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. 😂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I dunno, I think this might need to be one of those we'll need to agree to disagree ones! Any dog (regardless of size/age/sex/breed) that is lunging and snapping at wildlife that has run past them as a result of being over-stimulated is an issue IMO. Plenty of my dogs get over-stimulated in fields - Twatdog chief amongst them - but none of them have ever felt the need to snap at another dog that gets too close to them, or at any wildlife.

And the OP failed to see any issue with her dog chasing cats, so I'm not entirely sure I'd trust her judgment of whether her dog was friendly if she thinks that sort of behaviour is okay...

@SpanielsGalore She was actually one of the first weened completely, so it is a touch odd she's so obsessed with Twatdog's private parts. But he does spend a lot of time inspecting it, so maybe she's just curious? 😂

Ahhh! You've been unfairly maligning K! Poor K. 😁

I do know what you mean 🙁We all absolutely love Satan, and wouldn't want to be without her, but there is no denying that life will be a lot easier when she does pass. She's a tough little nut, and after all she's been through I don't blame her for being grumpy, but I do sometimes catch DMum looking at the girls (not twatdog - he's a git) and I know she wishes Satan wasn't so difficult, even though she adores her. But we do love Satan. Warts (literally) and all.

I suppose you're right @LandSharksAnonymous , I did take issue with cat chasing being allowed. Although I know the GSD has prey drive, given that it's pastoral, technically a herder, I wouldn't have expected the prey drive to actually be that strong in all honesty... So you're probably right that the dog had some significant issues.

I nonetheless took exception to the suggestions of muzzling every dog bigger than a Lab, whether aggressive or not.

@LandSharksAnonymous I know that feeling. I used to look at other families on the beach with their dogs and think "That's what life should have been like".

I shall stay out of the muzzle debate. I have dogs that chase and catch wildlife, but I am not going to muzzle them. They don't snap at other dogs or people.

We had a very odd dog encounter on our walk just now.
It was one of our regular circular routes close to home, on a footpath that goes across the fields and out onto a lane. The start of the footpath runs past the side of a pub with seating outside. There was a woman sitting there with a dog on a harness. So we calmly approached to turn left onto the path, which is before the pub. We were probably 10 metres away when the woman suddenly got up and started walking towards us, and the dog just went completely ballistic. Up on its back legs, straining at the lead, barking, growling, snarling at Brie who didn't make a sound. The woman stood there glowering at me as if my dog was the issue. WTF?! It wasn't a tiny thing for once, it was an adult Boxer, but her behaviour was just bizarre and quite threatening.
If you have a highly reactive dog, why would you deliberately walk towards someone approaching with a bigger dog?
It was just really weird.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet It never ceases to amaze me that people with reactive dogs walk towards or closely follow people whilst their dog continues to react. Regardless of the stress and annoyance to other people, do they not care about the stress they are causing to their own dog?
What a good girl Brie is though, ignoring him. 💖

@CoubousAndTourmaIet That particularly Poster does seem to be a bit anti-dog for someone who spends time on a dog thread!

Maybe the woman with the boxer thought she would try and do some de-sensitisation training and just mucked up? I've definitely seen people advocate on The Doghouse that people should take their reactive dogs towards other dogs to help de-sensitise them 😤

@SpanielsGalore Ah, but as you say your dogs aren't snapping at people or dogs going past are they? So it's very different, I think (at least to me). It's one thing to have a prey-drive, it's another to have a prey-drive and show aggressive behaviour (whether that's because of fear or not)...plus yours are too busy being sweethearts to do anything naughty like chase cats (they prefer dear 😁)

Brie is a big wimp @SpanielsGalore , she ignores anything that barks at her. She only likes quiet ones like herself.
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It just baffled me because it wasn't as if she walked past us @LandSharksAnonymous , she just walked towards us, the dog went nuts, then immediately we went past she turned around to go back to where she was originally sitting, which was further away from us. Very odd behaviour. She was more intimidating than the dog tbh 😬
I don't actually mind boxers, there's been two in our family, including a big ugly white one that looked terrifying but was the daftest dog that ever lived (though sadly also the smelliest).

Hello, new to this group, we have 4 dogs all with some kind of 'spaniel' in them, all rescues ...

