Beyond Adolescence - part 2

[SpanielsGalore]

No point banning coffee, as it didn't work last time. 🙄
Haven't had any cake updates from a while. @VanGoSunflowers Have you stopped baking already? You still had 8 cakes to go to make it economical.

Brie loves all cockers, not just the black ones @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , she'd probably even want to make friends with Satan though I'm guessing it would not be mutual 😆

A drizzly start here this morning. We had a quiet, uneventful walk before lunch.

Apparently, , it’s not unusual for dogs to dislike black dogs, and they stay longer in rescue centres than other coloured dogs as well. Something about not being to read their bodily language .

Regarding pugs etc, Dog is not keen on them either, and I normally give them a wide berth. However, son was in front of me and Dog was in front of him, on a narrow path, so he (the dog, not son) had no where to go, and barked. He usually retreats if unsure.

We meet people reasonably frequently with dogs who don't like black dogs. Or at least the people walking them warn me they don't and then 9/10 the dogs have no reaction to my two. Just like to show their owners up 😂

We once also met a black lab at the vets who was scared of black labs. 😢

Happy New Year to all.

Big pup was woken by the fireworks at midnight and got up for a short time but quickly settled again. Little pup never reacts at all.

I've had a walk with little pup this morning and big pup has done park run, then brunch with friends and now I expect to spend the rest of the day on the sofa.

I’ve heard the black dog thing before too. Boo tends to give other dogs the staffy stare as well, so that doesn’t endear him.

Mixed bag of walks here. Off lead collie bounded up to him yesterday, running round him and barking in his face and he kept focused on me and didn’t react. Today he barked at a woman with an overly furry hood on her coat. Dogs eh?

@Silverbirchleaf @tizwozliz Are we sure it's black dogs?Could be because yours are larger!? I've never heard this black dog myth before (although dimly recall it so maybe someone on MN has mentioned it).

@Silverbirchleaf how have your walks been since? Sorry your DDog was put in that situation though. They do all get a bit worried if they feel penned in.

And hope you enjoyed your sofa day @tizwozliz

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Oh cockers in general are lovely (and I am sure @brushingboots @YorkshireFelix and @SpanielsGalore are all reading this and smiling smugly) but a little black cocker is just ❤That could just be because I'm thinking about the black fur being hidden by my dark carpets in a way Golden fur isn't.

I'm not entirely sure Satan knows what friendship or joy or happiness is. I greeted her this morning as she was on the sofa when I came downstairs and she barked at me! Once I'd fed her and she was done she came over to the sofa and I thought 'ohh this is it, she's going to sit with me.' No. She jumped onto the sofa furthest away, and curled up in a ball and ignored me.

@BackToLurk Oh I love the staffy stare. Always makes dogs intimidated though, even though it's very often not meant to be scary! Brilliant of him not to react in any way to the Collie - mine definitely wouldn't manage that (they'd just flee to me looking worried, or in the older's case just snap).

It's freezing here this morning and there was a very thin layer of snow overnight, so we should have a crispy cold walk when we finally venture out 😀

It's black faces @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , our Anatolian was a Karabash, fawn with a jet black head. Other dogs were always terrified of him, even when he was a young puppy and we heard the same from a few people. Black dog faces are harder to read.

With our PMD, we haven't noticed a colour bias so much as a breed bias though. They have all hated German Shepherds, but been fine with almost everything else. R, F & A would all bark like crazy at GSD but were otherwise silent on a walk. Brie gives GSD a very wide berth but will walk straight past other dogs. She seems to recognise cockers, Goldies and beagles as "nice", pugs, poms, dachshunds etc are invisible to her but GSD are scary. We aren't sure why; the two we see regularly here are both young males, and have shown no aggression towards her, but she will take a course to avoid them both, which she doesn't do with the other large breeds we meet (Dobies, Pointers, Gordon etc). It's a strange thing but definitely breed specific.

Hope you have a lovely walk. No snow here yet.
I'm not sure if I'll get out today - I've been struggling with a sinus infection since last weekend and it took a turn for the worse yesterday. Annoying, because I love cold, dry days and feel compelled to make the most of them, but really had a rough night with my head. I'll see how I feel this afternoon. I'm already dressed, I'm not one for pyjama days even when feeling crappy.

“She seems to recognise cockers, Goldies and beagles as "nice", ”

Yes, Dog (and tbh , me also) also have the same reaction. One trainer said to us that, before you let the dog of a lead, do a quick scan to check out whatever dogs are around. The list above are my green light whilst other dogs may give me an amber or red light. Pugs are definitely on the red light list!

