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. 😂

@LandSharksAnonymous OMG I don't even want to imagine what noises Eris was making whilst abusing her half brother if it's worse than the slurping. 🤮🤮

@VanGoSunflowers Hello. Nice to see you here. Hope Pablo is still behaving and being his handsome self.
I've booked to see a vet next Monday for P's check up, so will discuss leg options then. Although watching her walking today, I was ready to book her in this week.

There's a trilogy before the Six of Crows duo and another duo after it @VanGoSunflowers , so you've sort of started in the middle, but it doesn't really matter because they focus on different characters within the world.

It's difficult to say which series I preferred. Grishaverse has slight steampunk elements, guns etc, a sort of airship/flying machine, whereas Throne of Glass is far more of a traditional sword and sorcery epic. I could say Leigh Bardugo might arguably have a wider appeal to non-fantasy readers than Sarah Maas does. I'm not sure the romantasy tag does SM any favours though, because when I persuaded my chap to read both series, despite his hatred of romance, he considered Sarah Maas the better writer. They are definitely both worth a read, but with TOG it is vital to read them in order or it makes no sense.

Going off to read the preview of Alchemised now! Intrigued...

@SpanielsGalore thank you, he is still relatively well behaved and extremely handsome 😀
I’m sorry to hear her walking isn’t great still! And what a pain the first X-ray pics weren’t clear enough! I think you will need a holiday as soon as you can get one!

@LandSharksAnonymous hope things have settled down a bit at work for you! Sounds stressful. I must have missed the post about the ‘slurping’ 😂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I do enjoy steam punk vibes! The Shadow and Bone series has a Netflix adaptation I think? Have you seen it and is it worth watching? I have had to turn film versions of books off before now to preserve the book characters in my head!
The preview of Alchemised definitely intrigued me but it was one of the first reviews someone had left on Amazon that made me really want to read it! It’s supposed to be heartbreaking and very moving.

I was tucked up in my gothic castle again last night buried in Crooked Kingdom. I cant tell you how glad I am to be able to concentrate on a book again!

Hope everyone else is good this morning along with all the stunning doggos!

Good morning 😊

I hope everyone had a good night. Our girlie is all calm and warm and snuggly as usual; she never jumps up tail waggy and excited first thing, she's just so relaxed it's unreal ❤ Wish we could add videos here, we made one of her eating bucatini last night 😂 it's very cute!

No @VanGoSunflowers , I haven't seen the Netflix adaptation of Shadow & Bone, I'd like to, but then they axed it without it being completed and I think I'd find that frustrating, so I don't know...

If you enjoy a Steampunk vibe you might enjoy Melissa Caruso's books - I should possibly also recommend those to @LandSharksAnonymous for her DD because they are less "spicy" than the later books in Throne of Glass.
Melissa Caruso has two trilogies - Swords and Fire is the first, then Rooks and Ruin comes after. Quite gothic and dark with definite steampunk elements and I really enjoyed them. I bought them as bundles on Ebay (same with the Shadow & Bone trilogy and Throne of Glass boxed set), it often works out cheaper doing that.

@VanGoSunflowers I did watch the Netflix adaptation - I wasn't impressed. But then I also through House of the Dragon was crap and so was the Rings of Power...and they seem to be really popular, so my judgement on what is/isn't good might be skewed.

You absolutely did not miss much by missing the slurping post 😀

I'm a bit better about work. Although I do sometimes despair at HR...it's like they just have no understanding of reality.

@SpanielsGalore She's stopped it now! Thankfully.

@tizwozliz how long will the squeak last? I've had to stop giving those sorts of toys to my lot as they rip the squeaker out and eat it...then puke it up

Very quiet night for us. Eris smarmed her way into DD1s room. Hen took herself off to DD2s room - possibly because Twatdog and Pen were wrestling on my bed and she wanted quiet...and Clem. Well. Clem curled up in a ball and pretended none of us exist.

Lovely brisk walk this morning in the cold though. Nothing beats an autumnal walk. 😍

Lovely walk? What? Torrential rain here yet again.

This one has turned into a proper stroppy arsed Pyrie now after a very quiet puppyhood. Just had a mega tantrum because I went upstairs with a bundle of washing 🙄

@LandSharksAnonymous - once older one decides she wants the squeaker out it takes 5 mins, but she'll generally then bring it to me for swapsies. So far they've shown no sign of destruction.

We've been to our favourite dog forest this morning. It is quite limited where dogs are allowed off leash over here but they have large fenced areas that are free to use of varying quality/interest. Didn't see a soul, the colours are lovely right now.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet what does a Brie tantrum look like!?

Rain sounds quite nice. Rainy walks = no people out, which is always nice 😀

@tizwozliz how did you manage to raise retrievers that don't destroy!? Tell me your secrets.

It's Pen's birthday on the 1st, and I've turned into that person who is wondering whether I buy her a nice doggy birthday cake. It's Twatdog's birthday a few days later and I've already got him a new sex-elephant (coincidentally), so I feel Pen needs something...

I've turned into one of those owners.😂

Little pup has never really destroyed a single thing in her life. No specific training, she was born an angel 😇

Older one it's 50/50 with toys. They either last 5 minutes or they don't get destroyed. I've never been able to ascertain which way it will go.

A Brie tantrum is loud squeaky barks @LandSharksAnonymous , standing very square with legs wide apart and head right up, then you get "the look". It cracks me up because she still resembles that 8 week old puppy 😂

We got soaked again. Thought we'd do a loop in between showers but, inevitably, as soon as we reached the furthest point from home, the heavens opened 🙄 Now she's gone all grey and curly.

Got my insurance renewals through for both cockers.
P age 4 has gone up by £8.08 a month to £38.83.
K age 1 has gone up by £4.54 a month to £26.78.

