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.

@BrodiePup

Oooh, bit spooked. That's very peculiar that we both lost a blue cat in May 2020 😱 Perttu was a blue tabby Maine Coon.,,

Charlie sounds beautiful ❤I've seen a silver spotted BSH but never a blue and it sounds gorgeous.

Im definitely here for this thread!! Max is a little over 7 months now, he's very loving, clever and funny. Hes a nightmare on the lead, walks me. I'm sure people expect a great dane to walk from behind a car when they see me being dragged down street haha We're having a bit of resource guarding at the minute with stuff like bones and chews so we're doing swaps and treats while he has one. Hes a gorgeous dog but bloody hell it's hard work some days. Here is is looking like butter wouldn't melt.

Can I share my walk? Is that okay?

It was a lovely afternoon so we took Brie for a short ride in the car and went up onto the moor, right up the hill. The views stretched from The Peak District to the Welsh Mountains in the distance. It was so quiet up there - just blissful.

We saw three roe deer bouncing up the hillside and hopping effortlessly over the stone walls, they are such agile little creatures. Brie got up very close to 5 sheep (she was on a 6 foot webbing lead) and they just stood and stared before wandering off. They didn't seem to get a dog vibe from her at all. She was very calm and quiet.

Throughout the walk, Brie kept stopping and just staring off into the distance as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. She did it numerous times and on the way back down to the car, she turned around and stared back up the hill for ages, just quietly gazing at the view. I couldn't get her to move, she just stood, silently. Our adult dogs would do similar and we used to call it Dreaming of the Mountains.

Funny pup. She's like an old soul. It kind of fascinates me to watch her.

Thanks for reading 😊

Hi there @lookwhatyoumademedoo and hello Max, you little cutie 😍

Oh yes, no surprises to hear that he's a nightmare on the lead, they all seem to be at this age 🙄 It's frustrating and exhausting when they pull so hard, isn't it? Even when you've reared pups before you kind of forget that it's a hell of a lot of work getting through the first few months...

Sounds as if you' re doing the right thing with the resource guarding and will hopefully nip it in the bud.

@PyreneanAubrie
I'm not sure if you saw my comment that I was joking or you are still being frosty 🥶
I was joking though I'd love to live in your garden 😉

It drives me mad some days. I'm hoping i'll be able to train it out of him in the long run so i suppose for now it's just staying consistent and putting up with it.
Max also loves to eat cat shit like others have said said 🤮 I've had to block the litter tray so he can't get to eat. why are they so gross haha

Was I frosty? When? Was that Frosty The Snowman I was being or like full-on Ice Maiden...? That'd be kinda cool though (ha!). Brie could be my Ice Bear...

(Anyway, hope you're doing okay re pain and that Milo is less poopy now...)

Oh, the cat shit thing is just vile! One of our boys was terrible for that so we relocated the tray. Current pup hasn't been too bad for stinky stuff so far - she just likes eating gravel, soil and leaves. I sometimes wonder how puppies survive, given all the stupid stuff they do in the first few months.

Oh... I missed this. Sorry. Was too focused on cat chat 🤓

Ummm. so, are we still on with the Pyrecock plan then? Jolly good.

Is light olive green an okay colour for painting your garden house? Those things 🕷that lurk in there would show up nicely on olive green...

Sorry, somehow missed this; I was too busy rabbiting about the cats Yes, we've had Maine Coons for almost 30 years! They are amazing cats, just wonderful, particularly the males, so affectionate. They get on really well with the dogs.

This is just so gorgeous! I would love to witness the dreaming, what a wonderful image. Where we live is so flat that picturesque uphill scenes are rather in the minority and that sounds like an absolutely lovely walk!

@PyreneanAubrie Your walk sounds like an absolute delight, you wrote it so well I was almost there!
It's what my dreams are made of...

Can I just say that I have been far more accepting of the accommodation than princess @CaptainBeanThief so stop pandering to her whims 🤣

@lookwhatyoumademedoo Max is making a very handsome young man.
The lead pulling is a joy isn't it?

It was lovely. We're not properly rural - always wanted to be but we can't afford - we're in a Manchester commuter village, and our walk was just at the edge of Holcombe Moor but it is surprisingly quiet.

