Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

@CoubousAndTourmalet You might not have the same tick population in Lancs. After whisky and tartan, they're what Scotland is famous for. 😂

You really do come across as humorous, whereas I mostly seem to do insane and weird (or that old MN chestnut "batshit crazy"...) which is probably not that far wrong.

Yeah, from what I've seen about male dogs, I suspect it is fairly normal for them to be more difficult. Can't blame you on the Hamster decision really.

However, we've had three exceptionally gentle males that never humped, grumbled, pissed on stuff, and two dominant, humpy, pissy females that were bitch aggressive.
Like I said yesterday, my breed is not totally representative of the everyday realities of puppy rearing. Mostly, girls are said to be easier. My Pyreneans have just been plain weird, like me 😜

@CoubousAndTourmalet I'm particularly careful what I say about feeding/resource guarding - I think we've had the same encounter with the same people on that topic!

I have to say, I find it so incredibly interesting how people try and 'solve' behavioural issues. Personally, I don't think behavioural issues are solved - they are managed. Satan dog is a great example of this - she came to DMum with so many behavioural issues, including reactivity around men. Yet, now, she's okay with DDad (and DH when he's around). But, they're also smart enough not to approach her and let her go to them. Her nervousness around men will never be 'solved' but we can manage it and we can manage how they interact with her.

But I do agree there is so much information out there now it's a bit like information overload. The thing that worries me is that people think that because someone claims to have X or Y qualification ('behaviourists' seem to be the worst for this) that their advice is the gospel truth and, as we've seen so many times recently, the advice of the 'experts' is so often wrong!

Nothing beats experience. And much much of raising a good dog is just common sense and patience. They don't get things first time. They do regress. You just have to stick with it. And it's always worth it.

That was very philosophical of me.😃

Don't forget the midges, we literally threw ourselves into Loch Affric one day to get away from them...😬

We often say that if we'd have had our second dog first we'd have been quietly congratulating ourselves on what excellent puppy trainers we were. In fact she was just an incredibly easy puppy.

With the oldest, I think the most useful thing I got out of our training was recognition that some dogs are more difficult than others.

The main thing I regret is not giving up on overnight sleeping in the crate much sooner. We didn't crate in the day at all, and pup would sleep from 9pm - 3am in there but would always cry at around 3. She didn't need anything other then reassurance we were still there (we could actually reassure her over the camera) but 3 months of broken sleep made me ill. The first night she slept on our bed she slept until 8 am.

We put the crate up for the younger one, fed meals in there etc. but she was only choosing to climb on top of it and then leap onto the dining table so it disappeared pretty quickly.

@SpanielsGalore - I think I'd definitely look at some method of tick control if we were in Scotland or similar. We managed to miss a few until they got quite big despite plenty of checks, mainly in the neck/chest fluff. Poor pup had one right on her bum hole which we spotted at the services on our way home. She was very good about me removing it.

I'm mainly on Mumsnet for dogs, crochet and allotmenting 😂

@Bupster There is a reason rescues are overflowing with young adolescent males. As you are finding out. 🙈 He'll be lovely in another year or three.

I love the bones of him, but dear God almighty, he's a nobhead.

Thanks for asking @CoubousAndTourmalet - I think his leg seems ok. I am HATING the on lead walking! I don’t know how I did it for over 6 weeks. He needs a good run about and has been a pain in the arse the past few days.

I've only ever seen ticks on V when we walked in Clumber Park where I had to flick three of his head. Weirdly my parents go there all the time with their greyhound and have never found a tick on her.

I am one of those who wonders what life would be like if we had got a girl spaniel instead. I close my eyes and hear wind chimes and a softly running stream and see butterflies and rainbows. Then I open them again and see Vinny’s balls and pissy belly in my face 🤢

@LandSharksAnonymous
It was very philosophical indeed!

As you rightly say, it's learning your way around problems rather than there being one obvious solution.

Being here made me question myself so much, that I brought in a trainer, who had no experience of LGD, and expected her to respond like a Staffie. And I suppose that was the point when I too started to realise just how much experience matters! I'm still filled with self doubt, always, but now, I do feel I know and understand my own breed much better than I thought. And we're battling on with the lead ragging issue, but I'm slowly learning how to handle her better.

I've never had one issue with resource guarding, but was told I was "lucky" because I was being very irresponsible handling their food. I should put food bowl in crate, walk away, not touch it 😨Amazing that I've been "lucky" 9 times over really, so maybe I should start doing the lottery...🤔

Also continually shocked that "trainers" recommend scatter feeding, licki mats etc as to me that encourages scavenging and a need for constant stimulus... I don't want that in my dog! She is now amazing at settling quietly with no treats, no chews, no therapy. I'm not saying these things are necessarily "wrong", but, like crating, they are not right for everyone.

There is no dog blueprint. There is no one way. There is no a dog is a dog is a dog, because a Papillon is not a Pointer is not a Pyrenean. A gundog is not the same as a LGD or a sighthound... Sometimes the generalisations drive me mad.

So I am learning things from being here, I'm learning a lot. But hey ho, I'm a stubborn old goat, so I'm not changing my habits with the next pup, but hopefully my run of "luck" will continue 😉

Sorry for rambling on a bit there🙄

Is there crochet @tizwozliz ? Does that mean there's knitting?
Is there watercolour?
I've found books. I'm on that board a lot, but not found crafting yet...

@tizwozliz I bet you got some funny looks removing that one at the services. 😂 I think no matter how thoroughly you look, some sneaky little bastard gets past you. Most of puppy's have been tiny, but I found one yesterday that had obviously been feeding for a few days. Which prompted my £100 shopping spree.