Can't complain. I've claimed at least £2k for P this year and about £150 for K.

That's pretty good @SpanielsGalore .
I'm paying £63.94 for one and not made any claims.

How is P today? And what's your weather been like? Very squally here.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet P's doing well. We're both bored of the lead and the body suit. Four and a half days to go.
It's been a lovely day up here - sunny, but chilly.

@LandSharksAnonymous Keep meaning to ask - how is TD with the car now?

Today I've learned that in Danish you don't walk your dog, you air them 😁

That's funny. I suppose people over here used to say they were going to 'take the air'. Or is that only posh people in period dramas? 😂

In Scotland instead of having a dog neutered, you have them dressed. The first time someone asked me "Is he dressed?" I thought they'd lost the plot, as you could quite clearly see he hadn't got a coat on.

@SpanielsGalore that's definitely not too bad on renewals!

Oh he's absolutely fine with the car now - he jumped right into it (back seat) this morning for our walk in the rain. He did eye up the boot but I didn't want to push him and him not be ready and have to go back into the drama of hoisting him into the boot.

I am drenched. Lovely walk though. 90 minutes and I didn't see a single person. And DDs walked Eris to school (90 minutes is too long for her and when it's wet I don't want to carry her) where DMum and Satan picked her up. She will be returned at lunch...hopefully with coffee and cake. 😍

@CoubousAndTourmaIet bless Brie! Twatdog has a high squeak as well and looks up! Does she bounce from side to side?

More up and down @LandSharksAnonymous like a little hop with the front paws, then stands staring right at you with head slightly tilted. She is comical, and not the least bit intimidating compared to our others.
She has funny little rituals that have me in stitches; every night when I ask if she's ready for supper, she clambers onto the sofa for a 5 minute cuddle, but the expressions just start me giggling. Then when she goes out for last wee, always climbs onto the bench, then steps onto the garden table, so I stand beside her, then she leans on me and puts her head on my shoulder. She is totally hilarious. So much character ❤

Very pleased that Twatdog is doing better with the car x

@CoubousAndTourmaIet oh bless Brie! She really is full of character isn't she!? Complete opposite of my bunch when it comes to food though - if I tried to cuddle mine before food I'd be left cuddling thin air 😩

Three posters called me knowledgable on the resource guarding thread.

I feel like I've made it 😀Never known so many people agree with me before! Off to eat some celebratory cake (coffee and walnut - sorry to those of you who hate nuts in cake and to @SpanielsGalore who hats coffee...)

@LandSharksAnonymous Who'd have thought you knew what you were talking about? 😂
I was glad you didn't jump to PTS like half of the posters. It's clearly an anxious, mis-managed dog
And as for cocker rage! FFS Surprised they didn't ask if it was red first. 🙄

And I have high cholesterol, so all cake is banned. 😭

@SpanielsGalore no cake!??!?! What about biscuits!?

I very rarely think a dog should be PTS (outside of old age or suffering).

I do think that a lot of people do irreparable harm to their dog through - as you say - mismanagement, but also just by getting dogs they are fundamentally not suited to. And whilst that dog is still in that environment, it will never be able to improve. Resource guarding is one of those things, I have found, where the environment has a massive impact on the dogs chance to improve and/or live a happy life. It is genuinely incredible how many dogs resource guarding, or other issues, do improve significantly in a new environment.

Cocker Rage.🙄Tell me you know nothing about dogs, without telling me you know nothing about dogs! 😁

It had to be done @LandSharksAnonymous !!!
What's baffling is that there's a name on there that I recognise from every dog hate thread that has ever been. As a childless woman, I wouldn't dream of going onto the baby and toddler boards to give my two pennorth, but seemingly the anti-dog people jump on Doghouse threads just to scream PTS! It's very weird.

I had to say something because, while I have no personal experience of RG I just don't think it could escalate to that point overnight. There has to be some level of avoidance or denial, surely?
But then... my breed is supposedly prone to RG (which I genuinely didn't know until I looked it up just now after being on that thread😱) so, um...yeah, I feel like I've been winging it all these years with my lot and it was probably a case of 'where ignorance is bliss' 😬So I should probably 🤐 about RG as I have frequently been told on various threads.

Awww, high cholesterol is miserable @SpanielsGalore . My chap had it for a while and we had to overhaul his diet.

@LandSharksAnonymous My sprocker came to me aged 7 months with a history of resource guarding and biting. He never displayed either of those issues with me. He guarded because he was in a very stressful situation and it was something he could control.
I'm convinced his first few stressful months caused his IBD. He'd already lived in six different homes by the time he came to me. Bought by someone who couldn't cope and surrendered him to rescue at 16 weeks. Rehomed, which failed after two months. And lived with three fosterers.

No cake. No biscuits. But more importantly, no chocolate or wine! I did ask what the bloody point of living was. 😂
The doctors invited me along to a health check clinic, screening for heart disease so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I weigh the same as I did 8 years ago, but I have shrunk nearly 2cms. Blood pressure was fine. She said cardio they like to be under 10 and mine was 1.6. So everything was good except my cholesterol was a little high. So no sugary or fatty foods or drinks for three months and then they'll retest. So glad I went. 😂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Would that be the bird person who had to post twice to make their point?
Alternatively none of your dogs have resource guarded because you know what you are doing. 😊

Not the bird one, though I may have seen her before, but the one with two female names together - she's pretty notorious on the anti-dog threads.

I'm never sure if I've just been lucky with mine, but they've all had a lot of trust in us and it definitely makes a difference, as you saw with your rescued sprocker. What a lousy start he had, poor little chap.

It didn't take long for us to address the cholesterol issue, I'm sure you'll be fine if your other tests were all good. It might just be a blip x