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

@Nella68
One thing I would suggest is to just "carry on as normal"
What I mean by that is, get back out there soon as possible when he is feeling better, obviously take it slowly but don't shy away if you see what I mean as that will make it less like it will affect him for life.
I feel awful for you both. Xx

I'm very glad that Midge appears to be okay @Nella68

In agreement with you @CaptainBeanThief
You have to try to downplay it and not let them feel your anxiety, which is definitely easier said than done when you've had such a nasty scare...

Yes- I’ve got to get back in the saddle so to speak. It’ll be a challenge not letting my nerves show. I hope some of his nice dog friends are there tomorrow.

On a different note, he does smell much better after his shampoo and set. He’s gone from looking like a big shaggy teddy bear to a close cut poodle. Fingers crossed that’ll stop him from getting so much attention and by default less opportunity to practise jumping!

Oh I do hope tomorrow's walk is good and Midge meets some of the dogs you know you can trust. That's very much what is needed after this morning's experience I should think.

Glad his beauty parlour visit went well. It must be quite odd when they first get a drastic haircut and look like a different dog all of a sudden though.

I've never been through that, ours just moult their undercoat all over the house and our clothes...😬

Is this the last page? I'm not being the thread killer this time around!

Okay so, guess what? Normal service has been resumed with Brie. We went onto the big field and, after two days of pavement lead walking beautifully, she is back to overexcited lead biting frenzy. She is also, I think, ramping it up to get "distraction" treats as per dog training man. When she grabs the lead now, she suddenly stops and gives me an expectant look that says "well, come on, where's my treat?", then, whether the item is forthcoming or not, she will continue ragging the lead. So I think I'm ditching the rule book again and going back to waiting for her to grow out of it. I'm not tolerating her being expectant for treats although I know the training man would blame me and say my timing is wrong or something...🙄Probably. The loose lead walking was lovely while it lasted though.

@CoubousAndTourmalet sorry, I saw this today and immediately thought of Brie. I know it’s a Samoyed but 🤣

Rundle went for a shampoo and set the other day. His groomer takes fancy snaps.

Yup! @MooseBeTimeForSnow The brows are even wonky like hers...😂

Rundle looks ready for the show ring here😍

@MooseBeTimeForSnow Rundle is so handsome!

Another day another moment of bafflement as I see a dog being thrown a ball repeatedly with a chucker in a woodland. No other owner engagement with the dog, nor the dog with its environment, just ball, ball, ball. I can never truly understand this. Presumably dog is ball-obsessed (I wonder why!) but surely the environment is more stimulating than yet another ball chase?

I think this most days and though I appreciate that a) not all dogs the same and some can't be trusted or whatever; and b) not all owners want to (!) chat away to their dogs in a wood while they sniff and jump and dive in the leaves, I just find it a bit sad if a dog is more bothered about a ball than sniffing.

Happy to be told btw that I am Judgy McJudgerson about that, but no judgement intended – it genuinely just makes me a bit sad as watching pupsy safely spaniel in a woodland with me is so wonderful.

I totally agree, in fact someone else said similar on a different thread I was on a few days ago. They mentioned repeated ball throwing creating obsessive behaviour and it really seems to. I know of two dogs locally (both border collies but with different owners) that seem to have no interest in life outside a tennis ball, and their behaviour is very weird. They both seem quite stressed most of the time... one is very hyper and reactive towards other dogs, the other just looks emotionally dead. And yes, now that you mention it, little interaction or speech from the owners aside from the repeated ball flinging...

Now who's Judgy McJudgerson...?

It's weird with the dog threads, and I'm convinced that as you're a writer, you must notice this too @brushingboots , that dog owners seem to fall into distinct types. You sort of get a feel for it after a bit, so you start to see it in life too. I suppose it's like your "Spaniel Man" stereotype, but there's at least half a dozen other types.

(Edit for my appalling punctuation yet again).

@brushingboots before we had our pup I went to a family gathering. My cousin’s child spent ALL day using a ball chucker for their 2 yr old Labrador. By the end of the day his tracker said he had run 26 miles. The poor dog was exhausted, every time he lay down the ball would be thrown. I dread to think what his joints are/ will be like.

Now I know more about joint damage and what a pain ball obsessed dogs can be (my friend’s dog never stops begging for a ball throw) I’ve been conscious about not letting Midge get ball obsessed, he’s happy with a couple of throws and then isn’t bothered.

We’ve had a better day so far. I took him for a scamper at the old golf course and we only saw a couple of dogs in the distance. I think I’ll have a couple of quieter days before we go back to our local woods (packed with dogs).

We’ve got the roofers in again. He’s not as barky as the other day and is able to take treats so that’s an improvement.

Really glad to hear that your walk was quiet and you're both okay today @Nella68

Every message is like playing chicken now - who's going to kill the thread and have to start the next?

I've always been wary of letting Bill get ball-obsessed - as a half-Lab it's a real risk. The two collies I know are just like the ones you know, @CoubousAndTourmalet ; it's all they want to do. One can't play at all if there's not a ball there, he just watches the kids play football in the park next door and runs up and down the fence.

