rudys where everyone made a fuss of him 🥰.

He's almost completely crate free now too. My baby boy is growing up and I survived!!

It was good to hear that no one seemed to have any firework issues. Phew!

that's interesting re over feeding and poos. Max has the recommended amount of food and has multiple poos a day. some hard some loose.
we've done well so far with the fireworks too 🤞🏻
we have had a couple of terrible walks though over the last few days, the lead pulling has been horrendous. it's embarrassing seeing other people and he's dragging me down a path!!! and we had one walk where he just did not listen and went vanishing in the bushes for what felt like the longest 5 minutes ever. he just would not come back, que him going back on the lead for the last bit of the walk when he did surface from the bushes. little twat. so today we've come for a country walk away from the familiarity of the park in the hopes he stays closer to me.
@BrodiePup that sounds lovely!! how old is B?

@BrodiePup that is impressive! I couldn't imagine taking V into Leeds any time soon. I know a very good dog friendly pizzeria if you're ever over Saltaire way 😉

Lead walking is mostly rubbish here too so I sympathise. I feel like everyone with nice walking dogs just stares at me being dragged along and silently judges me. He walks way better on the way home when he's really tired so I know he CAN do it. It's highly annoying!

Ours have always walked quite nicely on the lead in places like town centres long before they've walked nicely on the lead in more exciting places, or on the way to our local open space. Even at 19 months, once we get within 100m of the entrance pup loses all her training!

Oh no @BrodiePup not the dreaded rawhide 😱 it's the work of the devil according to Mumsnet dog peeps 😈I do think it's a matter of being sensible, as we've discussed before - it's under supervision only for us. I did bribe Brie with some biscuit type treats yesterday though, so I could put the tiny last piece of rawhide into the bin rather than her swallow it. I do worry about it but the stuff does keep their teeth very clean, it has to be said.

Ah your city walk and teashop treat sounds perfect! Well done, Brodie. So much progress. And you almost have a free range pup at home too.

Brie, meanwhile, is regressing with regard to lead walking 😞 I'm giving serious thought to a one-to-one training session.

I suspect the worst of the fireworks here will be tomorrow so I shall report back as to whether we have a quivering wreck hiding under the table (hopefully not my husband...😆) or if the whole event turned out to be a damp squib, fingers crossed that it will be the latter...

Have a good week x

@lookwhatyoumademedoo @YorkshireFelix

Solidarity!

Brie is an angel at home but I'm starting to hate walking her 😩 I just feel as if she fights me the entire time we are out. I come back exhausted and grumpy but as soon as we get home, her halo is back in place. She actually pulled my husband over up on the moor at the weekend and he is quite a big chap...(he of course claims he lost his footing on wet grass 🙄). Hmmm.

Anyway, on the lead Brie is a complete sod, so for those who think she's a pretty little Princess, think again. My Mr Tickle arms will attest to the fact that she pulls like a whole team of huskies 😬

it's the work of the devil according to Mumsnet dog peeps

It's not really a left field mumsnet view. I've seen numerous warnings from vets, trainers etc. saying exactly the same thing.

Sorry to hear about the various lead walking troubles! Pupsy is 18 months old next week and still needs reminding so I also sympathise, though it really did get better as she got older and I don’t even put that much effort into it. She did an amazing stop and turn on the whistle this morning when accidentally flushing a roe deer so I am super proud.

Last night we were out pottering around the village at the end of the walk with fireworks booming around us and she didn’t even look up. So pleasing. But I am not enjoying these long dark evenings at all. The mornings don’t fuss me as we don’t walk until 9ish anyway but the evenings, ugh.

For anyone interested, I have a stash of unopened rawhide-mix chews that we were given by a well-meaning person and that I found in the cupboard the other day needing a good home – happy to post. @Bupster can confirm I am a real person and not a weirdo, having met me and pupsy in real life.

@lookwhatyoumademedoo Brodie is 8.5 months now. He isn't a complete saint, his recall is hit and miss, mostly he comes back, but if he gets totally distracted he goes further than I would like.

@YorkshireFelix I might take you up on that, we often pass through Saltaire 😊.

@PyreneanAubrie I know! The gates of hell have opened ready to consume me 🤣. He had a cigar about 6" long, and it was exchanged for a gravy bone when he was half way through.
No peeps! My pupper doesn't smoke honest!

To clarify my smugness at Brodie's vast improvement on the lead...I can take no credit for it. I was useless at training it, he was hideous and I get frustrated and upset. I'm too soft and if he sounded like he was choking himself I'd be in arm flapping panic. My husband has stuck to it 100%. If B pulled he stopped, and didn't move until he was back in the correct position. Praise works better for us than treats. This has taken hours and hours and more patience than I'll ever have. He's not totally there yet, and still forgets himself, but mostly it's like taking a calm, sane dog for a walk now.
So don't give up, it can be done x

It was said tongue in cheek @tizwozliz . Sorry, my sick scouse humour comes out occasionally 🙄

I am not making light of it and I am all too aware of the risks of rawhide. I also have two vets in the family and have discussed this with them. The problem for us is that there are no real alternatives for giant breed dogs - there is no animal bone that is safe for the bite force of a livestock guarding dog. Vets are also against Antler and Yak chews by the way, because they have no give and can break teeth, but loads of Mumsnetters seem to give Yak chews and sing the praises of them. There are also risks attached to Ostrich and Buffalo chews, particularly for large dogs that are power chewers, not dainty nibblers...

But no, I am not downplaying the risks of rawhide in any way, but we have yet to find a safer alternative.

@BrodiePup I remember how much difficulty you were having with lead walking so well done to your DH! I am hoping it will improve with age like @brushingboots has said so trying not to stress too much.

Funnily enough I posted about the pulling then he wasn't very bad at all on our walk just now. He must have been reading this thread behind my back 🤣

Also it must be SO difficult with Brie's size @PyreneanAubrie. V is 11kg and I struggle with that (I am a proper weakling though) so can't imagine how intense it must be when she's pulling on the lead!

The lead pulling is the one thing that i find so frustrating! I'm going to have to really focus on it and do more training on it.
@brushingboots that's brilliant!
Here's max today on our walk

@lookwhatyoumademedoo A happy spaniel spanielling! Re not listening, have you got a whistle? He might just respond to it really well and it's a fun thing to train with.

yeah i have a whistle which he generally responds to. I feel like maybe he's become too familiar with the park i take him to so he's at his most confident there so i'm going to try and switch it up a bit more which is difficult as i don't drive and as you know he drags on the lead so it doesn't make for a nice walk getting places.

Just dropping in to confirm that @brushingboots is real and not an axe murderer or a weirdo! 😄