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 😂)

@brushingboots thank you!

We covered quite a lot in the hour -
Walking to heel (on a slip lead, I’d already been working on this using a harness)
Walking to heel off lead
Whistle to stop and whistle to recall
Hand signals to sit/stop - and turning ‘sit’ into ‘sit until I release you’
She threw some dummies for him to encourage him to retrieve them - which he did beautifully bless him. I’d been using an old stuffed toy at home and have ordered a dummy to use. She spoke about not taking it from him straight away and encouraging him to hold it in his mouth for a short while and not over-doing retrieves so he doesn’t get bored of them.
We spoke about phasing treats out a bit for him and she suggested a ‘walk routine’ to encompass all/most of the above.

So while it’s all stuff I have been doing at home to some extent (which made it easier as he knew all of what we trying to get him to do) it was more about fine-tuning it and practicing it.

She was very complimentary of him 🥰 She asked to see his KC paperwork because she wanted to see if she knew any of the dogs in his line so she could gauge what to expect from him.

And she took the piss a little bit out of the ‘serious gun dog men’ which really made me smile!

@VanGoSunflowers that is excellent news. She sounds fab! Are you sure you haven’t accidentally employed @brushingbootsalter ego 😂

Sounds like Pablo did so well too!

@VanGoSunflowers Amazing!! She sounds perfect. Well done both you and P! It does get addictive but even if you only ever do super super basics it's such a good grounding for any dog. So chuffed for you.

@YorkshireFelix Hahaha can you imagine!

@YorkshireFelix thats why it made me smile! She was saying how she didn’t feel like she fit in at first and now she asks all the men where their girly voices are when they’re praising up their dogs 😂

He did really well! Although I still can’t seem to stop him trying to jump up at every single person he meets 🤦‍♀️😂 he was straight out to her and jumping up at her, trying to jump in to the back of her car when she opened the door to get something out etc

He absolutely loves the WCS that gets walked around here - we saw her again earlier and the pair of them play an adorable game of who can be the most submissive. Both trying to get lower than the other!

@VanGoSunflowers I took Billy to puppy gun dog training at a serious gun dog club. I felt judged straight away as everyone was in their country/ shooting clothes and then there was me in my shorts and Vans 😂. The trainer was an elderly man who was very old school and one day we had to get there a bit late so they were already in a circle. I was listening to the man when someone threw a dummy so Billy shot after it without me being prepared, pulled me over, broke my finger as the lead pulled tight and then ran around with the dummy just out of my reach 🙈.

Later on we were doing some sort of close walking exercise and Billy was more interested in eating cow pats 🤢 so he grabbed the slip lead of him and really ragged his neck. Billy was terrified of old men for a long time and needless to say we never went back! Both due to the trainer’s horrible behaviour and my embarrassment!

The men in the group were so competitive too, they got so annoyed when their dog didn’t do an exercise perfectly.

@Idratherbepaddleboarding you sound like me! I turned up to today’s session in a pair of converse - totally unsuitable and now they’re soaking wet but meh 😂 my excuse is I have huge blisters on my heels from trying to break in a new pair of docs!

Ahhh I have a cow pat lover 🤢 there’s a field I sometimes take Pabs too and he stops and tries to have a mouthful of every single one he passes!

I can’t believe the man did that to him, poor mite. I might be wrong, but I feel like some of them expect puppies to have the same level of manners as an adult dog competing and of course that’s expecting too much of them, surely?!

Do you think you’ll go to any classes or sessions with your new arrival once they settle in?

@VanGoSunflowers yes I definitely got wet and cow patty converse at some point! Billy would go along leaving little bite marks in them all 🤢🤢 he did stop though as he got older!

I don’t think we’ll be doing puppy classes as we did with Billy but I used to work with toddlers with SEND and to be brutally honest, a lot of the teaching strategies are the same! I didn’t feel that we got much out of it except being around other dogs and we have plenty of doggy friends for that now! I think we have all the tools we need.

The one thing I will do differently is focus more on on lead walking. As we live rurally, Billy was off lead most of the time and we prioritised recall but he never did learn not to pull and he was sooo strong! Especially when he could smell water/ the sea, he was off dragging me behind!

Think about investing in some proper hiking boots for winter walks and training @VanGoSunflowers . I keep lecturing @brushingboots about this too! Cuz I'm a bossy (but well meaning) old cow 😁Vans, Converse & Docs won't cut it on wet grass in winter, you'll freeze!
I bought a couple of new pairs of Grisport boots last year - leather ones with Vibram soles, and I honestly couldn't manage without them now. The traction is brilliant for walking a big strong dog. One pair is black, just to suit my gothic vibe 😆 For something with considerably more style (but a heftier price tag) check out Lanx boots also.

Hahaha @CoubousAndTourmalet, you are absolutely right.

In my defence I have got a couple of pairs of gore-tex trainers but I've been back in crocs since about May... their time will soon be over again and it'll be back to wellies and trainers. They do my feet absolutely no good – I really need to find a pair of low walking boots but even my trainers rub the back of my ankles a bit where they're high at the back and I know boots will too, hence my lifelong aversion.