The strange thing is, that on our local village pavement/woodland/field walks, Brie is like a hooligan puppy/adolescent, but we've taken her up to the moor twice in the last week and she's like a different dog up there. She is so happy there and very calm, just looking around, she appears to be in her element ❤ I wish we could move to the Scottish Highlands (lifelong dream for me), she would love it up there.

I know I rabbit on ad nauseam about how wonderful Brie is, but we had three years with no dog after Algy's sudden death (Nobivac 4) and I appreciate every single moment with this pup. Love her so much.

How was your walk yesterday @BrodiePup ? Did Brodie behave or was his Mr Silly head on again? I definitely have two different dogs in one body, so you are not alone in that regard...It is frustrating!

Thank you for being so kind about the holiday cottage in my garden but I fear that @CaptainBeanThief is correct. It does need a tiny lick of paint...

@PyreneanAubrie The walk was far from good, but we managed to get further than the day before. I know it will come with time...I'm just not the most patient of people.
The main reason I got Brodie was to keep me company on my walks, I used to walk 2-3 miles most days. I love it and I need it, physically and mentally. Since he's arrived it's all stopped and tbh it's getting me down. I'm starting to consider putting him in his crate and going on my own which seems wrong on several levels.

My husband is from the Scottish Highlands, he grew up in a village on the banks of Loch Ness. My MIL still lives there 😊

Ok @CaptainBeanThief wins...Milo is probably more up to the job than B anyway 🤣

@BrodiePup

It's so frustrating. Going for a walk shouldn't be stressful but with a boisterous pup it is.

I know exactly how you feel. The difficult days just drain you mentally and you lose confidence then the next time you clip the lead on you get that horrible churning anxiety.

I was at giving-up point last Thursday when I had a full-blown panic attack on a walk because of Brie pulling towards a cockerpoo on the pavement and jumping up at me. A lovely chap from around the corner came to my rescue and grabbed hold of Brie's lead; he has a different giant breed dog and he's met Brie before so he knows she is just an overgrown baby. I went home in tears, feeling humiliated, thinking people will be saying I have an out-of-control dog 😨

I'm lucky that my husband works from home and finishes at 3, so we can go out together and I have Brie on the lead but he's on hand to help. Yesterday was a lovely walk. But... I want to be able to take her on my own, when he's working and I feel like you do. It would help me physically and mentally but now it's making me anxious and I'm back to the harness and hanging on for dear life... I don't know what the answer is for either of us😞I wish we could do a couple of walks together really for moral support.

(Oh btw, if you decide to move up to your husbands homeland to be close to MIL, I feel you would definitely benefit from a live-in housekeeper that can walk and feed the dogs, do the cat litter trays, make a decent cup of tea, run errands etc....😉)

Worst walk ever!
I swear I will end up on someone's tik-tok from a dashcam😢the lead-biting is so bad 😠
Just feel like packing it all in. I've told my husband I'm never going to walk her again. We'll see how long that lasts 🙄

oh no @PyreneanAubrie i feel your pain. Max literally drags me down the street on lead, i get so embarrassed thinking people will be thinking i can't control my dog 🙈
On a more positive note, we've had a lovely off lead walk this morning up some hills, Max was living his best life with all the scents and even got laid down on the grass while we had a sit on a bench. small win.
While i think on, has anyone got any recommendations for sensitive tums, Max is terribly loose 75% of the time. He's currently on harringtons which is what he was on from the breeder but i've a feeling there's something in it that doesn't agree with him.

@PyreneanAubrie
At least we're in it together 🙁. I'm sure it's like the early days and the stress of a new puppy, and the feeling that they'd never be housed trained etc...it did pass, it did get better. Hopefully a few months from now we'll look back and not quite believe how bad it was?
Hopefully...
I've been into town with H today, we thought we'd try walking him with less grass and trees, and try to desensitise him to pigeons...hmmm, it was interesting! Like Sunday, H said that B is never usually so bad when he walks him. I absolutely believe him, so is it me?! Who knows? I just know I can't cope with the dog on the end of the lead, and it's making me really unhappy.
I hope we get somewhere on Saturday, but with all the training we've already done I'm not expecting miracles.

I'll give you a shout if we move, are you coming too @CaptainBeanThief? It will be a long way for Milo to visit Brie to make puppies 🤣

BTW all H's dogs have been named after Scottish castles, Brodie castle is in Forres in the Highlands.

@lookwhatyoumademedoo
That makes 3 of us struggling! It's so lovely when you manage a nice walk with them isn't it?

