Our Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (Adolescent Support Group)

[MonCoubousMonTourmalet]

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

@changenameagain555 Not my current dogs, but I had my three previous males neutered. I don't think it made any difference to them, personality wise.

@Aubrielle he does, doesn’t he? And he plays on it! Manipulative baby that he is.

@SpanielsGalorearen’t rainy walks the best?? I’m surprised K hasn’t figured out her jumping skills yet! We once caught Satan on the dining table - we’d pushed the chairs in to stop her jumping and she’d just jumped up from the floor instead!

@changenameagain555 it’s hard to know re. Neutering, as it depends on the dog. With behavioural issues it can make them worse (being nervous, for example) but it can also help. It’s very hard to know.

@Bupster those Didriksons coats are nice! Speaking of nice…how is nobhead paws getting on?!

@SpanielsGalore I can imagine if all of the (ahem) ‘spirited’ dogs on this thread got together, the world would implode 😂

@Bupster ok you have absolutely sold me on trying that Didriksons jacket, thank you!! What is the sizing usually like? I think I am generally an 8 but some stuff I’ve bought has been a 6, so I don’t know if an 8 would be fine or maybe a 10 to account for layers underneath? The description on the website says it’s not close fitting but also not oversized.

I've just caught up on that thread, it's hilarious. They're now talking about training plans to work up to an hour's walk before and after school 😂

@tizwozliz i particularly loved ‘adults train for weeks to walk 10K.’

People are nuts about children and exercise. Let’s hope the mumsnet ‘making your children walk is child abuse’ brigade never catchup with this thread - pretty sure most of us with kids have them out on walks doing far more than three miles…😀

Eeek 😨 The second season is upon us 😬 Wish me luck.

@LandSharksAnonymous I did not feel that way about rainy walks yesterday. 😂 I wouldn't have minded if I had been dressed for it, but it wasn't raining when I left home. In fact, it didn't rain at home at all and the woods is only 10 minutes away.
I'm surprised K hasn't jumped on the kitchen side yet. It's lower than the garden wall. It must be because she's a good girl. 🤷‍♀️😂

@YorkshireFelix "Spirited" - that's a good word for them. 😂 I do love a dog with a bit of character.

Good luck. Hopefully it won't affect Brie too much.

I'm not optimistic. I went upstairs for 5 minutes and she did this with the kitchen mat. She's never done anything like this before, not even when she was teething. It does not bode well 😞

@Aubrielle 😱😱😱 It's going to be a long month.,

@SpanielsGalore Oh gosh. You won't make that mistake again 😀K is luring you into a false sense of security and then, suddenly, she'll strike. Probably at Christmas or another big food day.

@Aubrielle ohh poor Brie and poor you! What was she like last time?

I have to say mine have usually been pretty good. They just tend to become very clingy with me/each other and a bit snappier towards other dogs. It is the one benefit of owning a male dog - no seasons. Not to speak ill of Twatdog, of course, but it's about the only benefit 😂

Hopefully she'll settle @SpanielsGalore . I've replaced the other mats with washable puppy pads for now, to stop her slipping when she comes in with wet paws. She's been a bit restless and whiny for the last few days, which is unusual, so we were expecting it. Timing is a couple of weeks off being 6 months since the last one started.

She went nocturnal last time @LandSharksAnonymous - not wee related but we think she was feeling warm and wanting to sit out. Aside from that she was okay. Rosie was horribly hormonal, she'd go off her food, dig, hump cushions constantly, irritate the hell out of Sylvie. R was a 6 month cycle, S was 8 or 9 but Sylvie just got on with it, no drama, we hardly knew she was in season. First bitch, Nicky, also very hormonal. She ended up getting pyo and being spayed at age 8 but lived to 12.5.

It's another reason why I prefer boys. So much easier as regards walking, no restrictions. We now need a plan of action as to where we can risk walking for the next few weeks.
I need to speak to our vet and my own vet girls (cousins, vet and student vet) about whether we spay or not. We never have (aside from N with pyo), obviously if we were getting a boy we'd have to, but that seems to be looking less and less likely.

@Aubrielle I was undecided with P. She sailed through her first two seasons with no affects whatsoever. But this time, she's been clingy and grumpy and had a couple of spats with K. Which on the one hand isn't bad, as it's about time she told K to nob off. But on the other hand, I don't really want them to fall out.
Plus N became a bit of a sex pest and was constantly trying to lick her bits 🤢 and hump her.
So she's booked in to be spayed in November.

I'm now hoping K doesn't become grumpy when she comes into season. She's a bossy little madam as it is.

Thanks @SpanielsGalore .
I sympathise - to be honest, we would never have coped with three unneutered together, if we hadn't had my parents there for backup. We'd just pack one off for two weeks and the dogs loved it. But I couldn't do multi dog again without one being neutered. I am filled with admiration for @LandSharksAnonymous , I have no idea how she copes.

Do you have the option for a keyhole spay with P or will it be full surgery?

I think I'll only start looking into it for Brie after she turns two at the end of March.

Hope it’s not too brutal for you all @Aubrielle!

I agree that it’s the only upside of male dogs like @LandSharksAnonymous said! I always wanted a boy so I didn’t have to deal with seasons but if I knew then what I know now 😂 although I know you’ve had very lovely boys in the past.

