Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

Glad you’re all ok now! Miscellaneous insects are right little bastards aren’t they!

And thank you! I stupidly pointed a finger at him and firmly said ‘no’ when he was attacking my bare feet but I think that just spurred him on and he lunged for my finger instead 😂 I will try just ignoring it next time I think and trying to give him something else to use his energy on.

Off the back of the sex duck conversation, I have ordered him a slightly larger plushie which arrives today… his other was a little too small for him to, er, take his full frustration out on 😂
Not looking forward to explaining to my 7yo what he’s doing if he does start up again 😂

Could they have been deer flies @SpanielsGalore , bigger than house flies, smaller than horse flies and have a greenish tinge (and are vicious bastards)

@VanGoSunflowers more than happy for everyone to call him twatdog! It's among the nicer of all the nick-names I have given him (when he was a puppy he was shitpaws shitstain- sure you can imagine how he got that name) Good luck with the sex duck!

@SpanielsGalore yes. yes. yes. yes. In a heartbeat...at least right now I would!

Gods I love him (and he is so loyal and affectionate in a way my girls aren't) but he is hard work. I don't understand how one dog can be so different from every other dog I have owned, but have basically the same genetics. Even his sister (who my DSis has), is a saint.

We ended up in the same gundog class as one of our older pup's brothers (despite pup being from a litter a few hours away). First thing they said to us "Is yours a dickhead too?" 🤣

That's a good call! Never heard of them before, but they fit. We were in deer woods, by the stream. On the black puppy, they had a green tinge, but on the ground the body looked more yellow. And they were only around a cm long. I think viscious bastards doesn't do them justice. I was only bitten once, but my leg throbbed all evening and is still red now. Not surprised poor K went into meltdown yesterday. Dread to think how many times she was bitten.

I've never seen them over here (but they do exist) but when I lived in the US they were a pain (quite literally). There were lots of horse flies too which never bothered me but the deer flies made a beeline for me. I'm told that horse flies like things that are still and deer flies like things that are moving.

I've walked in this woods for 8 years and have never seen them before. But the Google description is exactly what I saw. Looking at them vertically, I saw the 'irredescent green and red eyes' and once it was horizontal on the floor it had a 'yellow and black body'. But it was much too small to be a hornet. Goole was no help yesterday, so thank you for solving my mystery.
P was bitten by a horse fly a few years ago. Her ear instantly swelled up like a squeaker out of a dog toy.
God there are some nasty little blighters out there. I'm not convinced they all have a place in the eco system.

Talking of which - a well fed tick fell off one of the dogs this morning. Don't know where that had been hiding. The collars arrive tomorrow, so hopefully we'll have seen the last of them soon.

Trying to have a more chilled day here today, lots of fuss, a bit of training and trying to create plenty of sleep opportunities! He’s still fighting it a lot though. But far less hyper than yesterday

No, even a Pyrie doesn't need a huge house, @YorkshireFelix

I do love Bill @Bupster he's such a character. Yes, I know, easy to say when I'm not the one that has to deal with his more difficult days.

Sorry, just catching up one post at a time. @SpanielsGalore What a horrible experience....I hope you're all okay and there are no lasting effects...

Woken by hedgepig again @VanGoSunflowers but we both got back to sleep. I hope Pablo is going to love his new "friend".

@LandSharksAnonymous Shitpaws Shitstain has a good ring to it 😆You should copyright it.

@CoubousAndTourmalet - 😃He was such a grotty puppy. I can remember months on end where he'd do a number two and then prance all over the top of it.

How is Brie doing today? It's so much cooler in the South now, so hoping it's the same for you!

@LandSharksAnonymous I do sincerely hope that Twatdog actually answers to Twatdog. I'm pretty sure by now that Bill would answer to Nobhead.

He's all over the place right now - brilliant one minute, learning new things, extending his sit/stays etc., and the next minute he's barking his head off at everyone who walks near him. It's all things that in theory we can work on but in practice it's such a monumental pain in the arse. I think he's coming to the end of the latest testosterone surge, if that's what it is, as he's eating two dinners again. It's all guesswork though. With me he is mostly still the loveliest, sweetest, squidgy, affectionate little hooligan - it's just the rest of the entire world that sets him off.

@VanGoSunflowers the one thing I think I definitely did right with Bill was work on recall every single day - as soon as he was allowed out for walks I was dropping his line and walking away. I also taught a swap which has been super-useful, but I sort of wish I'd taught him to bring things to me instead.

The biggest regret was not working on engagement alongside recall - I relied on him coming back to me, which was an issue when he hit adolescence and thought 'screw that, I'm going to eat a seagull' - he's back to 90% solid but it was a scary few months and I've only just started letting his line trail again. You can catch up, as we've done, but it would have been much easier if he'd been keeping really close to me from the start. @brushingboots is an absolute guru on all things gundog training and I actually need to pester her soon about how to take the next steps on stop and turn whistles.

I also wish I'd taught things like paw and roll over - I didn't want him wasting his time with what I thought were pointless tricks, but actually they would have been a brilliant help with husbandry, e.g. nail trimming and generally checking him over.

