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

Finally got out for a proper walk to the woods now the ice is starting to melt. Vinny was very happy! I think he was bored of pavement walking around the village the past few days.

He was good and did a long stint of nice loose lead walking down the canal on the way home. Probably about half a mile-ish. Once he has let off steam and is a bit tired he walks so much better.

Had to hose him down afterwards and the water was disgusting even though he didn't look that mucky!! The black fur must hide so much dirt 🤢

@YorkshireFelix Excellent news! Very glad to hear that you're back in the world again. The ice has turned back to bog here, so I presume that my Bog Lady duties are soon to resume.

The black fur is a trap – they always look clean but actually I think they're filthy most of the time! Well, pupsy is anyway. She had to have a bath last night after coming in from the aforementioned newly-minted bog as she was visibly covered in mud. I tend to use visibility as a guide and rely on my low standards as the drying process is so tiresome.

I'm glad that Vinny was good and walked well today @YorkshireFelix . Hopefully now the ice is gone everyone can get back to the normal routine of walks. Reverse scenario here - we've gone from walking on snow covered fields to pounding the wet pavements again to avoid the mud. Because of course a cream dog shows every speck 🙄and we won't hose her down in cold weather because her heavy double coat will take forever to dry and she likes to sit out.

She'll be getting her main walk at 3, maybe we'll go up the lane to visit the sheep.

This is the one and only time you or I will ever catch Milo looking like a focused half hearted passable "gun dog"
That is a very light-hearted statement 🤣🤣

Gosh, he does look like a proper working dog on this pic @CaptainBeanThief
What a handsome chap he is when he's not showing us his soft and cuddly side.

It’s very boggy here too. I think it rained so much last year that the ground just hasn’t had time to dry out. I’m very glad that I bought a good pair of wellies and a warm waterproof/ wind proof coat in the autumn.

We went for a walk around an old 18 hole golf course this morning. It’s fully enclosed by a metal fence so I feel fairly safe that Midge isn’t going to chase a pigeon/ squirrel/ crow onto the road. We were the only people there so it was great to let the pups off his lead for a gallop around. Recall as usual was very hit and miss, but as I said to my husband I went out with a dog and came back with the same one so he must have come back at some point!

Well, I spent an entertaining half hour last week hammering in old tent pegs and using cable ties to try to bodge together the elderly fencing behind/under the hedge in our dog park* - there are holes all over the place, but in this bit there's double fencing and if a dog is particularly idiotic it can get trapped between the two bits of fence, or find his way out to the care home on the other side and not be able to get back. ASK ME HOW I KNOW. Yes, that's him looking like he's about to call the RSPCA.

Thank God, I thought, I managed to get it done before the thaw so I won't need to roll around in the mud.

Guess who found two more holes today. Everything I was wearing has gone straight in the wash and I was tempted to throw him in with it 😄

*council-owned but, given that the gate is held together by a bit of rope one of us found in a shed, and that replacing the fence would mean replacing the entire hedge, tent pegs and cable ties were the best bet of getting it fixed before the hedge actually dies of old age...

This is brilliant 😂😂😂😂😂

Well done!!

Good one @Bupster !

I hope the other dog people who use the dog park are appreciative of your community spirit even if Bill isn't...

It was a team effort, @CoubousAndTourmalet ! One person brought tent pegs, and held the hedge back, and had a spare lead to lasso my hooligan, and another had cable ties and fed Bill daft amounts of treatos; and today another person chipped in to grab hold of the idiot after he joined me in the hedge, first to lick my face and then to give me a close-up of the other end 😄

Well...
Milo has definitely earn the badge of being the biggest weirdo of 2025!!!
All night he's been trying to hump my leg and sniffing me down below, like none stop, struggling to get him off!!!
I'm mid cycle - do you think dogs can sniff out ovulation 🤔🤣

I bet they can, @CaptainBeanThief , you hear about them going nuts over pregnancy hormones, and sniffing out low blood sugar.

Mine would only sniff out illness if it smelled exactly like pork chops.

It wouldn't surprise me at all if he could.

He won't bloody leave me alone. I've had to lock him in the hallway because it's relentless. He's got his nose full on stuffed in my crotch and he clenches up so it's difficult to move him then tries to hump me...
Well I'm definitely not pregnant 🤣🤣
Milo equates to 3 triplet toddlers already and I'm just not cut out for more children just yet.
@Bupster maybe my lady parts smell like pork? Or maybe chicken 🍗 who knows ?!?!