Not done a walk since, and we’ve had a light smattering of snow (unexpected) so maybe delegating today’s walk (hate slippery conditions).

Same here @Silverbirchleaf , we definitely have red, amber, green. Top of my red list at the moment is cockapoos, we're having a lot of negative encounters with them lately and they put fear into me more than anything else does. A lot of them seem to go berserk as soon as they set eyes on another dog, even if it's on the other side of the road.

I worry about slipping over too these days, so I wouldn't blame you for staying indoors.

Good morning all. I made notes yesterday and never got round to posting, so apologies for being behind the times.

@Silverbirchleaf The pug owner was a twat. There was absolutely no need for him to react like that. It doesn't matter if you have the most bombproof dog in the world, you should still show consideration for other walkers.
I've met people on narrow paths or at junctions and we've had simple "I want to go that way" conversations and have manoeuvred our dogs around each other. It's easy to do and doesn't take any extra time out of your day.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks That's interesting about Satan reacting to your DM coughing, but not to you. Perhaps P does care about me after all. 😂 This morning's update of her sitting at the far end of the sofa made me laugh, as P does that too. She's only next to me if she's frightened or ill.

Glad TD is back in your good books. (Although he could be out of them again by now.)

Awwwww. We love LBCs. 💖 That would have been K. She was only 2.5 kg at 8 weeks old, and about 3kg when she went out for her first walks. She's only 8.7 kg now, so probably still not much bigger than TD's head.
My reactive cocker was black, so I wasn't going to have another one that colour. I was persuaded by the breeder to have K rather than the liver boy I initially enquired about. And I am very glad I listened to his advice. Don't tell the others, but she might be my favourite.

You are going to be very disappointed when you see my kitchen. 🙈 It's everything MN hates. Small to medium sized. Glossy white cupboards. Shiny black worktops, not made of quartz. Sink opposite the hob. Carpet on the floor. And (a new one added to the list of hates the other day) oak door frames. Apparently they are dated and should be painted white. Fuck that! Painting door frames and skirting boards is my most hated decorating job, so I was really pleased they were all wooden in this house.
The carpet is being fitted on Wednesday, so I shall photograph it in all its glory then. You might need a before photo, so you can appreciate how good it looks now. 😂

I hope you have a lovely last day of your holiday.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I hope you feel better soon. I've only had sinus problems once and I remember it being extremely painful.

I agree with black dogs being harder to read by other dogs. I was told that many years ago, when I first took my black dog to see behaviourists. The fact he was a complete and utter tool didn't help either. Bless him. 💖

Can't say we have problems with any dogs or specific breeds round here. P used to be terrified of a very rude, adolescent yellow labrador. But he's a bit older now and so obese, he can no longer hassle her.

We didn't get out yesterday, as the weather was awful. I wore my changing robe for trips into the garden. It's surprisingly painful when you are hit in the face by hailstones. 😫
We had a sprinkling of snow last night, but it had cleared up by this morning. So far today we have had hail and lashing rain. And now it is snowing again. Might try and get K out to the woods, where it's a bit more sheltered. It's not great weather for walking the arthritic pair.

ETA - it was so cold here yesterday, K decided to sleep under the quilt so she could feel the benefit of the electric blanket. 😂

Well, ds x2 took Dog out for a walk. All was going well except they met a dog in exactly the same spot as yesterday! Dog was apparently a little nervous, but okay. Different dog to yesterday and a friendlier one.

I shouldn't worry too much @SpanielsGalore Our entire house is the epitome of what mumsnet hates. I suppose the only positive about our kitchen is the size; for a 3 bed terraced it's a massive kitchen. That aside, I really had no idea my home was so dreadful until I came here 😏I'm sure your kitchen will be great to most of us, if not to the mn interior design "experts".

No, I've never had a sinus issue either until now. It's been horrid. It's like having a nasty, unrelenting tension headache/toothache/earache with added snot. Last time I felt this rotten (discounting my twice weekly migraines) was just before the first covid lockdown in March 2020.

