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Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - get teenage licks right through the night!

992 replies

Bupster · 17/01/2025 14:03

I've buckled and started the new thread - welcome to the horror of adolescence!

OP posts:
Thread gallery
98
Nella68 · 17/01/2025 14:15

@Bupster hello!

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 14:20

@Bupster thanks for the new thread! Great name choice 😁

@brushingboots THANK YOU! I was hoping you would have some good advice for me, but I didn't want to be cheeky and outright ask.

That is good to know about not rushing him actually. I've just spent our whole walk thinking about it and wondering (/kicking myself) if I should have been drilling it into him at a younger age but it's useful to know that might have been a mistake if I had. I will try a bit with a very short retrieve and build it up slowly. I don't do a huge amount of retrieving with him anyway as I want to keep it interesting to him, and he gets bored after the 3rd or 4th time anyway!

And yes that's exactly what I mean about him going off as soon as he's got his reward. I'll definitely try and correct him and double reward as I am sure that will work.

We've just had a really good walk and he was great with his recall. I always think I must look mad as I laugh at him the whole time we are walking through the woods as I love seeing him dash about and have a good time. It made me think of the ball obsessed dog conversation, and how can you not let them enjoy running about, sniffing and diving into bushes!

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 14:21

I was going to say as well, I really want to nail the sit and stay in different situations as there's some more training bits/games I want to move on to, but a lot of them require them sitting still first 😄

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 14:22

@Bupster Top name choice, well done!

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 14:23

Handsome boy in the woods ❤️

Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - get teenage licks right through the night!
CoubousAndTourmalet · 17/01/2025 14:26

Yay! Well done, @Bupster ! Great title!

tizwozliz · 17/01/2025 14:28

Remember as well that dogs are very situational, and just because they can do things in one situation/environment doesn't mean it would readily transfer to a different environment.

Pup could sit and wait for thrown dummies in the garden, long before she could sit and wait at the start of a hoopers course (super exciting for her). She still wouldn't sit to a thrown ball, but she will sit and wait whilst I go off and hide balls (that's only happened very recently).

Spot the dogs

Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - get teenage licks right through the night!
CoubousAndTourmalet · 17/01/2025 14:28

Urgh! Got to get off those dog hate threads so we're off out for a masterclass in lead ragging. Back later.

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 14:31

tizwozliz · 17/01/2025 14:28

Remember as well that dogs are very situational, and just because they can do things in one situation/environment doesn't mean it would readily transfer to a different environment.

Pup could sit and wait for thrown dummies in the garden, long before she could sit and wait at the start of a hoopers course (super exciting for her). She still wouldn't sit to a thrown ball, but she will sit and wait whilst I go off and hide balls (that's only happened very recently).

Spot the dogs

Yes you are right. That is something I learnt in our training course which I hadn't hugely considered before. It was the 'three D's' - duration, distance and distraction. So how can we adapt those three D's before starting any type of training, to enable us to be more successful. It's something I think about a lot when we are trying different things and he's not listening to me 😄

dicdicnurse · 17/01/2025 14:37

I haven't posted for a while but our boy is 15 months and our latest challenge is that he's become sensitive to the Harringtons dry food that he has always eaten! He's had intermittent loose stools and terrible flatulance for weeks now. Vet has been great, we have done samples which were fine and tried pro biotics. So far only thing that's worked is the super expensive prescription only royal Canin digestive feed.
The loose stools cause anal glands 🤪
And breathe...........

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 14:38

@YorkshireFelix Always ask!! It’s never cheeky. In turn, I don’t want to seem like I know it all as I DO NOT and I don’t want you to think ‘oh no here she is again with her opinions’ haha.

I’ve had cause over the last couple of weeks to talk to quite a few gundog trainers for work – I’ve mentioned my issues with retrieving to all of them and they’ve all confirmed my error, that I rushed pupsy’s steadiness journey. One of the ladies I spoke to, who is fab and who I’d have teaching pupsy except that she lives 200 miles away, said that she doesn’t expect anything from her (working) dogs at all until they’re a year old – they literally don’t get anything except watching and observing, and that was quite sobering as pupsy flushed and sat to her first partridge when she was about seven/eight months. Amazing on her part, but way too early!

