Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

That pictured has me melted in to a puddle

Mine is currently fast asleep next to me dreaming about god knows what - but his legs are going and he’s doing adorable little puppy yelps ❤️

@YorkshireFelix It's one of the less common colourings. Most people think she's a springer puppy rather than an adult cocker.

@VanGoSunflowers 10 minutes every few days seems a little overly cautious to me. But I haven't had breeds larger than a spaniel.
When I had my first puppies the 5 minute rule was gospel, but I did three walks a day. I dropped down to two walks once they were up to half an hour.
Now 5 + 5 seems to be the guidelines, so K started on two half hour mooches around the woods.

We've never stuck rigidly to the 5 minute rule. Partly because we're not really people who stick to the rules, but partly because in 1977, there wasn't information overload like there is now. So we really had no idea how far a puppy should be walked.

I could say our first Pyrenean was probably drastically over-exercised as a pup/adolescent. But she was small, and pretty sound, and she lived to 12 years 6 months, which is not bad for a giant breed. So I dpon't actually think it did her any harm. Our others all got less exercise as pups, because we were a bit more experienced, but we still didn't stick to the 5 minute rule. Our second girl, Rose, needed a lot more exercise than the boys did, right from the start.

To some extent you have to trust your instincts. Be cautious, of course, but really, every walk will be different, and sticking rigidly to the recommended guidelines becomes unrealistic. Weather can play a part, pup's mood, your mood, things you encounter. Don't beat yourself up if your pup needs more. Some of them do, and as long as you're sensible and don't push them, it should be fine.

I hope Vinny & Bill are both doing okay today x

@SpanielsGalore & @CoubousAndTourmalet - thank you for your perspectives! I think I’m going on about the same thing I was a few pages ago when I came to the realisation that I just need to be sensible and see how he is but then someone comes along as says a ten min walk every few days (and it was the breeder that said it!) it makes you question yourself!

I think I am definitely finding the information overload and all the different, conflicting advice the most stressful thing about having a puppy! I won’t flinch at the odd accident in the house, my stuff being chewed, my feet being attacked or any of that stuff. It’s the constant second guessing myself. I really need to just calm down and get in to a stride I think.

@VanGoSunflowers I'm sure once you've got your first walk under your belt, you'll stop stressing over it. 😊
At the minute, it's the worry of the unknown. We're all just a little further along the road than you at the minute.

Right. I've made tuna bread for recall rewards, so we're off out before it starts raining again.

@SpanielsGalore what’s your recipe for tuna bread? I’m on the hunt for novel foods for recall!

This is what I do for tuna treats

Recipe
Tuna in spring water (1 tins)
1eggs
1tbs flour
1/4 cup fine oats (Ready Brek consistency)
Olive oil for consistency

Blend it all together (should be toothpaste sort of thickness), then I use a silicon chocolate drop mat to bake at 180 for 10/12 mins

Mine is the lazy person's tuna bread.

1 tin of tuna in sunflower oil
1 egg
Garlic - optional
Mix together in a bowl.
Add enough plain flour to turn it into a bread like dough.
Squash out flat on a microwavable plate. About 1cm thick.
Microwave for 2 to 3 minutes.

Throwback photo. The quiet ones. Elderly Sylvie with young Finn.

I would love for Brie to have a companion but social anxiety is a curse.

This is my throwback photo today 😂

@CoubousAndTourmalet Sorry you had a bad day yesterday. P can get very jumpy if I stand still and talk. She gets away with it more as she's smaller than Brie, but it's still bloody annoying. The expected puppy will be 3 months away. Brie may have calmed down a little by then. And no, it's not you. You are knowledgeable and experienced enough with your breed to know what you are doing. Even if it doesn't feel like it at times. What age gap did you have between your other dogs? I hope you have a better day today.

@tizwozliz Love the smile. 😁😂

@CoubousAndTourmalet - sometimes there's too much time to think. We decided to get the second on a Saturday evening and picked her up the following day - no time to agonise over decisions.

