Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - welcome to the teenage wasteland

[Bupster]

Buckled (under instruction 😄)

@CoubousAndTourmalet mine are the same! I've been raking them twice a week for about a month now, and there's still so much fur coming off them I'm convinced they're going to turn into naked molerats eventually.

I spend 90% of my time saying to mine 'you're getting fat, you need a diet' and then grooming them and going 'oh you're so thin, do you want a biscuit.' 😂

It's weird, isn't it @LandSharksAnonymous how they look like a different dog when all the undercoat comes out. They're all ruff, pantaloons and tail, with nothing in between. Almost leonine.

@SpanielsGalore I only have black dogs so don't have another reference but mine are fairly heat tolerant. It has to be hitting 25 inside before they'd consider laying on the tile floor rather than their bed for example. And that's usually only after they've baked themselves in the sun. Mine don't have much of a coat for labs though, the older one especially and she definitely seems the more heat tolerant of the two. I'm sure the fact that they're relatively lean helps too.

It was 28 degrees pictured here, but shaded and wet from the stream, not even slightly panting.

He hardly shed at all until this year. I remember posting on a Cockerdor FB page - it must have seemed like such a humblebrag, but I was genuinely curious as to whether it was a breed thing. Then I had to go back the next day and say 'whoops, never mind, my sofa is ginger'.

He shed for about six weeks and is now even softer. In the winter he had a stripe of coarse Labrador fur down his back, but it's almost gone now. Pretty much everyone who touches him mentions how soft his coat is, I think it's lovely that you can guess just by looking! As you all know, he regularly drives me round the bend, but I can't tell you how good it feels to have his soft chin resting across my neck in the mornings. Apart from it generally being five in the bastard morning.

Floppy chops looking particularly squidgy.

I've said this before but I am always so pleased when I feel pupsy's fur on my bare legs, as we got her in July and she was too feral that first summer for me to go bare-legged anywhere. I didn't get to 'feel her' until last summer and I love it.

He is a most delicious chap @Bupster . I think it's why some of your stories have me in stitches, because on your photos he always looks like the goodest boy 😇

Needless to say, the opposite is true for me @brushingboots I've always liked the feel of my dogs more in winter when they're fully coated. In summer they're just too blooming hot to be near.

@CoubousAndTourmalet This is what I think! Even when Bill is giving the evil eye...he just looks so good - like the sweetest baby ever - so I can't believe he can be so naughty 😃

But I do agree re. the grooming. I always find it so weird how different they look with no undercoat - almost completely different dogs. I need to do Pen at some point but I don't want to do it whilst the puppies are still young as they'll get in the way, but I know the heat is bothering her a bit...maybe next week.

@Bupster tbh I think it's just a mark of how well cared for and loved he is. He's in lovely condition (as so many of the dogs on this thread are tbh) and it just shows how much he's cared for (even if he is a wanky tosser some times). 😆

Oh and it was about 9pm in that photo, and I know they say no dog died from missing a walk but I wonder if that counts those throttled by their owners for generally being so annoying when under exercised!

😂😂😂

Just back from a quick half hour down the sea front. I should have left the oldie at home, as it was too much for her. But she gets so excited to go for walks now, I didn't have the heart to leave her behind. Tomorrow we will be stronger. Cruel to be kind and all that.

A sacrifice to the wasps this morning.

Threw the ball into the long grass and thought the dogs couldn't find it but they kept going back to this one spot, so went over and spotted it in a hole and thought they just couldn't pick it up. I snapped the photo (this is a zoomed in crop) as I'd told the OH we'd lost a ball and thought I was just taking a photo of a ball in a hole. Then I reached for it! Quickly abandoned ideas of ball rescue and decided the wasps could keep it. Got stung about 5 times, older pup stung at least once, I thing younger one got away without any

@tizwozliz ouch!!! Are you and the pups okay?!

I have those balls for mine - they’re excellent. Such a good bounce on them.

@tizwozliz oh my goodness! I hope you and the pup are ok. I would have sacrificed a ball in that situation too.
That reminds me that I must refresh myself on dog first aid for stings etc. M chases bees/ wasps/ flies around the garden.

Nasty! Hope you are all OK.
I've stocked up on Piriton since our encounter with the deer flies.

Hand is a bit swollen, I've been and bought some piriton. Pup who got stung seems fine, I'm not sure exactly where she was stung but can't see any swelling.

We only ever buy the chuckit balls (pup finds plenty of others). These are the larger size ones that are a bit bigger than tennis balls which I think are a safer size for larger dogs (also little dogs can't steal them 😂)

Not nice @tizwozliz , hope you & your girl are okay.

The ball looks interesting - balls are the only toys that Brie doesn't wreck so I might consider getting one like this for garden play.

@CoubousAndTourmalet - they do even larger ones. We get the large ones, medium are tennis ball sort of size. (Ignore the slightly odd golden retriever v lab sizing on the graphic!)

@CoubousAndTourmalet would recommend the XXL ones for you! I get the XL for my dogs and it seems to work relatively well.

Brilliant! Thanks @tizwozliz @LandSharksAnonymous
I'll order one today.
Yes, I see what you mean about the graphic - loving the Cane Corso/Great Dane comparison there 😂

I'm a meany and balls are banned in our house.
My rescue sprocker was absolutely obsessed with them and would get manic if allowed one. Now I have two dogs with dodgy legs and arthritis, so ball play isn't good for them.
I like the 'size up' advice. I did a homecheck last week or a couple hoping to adopt. They'd recently lost their dog. It choked to death when a ball got lodged in its throat.

Oh how awful @SpanielsGalore . I've heard many similar horror stories about sticks but not balls. That's very sad.

We've never been ball orientated, but Brie has destroyed every other toy. All we do is roll them down the garden and she goes gallumphing down after them. Doesn't retrieve though, just stands beside the ball and waits, so it's largely me doing the running around 😆Still, it keeps her entertained.

@SpanielsGalore oh that's horrible, what an awful way to lose a dog! But I must say it is one of the reasons why I don't let my Goldies have tennis balls - they're just that bit too small. I just thought I was being a bit neurotic, but now I feel a bit better about it.

We don't do tennis balls either, but I think I shall now retire the smaller rubber ball and just keep the two large ones.

This was either a Kong or Chuckit ball that had holes on two sides, designed to allow air to flow through and prevent choking. Unfortunately, the dog caught it with the hole going across ways. By the time the owner managed to rotate the ball to allow air flow, the dog had died. So tragic and absolutely traumatising for them.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I think rolling balls is alright. It's the dogs who jump and catch balls in the air that it's more of a danger for. Although I may be wrong.

Gosh that is awful. I am always super paranoid about balls too - I even watched some videos about how to dislodge one if it gets stuck recently! Vinny isn’t hugely interested in balls anyway but I only ever buy the larger ones. Annoyingly he is way more interested in retrieving a ball than a dummy though 🙄

Hope you are all ok @tizwozliz!! I bloody hate wasps. I was thinking on my walk earlier I should get some Piriton for my bag just in case.

We had a nice walk down the canal and river this morning. It’s overcast and much cooler today which is lovely. There was a couple walking behind us for a big chunk of the walk and they fussed Vinny when we got back to the car and told me I had trained him well!! Which is nice because I feel the opposite. We have our 1-1 training session on Wednesday but I’ve not done loads of practice since the group session, just small bits here and there, but I am looking forward to it.

We walked past the stone wall where he loves to jump into the farmers field today, and he had a look and I told him no and he carried on walking!! So that is a result in my book.