Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

@SpanielsGalore it did actually pour down last night 😄And muggins let everyone into the back garden this morning without looking and they've just trampled past with wet paws and muddy bellies.

@VanGoSunflowers there is honestly nothing better in this world that a dog curled up next to you in the evening (although maybe not when it's this hot...). All of mine, minus Hen (my eldest) still follow me around the house like little lost lambs.

@LandSharksAnonymous I end up watching pupper more than the TV! I’ve noticed as well, if I try and fuss him while he is trying to fall asleep he will get up and wander to a different part of the sofa - he doesn’t seem to like to be touched while he is trying to settle. Once he is flitting in to light and deep sleep though he will happily take a tummy rub or a cheek stroke.

Hope everyone slept ok! It’s much cooler here today thank goodness. We had a 6am toilet call and then back to sleep on the sofa for a couple of hours!

@LandSharksAnonymous how are you getting on with the pups?

Same @VanGoSunflowers - I end up 'watching' the episode of whatever I'm meant to be watching 2-3 times because I miss so much! Are you still planning on trying him alone in the crate at night at some point?

All well with the pups, they're officially a little over a week old. They're all roughly the same size and weight as well atm, which I'm pleased about - I was a bit worried that with so many one or two may slip and not get enough food, but so far they're all brilliant!

Twatdog keeps pining for Pen though, which is really sad as she's his mum (he was from my last litter and his family fell through so I kept him). He just sits at the doorway and cries for her, and she pines back but if he tries to come closer she then growls. She'll let him over eventually, once she's more confident and pups are a bit more robust (he's such a nitwit he'd probably end up sitting on one).

@LandSharksAnonymous I have taken to putting on shite I have watching before so I don’t have to concentrate on it!
Yes definitely at some point, at the moment I’ve managed to retreat to the sofa so I’m not right next to him but in the same room. We have a nice little routine going of him sleeping with me in the evening, crate for roughly 7hours and then possibly more sleep on the sofa after first toilet break. I had the tiniest whines last night and as I was waking up to show him I was still in the room, he heard me stir and went back to sleep. I think he was just checking I was still there so I don’t think he’s quite ready for me to disappear upstairs just yet. I will do this for a while longer and see how we get on and then try and retreat to bed when my DS is with his dad in case there’s any protests from pupper! I don’t want to rush it and undo everything we have achieved thus far.

Also having a major shift around in the house today to try and make things easier. My lovely exH (not sarcasm!) is coming to help me. I’m moving my office downstairs to the living room, moving some stuff around in the kitchen to puppy proof it further (things I didn’t pick up on until I got him because it didn’t occur to me he would make a bee-line for them 😂) and putting a gate between living room
and kitchen. And the pen I purchased to try and keep him in that I thought was totally useless is being used as a ‘barrier’ across a wall with electric cables so it actually came in handy in the end!

I’m so glad the pups are thriving and mum is doing well! Do you think she whines for twatdog to sort of say “I’m still here but don’t come any closer” 😂

At what age do they generally start exploring out of the whelping pen?

Oops sorry for war and peace again! I’m not sure that much detail was needed but I won’t be offended if nobody reads it 😂

@VanGoSunflowers - it’s good that you’re taking it at his pace. It really helps! I’ve found the same thing though - play pens rarely work IME (they seem to just exacerbate that feeling
of being alone) for keeping safe a puppy that worried about being alone! I used one with twatdog, but always had someone int here with him - mostly it was to give poor Pen a break as he was so clingy with her.

I think she’s doing the ‘I’m fine. I miss you as well.’ And then when he gets closer it’s the ‘fuck off you nitwit, you’ll squash your siblings.’ I’ll probably let the out two or three at a time once they’re about three weeks old? Goldies grow up fast but I wouldn’t want all at once as they’d cause chaos! By and large I’ll only let them out 2/3 at a time until the day they go, other than when they’re in the garden and I have a few sensible adults to help me shepherd them around, otherwise they just get into mischief.

Good Morning 😃

I love hearing about Pablo, I love hearing about the puppies. It's all really interesting so thank you for sharing.

Well, it has cooled off considerably here, so we ventured out at 8. It was like walking a different dog. I have never known Brie to be so eager or so energised! We went on the big meadow, she did crazy zoomies, lead ragging, was really just totally OTT excited and bonkers, but she was just sooooo happy to be out🤗

We encountered 15 different dogs whilst on our 90 minute wander. Everything from a Jack Russell to lovely Mr Leonberger, and not a grumble out of any of them. That was actually pretty wonderful, given that so many MN threads would have us believe that every other dog is a potential killer.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I've been wondering whether it's the weather! Not had a single 'bad' incident with another dog since it got hotter...part of me wonders if it's just those with the badly behaved dogs just aren't going out!

Glad to hear Brie is happier though!

That's an interesting thought @LandSharksAnonymous

I wondered if the time was a factor this morning; not mad early but still pre 9am.