After that I got a bit obsessed with steadiness and working on the journey towards stop to flush and it all got out of hand. Now, probably partly as a result, she plays ‘keepaway’ with dummies sometimes because she thinks she’s going to have them taken off her and then she’ll have to sit and wait around again. On the upside, she’s really quite steady now and it looks impressive but it’s to the detriment of other skills.

Don’t kick yourself, he’ll get there and it’s better that he learns at his own pace rather than at a pace that might be artificially inflated by human ambition – if you know what I mean. I definitely pushed pupsy on because a lot of the dogs we know are much ‘better’ than her because they’re trialling dogs, and it’s just me being competitive. She isn’t going to trial so I don’t need her to be able to do trialling drills – I do it anyway because it’s fun but I didn’t need to start so soon.

And I agree totally – the sniffing and bush diving is the best!

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 14:43

100pc agree @tizwozliz about the situationality. Pupsy has been the same – rock steady, won’t move a muscle at home in the garden, but in a scenty pheasanty field it’s much harder to transfer that skill.

Similarly, sort of, we had a friend’s dog to stay recently who isn’t allowed upstairs at home at all. I was so interested/impressed to see that she happily lay down at the bottom of the stairs while pupsy went up and down following me all day and didn’t even try as she understands that stairs = no, even though she would have been welcome to.

Is2025theyearofthedog · 17/01/2025 15:08

I’ve read the whole last thread and loads of the puppy ones in preparation for getting a puppy this year!

@brushingboots and anyone else with a gundog - what do you think of Mordors methods? In particular how he teaches a dog to walk to heel. I saw them mentioned a few times on the last thread.

I think I am now almost at the point I’ve read too many book and watched too many videos and my head is scrambled and I’m probably going to completely mess it all up when the time comes!

Hope you don’t mind me jumping on.

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 15:45

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 14:38

@YorkshireFelix Always ask!! It’s never cheeky. In turn, I don’t want to seem like I know it all as I DO NOT and I don’t want you to think ‘oh no here she is again with her opinions’ haha.

I’ve had cause over the last couple of weeks to talk to quite a few gundog trainers for work – I’ve mentioned my issues with retrieving to all of them and they’ve all confirmed my error, that I rushed pupsy’s steadiness journey. One of the ladies I spoke to, who is fab and who I’d have teaching pupsy except that she lives 200 miles away, said that she doesn’t expect anything from her (working) dogs at all until they’re a year old – they literally don’t get anything except watching and observing, and that was quite sobering as pupsy flushed and sat to her first partridge when she was about seven/eight months. Amazing on her part, but way too early!

After that I got a bit obsessed with steadiness and working on the journey towards stop to flush and it all got out of hand. Now, probably partly as a result, she plays ‘keepaway’ with dummies sometimes because she thinks she’s going to have them taken off her and then she’ll have to sit and wait around again. On the upside, she’s really quite steady now and it looks impressive but it’s to the detriment of other skills.

Don’t kick yourself, he’ll get there and it’s better that he learns at his own pace rather than at a pace that might be artificially inflated by human ambition – if you know what I mean. I definitely pushed pupsy on because a lot of the dogs we know are much ‘better’ than her because they’re trialling dogs, and it’s just me being competitive. She isn’t going to trial so I don’t need her to be able to do trialling drills – I do it anyway because it’s fun but I didn’t need to start so soon.

And I agree totally – the sniffing and bush diving is the best!

Edited

No your opinions are always very sound!! I would gladly read a whole thread of just your posts about what you've done with pupsy and what has/hasn't worked as I think her and V are very similar.

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 15:46

dicdicnurse · 17/01/2025 14:37

I haven't posted for a while but our boy is 15 months and our latest challenge is that he's become sensitive to the Harringtons dry food that he has always eaten! He's had intermittent loose stools and terrible flatulance for weeks now. Vet has been great, we have done samples which were fine and tried pro biotics. So far only thing that's worked is the super expensive prescription only royal Canin digestive feed.
The loose stools cause anal glands 🤪
And breathe...........

