Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

Ah, that sounds ideal @YorkshireFelix . I hope she gets that off the ground. It's great that you have her on hand anyway.

@YorkshireFelix P was diagnosed with luxating patellas in both legs when she was 2. Her left leg is mild enough to manage, but her right leg needed surgery. It was visibly popping out of place on walks. It took about a year for her to fully recover, as she needed a second operation and then developed tendinitis. She has mild arthritis now, so will need pain relief for life. But you wouldn't know anything was wrong to see her running through the woods.

Oh poor girl having to go through surgery twice! I am so thankful we caught it early on. The physio has a sprocker with it much worse than V and she manages it and hasn’t needed surgery yet. We are keeping up monthly physio visits for ‘maintenance’ which will hopefully help.

I am glad I can walk him off lead again now! We have to do it on grass and flat areas and alternate every other day for now but he will be so happy.

@YorkshireFelix Glad you can walk V off lead again. I'm sure he won't mind it being on flat ground.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I hope you have had a better day today. 😊

Thank you @SpanielsGalore
We've just got back from a very quiet, peaceful evening walk. It did feel good 😊
I hope you've had a lovely day too.

We went for a walk in the woods. It started off hot and humid and ended in pouring rain. The joys of Scottish weather. 😂

Rain sounds amazing right now @SpanielsGalore

21 degrees here and horribly humid when I left for our walk at 6.30. I don't normally mind 21 but it's so sticky.

And I remember I hate walking this early in the woods as nobody has broken the cobwebs for me.

Too humid here also. And there's a warm wind so I can't leave the back door open; even if I try to secure it, the gusts keep catching. That's the downside of living up a hill, we get crazy winds all year round.

Good morning all! Loving all the throwback pictures! I was looking at pics of pupper from when I brought him home, just over three weeks ago and can’t get over how much he has grown since then!

@YorkshireFelix I really hope you and Vinny are ok, it sounds like you have an excellent physio, it’s so good you are happy with her!

@CoubousAndTourmalet I’m glad you had a better day yesterday and here’s to many more for you and Brie!

@SpanielsGalore and fingers crossed for some rain free walks for you! Is it worth it for the gorgeous scenery? There are some nice spots around here but it is very suburban! I’m so glad Pablo travels well in the car! Looking forward to getting him to the Peak District and similar when he is older!

@tizwozliz do you know, I love being outside so much but walking in to spiders webs sends a shiver down my spine!!

We are sat in the garden, it’s actually fairly cool here at the moment!

@tizwozliz It's ridiculous at the minute. I left home wearing a coat. Drove ten minutes down the road to the woods. Opened the car door and the humidity just hit me. So the rain was quite welcome yesterday.

17 degrees but very windy here today.
Oh god! I hate getting cobwebs in the face.

K made me laugh yesterday. She likes to jump the garden wall and go to visit the neighbours. They are in their 70s and love having her. On one of her visits she returned with a slipper. I usually just take things off her, but this time I exchanged it for a treat. She's obviously a quick learner as she went straight back over the wall and brought the second one to me. 😂
Turned out my neighbours had gone out and forgotten to shut the back door, so she had free rein of their house. 🙈

@SpanielsGalore that's absolutely wonderful! Bill adores our next door neighbours and barks to be let out of the front door to say hello to them. If they happen to have their door open, he's taken to running into their house too, which is very funny (and luckily they don't mind at all).

That is so funny 😂😂😂

@Bupster That's lovely. It makes life a lot easier when your neighbours like your dogs.
K scratched at the door to be let out yesterday and ran straight next door. I swear she is part cat and would happily rehome herself. She joined them for tea and scones the other day. 😂
I told them I am looking into getting the wall built higher so she can't jump it and they were devastated.

@YorkshireFelix Fortunately the neighbour thought so too.

My exciting news is that I have a new vacuum cleaner arriving this weekend. My war on pet hair is cranking up a notch!!

What have you gone for @YorkshireFelix ?

It’s a shark one which you can lift away from the main unit so I don’t have to lug a massive vacuum up and down the stairs any more! We have a Miele which has served me well but I got it 13 years ago so it’s past its best really. And it costs me a fortune in bags because they fill up so quickly.

I was so naive about how much V would shed! My MIL’s cockers she’s had over the years have never shed this much.

I’ve also discovered you can buy giant lint rollers on a handle like a paint roller, so I’m going to get some of those to do the beds and sofa every morning.

Sounds good. I hope it's up to the dog hair. I have a Miele and it's so heavy, the upstairs doesn't get done very often. I brushed the stairs by hand last time. I'm off to Google giant lint rollers to see if they would work.
Mine have all shed loads. Top tip - never get a white one! Especially if you like wearing black.

This is the best lint roller type thing we have

www.therange.co.uk/pets/pet-home-cleaning/pet-hair-lint-roller#15131

@SpanielsGalore yes ours is so heavy too! Now V sleeps upstairs with us I have to do our bedroom constantly. We have wooden floors throughout the whole house and I bought this Minky branded squeegee on a long handle and it’s soooo good for sweeping all the fur up!

@tizwozliz ooh that looks great. I will try and get one of those.

We have a Miele too (our second) and the bags do fill up in 5 minutes. We tried a Vax alternative but it kept clogging up. Let us know how you get along with the Shark one @YorkshireFelix

I should also look at lint rollers. At the moment we use the (very technical) rubber boot sole technique for scraping fluff off the carpets. We're carpeted throughout (aside from the tiled extension) because wood or laminate floor isn't great for giant breed dogs.

Yes agree re white fluff black clothing @SpanielsGalore . I suppose I'm just resigned to it now.

The squeegee on a long handle is great for bringing up the hair on the rugs! I do like to use rubber sole shoe too. It always amazes me how much the vacuum doesn’t pick up. I think white fur would push me over the edge 😂

My Miele is bagless, so at least i don't have that added expense.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I am carpeted throughout too. The kitchen is vinyl flooring, but is covered with cheap rugs off Amazon until I get it replaced. I have two dogs with arthritis and dodgy joints, so slippy floors are a huge no-no.

I think I'd prefer to go bagless with our next vacuum.

@SpanielsGalore Slippery floors has always been a big worry for me. That and stairs. Our house is raised off the street with steps front and back, so we were carrying Brie up and down them until she was the size of a small Labrador.
I'm probably over cautious, but, as you've rightly said, if a dog this size sustains an injury it is a total nightmare to deal with.

We have washable rubber backed mats on our tiled extension floor.

I've got wooden floors in my biggest room downstairs, which is where Bill was as a puppy, and in the bathroom. Both now covered in big cheap rugs from Argos/Dunelm and I fling bathmats down too as he barrels around the place.