Aside from Mr Leo and someone with two Dobes, who we know quite well, it did seem a different crowd than usual. There were no manic ball flingers out, and quite a few dogs were being walked on leads, even on the meadow.

So much more comfortable today. I hope everyone's dogs are happier.

@LandSharksAnonymous the pen was definitely a none starter here - but it’s so useful to use to prop it up against areas of the house to protect him from. I may buy another one for the kitchen - seeing as it opens out I can run it along the back wall which is the least puppy friendly area (skirting he can chew!) it essentially turns the whole room in to a crate! Kinda… 😂

I can imagine that once they’re mobile it would be take a military effort to cajole them all at the same time in to not doing anything daft! How similar
is it to raising children? Asking tongue in cheek of course!

After listening to the pros and cons on the topic of free range vs crates (and after all the good points you made on the other thread @CoubousAndTourmalet) I’m opting for a kind of hybrid option 😂
My desk is now in the living room (moved down from upstairs office) so when I am in there he can nap in his crate. If I need to pop upstairs (or eventually when he is old enough, out of the house entirely) then free range in the kitchen - I’ve bought him a traditional dog bed for in there and am puppy proofing it to within an inch of its life 😂

@CoubousAndTourmalet I am so glad Brie had a nice walk and it has cooled down! I do think the heat was getting to Pablo more than I originally thought, he’s been an angel pup today whereas he was a bit more snappy over the last couple of days and couldn’t seem to settle

@LandSharksAnonymous Rained over night here too. And still is. Just off to the woods for some shelter, as opposed to shade.
@CoubousAndTourmalet Sounds like a lovely walk. I haven't found the posts about size of dogs = aggression yet. But I've known plenty of aggressive little ankle biters.

@VanGoSunflowers

We use our playpen as a room divider and it has worked really well.

Oh heavens, I was not meaning to guilt trip you (or anyone else) with regard to crating! If used correctly crating is fine.
However, if you are lucky enough to have a fairly calm easy going pup (as I suspect you do), they seem to be fairly trustworthy when they are allowed a bit more freedom. I'm sure you'll find the right balance for you & Pablo. The crate may still be useful at certain times while he's young.

@SpanielsGalore

Yes, thank you - a really enjoyable walk this morning. A lot more comfortable. I'm sure it's even better where you are though!

The dog size issue is always divisive. I can hand on heart say that the most aggressive, feared and hated dog in our area is a very small one, that has a go at everything in its path! I do understand people having a wariness of large powerful dogs, their size can be intimidating, we're always mindful of that when we're out and about. But size is not directly linked to aggression in dogs.

Of course on social media - large equates to Bullies. The weird thing is, they aren't huge. Strong and powerful, undoubtedly, but only the height of a small Labrador. We meet a (muzzled) male Bully XL on our walks and he's a lot smaller than our girl. But on MN if it's a big dog it must be a Bully and it's a status dog and it's dangerous. Makes me sad, because, statistically, the true giants (Pyreneans, Newfies, Wolfhounds etc) aren't aggressive or high risk for biting.

It does stress me out, but I really should back off from it and just let it go, without feeling the need to defend myself all the time and tying myself in knots.

@YorkshireFelix
How is Vinny doing? I hope he's coping okay with the lead walking...

@CoubousAndTourmalet It's difficult to step away though and not let the crap people spout affect you, especially when it's about a breed you love. I'm new to MN. I only started browsing because it kept popping up on my FB page. And then I joined so I could argue the toss with all the posters saying cocker spaniels are neurotic, hyperactive, snappy, little devils and only suitable to be owned by people with 50 years experience and no children.
There are some dog breeds I am more wary of than others, but none of them are giant breeds. I've known more snappy Jack Russels than anything else.

Anyway. Took the youngsters to the woods for a 90 minute run around. It only rained a little bit, but was very windy and humid though. We saw one dog, three people, said a polite hello to the cows and ignored the sheep. (They were on lead past the fields with animals in, as I know they can get through the fences.) Dropped them home and then took the oldie for a little potter across the farm track. She can only manage 15/20 minutes, so she doesn't come out with the others.

And I have given up on the war against the ticks and ordered Seresto collars for them all.

I'm new to MN also @SpanielsGalore . Been here a few months on and off. I'm not social media savvy at all, not on facebook.
I've learned a lot about dogs since being here but would definitely say I'm more a cat person overall.
I shouldn't be drawn into responding to stuff really, it achieves nothing aside from making me seem opinionated. I'm actually quite unsure of myself mostly.

That sounds like a lovely walk. Do you have three spaniels or four? All girls?

