Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - for teenage dirtbags

[Bupster]

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

@CoubousAndTourmalet fingers crossed for you! I just had a look on the KC website, I noticed the only litter had parents where neither had elbow tests. I assume elbow scores are something you'd definitely want and probably have a specific breeder in mind?

I find it so interesting how many people are allergic to either cats or dogs but rarely both....

It's a reasonably healthy breed. Hips is the obvious one, yes, elbows is not a huge problem in PMD but it's good if they've been checked. A few lines in the past had eye problems so some breeders check for that. The other thing is epilepsy; we lost a boy with that at 4. Obviously that's not picked up on genetic testing, but more word of mouth as to which lines it has appeared in.

Overall, the breed is in a much better place than it was in the 70's and 80's. In part that's down to a reduction in registrations, from a peak of over 1000 annually, to below 150 (and post covid it was below 50), The established breeders have worked hard to improve hip scores and there are now far fewer of the exaggerated heavy boned dogs of the past.

As regards breeders, we would have liked to go back to someone we've had a past pup from, but it's not that easy. One is outside the UK, so Brexit has complicated that, and the others only breed occasionally. We found Brie via the breeder of one of our boys. If this potential mating doesn't produce a pup for us, we will again go on recommendations from our contacts, even if it means a long wait for the right litter.

Aaagh. Help! We're approaching the last page. I'm not playing post chicken or being threadkiller again.

So who's up for a game of "my dog can run faster than your dog on a hot day" or "my dog can cope with higher temperatures than your dog" ? Oh sorry, just realised it's already been done... 😏

In other news, my therapist has given me this mantra to ponder on for the week. 'I'd rather be a weirdo than a sheep'. Trouble is I now have a Simon & Garfunkel tune in my head complete with pan pipes 😬I shall embrace the weirdness.

We might actually venture out after tea, as long as there's nobody around to laugh at my panting genetic mutant cold weather loving dog...D'you think if I gave her a buzz cut she might pass for being an overweight Border Collie...?🤔

@CoubousAndTourmalet that's really interesting! I had assumed much larger breeds would 100% need elbow scores for people to be confident - I know Bernese should have them (for example). But then Bernese are very over-bred!

She may not pass for a border collie but she may pass for a Goldie...or even a white German Shepherd?

@Bupster the battle-cry has been made. We are waiting for you to set up a new thread 😁

I'm not meaning elbow scores aren't needed, but rather that they're very frequently 0 in PMD, whereas Bernese are very prone to elbow dysplasia. Unfortunately, Bernese do seem to have a lot more health issues than PMD, and a considerably shorter average lifespan. As with any breed, it's researching the bloodlines and weighing up the risks.

But we do have both hip and elbow scores for the parents of the awaited litter...

I'm poised. I'm using the last of my brain cells to come up with terrible puns.

Went for a cool walk in the woods with the cockers. I saw a little fledgling bird fluttering about at the side of the path. Just as I was thinking "It's a good thing the dogs are off in the woods", K came hurtling out of the undergrowth, scooped up said bird and I swear she swallowed it whole.

She'd never pass for a Goldie or a white GSD because she has badger markings right down her back & tail. This is the colour on her back. They don't all have this, some are pure white or just have pale lemon on the ears like Sylvie did. Brie had quite dark pigment from young. One of our boys was very dark with several body patches, but Brie's body patches are partly hidden by the white top coat.

I just saw something come up on Facebook with Pyrenean mountain dogs. It looks like the key with them, instead of teaching gundog type recall you just need to walk round with a small flock of sheep to ensure she stays near you 😂

Arg! Has it stayed swallowed, as it were?

Fortunately yes. Although she was coughing a few minutes ago and I had visions of it coming back out whole.
She'll never make a proper gundog. No way is she giving up a bird. (I realise that's my lack of training, rather than her.)

Bill would not only refuse to give it up, he'd probably carry it round by the feet all day

Whereas Brie would just sit there and watch over it for several days, like she did with our two blackbird fledglings.

Ahh a classic, @SpanielsGalore! Tasty fledgling, mm.

Pupsy is superb at giving up birds of all kinds and brings them to me which is lovely, and I am proud of our efforts in that area, but she has certainly been known to gulp down a flattened mouse when approached to hand it in. She's raw fed so I figure it's fine.

Oh it's best we don't mention the blackbirds. 😳

@brushingboots Both of mine eat whatever animals they can catch or find rotting. I had to wait half an hour for P to eat a rabbit once. But I think trying to wrestle a dead seal from out of my sprocker's mouth tops them all.

Our first gundog class was horrendous. Vinny was such a shit, it was embarrassing. He was more interested in pulling 24/7 to sniff and eat the grass and wouldn’t even respond to his own name. It was like a dog who had never had any training in his life. There were 3 labs and a Goldie who were all very well behaved, and they were all a similar age to him too!

I actually had to stop myself from crying when I got back in the car. I am very stressed anyway at the minute so it was just a bit much.

I have to miss the next one as it’s DD’s primary school leavers concert on the same evening, so I’m going to book a 1-1 with the trainer to cover what we will miss.

Oh mate, I'm so sorry. You may remember that Bill was such an arse at adolescent classes that our trainer gently suggested we might just give it up one day, as he'd spent the whole time 30m away from the rest of the class with his head down a hole, or barking at the other dogs - or a poo bag in the next field he thought was a cat. It's horrible, and you blame yourself. After a bit, though, you can see he was having a bit of a hard time because it's all! so! exciting! Mind you it can take a few days to get that distance...

As you can see, Bill's retrieving training is going swimmingly. He carried this around for nearly an hour this evening. I couldn't bring myself to take it from him. I do want to murder him sometimes - he was such a horror this morning, and I was so tired I crawled into bed later and napped with him - but then I laugh, solidly, for nearly an hour, and it's all (sort of) worthwhile.

Sorry the training class didn't go well @YorkshireFelix 😞

I did actually think about Bill on the way home and decided Vinny is the Bill of his class 😄

I know you understand - it’s so frustrating when you KNOW they can behave and do what is asked of them but they just piss about and show you up. I am desperate to do a good job with him and I just feel embarrassed.

@BupsterHA your photo just appeared. How did he manage to seek out the largest plastic bottle imaginable. V would lose his shit if he knew those existed!!

@CoubousAndTourmalet thank you, hopefully next time will be better and someone else will have their turn of their dogs being shits instead.

It's down to 16 here, so we managed a walk on the meadow at 8pm. Brie was completely loony after 2 days spent at home. She was OTT, hyper sniffy, jumping up, lead biting, zoomies. God, it was just knackering 😩

Oh noooo, I can imagine how exciting it must have been for her!! You must be shattered now.

It's so much easier when we're doing the normal two walks a day, she's very calm then. She was just so eager to go tonight, really energised, which is lovely in a way, but yes, exhausting when it's all on the lead. That's when I wish we could trust her to run free. If only I had those sheep suggested by @tizwozliz 😉

@YorkshireFelix Sending commiserations via a second platform for additional moral support <3 don't be embarrassed! At all! It was probably just too much for him. You're doing a fab job. A 1-1 is probably for the best anyway. I don't think pupsy would have coped in a group setting either and I don't think she'd enjoy it now and she's two and you know how much effort we put in. Sometimes the environment just isn't for them and frankly we're asking too much xxx

@YorkshireFelix You haven't got a spaniel unless you have spent at least one training session in tears. I think we've all been in the position of having the worst one in the class at some stage. I hope you enjoy your 1-1 session next week. I much prefer them to group sessions if they're affordable for you.