Rosie could sniff out my migraines hours before I sensed anything. She would gentle nuzzle my forehead and eye socket, she never did it at any other time.

@CoubousAndTourmalet
Oh wow, dogs are incredible aren't they? Can brie do any sniffing out or is she just a bit doofus 🤣
Milo does always sniff out my skin infections but never usually goes mad for my periods etc....
He's also been very very cuddly and clingy and rolling all over me, licking me ( more than usual) and just being really cuddly.

@CaptainBeanThief
Brie hasn't sussed it yet but she is becoming a bit gentler which is good.

We've had 4 boys but they never went funny over my cycle. Strangely our boys never humped (which, given their size, is a good thing). Two of the girls used to hump stuff like crazy when they were in season though and we'd end up with blood all over the cushions😬I really hope Brie wont be like that.

It sounds like Milo wants a baby...get him a pup!!!

That's the thing Milo, has never really humped - like some dogs are obsessive with it but he never has been, but tonight he's been insane with it.

I do want to get him a friend but I will probably regret it for an eternity and still be crying about them until 2028 🤣🤣

There must be a reason...is there a bitch in season nearby? If he's never reacted like this to you before it may not be linked to your cycle, it could be coincidence.

Brain whirring this morning and I'd like some thoughts on food please folks. Still struggling. I'm overthinking it.

Does anyone have any thoughts on kibble? Grain free vs grains.

Does anyone have concerns about the legumes/pea protein DCM issue?

Brie is still basically on Purina Large Robust Puppy that the breeder started her on. It doesn't have a great reputation and it's heavy on grains and soya so I'd like to switch... However, her poo is perfect on it, she's grown really well and is very calm, not hyper.

We've tried slowly introducing a few other kibbles; Wainwrights, HPR salmon & potato, Millies Wolfheart duck & veg and MW Countryside mix, but none of them have suited her (loose poo or she just wasn't keen). Hence we fall back on the Purina because we know she's okay on it.

Calibra junior lamb has been good and she really seems to like it but it's a lamb & rice and I'm still undecided about grains, although our PMD trio in the early 2000's were on James Wellbeloved lamb & rice and did well on it. That was before all the grain free kibbles came about though, there was far less choice back then and JW was considered okay.

I don't want to raw feed her (though we do with the cats, I'm not against raw per se...). She has a wet food tray twice a week but most of her meals are kibble.
It's just that grains v peas issue that's confounding me, it's a rabbit hole once you start researching ingredients.

Still looking at the Essential foods, very tempted by that, but it's that whole grain free/pea dilemma again and knowing what the truth is behind it...

How do you make that choice?

Latest I read was that legumes are not linked to DCM. In any case, I'm comfortable with feeding something that has plenty of animal protein with some peas/legumes. I'm not strict on grain free either, ours get plenty of toast corners! We ended up on the food we're on because the first dog was a fussy bugger and essentials was decent quality that she'd eat

I'm far from convinced about the peas thing myself. We also feed a varied diet with cooked meat & veg, occasionally a bit of pasta.

I'm still tempted by the Essentials range - I was looking at it again over the weekend and I was going to ask if your girls have tried the pates...

I'm considering getting a bag of the puppy kibble and a couple of different pates. Ultimately I'd like to put her on Estate because PMD tend to do well on lamb but Highland looks tempting too. I suspect this range would suit Brie better than Millies Wolfheart. At what age do you switch yours to adult food?

We had a terrible time with Midge’s bowels when he was about 6 months old. He was on a chicken based kibble but we think the chicken wasn’t suiting him so he’s now on a salmon based kibblewhich suits him. I’m reluctant to introduce anything different. I’m not sure by whom the feed is manufactured but the brand is Canine Kitchen. It’s not on the all about dog food site but the ingredient list looks ok.

He’s just short of 12 months old and is 23kg. According to the instructions on the kibble he needs to be on the puppy food until he’s 15 months.

We switched at around 13/14 months, I might have given it a bit longer but they were out of stock of the beginning range at the point I was doing an order. Growth had pretty much stopped for our pup at that point so I was comfortable switching.

We have had the pates a couple of times as a freebie but they're £££ so I don't buy them.

I also like trays over tins for wet food as I can give them to the dogs to clean 😀

Ours mostly have forthglade 90% alongside kibble, but only half a tray a day. So this is a third of that. I have it on subscription so pay around 1.10 per tray