Surely Crocs are ideal for when you fall in all those bogs though, you can just rinse them off 😂

It's finding the right ones @brushingboots Some of them are far too rigid on the ankle for me also, but others have quite a squishy collar and are fairly comfy straight from the box. I do find the traditional leather ones are far less stiff on the ankle than the fabric/mesh ones.
If your budget runs to the Lanx ones (made local to me), they do some Chelsea boot style with proper Vibram soles. Something like that may suit you better.

@YorkshireFelix well exactly!

@CoubousAndTourmalet not at all, I kinda love it that you’re looking out for our feet 😊
In fairness, my fleece-lined Chelsea boot docs are fantastic on winter walks with a pair of thermal socks on. That doesn’t necessarily mean I shouldn’t look at getting something more suitable though so I will have a bit of a mooch.
A decent winter coat will be my next purchase! I’m covered for autumn but I’d quite like a longer, thicker and cosier coat to walk in.
Is it weird that I’m looking forward to coat and beanie hat weather?

Fair enough.
Doc soles don't offer me anywhere enough traction, but I realise that not everybody is wrestling a 50kg dog.
When I'm not in my wax jacket, I wear a Seasalt Plant Hunter coat and it's brilliant, but I'm ancient and not label conscious, so it's possibly not what you'd be looking for.

I wear a giant oversized leopard print puffer jacket in the winter 🤣

I dislike winter dog walks when it’s wet and muddy (but only because Vinny gets filthy) but otherwise I am definitely an autumn/winter kind of girl. I never know how to dress when it’s warm and I like a big coat to stuff dog related things in my pockets!

I’m very unsnazzy - mountain warehouse waterproof jacket for me. Had it about eight years! I’m always hot and it keeps the heat in well so I usually just wear it with a t-shirt and then leggings and hiking boots. No wellies here (I need the ankle support)

Definitely not label conscious - tbh, most of my day to day clothes are from the men’s section in F&F 😂 that or Primark. I only spend a bit more on things that last, are good quality and do the job you want them to - hence the docs. Or jeans because I’m a weird shape and most jeans that fit me on the hips gape at the waist. If anyone has any recommendations for socks that don’t get holes in after 5 minutes I would be grateful!

I have a jacket I bought from I think it was that Blacks camping place that’s waterproof and fairly thick and I usually just wear thermals under jumpers underneath. I just sometimes cba with all the layers and they feel a bit restrictive to
me so I was thinking about getting a much thicker coat that’s longer - like those ones you see people wearing that look like a cosy quilt!
I do have a wax jacket which I absolutely love but it’s not warm enough for the dead of winter.

Anyway, sorry to derail the thread with talking about clothes 😂

@VanGoSunflowers great news on the gun dog trainer front. She sounds great. At least you’ll not be mansplained too!

I’ve got a pair of Blundstone Chelsea boots that are great for walking in when I can’t be arsed with lacing up hiking boots. They will be coming out in the autumn although I’d happily wear them with shorts in the summer - no fucks given. I’m hoping Primark do their knock off DryRobes again for dog walks in the lashing rain.

Anyway, SoupDog got up at 5.30am this morning after DH had already had her out at 4am when he got up to go to work and then proceeded to dick about for 10 minutes then go back to chilling/sleeping until 9.30am while I couldn’t get back to sleep at all lying on the couch. Grrr. She’s been out for a 25 minutes walk on the long lead and it’s taking longer to pick all the bastard sticky willies off her than it was to go out for our walk! In better news the loose lead walking is improving thanks to copious amounts of smoked sausage.

She's HERE!

Two wees outside, a nap and shes now tackling her lunch out of her puzzle bowl

Gorgeous! So exciting 😁

@soupmaker - that’s the kind of thing I am after! Just like a giant thick, loose chuck it on and go! Primark trip in order at the end of summer! glad the smoked sausage is a hit! I reckon I would do almost anything for smoked sausage myself 😂

@MrsKJones ahhhh, adorable! Was it a long journey home? How was she in the car? What an exciting day!

@VanGoSunflowers 5-10 min journey. Had a bit of crying but nothing too bad

Adorable.

Oh she’s perfect 🥰. Are you happy to share her name?

I’m literally counting the hours til Rory comes home (45!). Annoyingly, he’s old enough to come home already but we have a volunteering commitment on Saturday and his breeder was happy to keep him til then (in all honesty I think she’d like to keep him forever but she’s keeping his sister). It’s an annual thing and was fine with Billy as I could keep popping back to him and I always took him round for a few hours after my volunteering but it would be too much for a pup who’d only been home a few days!

I’ve done a few bits to prepare for him today, he has his first Kong stuffed with chicken paste cooling in the freezer for him as we speak and I’ve been to get his food so it’s the same as he’s on currently. His breeder is already giving him bits of chicken and tuna so his stomach will be starting to adjust to life as a spoilt Labrador! I’ve even bought sausages to tea so I can chop up the spares for training treats 🥰.

Her name is Kayla. She has had an epic afternoon nap & now getting familiar with her kong