Adolescent Dog Survival Thread - welcome to the teenage wasteland

[Bupster]

Buckled (under instruction 😄)

That sounds perfect!

The rain is here. V is enjoying the ambiance at the back door 😄

Vinny is so handsome @YorkshireFelix ❤

We're under a yellow warning for thundery showers all day but nothing has materialised yet.

@YorkshireFelix Handsome boy. 🥰 His coat looks lovely and shiny.

@CoubousAndTourmalet oh no! Sorry to hear about your asthma - my DH has it and it can be absolutely awful, so hugs for you. I don't envy you trying to find the perfect fit for Brie. I'm no help in advising as I just use a normal lead and collar but I must say I don't think harnesses provide that much control, which obviously you want with a big dog!

Hen was a star, but she always has been. She's just getting a bit old so pressure on her spine isn't ideal - and nothing from the parents (not sure they even noticed tbh). She's curled up on the sofa with my DDs whilst I sit on the floor and the puppies sleep. They were up most of last night being rambunctious so I got no sleep - and naturally, they're now sleeping during the day. Nocturnal little gits.

Twatdog is being his usual self. Pointless 😄I caught him earlier staring at a shadow of a spider on the wall - I think he thought it was the real thing because he lunged at it and bounced into the wall.

@YorkshireFelix V is in such lovely condition. Just like everyone's dogs on this thread tbh! So nice to see dogs so healthy and happy 😍V's got quite Bill like eyes actually...soulful and inquisitive.

That's always been our issue with harnesses @LandSharksAnonymous , the lack of control is ridiculous. It's why PMD breeders always recommend against. I'm just thinking of a very minimal harness now, basically there to offer a back up in the event of collar slippage. It may be that we'll just stick with the half check but my paranoia is a bit of an issue at the moment. I feel ridiculously protective of her.

Aww, Twatdog and the spider is very funny It reminded me of our big Merlin, who was absolutely petrified of spiders. We used to play on it and say "look Merl, there's a spider..." knowing that as soon as we drew attention to its presence, he would flee the room. He was a bit of a Scooby Doo type.

The amount of wool coming off Brie is quite alarming 😱Much of it is coloured and there is currently no way to predict whether the full adult coat will be just white or if the colour patches will grow back in. At the moment she resembles a Belted Galloway 😆

There used to be a great shop locally to us that stocked loads of harnesses, sadly it closed about 18 months ago. It was great because measurements alone just don't work sometimes. I remember measuring one of ours for something and her neck size put her in a small but her girth put her in a large.

I prefer our Dog Copenhagen harnesses over the perfect fit but I don't think they'd go big enough. One thing I'll say, is perfect fit are really good at swapping bits out of you don't get the right combination first time.

Gundog folk, I have a question and hoping someone might know the answer! Our trainer is on holiday now for a week so I can’t ask, and want to nip it in the bud sooner rather than later.

We’ve been working on stop whistle which he is getting good at, but if we do it from a short distance he will come over to me first and then sit rather than stop and sit where he is. How do I teach him to NOT come over to me first?!

Also can confirm it is still sweaty outside despite the rain 😄

Re: Stop Whistle - what worked for us, and we'd tried a few other things at this stage.

Blow the whistle, get the stop (if they come towards you the first time that's ok). Throw a treat over their head, get them to find it, blow the stop again, throw another treat behind them etc. The idea being they learn that they don't need to come to you to be rewarded for the stop.

@YorkshireFelix similarly to @tizwozliz I have used the ball stop whistle method and there are loads of videos on it. Same idea but you chuck the ball as a reward.

This is a particularly good video on this – if it's not this actual one it's from this series. She's really good and not an annoying man stomping around as a bonus!

That was what Perfect Fit told me @tizwozliz
Sadly there isn't really anywhere nearby and I don't fancy taking Brie into any of the larger towns. I don't think she'd find it easy.

The Dog Copenhagen stuff looks good quality. Comfort Walk in XL would actually fit her big fat neck but it doesn't look as if the body length is sufficient to give her enough shoulder/foreleg room. She needs a longer top piece, if that makes sense.