@LandSharksAnonymous I agree that some issues have to be managed rather than solved. Our first cocker became fear reactive after being attacked by several dogs. We got him to a stage where he could see dogs at a distance and not react, but every walk had to be carefully managed.
The trouble with dog trainers is you don't need any qualifications to set yourself up as one. There are several near me that I wouldn't touch with a barge pole. I know two of them 'qualified' by doing on line diplomas during lockdown. One advises spray bottles for training puppies. One has recently given up after being reported for shocking a dog with an electric collar on full power. And a third will knee your dog in the chest if it jumps up at her.
The amount of people who recommend a certain trainer in the South (rhymes with Bellend) astounds me. Same goes for the twat in a cravat on TV, who has to get a real dog trainer in to teach him before he can be filmed teaching the skill to someone else.
And it's not 'one method fits all'. You have to work with the dog in front of you. So I could say what works for me, but it might not work for someone else.
I'll call people out for using aversive training methods though. There's no need for
that.

I put my dogs on a lead when I passed a field full of sheep today. Listening to some trainers, what I should have done is stuck e-collars on them and zapped them every time they went to sneak through the fence.

@CoubousAndTourmalet Mine were annoying me at 6pm, when they started demanding their evening treat. 🙈 😂 (It was tripe sticks today.)

@Bupster He is gorgeous. 🥰 My rescue sprocker was hard work. Just when you thought you had one undesirable behaviour cracked, he'd come up with something else annoying to do.

@CoubousAndTourmalet

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/arts_and_crafts/4908830-its-crochet-knit-and-natter-thread-11-so-much-yarn-we-need-a-yarn-barn

It's been quite quiet recently

I can confirm that @Bupster is a very funny person in real life <3

Girls spaniels for life. The repeated use of 'pissy belly' here and there was another charming phrase has fully secured my decision.

(Am on the train with a sleeping dog so catching up. 10/10 effort from pupsy again)

@SpanielsGalore gimme another clue about the trainer that we shall now call Bellend? Trying to think who you mean.

Have you come across the one whose kennels is a place in Lord of the Rings? I went up there in the summer and would be curious to know what people round your way think of it all.

Thanks @tizwozliz ! I'll have a mooch on there.

Nothing wrong with treats @SpanielsGalore If it works for you.
I just found that my Power Chewer was developing a £90 a month chewing habit, which I honestly cannot afford. Well, more accurately, I could feed and insure a second dog for what she was costing me in treats and chews... And she wouldn't settle without something to gnaw on. So I knocked it on the head and now all is calm. She still gets a dental chew now and then.

I originally wrote crusty penis and changed it to pissy belly 😂😂😂

@YorkshireFelix 🤢🤢🤢🤢

I'm sure there was another one about legs, or trousers. Some kind of soggy doggy trousers. Yuck.

South was a big clue and half of their name. He's known as South* Bellend on springer FB pages. Didn't want to type his full name incase he searches where he's mentioned.
I haven't heard anything about TLOTR trainer. Looking at his website, he's not someone I would buy from. But I find the more I look into people who I think are reputable breeders, the more disillusioned I get.

We never had pissy belly!
Brie often has wee knickers though 🙄

I still want a boy!!!

I was going to give the clue Darn Sarf. Was warned on another thread about litigation btw.... I don't much like the fat fella that uses prong collars either...

@SpanielsGalore ohhhh yeah!! Duh. I know who you mean.

I found the LOTR setup fascinating but concluded that even if I could afford it I wouldn't go the whole way with a fully-trained one of his, as nice as they are.

I just read a review written by someone who bought a 10 month old trained lab, who keeps sending it back for more residential training. Sounds like a good money spinner.
How much more does a ready trained cocker go for? Asking for a friend. 😳

@SpanielsGalore I know who you mean!! Absolutely ridicules people still tout them as a good trainer - they couldn’t tell a golden from a chihuahua.

@CoubousAndTourmalet oh gosh the scatter feeding! It’s up there with kongs and lick matts!! When used well, they’re great. But 99.9% of people have no idea how best to use them. They are not a substitute for training your dog or engaging with it! Also a terrible idea if you have a high energy breed IMO - whenever I’ve used them on my dogs, it just riles them up and makes them uncontrollable!

There’s a puppy class trainer near me who recommends on her website that all owners bring frozen kongs to her classes to entertain their dogs in between learning. I want to cry every time I hear someone mention her classes - a puppy needs to learn to settle without stimulation and shoving sugar (because most people use cheap peanut butter which is just sugar) into a dog when it’s already stimulated is such a bad idea. I took her classes (I went to one class but paid for all ten - biggest waste of money ever) just to see why people raved about her when Hen was young (so about 10 years ago) and spent most of the class sitting there open mouthed in horror. Yet, around me, she’s the recommended trainer.

There’s a puppy class trainer near me who recommends on her website that all owners bring frozen kongs to her classes to entertain their dogs in between learning

That's so bizarre.

My older lab won't even pick up a frozen Kong. But it also goes back to dogs are different. For my older one, a Kong is a calming activity, a bit of her normal food in and she'll lay down, paw on kong and quietly get the contents. (At one stage when younger, she would actually only eat out of kongs or puzzles, not a bowl).

Younger one will throw it round the room to get whatever is inside. It is not a settling activity.

I love scatter feeding though, sunny morning, coffee in hand, watching the dogs grazing for their food is just perfect 😂