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. 😂

@YorkshireFelix if i lived near you I’d be asking for his name and number!! That sounds like a steel tbh.

@SpanielsGalore K sounds like Twatdog! Clem is always snapping at him to piss off and he just bounces back - but that could be his single brain cell at work. It’s interesting as I know if another dog did it he’d be a bit bemused - but with Clem, as K does with P, they must know there’s no malice there. In many ways it’s so lovely to know they have that bond and you can really trust them with each other.

How was the vet?! How is P?

Interestingly, on the discussion above re. colours - Satan is ‘sable’. But it just goes to show picking a puppy based on colouring is bloody stupid! See below - Satan when she came to DMum years ago, and Satan now. Her coat is a completely different colour.

I really feel for you @CoubousAndTourmaIet re. Cross breeding to get particular colours! They’ve not done that with Goldies, but there’s a noticeable rise in dodgy backyard breeders who are breeding puppies to have a specific look - and sadly, almost all those dogs are related in some way because the original coat colouring comes from Xanthos Goldies about ten years ago (totally accidental). So they’re breeding dogs who share great-grandparents. Absolutely disgraceful.

We’ve seen a few litters recently (all on Gumtree or Pets4Homes). And of course they’re not KC registered as they were sold by buyers without endorsements…but people still breed them. Essentially, they want the colouring his royal Twattyness has…except with the inbreeding there are bound to be some serious issues, and the Xanthos dogs tend to be high energy on top of that. So they’re ignorant (or stupid - take your pick) buyers, buying dogs prone to issues and significant energy needs. Recipe for disaster.

TBH I’m rather down about people at the moment - had another girl come to us recently needing a rehome. She’s completely fear reactive to kids, not socialised and totally out of control (lunging in excitement, mouthing, barking, shadow chasing, resource guarding). I just don’t know why people get dogs and then neglect them so much.

@thenewaveragebear1983 hi! Welcome! Your girl is stunning 😊

@LandSharksAnonymous Satan looks very pretty, dressed as a reindeer. 💖

Poor girl would have been prime puppy farm fodder back in her day. I don't know if sable is so popular nowadays, but there was a time sable puppies would go for double the price of other colours. It's marketed as rare and unique, yet it's not even an official cocker colour. People are mugs.

That's so sad about the GR girl. Will she be in foster for a while, so someone can work on her issues? A lot of those behaviours sound stress related, so will hopefully decrease in a calmer home. Shadow chasing is quite a difficult one to resolve though, I think.

K is quite resilient. Nothing seems to bother her too much. She was bit surprised by P. I think she might have retaliated, but I'd already scooped P up so she just carried on her merry way.
They're a funny pair. P has always let K take everything off her. Sometimes she makes it hard to get and makes K work for it. But now K is older, if P wants to keep something, she'll give K a look and K will keep her distance.

The check up at the vets went well. P's wound is healing nicely and she's now allowed to go for two walks a day of 15 - 20 minutes. We'll see how we go with that though. She still only does a couple of minutes in the garden before wanting to come back inside. And she's hardly weight bearing at all on her bad leg. I'm going to keep her crated as much as possible for another week or she'll be pogoing at the gates and running around with K.
On the downside, she sat trembling in the waiting room, which she's never done before. And she was cowering in the car when we got home. So looks like we're back to square one there.

@thenewaveragebear1983 Welcome to the group/thread. Your girl looks lovely. Although I think we are in danger of labs overtaking cocker spaniels now. 😂

@SpanielsGalore Satan's beauty masks the evil soul that lurks beneath😂She was definitely used for breeding (and almost certainly a puppy farmer tbh). Given how much her coat has changed in the few years DMum has had her...anyone who bought puppies from her litters based off the colouring came a bit unstuck (some sort of karma for supporting a bad breeder?). DMum dropped her off at my house this morning and every time I glance up from my laptop, she's creeping around the door (just her head is visible) staring at me. It's rather off-putting. I feel slightly like I am being judged.

She's in foster but it'll definitely be a long time before we can put her up for adoption - six/seven months at a minimum. We're incredibly lucky that (sort of like Spaniel Aid and the rescue you foster for) we have people who are incredibly experienced in managing the breed.

Bless K for knowing the boundaries. And P for having 'the look'😁Clem and Hen have that 'look.' So glad P's check up went well and she's on the mend❤It sounds hard that her leg still isn't 100% and she's now scared of the vets and the car 🙁Perhaps once she has a few 'nice' journeys in the car she'll be okay?Or is that wishful thinking from me?

Twatdog leaped voluntarily onto the backseat of my car this morning. So it looks like (touch wood) that whatever freaked him out is now a distant memory...although he still won't get in the boot. He's also been demanding his rights to come further up the bed for snuggles the last few nights and has been falling asleep with his head on my chest - so he's definitely a bit worried by something. But he's still going on long walks, playing with Pen and Eris, eating - everything - and seems very happy in himself. Sigh. I do worry about him. He really is quite the precious little prince. But he needs to get a grip soon because I don't think Hen is going to let him get away with shoving her out the way forever...