I wondered if you'd have snow. Nothing here, we're too far west. When the east of the Pennines has snow, we invariably get rain. That's the problem with the north west in general, never stops raining. It's why I'm going to arm myself with a travel pack of Kleenex and get out with Brie. Hope you manage to get out with K, even if the other two stay warm indoors.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet that's so weird! I have to say I have never noticed this 'black dog' issue so to speak! But mine are like yours and love all equally (except the flat faced breeds and Dachshunds...). They actively avoid flat faced breeds, and Hen has a particular dislike for Dachshunds. But clearly if @Silverbirchleaf is finding similar it's not just ours who have particular breeds they like!

I have to say, if I see an off-lead Pug or Frenchie I will turn around and walk another route now. Too many experiences of my dogs trampling them and the owners being unreasonable has left me unwilling to even risk it. Apparently saying 'your dog attacked mine, so it's not my fault if my dogs trampled yours ' is unconstructive 😳

@SpanielsGalore are we sure P and Satan aren't related given it is very odd behaviour they both exhibit? Although P sounds like a sweetheart and I struggle to believe any relative of Satan's isn't evil in some way, shape or form...so perhaps not.

MN has typically got terrible taste when it comes to anything (other than dogs). Your kitchen sounds great to me! Although not sure I could cope with a carpet...but we do have half a dozen rugs in ours for the dogs to stop them slipping. A rug for each dog is what I joked to DH when he was home in November - poor man nearly had heart failure at the idea of another dog.😂

Poor P and N not being favourites. Although I think everyone knows I have two clear favourites out of mine, so I cannot judge.

We're back from our morning and lunch walks. The cars are basically packed other than the dogs bowls, pyjamas for tonight and clothes for tomorrow + the usual bits like toothbrushes etc. DH and I are leaving at 5am in the hopes we can be on the motorway before it gets busy, so probably an early night today. I was hoping I might have won big on Premium Bonds, but nothing. Sigh.

I hope you have a safe journey home tomorrow @TheHungryHungryLandsharks . It does sound as if you've all had a lovely Yuletide break.

Sadly nothing of significance for us on the PB's this month either, so the move to The Highlands won't be happening just yet.

Okay, getting bundled up to go for a walk now. 2 degrees and sunny, so it should be good for 60-90 minutes of fresh air. Albeit that we won't cover much distance at Brie's pace 🙄

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Currently the kitchen is vinyl flooring, with rugs stuck down on top of it to stop the dogs from slipping. There's only a few inches of vinyl around the edges on show, so I figured going full carpet wouldn't really be much different. 🤷‍♀️
I know it's a big no-no, but I couldn't find anything else suitable for the dogs. Two have arthritis. One has dodgy knees. The other has a missing hip joint. Carpet wouldn't be my first choice, but the dogs come first.

Oh well we are hideously uncool We've always had a carpeted kitchen @SpanielsGalore @TheHungryHungryLandsharks and I make no apology. I know there's a lot of snobbery about carpets but we are carpeted throughout and it's 100% for the dogs benefit.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I remember when carpet squares were the height of fashion for kitchens. You could pick the individual squares up to clean.
The whole of my downstairs will eventually be the same grey carpet that I've had fitted in the living room.
If you look closely at the photo, you can see my hideous wooden door frame and skirting board too. 😁

Indeed. The kitchen had brown carpet tiles when we moved here in 1995 😂 Rosie dug them all up when she was a puppy so we had a carpet fitted. I think the current one is probably the third.

I saw that thread and I was horrified at everyone saying the woodwork must be painted. God, I wouldn't dare show my house, it'd be pulled to pieces on here! I don't think there would be a single thing about my house or garden that would get the mn seal of approval. But then the same goes for my wardrobe, because I like Seasalt 🙄

@CoubousAndTourmaIet You and me both! Why would you paint gorgeous oak frames?! 😱 It made me laugh when someone asked if she was in Scotland. 😂 Apparently it's more acceptable up here. I love natural wood frames and staircases.

My house is decorated to my taste and I don't care if it's not 'in' at the minute. I have feature walls and lots of colour. And I'm thinking of having an oak dado rail put up in the hallway. 😱 I will admit, carpet in the kitchen wouldn't be my first choice. It is totally for the dogs' health benefits.
My garden has been destroyed by the dogs. There are now more holes than lawn. 🙄

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Hope you've had a good journey home.

Thanks @CoubousAndTourmaIet and @SpanielsGalore! We are home and I am already on my second coffee.