Oh that's annoying/strange considering he's always eaten it!! I wonder what has triggered it? Also typical it's the expensive stuff he's now fine on 🙄

What breed is he?

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 15:52

Is2025theyearofthedog · 17/01/2025 15:08

I’ve read the whole last thread and loads of the puppy ones in preparation for getting a puppy this year!

@brushingboots and anyone else with a gundog - what do you think of Mordors methods? In particular how he teaches a dog to walk to heel. I saw them mentioned a few times on the last thread.

I think I am now almost at the point I’ve read too many book and watched too many videos and my head is scrambled and I’m probably going to completely mess it all up when the time comes!

Hope you don’t mind me jumping on.

I did the exact same thing before we got Vinny and my brain was scrambled. I think it actually caused more harm than good, as there's so much conflicting advice online, and it just fuelled my anxiety like crazy. It's a lot of responsibility and pressure not to do the 'wrong' thing!

I did find the threads here so useful to read beforehand though as it's more 'real life' than YouTube videos. I have found both the puppy thread and this one invaluable and have got me through some very difficult times.

Is2025theyearofthedog · 17/01/2025 16:03

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 15:52

I did the exact same thing before we got Vinny and my brain was scrambled. I think it actually caused more harm than good, as there's so much conflicting advice online, and it just fuelled my anxiety like crazy. It's a lot of responsibility and pressure not to do the 'wrong' thing!

I did find the threads here so useful to read beforehand though as it's more 'real life' than YouTube videos. I have found both the puppy thread and this one invaluable and have got me through some very difficult times.

Glad it isn’t just me! I’m so determined to do everything I can to get it right that I’m trying to hoover up information but like you say everything is conflicting and one person will say do X while another says categorically do not do X.

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 16:18

@Is2025theyearofthedog welcome! And bravo for reading through all our witterings. Funny you should ask about Mordor as (because I am a writer) I interviewed Charlie this week for a feature I’m writing. I think he’s very good and if I lived up there I’d go to him, for sure. He could sell snow to eskimos. Re lead walking, I think it depends on what kind of walking you want to do. Personally I don’t use a slip lead because I didn’t to begin with, but if I was to start now with another pup I would and I’d follow Charlie’s rules… but that kind of lead walking doesn’t allow for any sniffing, so what I’ve aimed for on a collar and lead is loose lead sniffs, when the environment is appropriate. Not when we’re trying to get somewhere in a timely fashion but on sniffy lead walks I don’t see why she can’t stop and check out every leaf if that’s the agenda. I’m happy for her to walk ahead of me a bit as long as the lead is slack – that’ll do me in most situations, but she will heel as if on a sliplead if asked.

There is definitely such a thing as information overload! I am prone to saying ‘you can only train the dog in front of you’ so don’t stress yourself out until your lovely pup is here as they might not fancy doing it the way the videos suggest, and that’s OK too! What breed are you getting?

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 16:21

@YorkshireFelix Oh you are absurdly kind. We must get them together xxx

tizwozliz · 17/01/2025 16:23

‘you can only train the dog in front of you’

I still chuckle at the idea that when we got our first that I was going to measure out a portion of kibble and use that for training throughout the day. Not a chance!

It absolutely would have worked for current pup, who is just generally far more eager to please and is heaps better at retrieving despite having probably 10% of the training.

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 16:38

I always find this an interesting idea too, @tizwozliz as pupsy would never choose to eat kibble if she didn’t have to as part of her meals, but I understand that lots of people do do it with success!

Is2025theyearofthedog · 17/01/2025 16:41

brushingboots · 17/01/2025 16:18

@Is2025theyearofthedog welcome! And bravo for reading through all our witterings. Funny you should ask about Mordor as (because I am a writer) I interviewed Charlie this week for a feature I’m writing. I think he’s very good and if I lived up there I’d go to him, for sure. He could sell snow to eskimos. Re lead walking, I think it depends on what kind of walking you want to do. Personally I don’t use a slip lead because I didn’t to begin with, but if I was to start now with another pup I would and I’d follow Charlie’s rules… but that kind of lead walking doesn’t allow for any sniffing, so what I’ve aimed for on a collar and lead is loose lead sniffs, when the environment is appropriate. Not when we’re trying to get somewhere in a timely fashion but on sniffy lead walks I don’t see why she can’t stop and check out every leaf if that’s the agenda. I’m happy for her to walk ahead of me a bit as long as the lead is slack – that’ll do me in most situations, but she will heel as if on a sliplead if asked.

