Our Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (Adolescent Support Group)

[MonCoubousMonTourmalet]

Okay folks, let's head into late summer/autumn.

@LandSharksAnonymous I didn't think the hose would touch it, so they were both treated to a nice warm shower with shampoo. Neither of them appreciated it though.

@Aubrielle I'm going to post another one then, so I am in the lead. 😁
P tolerating K's presence, because Meanie Mummy was vacuuming.

@Aubrielle ahh but Twatdog and Brie have so much fur that they count for two dogs.😍 I am pretty sure I could have an extra dog out of Twatdog if I brushed him right now, possibly a dog and a half.

@SpanielsGalore why has piggy been abandoned on the floor!? What a terrible way to treat a toy 😁It's actually quite hard to believe it's the same dog in the before and after photo... very sad little looks being given though. Something tells me they were either still feeling sorry for themselves, or after some treats

@IchLiebeDeutscheSchaferhundevery possibly a mixture. I will look at that brand of lead ive not heard of it before.

This is the first rescue ive ever had ( as my dog) we had rescues growing up but obviously it was more parents dealing with these sorts of issues I guess.

My last dog was a collie. Obviously she was a dream to train and was really loyal. We lost her in 2021 to old age, well her back legs went. I cant really remember her ever having a phase like this but we did raise her from a puppy (12 weeks) and so perhaps it was just less pronounced or it was awful and ive erased it from my memory

I was really unsure getting a rescue rather than a puppy. It was something I wanted to do as I felt it important to show the children that there are animals that need homes and we can learn to look after them etc but I knew it would be a challenge. We have got off pretty lightly so far!

@stillchasingdereksheppard I have a biothane long lead and they are good. But they are heavier than other types, so wonder if it would be too heavy for your dog if you let it trail. How small is small? I have pictured a little 5kg dog.

@LandSharksAnonymous There are various toys scattered and abandoned throughout the house and garden. We (meaning me) tidy up at bedtime and they scatter them all over again the next day. It's great fun! 😁
The faces are because of the vacuum cleaner. P's never liked it and K is coming out in sympathy. They'll both practically stick their faces in the lawn mower though.

@SpanielsGalore I feel your pain! We have lots of foxes and if I leave the toys out then they're ruined. That being said, I'd rather pick up toys than pick up the stuffing of toys...so I guess I'll take the wins where I can.😀Thankfully I don't have any hoover or lawn mower fears in my house, but they do hate the window cleaner. He only comes twice a month, but it's 15 minutes of barking the entire time 😶

Had a bit of a scare on our morning walk. Twatdog got his paw caught in something, tripped and yelped and refused to put weight on it for about 15 minutes. I was absolutely terrified he had hurt himself as he was being so dramatic and was about to call someone to come and collect me, but then he suddenly decided he was fine and trotted off with his tail high in the air, curved over his bum, and his ears pricked up. Wanker.

Poor Twatdog. They do like to scare us. Glad he is alright now. 💖
Bet he was faking it so Mummy would cary him home and give him extra cuddles. 😂

@SpanielsGalore He'd have been out of luck if he was actually hurt, there is no way I can carry his big bum anywhere! 😀He does this a lot if I am honest - he's got quite spindly little legs and he never looks where he's going. Sigh.

I hope everyone had a cooler day today! Only 21 here, which meant dogs in the garden all day and a really nice breeze 😍

Been awol as we’ve had a busy week! Me and dd had a glorious annoying-dog-free day at Leeds Fest yesterday.

Something I never thought I’d have to do - earlier I had to cut out a piece of chewing gum stuck to Vinny’s balls 🥴 If that doesn’t put you off having a gross boy dog then nothing will!

Here he is doing his best supermodel pose without a care in the world, before I discovered the gum…

@YorkshireFelix oh isn't he a handsome baby! Was he fine about you removing the gum? It's the one thing Twatdog has never been good about - he'll let himself be handled by the groomer, or in the ring, but on a walk (he sometimes gets a squitting bum - so I'm sure you can imagine what that means) he refuses to let me fix it.

How big is V? In that photo he looks bigger than I always thought he was.

@Aubrielle @Bupster How are your two doing today?