I also much prefer watching Bill do dog things - which reminds me, @brushingboots , yes I absolutely do want to learn how you manage to keep Pupsy anywhere near you in the woods! The one time I took Bill I had to literally strap him to me 😄

Ahh thank you both, @Nella68 @CoubousAndTourmalet. I’m in no way a dog expert (as we know) and I’m not suggesting what I do with pupsy is 100pc right but it just depresses me seeing dogs not be able to engage with their environments, or not being allowed. It’s different if they’re a flight risk and they’re on the lead but to be off lead and fixated, bouncing around staring at a chucker just seems like bad news. Totally agree about the types, @CoubousAndTourmalet. Sometimes I see someone out and about and I think, I wonder if you’re X-Username. They invariably aren’t but it does make me chuckle. (On which note I suspect someone we are familiar with on the rest of The Doghouse has named-changed recently and I’ve been trying to determine if it is her, but I am now 90pc sure it is!)

There’s a lady near me who I see quite often whose lab is totally ball-obsessed. She does take him on other kinds of walks but his main walk is ball throwing for an hour at a time. So uninspiring. We always wave hello but I tend to avoid getting too close, as nice as she is, because though pupsy is pretty steady she can’t always resist a ball whipping through the air and retrieving balls at speed like that does literally nothing good for her at all – not for her joints or her mental state, as she just comes home really hyper. By contrast, after 70 minutes looking for pheasants in the woods in the morning she’s now happily zonked out.

Glad you’ve had a better day so far, @Nella68, and that Midge isn’t too fussed by the roofers!

@Bupster let’s go to the woods and I’ll show you. She’s not always perfect but I was proud of her this morning as she flushed a fox (!) in some deep cover and stopped when I asked as it slunk off. My experience of foxes and dogs has only ever been with hounds so I was very pleased to have a good fox experience.

Someone needs to start a new thread!! (Yes I have replied to you all in one post so as not to take responsibility haha)

Even with all the banging around overhead, and there’s been a lot, he’s fast asleep. Phew

@MooseBeTimeForSnow Rundle looking gorgeous as ever!

That is funny re collies as the only one I know, which belongs to a lady I've chatted to a couple of times when out walking, is totally ball obsessed. She carries one of those ball throwers and the dog just can't keep its eyes off it and absolutely isn't interested in anything else.

Vinny does like a ball but loses interest quite quickly and mostly likes to carry it around in his mouth if he gets to play with one. I tend to take a canvas dummy out with us to do a few retrieves but he also gets bored that (still have a rabbit ball on my list of things to buy!.)

I really need to work on his sit and stay - he can do it, but then as soon as he gets his treat reward he sees that as his cue to fuck off again. And also as soon as there's a dummy or ball involved, I can't get him to wait to be released - he legs it as soon as I throw. We use a release word in various situations day to day but I can't seem to get it to apply in a sit/stay situation!

He is lovely. Such long legs!!

Terrified of being Threadkiller again but here goes
@Bupster I feel sad for that type of ball-focused dog, they always seem quite stressed. Bill on the other hand appears to be the happiest dog on the planet so I honestly don't think you have anything to worry about.
@brushingboots I know who you mean and I think so too. I've been wondering for a week or so.
@Nella68 Midge is gorgeous and it's good to see he looks so relaxed. Agree with YF, he is very leggy and I imagine will be quite tall.
@YorkshireFelix Clearly we've all noted these obsessed collies and thought the same. Sounds as if Vinny has the makings of a proper working dog already, it must be in the blood.

Dare I press post 😬

@YorkshireFelix Definitely recommend a rabbit ball but they are a bit rubbish this time of year as they take forever to dry once they’ve had a dog mouth round them!

Steadiness in a sit stay will come in time – I wouldn’t rush him as it’s easy to kill their desire to retrieve if you make them wait all the time for a dummy/ball. I managed to do this with pupsy because I wanted her to be steady too soon and I’m now in the process of undoing it as she now can’t be bothered to retrieve some of the time which is a shame. Best to do steadiness work with flying objects in really small portions too – do the tiniest, shortest retrieve, a metre or so, and build it up. I did a lot of it sitting on the grass in the garden so I could only throw to within what I could reach without getting up (lazy bones here).

Do you mean that he sits and stays, you give him the reward, and then off he goes? We have had that too and now I double reward if she tries to fly off once she's had her reward – she is rewarded for the sit stay and then if she tries to turn I correct with an ‘ah ah’ and she sits back down and is rewarded again for making a better choice. And then I say ‘ok go’ and the real reward is getting to go off again.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I knew you'd know who I meant! She has not been talking about her ~credentials~ lately she is surely the same person.

The thread is running outtttt.... (to the tune of Time is Running Out by Muse)

I'm doing it, I'm starting the new thread, I can't bear the tension!

BOOM: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5254341-adolescent-dog-survival-thread-get-teenage-licks-right-through-the-night