Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

Must admit that when Brie was tiny I had the entire tiled floor covered with washable puppy pads. Not for toilet training, but to try to stop her skidding. Of course she still sent them flying when she got the overtired zoomies 😱 Even now I will still chuck puppy pads down on a wet day, because her big hairy feet bring in so much water and mud. There's only so much you can do to keep them safe but still, it pays to be aware of the dangers.

More rugs is something we need as the floors here are no good for Vinny. I have to wait until he’s fully out of the chewing phase though because he just destroys everything…

Brie was the same @YorkshireFelix She shredded up two of the rubber backed ones, one of which had been down for less than 24 hours 😠She's getting a bit more trustworthy now.

I’m glad to hear she’s getting better with it. I am hoping he will grow out of it soon! I have realised today he has stopped excited peeing when people greet him so we are making small steps of progress 🤣

It's P's 4th birthday today. She has celebrated it by feasting on human 💩 in the woods. 🤢

Well Happy Birthday to P, despite her dodgy choice of "celebration cake"😬

Sorry to stay with the subject of 💩but since slowly switching Brie over to Milies Wolfheart she's doing massive stinky poos. Not loose, it's okay, but just more frequency, more quantity, more smell.

Perplexed because we made the change very gradually over the last month, and we're actually giving her less food because it's supposed to be better quality. The protein levels are more or less the same as her previous food.

So, not quite sure whether to stick with MW or not. She likes it but we feel that the amount of stinky poo is not great.... Googling has unearthed a few things indicating similar comments about MW.

Might just see how it goes in the next couple of weeks...

Any thoughts, anyone?

Millie's say somewhere that if the poo is too soft and there's too much of it, you're giving her too much kibble - which I quite like as it's obviously honest, they're not making money from telling you that. Maybe cut back a bit and see if it helps?

@CoubousAndTourmalet if we feed Midge too much (training treats etc in addition to kibble) his poos get soft. I try and balance it out and reduce his kibble until it’s firm. I feed him less than the quantity recommended as I prefer him on the lean side. I’m paranoid about his joints!

Fussy bum never ate half the millies wolfheart (we never finished a bag) so no problem with poos!

In fairness I rarely take my own advice - Bill is such a diva about food that if he does ask for more he gets as much as he can eat, even if that does mean his poos are the size of his own head. When he was tiny, I used to give him biscuits that were in retrospect way too big - especially when used for training - and his poo was almost always soft. Now his treatos are mostly Pooch and Mutt, cut into quarters or even fifths (don't tell him) or tiny cubes of paté like @brushingboots

BTW the Kurgo cooling coats really do work - he's still cooler on his flanks where the coat was an hour after coming home from our emergency poo dash.

Thanks for the input @Bupster @Nella68 @tizwozliz

Not sure what the issue is. The poo is not soft, there's just more of it and it's a bit stinky compared to before.

MW guideline for her weight and age is 500g a day. She's only having 350g - 400g currently and she doesn't get many treats, so I don't feel as if we're overfeeding.

I'll try cutting the MW down, possibly by feeding one meal of her previous Calibra junior, or start slowly weaning her over to the Essentials and see how she is on that for a bit.

MW looks great on paper but just not 100% sure that it'll suit her long term. It's a pity because she does like it. I'll give it a bit longer before deciding.

(Glad the cooling coat is working well, @Bupster )

So much hoover chat! Love it. I am still using the ancient Dyson my mum bought me when I was at uni in 2012 and which is still going fine despite being reconditioned even when I got it ‘new’! And my house is cleaned once a week when the cleaner comes. Maybe I am a slattern, or perhaps pupsy doesn’t shed much – hard to say which it truly is.

Pupsy had a new experience today – dog-dad was away and I had a wake to go to and couldn’t leave her at home all day so I took her and she was a superstar. Definitely cheered people up and when she wasn’t wiggling her bum at unsuspecting octogenarians she just slept in the shade under the drinks table. What a dog. I’m so proud of her.

I think I must be the only dog owner in the world not to have tried Millies. Loose poos do often mean too much food but it might be that it just doesn’t agree with her, @CoubousAndTourmalet. Can’t say I’ve ever experienced the concept of pupsy eating too much food as she isn’t a foodie. Raw has made all the difference though and she even eats her kibble with it now, most of the time.

Glad pupsy made some new friends/fans today @brushingboots Sounds as if she'd make a great PAT dog if you ever wanted to take on a new challenge.