I’ve ordered the Didriksons in an 8 and a 10 and they should arrive tomorrow so I shall report back. I have high hopes.

Just about to go on a decent walk with V as he’s climbing the walls this morning for some reason. I usually do one day off (as in a few shorter walks on the ‘odd’ day) then one day on with a long off lead walk, as I worry about his bad leg and doing too much. But he probably needs some extra training or something on the ‘off’ days to tire his brain out. He’s been sat doing annoyed sneezes and singular barks at me all morning!

@Aubrielle For P's previous two seasons, I had a neutered male. He showed a bit of interest in her for the first few days, but that was it. Nothing like the shenanigans going on this time.
I've got to go the full surgery route unfortunately. I'd have to go to Inverness for keyhole surgery, which isn't really feasible. It would be a 3 hour round trip to drop her off and then again to pick her up, which would mean leaving the other two home alone for 6 hours. Plus P is frightened of long journeys, so would be totally stressed out by it. And to top it off, it's the surgeon who ballsed up her leg surgery.
I am dreading trying to keep her quiet for two weeks though.

@Aubrielle nocturnal wouldn't be too bad, although I'd worry about them being alone outside overnight if that's what they wanted. That's quite close though - six months. Poor Brie and poor you/your partner!

I do always think spaying is useful to do, particularly if the dog struggles with their heat - but it's not an easy decision to make as the advice on whether to do it/not do it changes so often!

I wouldn't be filled with admiration for me.😁I do exactly what you used to do! I have DSis and DMum so close and they often come around to help when one of my girls is in season. Plus I have DDs who, despite all my complaints about them wanting to just do the nice bits, are really helpful. It would be very different if I didn't have that support, or if one of my girls was really difficult. We also have lots of enclosed dog fields that are pay per hour near us which helps managing exercise etc.

That being said, I've probably jinxed it now and Eris will be a little demon when her heats start.

Mine were fine during the seasons themselves, the only behaviour change, especially with my older one was because she wasn't getting as much off lead exercise as she was used to.

My younger one was more impacted post season with slight phantom pregnancy symptoms. I might have let her have another season if not for that, because I think phantom pregnancies can get worse with each season. As it was, her spay was delayed due to the symptoms.

Midge has not been castrated yet. The plan was to do it at 18 months, and this has now been extended to 2 years. But… I had an interesting conversation with a vet nurse friend (her dog is a month younger than M). She said she had been reading some recent research that said the risk of cruciate ligament rupture remains elevated until the dog is 3 years old (we didn’t discuss the size of dog and if that made a difference).
M is generally a confident dog, doesn’t hump, doesn’t seem to be bothered by other males etc, so I’m hoping this will be the same post castration. If he didn’t need to go to kennels/ home boarders, I probably wouldn’t see the need to get him done, but I need my holidays and it’s pretty challenging to find somewhere that will take intact males.

Interestingly, one of the bitches at agility was in season this week. She was wearing a nappy and M didn’t seem at all bothered

On a different topic. Things that I learnt on my walk this morning:

• My lightweight waterproof jacket and waterproof walking boots are no longer waterproof
• People go dogging at 9 am

Thanks @YorkshireFelix
Sorry Vinny's a bit fed up. The leg issue must be incredibly frustrating for both of you.
Yes, please do report back on the coat. I've heard a lot of good things about Didriksons.

Ah well @SpanielsGalore When we had R&S we had the joy of an entire older male whining and howling, until we packed him off to his "gran & granddad" for his his hols. The much younger male that we had subsequently was easier, we just had him in a separate room and he was okay.
That is unfortunate about the surgery but completely understandable, given your location.

Oh god no, @LandSharksAnonymous . We've never left any of them outside. Wouldn't dare with a Pyrie! With the three boys, I could risk going up for a shower and leave them outside, but with a girl, no. Indoors always, because they are swines for digging. So when she went nocturnal last time I just spent much of the night sitting at the back window with a mug of tea and a book while she lay out. The good thing with Brie is that she doesn't bark, so even if she is sitting out at 3am, it won't disturb the neighbours.
But yes, it's definitely helpful having family for support when you're a multi dog household.

Jeez 9am, that is dedication to the cause 😂😂😂😂😂😂

Could have done with the jacket today - I wore DD’s short North Face and got drenched!! And she’s gone to school with no jacket or brolly so she’s going to get drenched on the way home too 😅 Didn’t think we’d get the coat refusal until she was a teenager at least!

He had a crazy run around the woods and seems happy now. Once he burnt some energy off we did some stop whistle practice and a couple of retrieves and he did quite well so I feel like I’ve done my bit for today, and can work the rest of the afternoon guilt free. He’s currently ‘digging’ the rug to try and find a comfy spot to flop on and I’m sure he will snooze until dd gets home now.

DDog is nearly 19 months. He wants to hump a lot (us not objects) and is always getting an erection when saying hello to us, getting cuddles etc. I realise that can be excitement but he just seems very excited. He also is obsessed with scent marking, sniffing and licking wee etc when out on walks. He's a smaller breed so I think according to the article i found his risk is low if we had him castrated now. We need to do it before next summer for the holiday cover but could wait until he is 2. He is also howling a lot at the moment and have no idea why.

9am!? Don't they have better things to be doing...like having breakfast, or drinking coffee.