Summer 25 pups

[Lavenderdog]

Any other new puppy owners around this summer? Have been looking back at some of the old puppy support threads and can see how helpful it was for those posters to share their experiences.

9 week old mini schnauzer here - so toilet training and avoiding those needle sharp teeth are the current main activities here!

(And being tolerant of her determination to rid my garden of lavender plants. Hence my user name 😂)

I agree with the first part of this, but not necessarily the second.
You need to find a trainer in line with your own ethos. And who is prepared to work with you and your dog.

The man I trained with used firmer/harsher methods with his own dogs, but knew I wouldn't allow my dog to be treated harshly. So adapted his methods to suit me and P.
My friend went to an allegedly force free female gundog trainer. First thing she did was shove the dog to the floor and bellow at her, because she'd jumped up in an excited greeting. The dog spent the rest of the lesson trembling.
So in summary, there are arseholes of both genders. 😂 Unfortunately the majority of gundog training is still very old school and is being very slow in coming into the light of kinder training methods.

@SpanielsGalore you are right, I am just being facetious because Spaniel Men piss me off so much 😂

Remove the word spaniel from that sentence and I am right there with you. 😂

I think I need to have a few more phone calls with other trainers and actually be a little clearer in what I want to get out of it up front to see how they react. It could have been down to me letting him conduct the conversation, and perhaps my constant ‘I am a total novice’ thoughts come through in my tone of voice!

However, @SpanielsGalore, I tend to agree - men piss me off too 😂

@VanGoSunflowers Today's man was a cyclist who appeared out of the blue and spooked P, so she did her big scary 'keep away from me' bark. (It really isn't scary. It's a high pitched, panic bark.) And as she skittered about and I called her to me, he kept cycling head on straight towards her, shaking his head at me in a disapproving manner.

I know she's my dog and I have to keep her under control. But she was obviously scared and barking from a distance. She wasn't approaching his bike to bite his ankles or his tyres. And we were in a big open field, so he could have easily gone round her and not ridden straight at her.

Or is that not how it works and cyclists have the right of way over dogs? 🤷‍♀️

I think you said you were West Midlands based @VanGoSunflowers

Is this too far for you?

https://clickergundog.co.uk/

Cyclists think they have a right of way over everybody @SpanielsGalore . Around here they go out in packs and ride the reservoir footpaths, which is not legal. They're almost all what I call mid-life crisis men, on fairly flash and expensive mountain bikes. In my younger years, I used to be Bolshie quite brave and stand up to them by walking my Pyrie's right in the middle of the path, thus forcing them to slow down. On occasion I would shout words to the effect that it was a footpath, and they'd give me the finger or tell me to shut up. But now I'm an old hag I'm too pathetically wimpy, even with guard dog in tow.

@SpanielsGalore what a complete tool. Who cycles towards a dog that they have spooked and shakes their head disapprovingly.

My usual experience is a variation on the following (I am paraphrasing for comedic effect)
“Hi there little lady, I see you have a puppy. You clearly need my help and assistance so I will impart all of my dog knowledge upon you and you will no doubt be grateful for my input” and then proceed to lecture me on all things dog. This is usually on the back of me simply hanging back and asking Pabs to sit and wait until they have passed in an attempt to stop him from putting muddy paws all over their trousers.

Thing is, I don’t mind advice. It’s just how it is delivered. I was chatting to one guy who said he was a dog trainer when we were in a pub beer garden a few weeks back. I had no reason to disbelieve him, he certainly had a lovely well trained lab by his side, but he gave me some advice with a healthy dose of humility and he was also very encouraging. He was also from Dudley and I very much enjoyed his accent.

@tizwozliz its about an hour away from me which is the same distance as the other lot I spoke with so I will check them out, thank you!

Thank you @CoubousAndTourmalet and @VanGoSunflowers I am glad it's not just me who thinks he was a knobhead.
P is usually fine with cyclists. She only gets scared and barks if they suddenly appear. Last time she reacted was when she came out of the woods onto the path and bumped straight into one. He stopped so she could suss him out, gave her a fuss and warned me there were others following him. Like a normal person interaction.

Just marking my place so I can continuously stalk this thread, this is Rolo 🙂

@SpanielsGalore whilst I recognise your love for spaniels…have you considered Goldies? 😃I find once you get above three of them, cyclists tend to either dismount, avoid you like the plague or splatter.

🥰

😂😂
I adore goldies. 💖 I grew up with one who was only 2 days younger than me. I would have one in a heartbeat if they stayed the size of 4.5 month old twatdog.
I think spaniels are goldies in a smaller package. 🥰

Try 3 adult PMD together @LandSharksAnonymous 😁 It's a true test of people's confidence around dogs.

