Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

I've buckled again, I can't take the pressure of being on page 40 😄

Would you say a 7mth cocker is an adolescent? He's a bright lad but he's definitely pushing the boundaries at the moment and I'm wobbling with self doubt!

I'd say he's probably entering adolescence, yes.
We all have moments of self-doubt, I don't think it ever really goes away. Sorry to say it might get worse before it gets better 😬
There's a lot of cocker people here so you are amongst friends.

Thanks. I did a lot of research before getting a cocker spaniel, but I don't think you're ever fully prepared 🤣

We do lots of training, loose lead walking is getting better. Just need to work on ignoring people unless allowed to say hello (but tricky as everyone wants to say hi!).

@Workhomework You definitely need to chat with the cocker people here and perhaps read through the previous thread; there is a lot of training advice there. But it sounds as if you've done good research on your breed, and are on the right track.

I'm very much the odd one out here, I'm a livestock guarding breed person, so the training is very different. I'm with you on the wanting to say hi though, our walks are very slow because of people talking to the polar bear 😄

@Workhomework Welcome! We are very spaniel and gundog-heavy here. They are the best dogs. We allow @CoubousAndTourmalet in with her gorgeous girl as she keeps us in check <3

Seven months is bang on for adolescence. Our learned friend @YorkshireFelix has a good line on this about her boy's timing.

Oh no @Bupster, I’m so sorry you’re poorly! Are you feeling any better this morning?

Pupsy seems OK, thank you – we're going back to the vets on Friday to have her stitches out… the stitches that, as far as I can see, came out on Friday morning’s walk. So that’s going to be interesting. The wound hasn’t bled and I’ve been looking at it constantly so hopefully it’s OK. Will be pleased when this period of constant vigilance is over though. We are now in week three of cone-wearing overnight and when I’m out, albeit a comfy cone, and I’d just like to not have to watch her foot placement all the livelong day. She is totally unperturbed by it all though and seems to have enjoyed a bit of a break in training as last night she flushed an enormous red deer during our session and responded to it beautifully.

By the by, I can fully recommend Petplan for insurance as they have paid our claim in full and swiftly – including for her meds from the week before her op – and I’ve only had to pay the £100 excess.

Welcome to the world adolescent cockers. 💖
My very first post on this thread was bemoaning that my perfect puppy had lost her recall at 7 1/2 months old. 😂 We're a month on now and her recall is good probably 95% of the time, but she's ranging a bit further away than I would like.

@brushingboots Hope the vet visit goes well on Friday and you can ditch the cone.

I'm with Petplan too and can't fault them. I've claimed £1000s over last four years and they've always paid up promptly. I like the fact they pay the vets directly too. Great when you have an ongoing condition - I swan in and out of the vets and let them deal with it all.

@SpanielsGalore Oh your vets are better than mine in that case as I had to pay upfront and then have had (or will have had) the money back! Thank you credit card. I might query that with them when I go in on Friday as everything I'd read about Petplan suggested that they'd pay the vets directly and yet there I was putting my PIN in. I think I was too stressed and wanting to get pupsy home to complain at the time.

@brushingboots It's worth asking for future reference. I think most vets will deal directly with Petplan as they're a reputable company, even if they won't deal with other insurance providers. My vets and the four specialists I have used have all claimed directly. Or I have claimed and instructed Petplan to pay the vets.

We're with Petplan too. My cousin's daughter is a vet (although not our vet, as she lives in a different area) and that was what she recommended. We got a claim form with our policy, to set up payment direct to the veterinary practice, but we haven't needed to claim for anything yet.

@Bupster
Hope you're on the mend and that Bill is dong a better job of looking after you now...

@brushingboots
Glad Pupsy's foot appears okay.

@SpanielsGalore
Hope your pup has now fully recovered from the grass incident.

She's fine, thank you @CoubousAndTourmalet Bounced out of the vets and was hanging off her sister's ears within minutes of being home. By bedtime the other two were begging me to shove it back up. 😂

Thanks all for Vinny’s birthday wishes. He spent his second day of being 1 doing liquid shits but now is back to normal thank god. I got him a collagen chew which I think was the culprit for his upset stomach, so won’t be making that mistake again!

Welcome @Workhomework - I am also a person who did all the research and it still couldn’t have prepared me for how awful teenage spaniels are. As @brushingbootsmentioned, mine literally turned 6 months to the day and had a personality transplant. He’s now just turned 1 and I’d say in the past 3/4 weeks we have seen an improvement in his recall/general behaviour. We still have a long way to go but there is light at the end of the tunnel!