Thank you @tizwozliz@brushingboots that makes perfect sense! I couldn’t get my head around how to do it. Will give it a go.

@CoubousAndTourmalet - I don't think it's paranoid to be protective of her! You had a big of a shock the other day, and she's your baby❤

I like to think I don't buy into that whole "furbaby" thing; I never use baby talk etc. I respect their independent minds. But after the other day, I feel as if I want to wrap her in cotton wool just to keep her safe 😥

Sorry, forgot to comment re asthma: sorry your DH is a sufferer too. It is an awful thing. Mine is fairly well controlled by daily inhalers, I more or less have 9 months with no symptoms but humid days in Jun/July/Aug can be a struggle. We'll be happy once September comes.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I think there's a difference between furbabies and just 'babies' when it comes to dogs - simply because even when they're adults, they never really grow up. Hen today was a good example of that, 13 years old but got a fright and came straight to me for reassurance. A 13 year old child would never do that because they mostly like to think they're independent. It's hard not to view dogs a bit like babies when they always act like it 😊

You could always wrap Brie up in the fur she sheds rather than cottonwool? 😄You must have enough fur by now for two, or three, Bries.

& agree on the asthma thing! Even worse if it's asthma and hayfever. That's a killer.

I seriously need to find someone who spins @LandSharksAnonymous , just to take all these bags of raw dog wool off my hands. I may contact the Guild of Weavers, Spinners & Dyers, I'm sure someone could make use of it.
I do have two balls of wool from Rosie that someone kindly spun for me about 20 years ago. It's fuzzy like angora. The spinner said they normally mix a quantity of sheep wool in to spin dog fur (I think she'd done collie, husky & Newf before), but she was able to spin PMD undercoat by itself. She took a couple of bags of wool rather than let me pay for her hours of spinning 😊

Agree re pollen & asthma, it can be a factor for me too. I have a cousin who is similarly affected by both.

This is dog wool spun from our Rosie's undercoat.

If anyone knows a spinner please let me know, I can send free fluff!

@LandSharksAnonymous My 27 year old still needs me to 'adult' for him on occasion. 😂

My dogs are absolutely my babies. They totally rely on me to look after them, protect them and advocate for their needs. But the term 'furbaby' makes me want to 🤢.

@YorkshireFelix I did the treat method like @tizwozliz . The trainer I use tried the ball method, but P jumped up and twisted round to try to catch it as it flew overhead. P has dodgy knees, so I put a stop to that one instantly. I know V has leg problems too, so may be something to be wary of.

My two now have Dog Copenhagen harnesses. The fleece on the Perfect Fit frayed more quickly than I would have expected for the price.
Is it the throat/chest length you are struggling with as opposed to being far enough along her back to not be rubbing her armpits, @CoubousAndTourmalet ?

It's everything @SpanielsGalore 😆

She's just a weird, awkward bodyshape (kinda like me, but that's another story 🙄)
I think people imagine a PMD is a slightly scaled up Goldie but they're longer in proportion to the height.
It's difficult to answer the chest depth question because we haven't tried a chest plate type harness, but you could well be right about it being throat/chest, because she has a very long neck. I'm not totally convinced that she would even tolerate a strap between her legs, so it is a dilemma.

I'm starting to slightly drive myself mad, with about seventeen tabs open on my computer showing different harnesses... 😬

Going off what you say here I think I'll rule out the Perfect Fit anyway.

Ahh I love this! What a nice thing to own from your girl 🥰

@SpanielsGalore yes that’s a very good point re the jumping and twisting so I think I’ll do it with treats too. He is SO insanely food motivated so I think it will work a treat.

I'm a spinner and a member of our local guilds. Most people aren't keen on spinning dog hair, it's quite different to wool and is fiddly (and can be smelly). If you wanted to make it into clothing you'd probably be best off blending it with a softish wool like Shetland and Corriedale to give it a bit of body and elasticity.

Oh okay @Hemskis Thanks. I won't bother asking then.

@CoubousAndTourmalet I'm sorry, I didn't mean to turn you off, just wanted to give a spinners perspective. There are of course some who do like it. Your idea of contacting the local guild is a good idea. They may well try to persuade you to lean to spin yourself though :)