@LandSharksAnonymous He’s actually very good with that sort of thing, if you can get him to stand still long enough 😄 dd was feeding him tiny bits of raw red pepper from her lunch so he would stay still and I could cut it off. Isn’t dog ownership so glamorous!

He’s a good size for a cocker I think. He’s 16kg now but I don’t think he will grow any more. I always think he’s huge until we meet an actual large dog and then he looks like a teeny weeny little baby!

@YorkshireFelix I love those ears!

M is not too bad with having things removed from various parts of his body. It’s a good job as he’s a magnet for burrs and seeds!

We’re on our way back from France and looking forward to picking M up. I’m glad we didn’t take him, it has been so hot.
Yesterday we were watching a parade and a dog collapsed and fitted due to the heat. He was unconscious and twitching and I fear that it might have been fatal.
I couldn’t believe the number of dogs that were there. It was so noisy and hot; and most of them looked absolutely terrified!

@Nella68 that is so sad.

@YorkshireFelix glamorous indeed

Yesterday I left dog with the spare humans for the whole day, got back early hours of the morning to find he had chewed two pairs of my flipflops - despite the spare humans flip flops being far more accessible.
I can only assume he wasn't impressed with me leaving him for so long.

Hi. Brie is fine, @LandSharksAnonymous but I've been laid low with some sort of viral thing since Friday. Achy glands, headache, feel shivery and sick, struggling to eat, and very tired. Oddly, no respiratory symptoms at all, so have no idea what it is. Doesn't seem like flu or covid though.

Hope everyone else is doing okay. I need to properly catch up with this and puppy thread.

Oh gosh, I hope Twatdog is okay after that fright @LandSharksAnonymous , and that Vinny's bits are none the worse for the gum incident @YorkshireFelix

I hope you have a safe journey home and a sweet reunion with Midge @Nella68
How awful about that poor epileptic dog. Horrific. We lost Finn that way 😢

We're good, thanks! Haven't been posting much as frankly I'm knackered - there's a festival here this weekend in which people dress up, and given that Bill doesn't much like hats, I've been avoiding the town as he'll lose his mind. So every morning this weekend we've gone to the Common instead, and quite often a bit further - I think we're averaging 6-8 miles before breakfast. My Fitbit tells me we've done 20,000 steps already today and I've yet to take him out for his evening walk.

It's actually been a tricky few weeks in some ways and really good in others. Just to recap, Bill had a few weeks after I went away where he was really quite reactive, and had lost all his recall - I thought it might be that he was tired and stressed (plus both of his besties had left while we were away). Then we had a couple of incidents, first where he was nipped by an entire male while wrestling at the dog park with a little round spaniel, then charged at by an off-lead entire male bulldog when we were on an embankment and had nowhere to go. For a while there he was super-reactive and walks were a bit of a grim horror wherever we went; I got a referral from the vet to a behaviourist and we're due to see them next week. He's also had really itchy paws and the last few days a very sore eye as well. Our one-to-one training sessions were also a bit of a trial as there are still swoopy birds and he struggled to even hear his own name.

Anyway, on Friday evening, he ate about three dinners, and woke up like a different dog - walked past an entire male 10m away on the Common without any trouble at all. I've pinned down his itchiness to the dodgy dental sticks a friend of ours was handing him - they're like crack cocaine for dogs but the ingredients are all miscellaneous derivatives, and I reckon there's dairy derivatives in there somewhere, which he's allergic to. And Saturday's 1-1 session was fabulous. I mean, we did have to tether him again to a very heavy picnic table, but once he worked out no swoopy-bird-chasing was happening he decided he might as well work for sausage. So right now we're doing okay.

Pictured: my darling nobhead, his lion, and his magnificent booty.

God, @Nella68 , that's awful. We've just been out for a slow, shady, moochy walk round our local cemetery, with lots of sitting and stick-chewing (him, not me) - he doesn't like using our gravelled garden to pee or poo, so unless it's stupid hot, I do try to get him out, walking in the shade all the way there and back as well. He lies in the grass for ages there, which I think helps cool him down. He loves it and I nearly have to drag the little sod home.

