Puppy survival thread! All welcome!

[VanGoSunflowers]

Running on from our last one…

I won’t tag people because I will forget someone and then feel awful 😂

@Houndymumma Good on her for setting her sights on your DH and DS - she knows what side her breads buttered 😁Clever dog! Have you tried frozen tea towels to help with her teething?

@SpanielsGalore the other dogs don't eat chews! They turn their snubby little noses up. Twatdog runs away from there (but, he's a loser so are we really surprised)!

Poor P! Is it possible she's just twinged it in some way? I'll keep my fingers crossed for her though. I do wish dogs could speak and tell us exactly what was wrong...

But I do know how you feel about worrying about loved ones, @SpanielsGalore and @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding. DH's job isn't military, but seems to have a habit of picking deployments where everything goes 'a bit wrong' (to use the phrase his PIL chose - mine was far less diplomatic). Middle East in the 00's and again in 2011, Eastern Europe in 2022. It's horrible being in a constant state of worry, so you have my full sympathy.

@Struckbylightning oh your pup is gorgeous. I know it’s chewing central here too, really ramped up as we approach 15 weeks. Not sure of the weight this week, but I’m beginning to feel the struggle at picking her up now. So much easier when you can scoop them up from whatever naughty thing they are doing. She’s already learnt to use her huge Basset feet as a brake when walking if a sniff is really interesting.

Thoughts are with those with relatives in the forces, that must be stressful. I avoid the news these days which I know is cowardly but it seems such an angry world atm.

Raining here today and I’ve already had my first puddle. She’s definitely a fair weather fairy. Saying that my last Basset boy refused to walk in the rain, or before midday all his life. I use to have to force him! 😂

@SpanielsGalore oh bless her poor thing 🙁. My brother did a tour of Estonia during Covid. I thought it was a random place to go at the time and then it all kicked off and I was like… ahhh… I hope it stays calm for your DS but it’s such a worry.

Hope all pups are doing well and that P had a comfortable night @SpanielsGalore

Echoing thoughts for all loved ones to stay safe. We live in scary times.

We got up this morning to pouring rain and a flooded garden path. Fortunately the house is raised off the garden - shallow steps front and back, but I expect the sandbags will be out at the bottom end of the village.
Brie did her toileting pretty quickly and wandered straight back in to be dried off.

Again, she couldn't be bothered with breakfast and just lay waiting to be hand fed with her Millies. I'll open a meat tray later to get her interested. She still has a whiff of heat about her, but isn't spotting yet.

Cross questioned about puppy travel pre- breakfast this morning @LandSharksAnonymous so that was fun 😁 Early morning snark.

@Aubrielle oh I know! I have often wondered why DH didn’t argue more when I chucked in being a diplomat…but I’m starting to be grateful! Not sure I could argue with men about women rights, for example, and not lose my tempter when I get so emotional about dog breeding!

Poor Brie. But at least you can give her what she needs - the hand feeding seems to be so common with particular dogs. Satan needs it whenever something has scared her during the day.

It was pouring this morning when I left home. Got to admit I was quite sad as I love a rainy walk!

Thank you all. Son is heading to Kenya soon, which I think/hope is safe. Although he did ask for a knife as an early Christmas present to protect himself from hyenas. 😳

@LandSharksAnonymous Goldies can't be like spaniels after all if they don't like chews. 😂 P used to be quite fussy about which ones she'd eat. But now I have two others, she eats them all. She'll even eat fruit and veg now since K eats absolutely everyhing.

Don't know what P has done to her leg. My best guesses are arthritis flaring, because of the cold weather, or tendons inflamed, because of the longer walks we have been doing. J9 j m8

@Houndymumma I brought K home the weekend of a blizzard in late November. Such bad timing. Many a time I was tempted to let her wee inside instead of freeze outside. None of mine have liked going outside in the rain to toilet. But they don't mind going for walks in it, unfortunately for me.

My car goes in for repair today and I'm not allowed dogs in the courtesy car, so I will take K for a walk in the woods this morning. Then she'll have to make do with on lead walks to the beach for a week. Should give us time to practise loose lead walking.

