Beyond Adolescence - a thread to chat about grown up dogs, cake and anything else, excluding coffee.

[SpanielsGalore]

Not going to tag everyone as I don't know who wants to join. Welcome everyone. 😁

I have had two roofers here this morning. After the initial barking at heads appearing over the ridge, the dogs have been so good. They've sat in the garden and watched them working. Greeted them every time they came into the garden and didn't once try to bolt out of the gate. I heard one of the men telling them to 'stay' as he struggled through the gate with a bucket full of water, and then telling them they were 'good dogs'.
They've just finished and as they were leaving one commented on how calm my dogs are and not like 'normal spaniels'. See. Not all working cockers are 'high on crack' and 'manic'. 😇😇😇

Beautiful weather here today. 🌞 I unexpectedly got my car back yesterday. 🥳
Off to the woods to walk the adolescent nutter until she collapses in a heap. 😂

Delurking to send best wishes to P and @SpanielsGalore

(Can't have animals for health reasons here but love hearing about the dogs on these threads)

Oh gosh poor P and poor you @SpanielsGalore ❤️ I hope everything goes smoothly and will be thinking of you.

She's out of surgery. It went well. The vet thinks we caught the pyometra early.
She's coming home with more pain relief and antibiotics. Going to set a cage up before I collect her at 2:30.
Thanks everyone for your good wishes and kind thoughts. X

@SpanielsGalore brilliant news that she's okay. I hope the other two let her recover and you're okay as well! ❤

Just caught up here – oh @SpanielsGalore, what a rollercoaster! Poor P but I’m so glad she’s out and that she’s OK. All love from us <3

And bloody hell @LandSharksAnonymous, what an ordeal! Two hours! My patience definitely wouldn’t have extended that far.

Glad to say I haven’t anything as ‘exciting’ to report except having a piece on the front page of the Racing Post today which is a total and utter non-dog thrill.

Glad to hear the surgery went well.

Is it possible that the pancreatitis and the pyometra were linked? E.g. inflammation in abdomen leads to inflammation around pancreas?

It's good to hear that the surgery went well and P will be home soon @SpanielsGalore xxx

Oh my God, poor P and poor you, @SpanielsGalore - you've really been in the wars, both of you.

@brushingboots Lots of swearing and angry muttered words were exchanged between me and Twatdog!!

To be fair part of the reason it took so long was because it gets to a point where they are all just so terrified and over-stimulated it's just better to let them run it off.

Twatdog really is the best boy and I love him...but when he has a 'moment' (as DD1 calls them) he's a complete liability. I have never met a dog so robust - because he is genuinely a really robust dog in so many ways - and yet so pathetically cowardly in my entire life. He once had a refuse bin smash into the side of him and he barely blinked and he nothing 'normal' seems to phase him at all - kids yanking on him? Fine. Loud noises? Fine. Fireworks? Loves them. Other dogs growling at him? Fine. Hoover? Fine.

But sometimes, if I don't put his food bowl down at the right angle he'll back away from it and cry and this morning, I think it was because the blanket at the base of the car flicked up and covered his paw. 😑

@CoubousAndTourmaIet as you say, two of them might be a bit much! It did make me smile though (literally my only smile all morning) watching the four of them running crazily around the field like utter lunatics, barking and doing sharp turns whilst Hen just lay in the boot with her eyes closed. It's so easy to forget that 4/5 years ago she would have been straight there with them because, in my eyes she's always been perfect and would never put a paw wrong!

Twatdog has been trying to redeem himself though. On our lunchtime walk (no car involved) he just walked perfectly to heel the entire time and gazed up at me lovingly. But I can see through his 'aren't I good boy' bollocks.

Wanker.

@SpanielsGalore How is P doing? Assuming you're both home by now?

We're home. P is very quiet and subdued, but she's managed a little potter in the garden and a poo. Now she's resting in a cage. Hopefully she'll sleep for a few hours now and she can have a small dinner later.