@Lightuptheroom Welcome to the group. You can never have too many spaniels. 😁I have two cockers and a springer.

Thanks, 2 springs,1 cocker and a very large cockerpoo

@CoubousAndTourmaIet people are very odd, I’ve decided. I prefer dogs. She sounds like a bit of a nob though - i definitely think it’s dodgy socialisation attempts from her for her dog!

There’s a dog on my train this morning and I keep looking at it and smiling - its owner must think I’m a total nutter. It’s adorable though. I think it’s a Cockerpoo, but it’s more cock than poo. Quite old as well. But the way it’s staring up at its daddy just makes my heart melt. 😍There is something about a dog that’s utterly devoted to their human.

Hello and welcome @Lightuptheroom I'm sure you'll fit in well - all three threads are quite gundog orientated, with spaniels aplenty (almost typed spaniels galore before I realised 😂).

What's the weather like up there this morning @SpanielsGalore ? Are you expecting Storm Amy or is it heading up the west coast? We're under two weather warnings now, for rain and wind from this afternoon, right through tomorrow. Ironically, we're supposed to be having family visiting tomorrow 🙄

Not sure @LandSharksAnonymous , generally if it's an attempt to socialise, people will ask if your dog is friendly. This felt more hostile, but it was definitely just a grumpy boxer, not a bully cross or an American bulldog or anything of that nature. Ironically the local Bully XL is a big softie. Anyway, hopefully the dog yesterday was just someone stopped off at the pub rather than being a local dog that we'll bump into on walks. I wouldn't like to encounter it off the lead.

Train dog sounds very sweet. There's nothing else like that bond. Speaking of which, have you managed to claim Eris back from your older daughter yet, or is your loyalty back with Twatdog?

Edited for typo.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I’m going to let her bond with DD1. Ultimately, if she wants DD1 I won’t stand in their way - although I’ll keep an eye on DD2 as I know she’ll be a bit upset.

Twatdog will be delighted though! More space on the bed for him and, most importantly, undivided attention from mummy who had so cruelly been giving attention to the winky- sucking interloper. 😂I try not to play favourites with my dogs, but I do utterly adore Twatdog. I think part of that is simply because whilst my girls are so smart, he’s just a total idiot. I caught him stargazing last night - literally just laying on his back, in the pouring rain, staring up at the stars.

Fingers crossed you don’t have to see them again! It’s interesting it was a boxer though as the dog that went for Eris the other day was also a boxer, and I’ve had a few bad experiences with them recently…

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Morning. 😊 It was very windy last night, but now it is the calm before the storm. It's due to hit us at 3pm and last until midnight on Saturday. (I never know if that means the beginning or end of the day.) We're also on a power cut warning, so the torches are charged and the logs brought inside ready for a fire.
If I disappear, I'll be sitting in a spot light trying to boil a saucepan of water on top of the log burner. 😂

Oh I understand @LandSharksAnonymous When we had our trio, Merlin was still "babykins" to me because the girls were both more self-contained, independent beings. He was a sweet, gentle stargazy type like Twatdog. So will this mean pressure from DD2 for another litter, so she can claim one as her own...🤔But I'd presume that will mean waiting for a child of Eris.

Hmmm, can't help wondering about the boxer thing, as to whether it's becoming a breed of choice for a certain type of owner. There were under 3,000 registered last year which isn't a lot compared to cockers and Labs, so you wouldn't immediately think puppy farm/overbreeding. It's a shame for the breed if it's heading the way of being aggressive/reactive.

They're saying until 23.59 Saturday for us @SpanielsGalore , just to cover themselves. Although we're not rural/remote, we get quite a lot of power outtages too because we're up a hill at the edge of the moors. We'll be filling flasks with boiling water and bringing some logs in. We've also done a saucepan on the fire before now. One year we ended up cooking pasta for our Christmas lunch on a camping stove in the back garden, because the power went off on Christmas morning and only came back on in the evening. It was actually quite fun, but I doubt the turkey eaters around us would have agreed.