We changed B onto Millie's Wolfheart, they suggested the duck and veg as he'd always been a bit runny, and he's been fine ever since. I think @PyreneanAubrie might be changing to it too.

@lookwhatyoumademedoo

This mornings walk with Max sounds lovely! It's so rewarding when you have a good day! We've gone from best walk to worst walk within less than 24 hours and that's infuriating 😠

Sorry about Max's tummy issues. It can be a struggle to figure out which ingredient is disagreeing with them. Brie was terribly loose on Vitalin even though the ingredients appeared good. Sometimes it's trial and error until you find the right food.

As Brodiepup suggests, Millies Wolfheart has a good reputation. Some people also swear by the Salmon & Potato puppy foods for sensitive tums (Nourish or Nutrix do those). The Wainwrights food from Pets at Home is pretty good too; we give Brie the Chicken superfoods one as a mixer with Wainwright trays or tins.

I hope you can find something that will better suit Max.

@lookwhatyoumademedoo What flavour is Harringtons, or what flavours are in it? If there’s chicken in it it could be that as a lot of dogs do have sensitivities to chicken-related foods. We avoided anything remotely chickeny with our cocker girl for about a year as it gave her a bad tummy – now she seems ok on it but I still wouldn’t feed chicken by choice except scraps. She’s now on half and half Skinners kibble with raw (vet said fine to mix) and now she actually eats her food which is frankly incredible progress. Because it's working dog food Skinners is VAT free, thus good value, and they do loads of varieties.

@PyreneanAubrie @BrodiePup Ahh I’m sorry you’ve both had rubbish walks. Sending buckets of moral support. It will pass and it will get better but I know that’s no use when you’re being dragged along. Your weekend training session is something to look forward to though, B! I’m sure you’ll all have a fab time – Brodie certainly will.

@BrodiePup

Oh gosh, you were brave going into town! We took our last two boy pups to town and even took them into Pets at Home... would not do that with Brie. Our boys were so good. Hmm, so if your DH has noticed that Brodie plays up more for you it definitely sounds as if you will benefit more from the weekend training session... It's going to be interesting.

I haven't found a trainer with LGD experience but I think it's unlikely I will. Brie is definitely worse for me. I think I'd put it down to who is the main carer, spends more time with the puppy and thus is the person they have more familiarity with. Brie has a much closer bond to me and thus doesn't play up as much for my husband. I don't know, maybe it's not that simple though.

Ah, Brodie is a fine name. I think that's lovely actually, giving a nod to your husband's heritage. We could all go up there, the whole puppy group! We could buy a big castle with thousands of acres for the spaniels and labs to roam plus a bit of garden with an 8 foot wall to keep my naughty girl in 😉

I got the Millies Wolfheart Puppy pack with the duck flavour kibble, treats and £5voucher off a big bag but I'm still not sure if what they said is correct. They said Countryside mix is only for small breeds and recommended the duck but it seems too low in protein for a giant breed pup so I'm really unsure. I'd still favour a lamb based food for Brie but we've ruled out a lot of brands. I keep coming back to Canagan but at £99 a bag...??? They don't do samples so it's £22 for a tiny 2kg bag and my girl eats 600g a day... She needs a better food than the Purina but her size limits the choice in some ways.

Thank you @brushingboots . We went straight from best walk to worst walk within 18 hours! I just wish I could find a trainer with LGD experience but had no luck with that yet. I shall wait for feedback from Brodiepup after their weekend training session before deciding if we'll call in a trainer for a one to one of lead walking with Brie.

Regarding chicken, I was just saying to Brodiepup that I'm desperate to get Brie off the Purina Robust Puppy because it's chicken based. Her poo is okay but our PMD have always been on lamb based kibble and that seemed to suit them. Oddly, there isn't much in the way of lamb for pups now and James Wellbeloved quality seems to have deteriorated. I want good quality but it needs to have the right nutrient levels for large or giant pups. The search for the right food for Breezy goes on.

@PyreneanAubrie it's odd that Brie and Brodie were recommended the same food... they mentioned Brodie being a "large frame" which surprised me when he's a cocker. Duck was suggested with it being a single source protein for his dodgy tum. He is however, thriving on it and his coat is noticeably shinier.
£99 for a sack of food is very expensive, particularly for the amount Brie will get through. It's a bit of a minefield isn't it?