@CoubousAndTourmaIet as I know you're lurking... https://www.facebook.com/groups/freedomangelsanimalrescuecyprusandromania/posts/1810084169607668/

Got to think that documentary on them (or mentioning of their name in the documentary) was pretty damning for a rebuttal statement like that?

I was pondering whether to warn of the "guard dog" cross thing. But there have been one or two take exception at me before, so trying to bite my tongue.
You know as well as I do that half of these "rescues" are being puppy farmed to order. Plus, as you rightly say, the child is too young for any rescue. I saw you had your head bitten off again 🙄

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I did! Although I do think I touched a nerve pointing out the BBC Documentary... 😀

I'm never going to forget my colleague overseas finding her own dog - stolen out of her back garden - at one of these 'foreign rescues.' I didn't like them before, but when I realised the stories about puppy farming and stealing family pets were true, I was pretty horrified. I don't know why, but I tend to find people who 'rescue' from overseas seem to be quite militant in a way people who rescue from UK centres aren't?

Couldn't comment on the documentary @LandSharksAnonymous , because I didn't see it and I'm not on facebook. But I've seen enough articles about these dogs - and heard a few stories first hand - to know that many of these charities are not as they appear... There are also people who brag about the dna of their dogs and there are unlikely breeds like Tibetan Mastiff and Cane Corso cropping up in some, mixed with greyhounds or similar. They are true mongrels. If people have experience of large powerful breeds then fine (though rather them than me tbh), but an unsuspecting person with a young child getting a "pet" dog that is a volatile mix of guarding, fighting and hunting breeds is an accident waiting to happen.

As to these rescue types being militant, I agree, that's a good way of putting it. Some, I also feel are rather desperate because they've already been turned down by UK rescues and importing feels like an easy option. They are all, without exception, incredibly naive as to the origins of these dogs, and the traffickers of these "rescues" are preying on them just as the UK puppy farmers do with their doodles.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I was sent a link to it by a colleague in Bucharest (she spends half her time dealing with UK Nationals who have flown out to these rescue centres and want advice on bringing a dog home - even though it's nothing to do with the UK Government...).

I agree, it really is risky. I just wish more people really understood the dangers they are running (says she, having four dogs all which currently weigh about the same as DD1 and more than DD2)😁

How is Brie doing? I don't know if the weather is as bad up North (not that you're that far North) as it is down South but it's so bloody warm here! I haven't had to put the heating on at all and the thermostat says 19.5 😡

It's not cold at all in the Midlands, although cooler than the weekend when it was 19 degrees and wall to wall sunshine. We did a 14km loop from home with a coffee and cake stop.

Only a couple more weeks where I can still get out for daylight walks after work though :-( We've done a lovely 5k loop this evening

@tizwozliz you're not allowed to mention the C word ( @SpanielsGalore orders!) 😅...but what sort of coffee, out of interest? (Spaniels - just pretend you can't read this coffee chat) 😀And what sort of cake?

Your labs really are in lovely condition 😍

Honestly! I think coffee is mentioned more often than dogs. 🙄 😂

People are just so naive about dogs @LandSharksAnonymous , I'm continually shocked by some of the puppy threads here, where you can see the red flags a mile off, but the OP still imagines it'll be happy ever after.

Can't pass judgement on your 4 Goldens after me having three adult Pyries in a 3 bed semi with a fairly tiny garden 😬 It was actually fine, but I still wouldn't feel equipped to take on one of these Romanian "rescues". They're a world away from your dogs and ours - you have your daughters to consider and I have my cats. Any rescue would be too risky for me, although if we had more outdoor space and no close neighbours I would consider fostering rescue Pyreneans.

We're doing nicely weather wise, Sunday was lovely for Brie, at about 9 degrees, we're averaging 12-14 most days currently. No heating on at all as yet, still 17 indoors, but Milady is okay with that. She had two good walks today, just local and we seemed to bump into umpteen different neighbours on our second wander out. She's definitely getting a bit better at waiting politely without arsing about, so tiny bits of progress being made all the time.

Not by me! Nor cake. I'm a tea and porridge person 😁

How is P this evening?

I had carrot cake (gluten free) which was excellent, coffee was just average, but for somewhere walkable from the front door it's decent enough.

Unfortunately the holy grail of great coffee (most good places locally serve 200 degrees) great gluten free food and drinks and on a good dog walking route closed earlier this year.

@SpanielsGalore tell us about P then 😁Fingers crossed she's feeling better now

@CoubousAndTourmaIet - I think people just think everything will turn out fine, and it really doesn't. Even when they're adults, sometimes it just goes incredibly and stressfully wrong and there's nothing you can do but just keep working on it. Dogs don't just sit there being perfect (except Hen, she's perfect and will always be perfect).

Do you think you'd need be able to foster because of your smaller garden? I have to say one of our best fosterers has only a courtyard garden - lots of places probably would exclude him, but he's so experienced with Goldies and in particular with resource guarding that we'd be foolish to say no to him!

Sounds like Brie might (dare we say it?!) be growing up a bit and maturing into the dog you know she'll one day be? It's so hard when they're so big and so young because every day there's progress, but it never feels like quite enough and then one day they're suddenly an adult dog with an adult brain. God I wish I lived near you. The weather sounds perfect 😍I've still got the patio doors open and we're all outside scandanavian style with blankets on our laps.