@tizwozliz I honestly don't know if they are connected or if it's a coincidence. I should have asked. Google says the stress and inflammation of one condition can trigger another. Or there's an underlying health issue causing both.
It's solved the dilemma over which method to spay though. I've paid keyhole prices for full surgical spay.

Aww bless her, she’s really been through it. Fingers crossed for a decent amount of rest. I’m sure she’ll be back to pogoing in no time!!

Awww, bless her ❤ I'm sure she'll be happy to be home.

Sorry @YorkshireFelix , cross posted - I did not intentionally start with the same wording as you there...😳

@SpanielsGalore So glad to see that she's home and doing well. Poor girlie x

It’s the natural reaction to such a sweet sad little face 😄

Well Twatdog launched himself back out the car this morning on the driveway - he didn’t even sit in it. Just jumped in and launched back out again woofing and totally manic. No idea what his problem is…

Anyone got any ideas on how to fix it? Never had a dog scared of the car before!

That's a pain @LandSharksAnonymous

We went through this with Brie from about 8 months and we still have no idea what triggered it. It got to the point where even walking past the car with the tailgate open was a no. She behaved as if she was terrified. We just let her be for a few weeks, no car rides and we didn't push it. I realise that's not a practical option for everyone, but we have plenty of good walks locally so it was doable for us.

She seemed to sort of forget about it to an extent, so we started very gentle short, car rides, but lifting her in and folding the back seat so she could sit beside me with my partner driving. Again, I know if you're managing the dogs by yourself most of the time, it may not be feasible to have a rear passenger. We're getting there now and she's back in the boot, behind the dog guard.

@Bupster is the expert on car anxiety though, she's been through it with Bill.

I think P also has travel anxiety so @SpanielsGalore may be able to offer suggestions, although I know it may not be a good time to ask. I hope P had a comfortable night, SG.

P was very unsettled until about 1a.m. when she finally went to sleep. I tried to get her outside for a wee, but she refused to leave the cage.
She's a little brighter this morning. She's eaten breakfast and had her meds. She went out into the garden, did a massive wee and then dragged me back to the cage.

@SpanielsGalore how long will she be on crate rest for? How are the other two getting on without her around? And how are you?

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I think I may have to do what you're doing and just go very very slowly. I don't really have the time though as so many of our walks rely on the car. And, as you say, it's just me! But thank you, I have very little work to do today (which I should not admit to) so I may spend the day trying to coax the wanky twat into the boot again and just sitting with him. He flat out refused the chicken this morning because he was so bloody terrified - which says a lot tbh.

@LandSharksAnonymous Poor TD. Something must have given him a big fright yesterday.

P became car phobic after all the vet trips we had to do. I've never really cured it; just got her to the stage of tolerating short journeys. Unfortunately, it wasn't a quick cure and took months.
We started with just getting in the car and sitting in it for a few minutes. Gradually increasing the time as she got more comfortable/less stressed. As TD is jumping straight out, I presume you start with rewarding for jumping in and try to increase the time he stays there.
Step 2 is sitting in the car with the engine running, but not moving.
Step 3 is going on a very short journey. It should probably be a few yards forward and then back again. We did a three minute drive to the sea front. It took a few months for P to stop panting and stressing on that journey.
Step 4 was gradually increasing the length of the journey. I started by adding a trip around the block onto the journey. That took a while, as P started stressing as soon as we turned left out of our road instead of right.
She can still only cope with half an hour at the most. Any longer than that and she gets very stressed, panting and continually turning in circles.

Could you try TD on the back seat instead of in the boot to see if that helps? It might bethe boot that frightens him rather than the car.