Glad to hear Pupsy is doing ok @brushingboots! They are resilient little things aren’t they. It’s defo worth checking with your vet/PetPlan re direct payment as I know that’s one of the perks of going with them (and probably why they are slightly more expensive too). We are with Agria as our vets accept direct payment from them too, but thankfully not needed to use it yet.

@Bupster I hope you are feeling better soon.

sorry I am on the app and can’t seem to be able to scroll back to see posts but hope everyone is doing ok!

Hi all
Didn't think you had quite enough Pyreneans here so thought I'd join up our 14 mth nutter - pse meet Iona....Brie's litter sister:

Omggggg I am THRILLED to meet Iona!! I can’t believe Brie’s sister is on MN. It has blown my mind 😂

Oh hello @madbatarse I'm so glad you've dropped by! You must have heard my call for reinforcements.

Iona is beautiful, and she looks like an angel - surely this is not a hooligan child like her sis....?😉

It's also quite noticeable that Iona looks very much cleaner than Brie does🤔

Haha You wouldn't be saying that if had just spent 10 mins picking up bit of chewed golden rug from the hallway - might look angelic but behaves like a demon lol 😈

Peas in a pod then, clearly. Our hearthrug has a delightful ventilation hole.

I should ask if Iona is a lead biter. We've just had a 1 hour masterclass in lead ragging which has become our speciality😬

She is fairly good most of the walk now but then just goes - you can tell when it's about to happen as she gives fair warning with side-eye glances & 'the look'! So you think uh-oh brace brace - & she goes batshit for 5/10 mins: jumping up on back or front (great when paws covered in sheep poo), biting/tugging lead & biting or pulling on hand....etc. Latest theory is it might be overstimulation having experienced too many ppl/things on a long walk. So we're trying out shorter walks + distraction ideas like scatter treats when it starts, to nip in the bud....which seems to be helping a bit. I think....

That's very weird @madbatarse because Brie will be trotting along nicely then I get side eye and she will grab the lead or my hand. It is exactly as you describe. I have talked about it on here.
We've tried everything too; shorter more frequent walks, taking a Pets at Home £1 tug toy to shove in her mouth, putting her on a harness with the lead attached further back, double ended lead but she still kicks off. We also had 3 one-to-one training sessions and even that didn't help.
It's interesting that you mention overstimulation, we initially thought it was "showing off" because she'd kick off if there were people, kids or dogs. But now - like today - she does it when we've had a quiet walk without seeing a soul.
It is very odd that they both exhibit exactly the same behaviour pattern out walking though...

Put my claim in on Sunday and PetPlan have settled it today. Can't complain about that service. 😁

I can complain about the puppy though. We were having a lovely walk in the woods and I was just thinking how good she was being. Responding to the whistle and staying within 20 yards of me. Then she disappeared off the face of the earth!
She was only gone for two minutes at the most, but it was a very long two minutes.

I’ve stopped walking V in the woods now as he seems to think it’s his free pass to run around like a loon and disappear for ages. He doesn’t do it anywhere else! We were doing so well too and he was staying close, so not idea why he’s suddenly decided not to do that any more 🙄

If we go on the field next to the woods, or the canal/down by the river which is also next to the woods, he is good as gold…

@YorkshireFelix It seems to be certain areas in the woods for K. There must be more scents around and she can't control herself. It's not every walk (yet!) so we'll persevere for a bit longer.
I'm tried to persuade her sister to find her, but I think she'd prefer her stay lost. 😂

@SpanielsGalore I’ve had mine too – so efficient! It didn’t even matter that I had to pay upfront as I used my credit card and they were so quick to pay me back that it’s in plenty of time. But I am going to ask the vets about it tomorrow in case for some reason I’m not registered for it being paid direct.

We have just come back from a few days in London and it’s fair to say pupsy is pleased. But fair play to her, she was fabulous. Didn't make a sound on either train journey and just slept, managed the escalators like a pro, and actually walked better to heel than she ever does at home. She can only have lead walks when we’re there with the occasional bit of offlead on the beach or in the tiny, tiny park near us but she adapts so well. I did some sit-stays with her last night in said tiny park in front of a group of finance bros who clearly thought I was crackers. Going to treat her to some really juicy, pheasanty hedges tonight.

Ahh, the classic spaniel woodland woe. @YorkshireFelix V is still so young, even after his birthday – he’ll get there with the woods, I’ve no doubt. He was so good when we went to Clumber. You could do some hunting with him in there to keep him sharp – and with K, @SpanielsGalore. Pupsy now expects hunting drills when we go to particular wood blocks – even tiny groups of trees – and if anything I have to work to get her out from under my feet. Doing ‘work’ in there with her has made such a difference, truly.