I hope the collars prove effective. Ticks are a constant worry for us too, there are a lot of deer in the woodland here. We've been quite lucky so far, Sylvie had a couple because she used to run off lead, but we've never found any on the other dogs. Fleas is another matter entirely though 🙄

@CoubousAndTourmalet oh noo! Definitely didn’t take it as a guilt trip at all. I think in the run up to getting pupper, I was worried about being out of my depth and so I did so much research and I had it drummed into me by so many ‘experts’ that crates were optimum and you had to be consistent with them sleeping in there for every nap, over night sleep, wind down etc and after reading over the last few posts on the thread I decided I was making life harder for myself and for pupper and a mix of both free range and crate actually works better for the whole house. Today has been manic moving stuff around and re-organising downstairs but I am very happy with it and feel far more chilled out about the whole thing - which will make me a better dog owner in the long run and Pablo more settled. It sounds daft that I didn’t think of it sooner to be honest 😂

@CoubousAndTourmalet I have three spaniels, all girls. Two are working cockers. The eldest will be 4 years old on Saturday and the youngest is almost 9 months old. I call them sisters, but genetically the older one is Great Aunt to the puppy. The third is a springer. She's just turned 10 years old. Technically she's a foster dog, but she has health issues so will spend the rest of her days with me.
Interestingly, I have previously had three boys and the girls are much easier.

Are ticks just impossible to see on a very hairy dog? Or perhaps they can't crawl through that impressive coat. 🥰
I'm getting about 4 a day off each cocker. I keep the tick hook in my pocket now, so every time they lie next to me I can check them over.

@SpanielsGalore & @CoubousAndTourmalet I’m not new to MN but I find myself shaking my head at the AIBU a fair bit, many keyboard warriors with very extreme opinions that are not at all representative of the real world!

But of course, I am guilty of getting riled by it and sometimes posting things I wouldn’t say in real life but I think that’s human nature. I have to check myself occasionally and often end up deleting things I have typed out before posting!

@SpanielsGalore
It's funny how many people find girls easier - I'm definitely in the minority with finding them harder! I've had 4 & 4. I prefer boys because I find them more loving. But some people say the Pyrenean is a matriarchal breed so perhaps that makes a difference.

With regard to ticks, I honestly don't know. It could be that I'm missing them somehow, which would be worrying... But we do check their paws and ears for burrs, sticky bobs, grass seeds etc, so hopefully not. With Sylvie we found them on her face and neck.

@CoubousAndTourmalet To be honest, I think with my lot it comes down to breeding. My boys were all from 'hobby' breeders - two before I knew better and one was a lockdown puppy that ended up in rescue at 16 weeks old. The girls come from proper working/trialling backgrounds.

Puppy's ticks are mainly on her face, neck and ears. Although I have found one in her armpit and one on her side. Other cocker is liver and white, so I usually see them crawling along her back before they attach.

@VanGoSunflowers
In some ways I think puppy rearing is much harder now because of information overload! There are so many differences of opinion about everything from crating to exercise. I feel that whatever you say, someone will shout you down and tell you that you're doing it all wrong. So you just have to let it go. You really get to the point where you just have to go your own way and trust your own instincts to some degree.

I've been reduced to tears a few times on The Doghouse. There's a couple of specific dog people I try to avoid now. I'm particularly careful what I say about feeding/resource guarding.

I'm pretty sure we all delete stuff we've typed. I also frequently beat myself up about things I have posted, especially when I try to be funny and it falls flat... Such is life on social media I guess.

Half my life is trying to be funny and falling flat! I like to pretend that someone out there is laughing, they're just not telling me 😄

Re the girl/boy question, Bill is my first dog, but it is hard to believe that any girl could be as difficult as a confident, resilient, testosterone-fuelled high-drive working line cockerdor in adolescence. If they are then my next dog is definitely going to be a hamster.

I’ve made myself a promise to actively stop googling every little thing 😂
I don’t know if it’s a ridiculous comparison but the closest I have come to raising a puppy is raising a child and I had to for my own sanity (and with full agreement from his dad) raise him the way it worked for us and shut out any other opinions. Smile and nod 😂 and I don’t regret it.

I think the issue is that many people frame things in a very binary way - “this worked for my dog and so it HAS to be the best way for everyone else’s and anyone who disagrees with me is a terrible owner”

That’s why I love this thread, I haven’t been on it for long but it seems very much experience sharing and “why not try this” kind of attitude which is much more palatable! I feel bad that I can’t share any valuable expertise of course 😂

Im sorry you have been reduced to tears. The internet really can bring out the worst in people and, as trite as it sounds, people ought not to forget that there is a real person on the receiving end (a fact I have to remind myself of when I get riled - I am certainly not perfect!)

@SpanielsGalore
Breeding is everything, I agree.
My parents first Pyrenean, in 1977, came from a commercial kennels, and was likely puppy farmed. Second one was from a pet bitch on a farm.
The six that I've had since living here in Lancs with my partner, have all come from top breeders with health checked dogs. We like the European working bloodlines and favour a tall, French type dog, although those tend not to do so well in the UK show ring.

I'll try to be more vigilant with regard to ticks...

Just to clarify - the puppy was bought by someone else during lockdown and given to a rescue at 16 weeks old. I didn't get him until he had failed in a second home and was 7 months old.
Didn't want you all to think I was a bitch who gave up on a puppy after 8 weeks.