We did find it was either full-on crossing the road avoidance, or stopping to give them cuddles. With the giants it's either love or hate, seemingly never ambivalence. MN dog threads are proof of this 😔

@Megsro what a cutie ❤️

@CoubousAndTourmalet I think confidence around large dogs is a something most people should try and aim for? Or at least, not be nervous around them. Maybe I’m not cautious enough - but we were on a walk yesterday and came across two GSDs, a Doberman and what looked like a very tall boxer type dog - have no idea what he was but he was all black and massive. Every single one of them were total sweethearts, ignored Pabs barking at them to play and <gasp> some were even off lead. I admired them and gave one of them a fuss (owner said he was friendly and she was right!)

@SpanielsGalore i think we’ve said that before - that’s spaniels are smaller (and probably more intelligent) Goldies 😃

@VanGoSunflowers @CoubousAndTourmalet agree! A true test of people’s comfortableness around dog is being near big dogs - which always amuses me as it tends to be the little ones who are feistier!

Interesting that Pablo has entered the ‘bark to play’ phase! Do you let him play with other dogs? I always find it hard to judge at the age he’s at now as you want to socialise but you don’t want them to go too OTT or have a bad experience…

@VanGoSunflowers
You are far braver than I! I'm nervous around pretty much all dogs, large and small, apart from my select few trusted breeds. I'm ND though, so I need familiarity, otherwise I get really anxious.

Was the large tall Boxer-ish dog a Cane Corso perhaps? Bad to say, but I would be scared of those. I know, absurd, right? Given that my own breed is bigger.

I really should take a leaf out of your book and be more open minded, it would definitely be better for Brie if I was less cautious around dogs generally.

@LandSharksAnonymous so the play that I have ‘allowed’ so far has been arranged with people that I know, and I know their dogs - either in my garden or their’s (the latter with a dog that is in no way territorial)

The other instances have happened to me with no prior warning! I’d say about 80% of our walks we encounter no other dogs - probably because I WFH and take him out during non-popular dog walking hours if that makes sense. The other dogs are either on lead and we’ve walked around the corner and gone straight in to them, or they have been off lead or on an extendable one and I haven’t been able to control it. When that happens, I try and remain as calm as possible and oversee it! I must admit, yesterday’s encounters had me breathe a sigh of relief because they went so well! Pabs has been going in to play stance and and barking to incite play since he was quite young, he’s submissive but seems very confident around other dogs - but that’s probably his age and still being in the socialisation window? And being lucky to have no bad experiences so far! I definitely wouldn’t have encouraged him to play with such big breeds if I had a choice in the matter 😂

@CoubousAndTourmalet I completely understand - I’m not ND (that I know of!) but have suffered with anxiety on and off almost my whole adult life apart from the last few years! So the large boxer-ish looking dog actually belongs to my ExH’s neighbour so I know of him, (bumped in to him) but don’t know him that well. ExH says he is a boxer/lab cross but I wasn’t convinced because his head looks more Cane Corso than boxer - he had a really big head but quite a slim build and quite tall? He seemed dopey as anything to me!

@VanGoSunflowers
It figures. I think it's called a Boxador and if you do a search it shows a couple of black ones. Boxers are generally lovely natured. My aunt & uncle adopted a white one years ago. I have to say, he wasn't pretty, and he looked scary, but he was really soft natured and loving. I imagine Boxadors will be too.

Hello everyone, I’ll be very unexpectedly joining you next Sunday after losing our perfect 4 year old lab in a horrible accident 😢. Afterwards I thought I couldn’t go through the absolute heart break of losing a dog ever again but we quickly realised we can’t be without a lab so Rory the fox red Labrador will be joining our family on Sunday. I’m so exited and it’s going to be a long 6 days. I hope he’ll help to heal us and he’ll certainly be loved as much as his big brother was. At least we’re prepared for the puppy stage this time!

@CoubousAndTourmalet yep, it’s sometimes a leap of faith isn’t it? If they’re already upon you - you kind of gauge the owner and the dog and hope it doesn’t end badly. Not ideal if it’s not predicted, of course but I feel fortunate we had a positive experience!

Just had another one as well! Chatting to an old guy who had a 4 yr old Sprocker and a 1 year old WCS. The WCS was jumpy and bouncy and the Sprocker was as calm as anything. Both on leads, managed to use it as a ‘I will reward you for ignoring these dogs’ thing for Pabs and tbf to him, he did sit by my side for a decent portion of the interaction so I can’t complain!

So sorry to hear that @Idratherbepaddleboarding . I think we were on the puppy threads together 4 years ago.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding Im so sorry to hear about your loss ❤️
And Hi 👋

Yes we were! I think you have a lab too is that right? Gutted to have lost our boy, I still can’t get my head round it really but the one thing I do know is I will always have a lab in my life 🥰.