Pyreneans are not big eaters at all for their size - as adults they eat less than a Labrador. As pups they do need a fair bit, but Brie's food intake has reduced greatly over the last 3 months. She's not a foodie, and is definitely not overeating - she will walk away and leave food in the bowl lately.

The poo is firm, but it's just the amount and frequency has increased. It doesn't particularly seem as if MW is disagreeing with her as such, so we'll see how it goes. I'm just not convinced that 4 poos a day from the previous 2 a day is a good thing...and it smells so much worse than it did on the previous food.

We've fed our cats on raw meat for years, but our dogs have never seemed keen on it. I know a lot of dog people think it's healthier and do see benefits though. It's good that pupsy gets along with it.

Cooler here today and with a bit of rain so the girls have appreciated a lie in and we're now having an amble round the woods. Just met a 14 month old giant schnauzer, don't really appreciate the size until I see my labs alongside.

We've just had a walk also but didn't go far because it's warm. Cows on our usual footpath, so we took a detour around the cricket pitch instead. Usual mix of doodles and dachshunds around, and loads of motorbikes out today too.

Two poos this morning, before walk and after walk, and all she'd had for breakfast was two small handfuls of MW. Googling has unearthed a lot of stuff from various forums about smelly poo when feeding MW so we've now decided we won't be keeping her on it long term. Shame because on paper it looks about the best.

The jury is still out on the Essentials. At the moment she's only willing to eat it if I add meat. Again great ingredients, but so far she doesn't love it.

We're going to try the Jollyes own brand Lifestage Grain Free Lamb. Which is the exact same food as Country Kibble/Croston Mill/Austonley Wolfhounds/Nourish/Nutrix/HPR gundogs/Hunters etc etc, It's made at Golden Acres in Preston. The Jollyes version is the best price.
It's the food that Algy was on for most of his life. 50% lamb with sweet potato & mint.

It's difficult, isn't it? You want to give them the best, but sometimes they have other ideas. I've got literal stacks of Forthglade wet trays Bill loved, then refused to eat - hoping I can reintroduce them soon rather than chuck them out. He'll eat them on licky mats, of course 🙄I do wonder if they're like kids, too, and are more willing to eat crappy kibble than good stuff.

Yup, it is difficult and I suspect you're right about them being like kids. I've said this on the other thread, what we think is best for them isn't always what suits them. I'm really disappointed because I thought the MW was going to be the perfect food for her. Some dogs seem to do so well on it.
She refuses the Forthglade chicken trays btw, but will eat the lamb ones.

She absolutely loves the Lifestage trays from Jollyes, however, which is partly why I'm thinking about their kibble again.

I'll find a solution but the multiple poops thing is frustrating.

Sorry it doesn’t seem to be working for you @CoubousAndTourmalet I think it’s so difficult to find the perfect food! So much trial and error and it must cost a fortune buying different stuff all the time. V does so well on Millie’s and Harringtons wet food trays mixed in. We always get comments about what good condition he’s in. But they are all so different aren’t they. I hope you manage to find the perfect combo soon!!

Thanks @YorkshireFelix
I'm glad Vinny is doing well on MW, it is great food and I'd still recommend it. Fortunately I only bought a 5kg bag of Countryside mix and a smaller bag of the lamb/veg, so we'll be able to use it up bit by bit.

Pyries are weirdly sensitive to foods and medications, we've had issues with all of them at times getting skin issues, hot spots etc. I always end up going round in circles for a bit before we find the right balance. They're all so different in their preferences; R loved fish, hated turkey, but B hates fish and loves duck... 🙄Hopefully we'll figure it out.

How is Vinny today?

@Bupster
So sorry - I didn't ask how Bill's paw is....

Not at all relevant (although sort of is), there's a poster in 'Pets' @CoubousAndTourmalet who might value your experience and advice re. resourcing guarding around food (they keep trying to recall their dog away from their food bowl). I think we have similar views/experiences on this, I've given my advice but yours would probably be very helpful 😁

But 100% agree on difficulties re. food! I have four on different diets, and it's a nightmare. I ran out of BB a few weeks ago and had to give twatdog Lily's Kitchen and he looked at me like I was deliberately trying to starve him.

I'll have a look @LandSharksAnonymous but I'm wary after those two houndy people gave me a right good kicking and called me irresponsible. That hurt a lot.
I was cuddling Brie while she ate lunch today, holding the bowl up for her, and kissing her fluffy head and kept thinking how wonderful the trust is.

We've been through the different diets and medications thing when we had 6 cats so I can empathise on what a pain it is.

Hope puppies are all doing well. I'm guessing that it becomes a lot more work from this point onwards as they start getting active...