Anyway, I hope you stay safe and warm x

@CoubousAndTourmaIet 23:59 is much clearer. I'm not particularly rural. I live in an old fishing village on the coast, about five miles from the nearest town. But as you move inland, there are lots of wooded areas. The falling trees regularly bring the power cables down. I've been lucky as my longest power cut has been 8 hours. Some people have lost power for 3 days.
My DD lives in Ireland. Her water system uses electricity. When she had a power cut for two days, they couldn't even flush their toilets! I've just reminded her to fill the bath up, just in case.

You've been lucky @SpanielsGalore , we've been off for longer than that on numerous occasions. We're also only about 5 miles from a town, but because we're on a hill, right at the edge of the moors, it's quite exposed. We get crazy winds. We have a 12 foot dog kennel/shed thing in the back garden and one time the wind lifted it and slammed it back into the hedge - there's normally a 3 or 4 foot gap behind it. That was a bit scary. Fortunately, the dogs have never slept in it and we now just use it for wood storage.

Rural Ireland is a completely different matter though. I hope your daughter and her family stay safe if this storm hits where they are.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet At my old house, we lost the roof off our summer house. The wind ripped it off, flipped it over and dropped it in the woods behind us. I've been a bit nervous of strong winds ever since. With saying that, I wouldn't mind some more of the trees between my house and the sea coming down so I get a better view.
DD isn't rural. She's in a fairly large town not far from Dublin. No idea why their water system uses electricity to pump it round. They had to send trucks round to supply everyone with water last time.

The weather is deteriorating very quickly here. I somehow don't think we'll be venturing out for an afternoon walk.

Our evening walk has been round pets at home and decathlon, and a bit of waiting outside Ikea 😀

Hello @Lightuptheroom! Even the non-spaniel owners on here (of which I am one, I have a Lab) love Spaniels so you’re in good company 😊

Hope the weather didn’t cause too much damage for anyone and there were no power cuts or fallen trees!
What a strange experience with that Boxer @CoubousAndTourmaIet! Hopefully you won’t have to cross paths again!

Seeing as this thread is not about coffee, I will not tell you all that I opened a bag of freshly roasted beans this morning and had one of the most perfect coffees ever this morning 😂

I think I may be making some progress with Pablo ignoring dogs! After swapping to the other field on account of all the bread (posted about that on the puppy thread) we had to navigate several other dogs and each time, Pablo stopped and looked at me after spotting them. I said “no” and he carried on walking with me! Fingers crossed it wasn’t a fluke!

@SpanielsGalore How is P getting on?
@tizwozliz I hope whomever was inside Ikea whilst you were outside brought you some meatballs 😂

@VanGoSunflowers I am glad you didn't share your coffee story. Just imagining the smell would have put me off my cup of tea.

What a good boy Pablo is. It's lovely when all your hard work and training pays off.

P is much the same. Still standing awkwardly, quiet and clingy. I guess I give it another week and phone the vet if there is no improvement. 🤷‍♀️ She said two to three weeks on low fat food.

Still very windy here. There are trees down on the main road and a few in the village. And I think I have lost a tile off the roof. Hopefully it dies down soon so I can take K out today.

Good Morning All

I hope everyone is coping with the storm. The weather warning for us was supposed to end at midnight, but it's almost as bad this morning - still crazy wind, heavy showers and we have a sodden garden littered with plant debris.

Our visitors were going to cancel but ventured out anyway, so we had a lovely afternoon. Brie was overexcited initially but then calmed down. We didn't get a walk because of the wind, but she was pretty happy with some garden play and lots of cuddles. I'm such a worrier about behaviour and health and feeding, so it's massively reassuring that they think all is well with Brie. They do seem to love her very much.

Glad you enjoyed your fresh bean coffee this morning @VanGoSunflowers , I'll bet it smelt heavenly - I do appreciate the smell of ground coffee despite no longer being able to drink it.

And yes, I very much hope not to encounter scary woman with boxer again!

No meatballs and cruel person that I am, I made them stand outside where they could see people eating hotdogs! But truthfully, they were happy with the fusses they got. They'd already had a good time clearing up spilt kibble from under the pets at home shelves.

We are going swimming later at a lido, end of season thing where they let dogs in.

Glad you survived relatively unscathed @SpanielsGalore - I was thinking about you last night when we saw on the news just how bad it had been in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I hope your daughter fared okay in the south of Ireland also.

Sorry that P is still struggling. Hopefully another week of low fat food will make a difference.