I have to admit that I actually quite like hand feeding them @LandSharksAnonymous It's a social thing. They've all been slow eaters and they'll often eat in a lying (well, reclining, not lying flat obvs) position. Even when Brie eats standing, with the bowl in front of her, she likes me near. She loves social interaction so I talk to her and she'll placidly look at me while she's chewing. They've all done it. I think it's just a LGD thing. It's part of the fascination, nay, obsession, for me. So many quirks and so much character. In some ways they're very primitive and wild, in other ways incredibly refined and well mannered. It figures that a rugged (sometimes ferocious) outdoor dog was also the Royal Dog of France in the court of Louis XV.

You mention fruit @SpanielsGalore - do yours eat banana? Brie loves apple slices and she gets raw carrot, sometimes other veg cooked, but my chap offered her a piece of banana the other day. She sniffed it and gagged 😂

We've had a January pup (ie born early November), admittedly not your blizzard conditions for puppy K, but it was still a sodding pain for house training in the freezing cold, pitch dark. Three of our others were also winter pups - Dec/Jan born. Spring born ones are easiest; we got Brie in late May last year. We've also had two June pups (as in April born). Back door was open all summer.

Hope you cope okay without the car.

@Aubrielle I always use to give my last boy a bit of my banana and he then got to the point where if he saw anyone eating a banana he thought they should share. New pup likes having a small slice of my apple and has soon learnt we share 😂 also sliced carrot in the Kong has been a hit. Although the floor ends up looking like a carrot massacre. My dogs have always loved fruit and veg to the point I stopped growing any, because they always broke into my veg garden and ate it. What was surprising was how they waited until it was ripe.

@SpanielsGalore yes harder to toilet train in a blizzard. My last boy was potty training in Dec 2010 when we even had thick snow here in the south. I really notice a lot more puddles inside when it’s rainy and I open the back door and she looks out reluctantly instead of shooting across the garden. Bassets are known to be late potty trained unfortunately. My cat is the same but he has the luxury of a litter tray (away from pup obviously)!

@SpanielsGalore I think it's just my merry band of weirdo's who don't like chews! But they never really had them as puppies so that might be why...

Poor P, I hope she's getting lost of cuddles and hugs. And that K behaves on her walk...

@Aubrielle Twatdog is very similar - he doesn't like it if I leave the room when he eats. Perhaps is he secretly a PMD.😃The way you describe your dogs is always so lovely - they clearly trust you so much!

@Houndymumma not the point at all, but I remember the snow in the South in 2010! It was fantastic where I was - so deep that the roads couldn't be driven on for 3/4 days and even then it was too icy to drive. Yet, my neighbour's daughter still managed to have her 16th birthday party. I remember staring out the window at about 8pm watching as dozens of teenagers battled the snow - including some in heels - to make it to this house party 😂Meanwhile I was snuggled up with my hot chocolate and cake (not much has changed...).

My dogs have always loved fruit and veg to the point I stopped growing any, because they always broke into my veg garden and ate it.

We're very fortunate that both pups will ignore all fruit and veg which makes life simpler at the allotment. They'll sometimes beg for a berry if you're eating but spit it out if offered. They don't mind sharing an apple with me but don't touch the ones they find out and about.

When I was young we had an Anatolian @Houndymumma
He was obsessed with fruit. Never ate kibble, we had to cook chicken and boil rice for him, he also ate a lot of eggs. Weird dog. My mother used to feed him banana squished onto cream crackers, and a bowl of tea for his afternoon meal.

@Aubrielle Bananas make me gag, so I haven't tried her on those. 😂
They'll eat apples, oranges, strawberries, kiwi, blueberries and pears though. I have an apple tree in the garden and they regularly help themselves. K has is quite adept at leaping up to grab one.

@LandSharksAnonymous K did not behave herself, but she had lots of fun. She's now absolutely knackered and couldn't be arsed to get up when we arrived home.

We've just taken Brie in the car, up to the moors for a walk. Nice and peaceful, we could see as far as North Wales. It's incredibly humid here today though, it's really quite uncomfortable for me because I'm asthmatic.

We passed one dog, a working cocker. It had been running off the lead but the moment the owner spotted Brie he seemed to panic and call the dog back to clip the lead on, then after we passed it was off again within 10 metres. She would have liked the chance to say hello, but times have changed since we had our other dogs, now nobody allows their dogs near.

There was a small dead badger lying beside the track 😞 It wasn't a place where we would have expected to see a badger, and from the size it was one of this years cubs. There are some in the valley but it must have wandered a fair way. Sad really.

@Aubrielle I would have done the same though. It's the number one rule of dog walking etiquette - don't let your off lead dog approach an on lead dog. It's been like that for the 20 years I have owned dogs.