There is definitely such a thing as information overload! I am prone to saying ‘you can only train the dog in front of you’ so don’t stress yourself out until your lovely pup is here as they might not fancy doing it the way the videos suggest, and that’s OK too! What breed are you getting?

Thanks Brushing! It’s maybe actually a bit creepy that I’ve just been lurking in the background on all these puppy/dog threads but it’s been so helpful.

I love Charlie’s analogies he likes to use Grin
You’re right about his style not suiting sniffy walks and that is something I really do want to encourage (where appropriate) so that’s something to think about. It’s interesting that he’s not big on lots of food rewards when so many other trainers are constantly giving treats.

We’ll be getting a golden retriever and I am considering a working type rather than show but not 100% sure yet. It might just be a bit too much.

Nella68 · 17/01/2025 17:15

@Is2025theyearofthedog I lurked for ages too before jumping in. I feel like family now 😁

I’ve just looked at the Mordor website. I quite fancy the residential training. And they do gift vouchers too. I don’t think Midge would qualify even though he’s a mix of gun dogs (and it’s a bit far and the most I’ve ever had in gift vouchers is £50!).

Bupster · 17/01/2025 17:22

YorkshireFelix · 17/01/2025 15:52

I did the exact same thing before we got Vinny and my brain was scrambled. I think it actually caused more harm than good, as there's so much conflicting advice online, and it just fuelled my anxiety like crazy. It's a lot of responsibility and pressure not to do the 'wrong' thing!

I did find the threads here so useful to read beforehand though as it's more 'real life' than YouTube videos. I have found both the puppy thread and this one invaluable and have got me through some very difficult times.

I also did this - I remember when he was about five/six months old closing a load of the eleventy billion dog training tabs I had open and just feeling lighter immediately. I think the problem is not just the conflicting advice, but the fact that it feels like you have to do so much of it all at once. I want a book that says 'do this in this order, in these weeks, for this kind of dog, and forget about the rest until this date'.

I closed all those tabs at just the right time - I had to start going back into work, he had to go to daycare, and my workload exploded, and also it was that lovely six-eight weeks you get when they've mastered the puppy stuff and their shark teeth have fallen out and you think 'we've got this!'.

Then adolescence hits and you realise you haven't even started 😱

Actually, he's doing pretty well. I'm not doing enough with him still (and haven't for months) but he is still learning new things, his recall and sit/stays are recovering from broken ear syndrome (honestly he gives me a look just like Kevin the teenager), and today we've just had a lovely day, with loads of playing with just the two of us at home, and he was running round and playing like a puppy at the dog park with his friends (and with me), which he hasn't done properly for a week or two. He only escaped through the fence once and came straight back 🙄. He came home and sat on my lap, which he hardly ever does, and is now asleep at my feet so I can work look at Mumsnet.

Puppy tax from earlier, the little hooligan.

Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - get teenage licks right through the night!
OP posts:
brushingboots · 17/01/2025 17:27

@Is2025theyearofthedog Not creepy at all! Glad we could be of some help.

I often think about the food reward thing – a lot of gundog trainers don’t use food, though mine said I should do whatever works best for my dog. I always take pate with me on walks as, with heel walking at least, I figure it can’t hurt to reinforce when she’s really doing it right. Will she recall and heel better with pate? Possibly, so I don't see why I shouldn't use it. He’s absolutely right with what he always says at the end of his videos – ‘you get out what you put in’.

Oh I’d love a working goldie! All the ones I’ve met are beautiful, and also often a fair bit smaller than show goldies too which appeals to me. I know someone that has a few and works them on grouse and she describes them as ‘savvy’ – they give the impression that you are privileged to be in their presence.