Ohh @tizwozliz I do love a bit of carrot cake. Mostly because I can kid myself that it's healthy because it contains carrot 😂Oh no! Do you know why it closed? Just not enough business?

I'm a bit worried about near me tbh. We have new coffee shops popping up all the time but, the one bit of good news, Costa and Nero have closed and the local, smaller, ones seem to keep going.

Edit: I butchered the spelling of scandanavian

I don't think we'd be able to foster here @LandSharksAnonymous , especially now I no longer have my parents as back up. They helped out massively when we had three dogs. We also have a lot of close neighbours, and considering the issues we're having with next door's collie barking at all hours (3.45 this morning), I'm even more conscious of noise than before. It helps hugely at the moment, that Brie is our quietest PMD by miles.
If we could ever afford to go detached/more rural/larger garden then we could look at PMD/Maremma or Estrela rescue with a view to fostering. But we'd need a lottery or premium bond win first.

Nope! Not tempting fate by saying she's maturing, if I dare utter anything of the sort she'll be a demon child tomorrow for sure. But second walk today was really good 😊

Closed due to owner ill health unfortunately. I'm now on the search for some gluten free churros elsewhere. It was the first cafe we visited with little pup. She behaved like an angel as always

P is doing alright. She still only goes in the garden for a few minutes before dragging me back inside. But she screamed the place down when she heard me getting ready to take K for a walk. Hopefully we'll manage another five days of crate rest.

Her leg is worrying me. She's hardly weight bearing at all now. You can see her foot almost hovering above the ground. Somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, I vaguely remember being told they don't recommend resting anymore, but continuing with mild exercise. But I can't remember if that was human medical advice or canine. Does anyone know what's thought to be best these days?

@SpanielsGalore do you think she has FOMO or is she really just keen to get out? Perhaps the lack of exercise is actually doing her leg more harm than good? I'm not sure if it's dog they recommend resting or not...I know with mine I tend to give them a day off after a limp (so not serious) and then they're usually fine.

@tizwozliz ohhh what a cutie!I'll keep my fingers crossed you find somewhere with good churros!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet ah that's fair! It is so much harder without a support network. How did you sleep last night? Better, I hope!? Don't talk to me about Premium Bonds - I am possibly the most bitter, unhappy, owner of premium bonds in history. DH win's every sodding month and I have won diddly squat.

@LandSharksAnonymous It's definitely FOMO. She's fine the rest of the time.
That's what I was thinking about her leg. I was 'resting' her before, but that only meant no walks. She still had freedom of movement around the house and garden. Since being on crate rest, her leg has got worse. I'll take her for the two short walks today to get some movement back into the joint.

I don't think small gardens prohibit you from fostering. You just need a secure space to be able to let the dog outside. My garden walls are too low to be allowed to adopt. But I was approved to foster, as long as I kept them on lead in the garden.
As it turned out, N isn't a problem. It's the blooming smallest one that escapes. 🙄

I plan on fostering once P and K are no longer with me and I'm too old to get another dog of my own.

This is how I drank my coffee this morning (sorry not sorry for mentioning the c word again), under 47kg of dogs

@tizwozliz Aren't your legs cold? 😂

I've never been a lab person, but I love seeing photos of yours, and of Pablo and Rory. They all look lovely and healthy. I've realised my judgement has been based on being surrounded by overweight show type labs back in England.

Same!! I am now a lab fan since being on here. You look very cosy @tizwozliz, I’m currently drinking my coffee with V curled up next to me like a little hot water bottle. He must be touching me at all times 😄

@SpanielsGalore I would prob do the same re P’s leg and doing some short walks to get her moving. I’d assume it’s because she’s been on rest for so long too. Hopefully that will help her a bit.

I think I’ve got Covid (retro!) and so has dd. Dh was really poorly last week too and dd has been very up and down so has had two random days off school last week and another today. Dh has been walking V this week but only has time to do short walks round the village so I’m going to muster up the energy to drive down to the playing field and let him have a run about. It will be quiet so I shouldn’t come near anyone else to pass on my lurgy.

A couple of times last week when I was walking him in the evening, he’s been spooked by random people also walking in the dark and has growled and barked at them!! Which I am obviously not happy about and need to nip in the bud. DH said he did it loads on his walk last night too so seems to be getting worse. It’s only when it’s dark - he’s never done it in the daytime. The first time was a woman came round the corner and appeared behind us but she had her hood up and I think it scared him, so I don’t know if it stems from that? Sorry I should prob be writing this on the adolescent thread but I think it’s died a death. I’m not sure what’s the best way to approach it. I do have a 1-1 with his trainer on Saturday (unless I need to cancel because of illness) so I can also ask her.

I remember thinking when big pup was small that she'd grow too big to sit on the footstool between my legs like that. Then we got little pup and they managed to both squeeze on and I thought she'd grow too big to allow them both to fit on but they still manage when the mood takes them. Heating came on this morning and the radiator is right next to me so it's lovely and cosy.