Other than that, the usual sit, stay, wait, down, are all useful, but I also put cues on things like sniffing, digging, and watching squirrels, as well as going to look out the window or play in the garden. He understands a surprising amount of words now; I had a friend to stay who remarked on it. I think it's because there's only the two of us, and I've been making an effort to be consistent in the words I use when I talk to him. He definitely understands 'what have you got, you hooligan?' 😄

@LandSharksAnonymous
Sorry, but 😂😂😂
Not sure why I'm laughing, because I had the grottiest of all grotty cats, whose party piece was projectile vomiting down the stairwell and hitting every step. He had also a bowel resection twice... Suffice to say we went for about five years without having any visitors to the house 💩☠😷

Ah yes, thank you, she's much more comfortable and is now eating properly.

@Bupster he does! 😁But then again, he literally answers to anything. Bill's just entering the final stages of being a teenager - DMum always likens the 16-24 month stage of dog ownership to sending your teenager off to university: they think they're independent, but they still bring their dirty washing back for you.

I know what you mean about 'pointless tricks' though. So many people are scathing about 'paw' but actually it's really helpful for nail trimming or pulling out seeds etc. I know loads of people get very squeamish about 'inspections' (i.e. checking a male dogs balls if they're intact, and their privates more broadly), but honestly I think it's the most under-rated thing is teaching a dog how to handle anyone, but particularly their owner, touching their most sensitive areas is so important. It's the one thing I was relentless on with twatdog. Everyone was always so scathing about it, but it's actually the thing I found hardest given dogs natural instinct is to not want a human, or anyone/thing, touching them there! @VanGoSunflowers, one to consider with Pablo (especially if you don't get him snipped)?

@CoubousAndTourmalet you have to laugh, don't you? Or you'd cry! It was the way he'd prance through it. Massive grin on his face. Tail wagging. Woofing happily. Wouldn't change him for the world though (even if he is a Dahlia killing monster)

@Bupster - thank you for the pointers, I read with great interest! Especially that part about engagement and not being scathing about what I thought would be pointless tricks. You and @LandSharksAnonymous make some really good points about that. I am planning on having him snipped when he is older but it would still be useful!

It can feel overwhelming at times - I have absolutely no base for comparison but he is picking up training very quickly in some aspects but sometimes I still have to ‘show him the money’ before he will do something.
I think it’s not just knowing how to move on to next stages but when! We will figure it out I am sure! I still need to order him a long lead for when we go for our first walks.

He has just surprised me and taken himself in to his crate for a nap! I even moved from my desk to the sofa, he looked up to check where I was going and then fell back to sleep once he realised I was still in the room. Door is open!

Vinny’s physio said teaching ‘paw’ and ‘high five’ is actually really good for them, as it helps work the shoulder muscles in a way which they might not necessarily do day-to-day. This was after I told her dd had taught him useless tricks 😄

We taught our older one "speak" as this is supposedly the first step in teaching quiet. Suffice to say she picked up speak in an evening but we've never mastered quiet!

I always whisper to Vinny to see if he will copy me but he hasn’t yet 😂

V is being an absolute shitbag today. And he was yesterday too. I think because he’s not getting his long off lead walk. I am trying to work and he’s made it his mission to bite my toes continuously and it’s driving me absolutely insane. He’s just cruising around the house looking for stuff to steal and chew. ANNOYING!!!

We've just been for a wander around the meadow, and got absolutely drenched! The only time I ever really notice how big a PMD is, is when they're wet. Yuck! It's probably just as well I don't have a Newfie.
Nobody else about, whole field to ourselves. I wonder where all the hot sunny afternoon dog walkers are today?

@CoubousAndTourmalet probably at home under the blankets with their heating on 😁

@VanGoSunflowers sounds like he's really getting the hang of the crate!

@YorkshireFelix have you considered...the sex duck? Tire Vinny out a bit...

Bill hates it when I take a shower. Today I waited until he was walked and tired; gave him a stinky farty chew, and told him where he was going (knowing he would 100% follow me). He waited till I was in the shower, stole the loo roll, ran off to the study, barked for about three minutes continually until I stuck my head out of the cubicle to tell him again where I was, which he already knew; whereupon he came back and stole ANOTHER loo roll - these are extra large ones btw so he can barely lift them - and took it off to the study for shredding. I gave up and got out of the shower and in the time it took me to get dressed he had also nicked my glasses case and took THAT off to the study, then started barking as I hadn't noticed and he wanted me to come see 😄

@Bupster the stealing drives me insane. I have been teaching ‘leave it’ ever since he was tiny and it works for a small number of things but most items are fair game to him. If you drop anything on the floor you have to be as quick as lightning or it’s gone. Toilet rolls can no longer live on the holder and I’ve had to remove the baskets from a unit in my bedroom, and the unit in the bathroom as he just pulls them out and runs about with them. He thinks everything was put on this earth specifically for him to piss about with. I wouldn’t mind so much if he just carried things around but he chews everything to bits 😩

Can you tell my patience is wearing thin today!!

@Bupster 😂😂😂😂
I haven't been able to put a toilet roll on the holder for about 5 months. Every now and again I think she's outgrown it and risk putting it back. Only to turn round minutes later to see it trailling across the hallway.

My sprocker used to steal anything that wasn't bolted down. He'd take it outside and then sit patiently staring at the door, waiting for me to bring a treat to exchange for it.

@YorkshireFelix Sorry you have had a trying day. How much longer before V can go off lead again?

Honestly I would love to get him a sex duck but he genuinely would destroy it within 5 minutes and I’m not sure my bank balance can take it. Poor thing has zero toys now apart from an extremely large tug rope!