Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - Bark the Herald, furry angels sing!

[YorkshireFelix]

New thread to get us through the festive season! Angelic and naughty teenage pups all welcome

Oh God I love this thread, it's the only place I feel normal

@Bupster he is absolutely crackers 😂 why do we do this to ourselves?! I always thought Bill was way older than Vinny but I think you're only a couple of months ahead aren't you? V will be 7 months old next week.

Bill's eight and a half months, so only a teeny bit older - I think it feels like more when they're younger.

I remember reading things that said they didn't settle into adulthood till they were 18 months or more, and just refusing to accept that was even possible while his puppy teeth were embedded in my nose. And here we are, the biting and shiting all done, and we've MONTHS of adolescence to get through.

He is of course now asleep very sweetly at my feet, occasionally waking up just to grumble like Charley the cat in those 1970s public safety films because we're not in bed yet.

Yes the 18 months thing freaks me out. It sounds so so so far away. I know every day won't be like today but when they happen I dread the next year!!

Just realised like 2 days ago I posted here saying he was back to his angel self too 🤡

Ner ner ner ner ner
I'm at 18 months in a week 😝
He better wake up a well behaved dog or I'm sending him to dogs trust 😏

I am convinced it will happen overnight!!

@YorkshireFelix
Well I am not unfortunately although in an ideal world it would 😭
I think I have done a fairly good job of pre warning you @Bupster and @CoubousAndTourmalet ( where u btw?) of adolescence 😂😂

I'm here, quietly lurking.

Sorry all the boys are full-on adolescence currently. Teenage lads, I dunno 🙄

Well, as I've said before, I am too completely addled now to have any recollection of what adolescence was like with our previous 7, so I have no idea if Brie will get worse or not. She's 9 months and 1 week now. Literally the only stupid thing she does is the lead biting.... But we know if we let her off the lead she'd be gone, so I'm not as brave as any of you in that respect. I won't risk it.

@CoubousAndTourmalet Is she showing any other signs of being in season, or was it a one-off with that GSD the other day?

Happy new year everyone! I feel your pain. Bear is 10 months and has been a bit of a nightmare with recall for a couple of months now. Especially if she gets a scent in the undergrowth.
We have ended up getting her a tracker. DH, especially, was finding it really stressful and it's been helpful for giving him reassurance and the confidence to keep walking. She never goes far, just ferrets around yapping at birds, but she won't come back. Obviously not a substitute for proper training, which we continue to attempt!
On the plus side, she has been fab in the house over Christmas - we have had a constant mad procession of visitors, including my in-laws, who are really not dog enthusiasts (adult ones, kid in-laws love the dog) - and she's been mostly great (apart from a brief bark at SIL, who wouldn't move up on the sofa!).
On the 18 month thing - I have twins, and everyone says that the first year is the hardest thing. I remember being absolutely devastated when things were just as difficult the day after their first birthday as the day before!

She is showing other signs now, bit whiny (which she never normally is), cleaning herself more, sniffing at her own wee in the garden. We're just keeping an eye on her, as you know, we don't let her off the lead and it's easy enough to avoid dogs on our walks.

Happy New Year to you @thewalrus

It's nice to hear that Bear coped well with all the Yuletide visitors and the inevitable changes to routine.

I won't dare comment on recall, for obvious reasons 😒 but I'm bracing myself for full-blown adolescence to kick in with Brie, who is a fraction younger than Bear. She seems 90% adult now but the other 10% is puppy with crazy zoomies and lead biting... I suspect we've all got a way to go before they properly calm down and it's likely to get worse before it gets better 😬

So I took him down to the Common to practice recall today, and he actually did pretty well, the little hooligan. Even managed a little bit of loose lead walking on the way down there (he had to, or I'd have been on my arse, it's that icy today).

Then I looked like a complete lunatic for the first 20 minutes or so as every time he scampered too far ahead, I doubled back or went off in a different direction. After that he was pretty good at checking in and keeping me in sight. I wasn't planning to use the whistle today as I didn't want him to be able to ignore it, but at one point he went round a corner and got distracted by some other dogs, so I did call him back - he couldn't see me but turned immediately and ran back to where he thought I was. So overall a big success. Obviously mentally challenging for him too as he's completely exhausted now.

I am not going to get complacent again though, I'm going to keep looking like a maniac and doubling back on him for a few weeks I think.

I'm so relieved that it looks like I intervened in time. I had visions of him turning into his mother, who was notorious for escaping the house and disappearing off for hours at time.

I'd like to take him for a walk in the woods, but not sure I'd risk it without him physically secured to me (can you get people harnesses as well as dog ones?)

Today's very good boy:

Excellent job @Bupster !!

@Bupster
Bill is a very beautiful lean boy but he still has the look of a swine 😏🫣

@Bupster well done! What a good boy and that sounds very practical and sensible.

We can always go to the woods together and then he can watch pupsy's woodland check-ins and learn from them :) would be glad to as ever.

We went to said woods this morning and it was still full of Christmas walkers (and their badly mannered dogs) who I am looking forward to not seeing again for another year.

Oh @Bupster, that all sounds very satisfying. He's a lovely looking boy.

We had a good walk today too. No diving in the bushes, lovely playing with dogs on the field and mostly great recall. I'm going away for a few days tomorrow, so was a nice last walk for a bit.

Milo is talking to the sofa, hes having a brain malfunction,
He's got such chunky legs he looks like a really small cocker but he weights 14kg ISH, what does everyone think of his body?
No leering 😂😂

He looks perfect to me. He's on the slim side but apparently that's better for a long and healthy life. Bill has Cocker legs and paws, but a Lab body and is 22kg, the little chonk.

He can pull like a Lab as well, as I discovered this afternoon when he spotted a cat across the road. He'd been doing so well, bless him - even played nicely with a puppy in the dog park (I put him on lead just in case), but lost his shit at a reactive dog on lead, and then the cat sent him completely over the top.

Here he is between outings demonstrating his true personality, the idiot.

@Bupster
I would rather a "thin" dog over a dog that's clearly overweight, struggling to breathe, and walk.
I can't stand seeing that on walks but that's me 😂

Totally agree. I do worry I overfeed my pup a bit, but he's a bit of a diva about food, so I tend to worry more about him not eating than overeating.

Milo gets fed twice a day, he's on skinners working dog food, I know he's a pet working cocker but he gets on well.
He gets plenty of treats for the day - providing he actually works for them,
He also gets the odd bits of carrot/other veggies he also likes banana which I'll give him abit and he can lick my yoghurt lid if he works for it.
Un fixed dogs always seem to be on the skinnier side the vet once told me.
At 14kg he seems to be on track for a cocker, he's deep cheated, he's a lot of muscle on his thighs but has a lean back end.
He's always prancing about so no wonder he looks emaciated oh and he will tell anyone I don't feed him 😂😂😂😭

What's your routine with bill? @Bupster

I think he looks great @CaptainBeanThief! Vinny is 15kg now but still looks nice and lean. Still some growing to do too!