I lost my sprocker in the January, so P was an only dog for a while. I was umming and ahhing over getting a second dog for months. Then I found out her breeder had puppies available. When out on a walk, I met a woman with two springers. I told her I couldn't decide whether to get one or not and she said I should and she'd have 5 if she could. So I went home and paid a deposit. So random woman is totally to blame for K. 😂
But she's an absolute joy and makes me smile and laugh every day. And P loves having a playmate, even if she can be annoying at times. I haven't regretted it once.

Thanks @SpanielsGalore ❤

I just had one of those days of feeling totally overwhelmed by her adolescent behaviour and my inability to cope with social situations 😧

We got Rose when Merlin was 4 years old, then added Sylvie four months later! After Merl died we got Finn - both girls were 9 at that point. I think Sylvie is 11 on this photo.

Ideally I'd like a pup before Brie is two, rather than wait, then they'll be more evenly matched for walks together. It was bonkers getting girl pups with only 3 months difference in age but it also worked out brilliantly in regard to their matched energy levels.

I do agree @tizwozliz , that's how we got our first. Decided on Tuesday evening, got pup Wednesday afternoon!

Even with the puppies from breeders, we've had two that were pretty much unplanned. That is, we heard about a litter, viewed it a couple of days later, got pup within 2 weeks.
With the others, we were on a waiting list for a long time before they were even born, but three of them were show quality pups. Oddly, one was the wrong sex; we had been on a waiting list for a bitch, but the breeder picked out a great big boy for us. Best decision ever!

@CoubousAndTourmalet My sprocker was my third dog and was by far the hardest work. His adolescence made me totally understand why people surrender young dogs to rescue. Every day brought a new problem behaviour and I spent many a day in tears. It was all very overwhelming and seemingly never ending.

When I contacted P's breeder about a puppy, I really wanted the little liver boy. (My dream dog, that I will have one day.) But he told me the calm, black bitch would be better suited to P's personality. They do get on well together, but he was wrong about the calm part. 😂

This adolescence is probably our toughest @SpanielsGalore , at least with regard to lead walking. At home she's really no trouble, but out on a walk, her size is a liability at the moment.

Next one for us has to be male. Brie has definitely disproven my husband's theory that "girls are easier" 😂
I do hope you'll get your little liver boy next time around 😊

@CoubousAndTourmalet I have him penciled in for summer 2027. Although he may have to be a she, as girls are easier. 😁

Ah, all I'll say is that depends on the breed.. 😉

I am not sure I’d have another one, unless Vinny emerges from this period of hell to be the Worlds Best Dog, and I forget about how awful it’s been.

We’ve just been to physio again and he’s had both back legs lasered. She said his right leg which he pulled seems fine but the left leg which has the mild patella is ‘crunchy.’ She said she thinks he’s putting more weight on the right to account for the problems with the left. We’ve got him booked in again for 3 weeks time and have a schedule of building up off lead walks again. She said he will probably benefit from hydrotherapy but the closest place to us is an hour away. Which isn’t ideal but I’d have to make it work. I’ll cross that bridge when it comes to it!

It sounds mad but I am actually really glad he damaged his right leg in the first place, as we’d have never known about the luxating patella in the left otherwise. I think we have caught it early enough to be manageable and not cause any huge problems in the future as long as we keep an eye on it.

Oh hell @YorkshireFelix What a nightmare! Poor Vinny.
I'm so sorry you're going through this.

Hopefully you've found it early enough for treatment to be effective. It is a real shame there are no hydrotherapy pools that are more easily accessible for you.

Thank you - I am actually fine about it and it definitely could be worse so we are lucky!! I am completely confident it is manageable and I’m so thrilled with his physio. We couldn’t have found better, she is fab and only 10 minutes away. She is trying to open her own hydrotherapy place but she said it’s likely to not be until next year as it’s so difficult to organise. So hopefully that happens and we have somewhere local to go to 😃