On the way back, I saw a bloke with two older dogs, one of them a pug or similar, which was lying on the pavement refusing to move. Poor bug. I couldn't offer to help because I had the nobhead, but I couldn't understand (a) why you'd take a flat-faced dog out for a pavement walk in 25° if you had the slightest worry about how it would cope and (b) why a grown, able-bodied (if slightly portly) man couldn't pick the poor bug up and carry it for a bit. I have such sympathy for people having to take dogs out in the heat (e.g. if you live in a flat or they won't poo in the garden), but use some common sense.

Oh that sounds horrible! I hope you feel better soon xx

Thanks @Bupster . Saturday was really rough, but the headache has lessened now at least, so hopefully I'm over the worst.

@Nella68 gosh that sounds awful, poor dog! I bet Midge will be sooooo excited to see you when you pick him up.

@MonCoubousMonTourmalet oh nooo I hope you’re feeling better soon. It’s awful feeling ill when it’s this hot too. Hopefully it passes soon for you.

@Bupster Vinny is the same and hasn’t been to the toilet since I took him out this morning so I’m about to drive down to the woods and walk him there. It’s always way cooler in there so he should be happy!

Also glad to hear he’s turned a corner for you. I know you’ve had a tough time with him recently. How could you not love that chonky butt though! I wonder if it’s like some kids where they are unwell then have a growth spurt 😄

Also we’ve done absolutely no training/practice since our last gundog class 2 weeks ago so I’m going to half heartedly do something with him before our next class tomorrow 😳

@YorkshireFelix it's so glamorous! 16KG...so half a Pen 😯I bet he feels every inch of 16KG when you have to pick him up though. If you do ever fancy a bigger dog, you know where to come to find one! I'm so impressed he'll stand still though, particularly if you're out and about - mine just go bonkers and think it's all a big game.

@Nella68 oh that's awful, the poor dog! I hadn't realised you were away for so long. I bet N is going to go bonkers when he sees you 😃

@Aubrielle oh no. I had similar yesterday and popped some antihistamine and it cleared up, although possibly not the same thing as it cleared up so fast! I really hope you feel better soon. Has Brie been keeping you company?

Twatdog is fine. I'd still exchange him for a corn on the cob in a heartbeat, but that's how I usually feel about him. He does like to make it hard for me to love him (she says, watching as he dances around the garden with her teatowel).

@Bupster, you and Bill must be the fittest dog mum and dog in the UK 😁Bless him. Maybe he was just very discombobulated by you going away and took a while to readjust? Either way, a good thing that you're both doing a bit better! Do let us know how it goes with the behaviourist? He is such a handsome little man

16kg, half a Pen and a third of a Brie 😂

Don't know why I'm laughing really though 😨Sometimes it's daunting.

Sorry realised I tagged you wrong @Aubrielle!!

I am such a weakling so struggle to hold him. He does still sometimes have a penchant for sitting and grinning at me to pick him up instead of jumping in the back of the car too. I need to start lifting some weights I think!

I promise if I ever follow through with my dream of having a Goldie I will be straight on to you @LandSharksAnonymous 😁

He did a couple of whistle recalls in the woods but largely ignored most of them and ignored all of the stop whistles. We did one ‘ok’ retrieve of the dummy and he did bring it back and dropped it at my feet which is an improvement on his usual showboating. But I think he finds the whole thing mind numbingly boring to be honest.

You'll get stronger @YorkshireFelix . It takes time. I was really weak when we got Brie because we'd had a gap so it had been years since I'd handled a dog. For the first few months I was really struggling to hold her when she pulled, but I'm slowly building up strength and it's getting easier.

What is he finding boring? Just retrieving the dummy or the whole training regime? Not that I have any advice, which I'm sure others here will, but since I have my first failed guard dog I'm interested in the idea that not all dogs are necessarily cut out to work... I could say I'm just hopeful that some are very late developers.

I think it’s the actual dummy rather than the act of retrieving something. I’ve bought a special lighter one which has a little opening where you put treats in, and have been doing some exercises with him to make him more interested in it, but still he just seems incredibly bored when I line him up for a retrieve. I know I need to build up some drive in him and it will be fine but it’s so tedious!

I’m never going to work him so it doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I want to have a good few exercises under my belt that we can do with him so his little brain is worked and he’s kept happy.

I’m going to speak to our trainer about it tomorrow. The labs and Goldie in our group are so bloody keen to fetch the dummies and it’s quite funny seeing V just saunter over and then walk off to find something more interesting instead 😄