Look at the abuse Stillchasingderekshepherd received when her puppy ran up to someone's dog. How did he know you wouldn't react like that?
Or perhaps his dog was reactive and he was panicking to get it on a lead before it had a go at Brie.
I'm sure it wasn't personal to you or Brie.
Perhaps you could try calling out to people to say she's friendly and their dog can say hello if they want. (Although some one with a Westie did that to me the other day and then it went for K and she ended up on her back. "Oh he's never done that before." My arse!)

I know @SpanielsGalore , I understand. We've talked about it before here (well, on the adolescent thread).
I don't blame people for being cautious, it's just that it seems to be happening a lot more of late than it used to with our previous dogs.
People definitely have much more fear and far less trust now.

@SpanielsGalore your Spaniels really are beautiful. I don't know what it is about them, but cockers (in particular) do give me warm fuzzies. Perhaps I secretly do love Satan and she has converted me.

Did you have to pick K up out of the car? 😁

I know how you feel @Aubrielle! It's really good etiquette to do what they're doing (recall their dog away from an on-lead dog), but also really sad for Brie.

People do it to Twatdog sometimes if I take him out for a solo walk and I think it's because I always keep him on the lead on a solo walk (he tends to get attacked far too much when he's alone - something about having so many tends to mean the idiots keep their dogs away...the one benefit of so many dogs!). Sadly for him, the 'responsible' dog owners recall their dog, even if I say he's friendly, and I'm left with the nasty dogs going for him! Feels a bit like a lose/lose situation for him!

Sometimes I do think if I hear the phrase, 'that's never happen before... he's/ she's usually so nice...etc' I might scream. If there's one phrase a dog owner should never use, it's that one.

Edit: soo many typos.

I also always recall and put V on his lead if there’s an on lead dog approaching. It’s just standard dog walking etiquette and I do it for any dog on a lead. Also I don’t really let him interact with other dogs very much anyway since he’s a nervous nelly 😄

In some ways I should be glad @LandSharksAnonymous . She hasn't really had any bad experiences yet, so I'll have to stop moaning.
I'd feel less guilty if she had a companion I suppose.

The other dog shouldn't really have been loose anyway, because there are sheep up there and notices on all the gates. Not that we would have said anything, but still...🙄Two tourist dogs killed a sheep here during the summer.

@LandSharksAnonymous Thank you. ❤️
I always have to pick K up to put in and out of the car. Because despite being able to scale a 4 foot high garden wall, she can only jump into the footwell of the car. 🙄
Poor Twatdog being picked on. I must say TD suits him much more than his real name.
The other phrase I hate from other walkers is "Be nice". You can bet your life it won't be.

I do the same, but as we get closer and if the dogs look keen on saying hello, I’ll check with the owner and let them say hello.

We went out in the rain today to a historic house and cafe. Pup liked it but likes sitting on my knee in coffee shops. Not a problem now (8kg) but definitely need to wean her off this behaviour before she reaches 30kg!! 😃 literally the last ten days that we’ve been out, I’ve spoken to more people than I have in the rest of the year. A puppy certainly makes people speak to you!

Clearly just me then, not understanding normal dog etiquette @YorkshireFelix I just need to educate my partner, he seems to like her to meet every dog and strangely enough, my dad was exactly the same with their dogs.

It's okay, she's pretty happy and seems to love her walks anyway.

We lived in rural Wales for a few years and the local farmer there shot a few dogs. Always tourists generally as it was a tourist area. So upsetting and he absolutely hated doing it but he had so many of his sheep & lambs killed or attacked. Also pregnant ewes. He had signs up but people just ignored them. Poor dogs end up dying due to irresponsible entitled owners.

Sadly, it happens a lot. People are stupid. The sheep killed this year was a rare breed from a tiny flock. The farmer showed a lot of the local dog walkers (including us) a photo and asked if we'd seen these two dogs. Nobody recognised them. There are also signs everywhere up here about ground nesting birds in spring, but people still let their dogs off. It's pretty rural but sadly not very far from Manchester so there are a lot of day trippers.

Yes it amazes me that people ignore the nesting bird signs too. I live between the South Downs and the Wessex Downs, as well as close to the New Forest too so lots of tourists here as well. Problem is irresponsible dog owners give the rest of us a bad name. Lots of grazing livestock on historic landscape sites around here too.