@LandSharksAnonymous P will be on crate rest for as long as possible. 😂 She's not allowed to jump on and off the furniture or go up and down the stairs. And she's only allowed in the garden on lead until after her check up on Monday. So it helps with all of that. I originally planned on crating her to protect her from K jumping on her and trying to wrestle to be honest, but at the minute, she wants to be in there anyway.
We're all in tne living room together (and slept in there last night) so she has company. K will occasionally go over and tap on the cage, asking her to come out and play. And then has to make do with annoying N instead. 😂

Glad that P is doing well @SpanielsGalore , eating and toileting normally. She sounds like a good patient, being happy to rest safely in her crate ❤I hope you're doing okay yourself after all the stress of yesterday x

@SpanielsGalore thank you! He happily jumps in and sits for a moment but then he just panics/gets manic and jumps out again, so I think we'll be starting from your step 1. He, and the rest of them, already get treats simply for jumping into the car so that'll be the tough part...

The other day I dragged him to the car and shoved him in the backseat (I stood behind him and held up his chest and manoeuvred him across the car park to the car like a parent helping their child walk). Weirdly, he panted the entire journey home and was clearly very stressed - he's never panted like that in the boot before. So I'm not sure the back seat would work.🙁But I can force him into the back seat and shut the door on him faster than the bloody boot closes. I spent most of today trying to find a car without an automatic tailgate, because they close soooo slowly...and was completely unsuccessful.

Poor K!!! Desperately wants her friend and to play and isn't getting what she wants. And poor N being annoyed 😂How are you doing? Did you sleep okay in the living room?

@LandSharksAnonymous I feel your pain. P used to be such a good traveller. We'd done several trips down to England to visit family and she'd happily snooze on the back seat or sit looking out the window. It's so annoying how dogs are so quick to spook, but it takes forever and a day to help them get over it.
It won't help TD's stress and fear, but could you clip him in so he can't jump out? I have those things that go round the seat head rests and I clip it on their harnesses. Or get a tail gate guard like the Barjo ones? They aren't cheap, but probably less expensive than a new car.

Fortunately I have a sofa bed in the living room, bought when one of my previous dogs, who hated being picked up, couldn't manage the stairs anymore. So I slept quite well. It would have been better if the other two dogs hadn't kept swapping between the dog beds and sofas all night.
I'm doing all right today. I spent yesterday alternating between crying and worrying over P and raging at the insurance company. They sent me an email asking about P's behavioural issues and aggression and threatening to cancel my public liability insurance. Absolute wankers! They've got this from the time I went to the vets and said "She's in pain. She's become anxious and reactive to noise." And by reactive, I meant she hides in a corner and trembles or asks to be picked up. The next entry on her medical file says "All behaviours stopped when on a pain trial." She's never shown any aggression at all, so I don't know where they got that from. The vet nurse who looked after her yesterday said she was a sweetheart. So I banged out a strongly worded reply with lots of capital letters. And now I'll wait for them to refuse to pay the £1300 I owe the vets.

P is doing better. She finally perked up around 2 p.m. and started looking more like herself. She's now happy to have a potter round the garden, but only for a few minutes. Then she drags me back inside and heads straight for the cage. And she's finally just had a drink, so I can stop worrying about her getting dehydrated. 😁

@SpanielsGalore to be honest it's a mark of how stressed/worried I have been that I spent all day looking at boot guards and failed to find the Barjo one's at all and so resulted to new car hunting 😳And also a mark of how I immediately escalate to 'worst case scenario' in that I must have to get a new car...They look perfect though. If Twatdog hasn't managed to unfreak himself out by next weekend I'll invest in one!

That's ridiculous from the insurance company!? I really do hate insurance companies - their only goal seems to be to make everyone miserable and stressed. Who are you with?

So glad P is feeling more herself ❤Perhaps poor K won't have to wait to much longer to get her playmate back and N can finally get some peace 😁

I am glad you're feeling better as well - it's so horrible when they're sick. Even if a vet says 'they'll be okay', you never feel confident they will be until they start to act a bit more like themselves! Will you be back on the sofa-bed tonight?