Absolute nightmare trying to get to the house though. BIL had been out to grit our driveway yesterday and the bit leading up to it, but the road itself hasn't been gritted. It snowed a bit on Thursday night and thawed then froze overnight last night, so it was a nightmare actually trying to get to the driveway. I ended up mounting the curb when I skidded. But I still made it up the hill and onto the drive. DH loser parked down the hill and had to bring three dogs, and half the bags up the hill. 😀

If it's not thawed better by tomorrow, it looks like two walkless days for the dogs. But I am not going to break my neck trying to walk them. I don't worry so much about them tugging me over but my own ability not to go flying. That being said, I just watched the 80+ year old woman opposite set off with her Westie...

@SpanielsGalore I would have carpet if it wasn't for the fact I am constantly dropping things on the floor! The carpets would be brown and stinky within a week and it would be down to me, hence the cheap rugs that can be easily replaced for the dogs😳

It took me a moment to realise there were two dogs snuggled up in that photos. What cuties 😍

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad you are all home safe and sound. And that it wasn't you that couldn't make it up the hill. I don't know what your DH is like, but mine would have been making 'women drivers' comments for weeks. 🙄

It's snowing here at the minute, but hasn't settled much. I think being coastal helps. Go five miles inland and there's 6 inches of snow.

I'm not so sure the dogs are snuggled up as such. Pretty sure K was chewing on P's ear. 😂

Not a very auspicious start to the day here. A short story for you all.

Got back from the morning walk, stripped off my 89 layers – including everyone's favourite Regatta coat – and discovered that somehow I didn't have my (favourite) lead. It wasn't with the tack, it wasn't in the car, on the drive, in the kitchen, the hall, anywhere. I conclude that somehow – despite not using it at all on the walk, and it being clipped round my neck, tucked inside my coat – that I must have inexplicably dropped it on the walk, despite not having bent down, done a dance, fallen over, rolled over or had more than a second's interaction with another living soul whatsoever.

So I fed pupsy, apologised to her for rushing out while she was still eating, got back in the car and drove back to the walk, which I repeated until I found it, about half way round the loop I'd done this morning. So now I've done 1.5 walks, pupsy has done one and I am frozen solid. Have decided that this deserves not just the sausage sandwich I was looking forward to an hour ago but also an unspecified number of hash browns. And the heating on.

Wondering now whether I need an AirTag on my lead as well since I've got them on virtually everything else these days, to avoid situations like this.

@SpanielsGalore Oh DH knows better than to make any comments like that! He's actually a really big fan of ironing and cleaning so not sure he'd want to risk the comments about what sort of man likes ironing in return for any comments about my driving skills or inability to change a lightbulb😂I actually had my bedroom ceiling light light-bulbless for over a month earlier this year whilst I worked up the courage to ask BIL to change it for me 😳

Yes, being by the coast must mean that it doesn't settle. Quite handy tbh as I imagine your life gets far less interrupted?

I refuse to believe poor K was doing anything naughty. It was definitely a snuggle 😁

@brushingboots gahh you must have been frozen solid if it's even half as cold where you are as it is where I am! I suppose the only benefit is how healthy you must feel and thus how many calories you can now consume. I suppose the most important question is...HP or Ketchup?

Tbh I am mostly just impressed you can leave Pupsy whilst she's eating and she doesn't panic. I absolutely cannot leave the house unless mine see me go - they're fine once i'm done, but if I vanish without them knowing they get stressed.

@brushingboots I think I would have just ordered a new one! For the record, my favourite lead us from Billy Burrows. It’s a multi-handled one.

https://www.bullybillows.com/collections/ladder-lead?srsltid=AfmBOoqhgEfTJEQo7LmZKnJHJuUk1e_9YYvf9iJZalwgVdVuioM3fcm4

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I can change a light bulb. I don't possess an iron. (DS nabbed my still boxed one, so he has one at his flat and one at baracks.) I'm actually quite chuffed that I have decorated my home by myself. It may take me an hour to put up one piece of wallpaper. And the line between the top of the wall and the ceiling may be wibbly wobbly. But I find after the first week of scrutinising the faults, you stop fretting about it.

We just get cut off from civilisation, as all the main roads become impassable. 😂 One thing the local FB groups are handy for is keeping up to date on road conditions. Trying to decide whether to attempt a trip to the big city town for dog food or to get it delivered.

Always ketchup.

@brushingboots It must be a very special lead to go straight back out for it. I'd have waited until my next walk.
Heating goes on here as soon as I am out of bed and stays on for about 16 hours. I'm considering leaving it on low all night tonight, as it was only 9° in the living room when I got up this morning. 🥶

@Silverbirchleaf At that price, I'd have gone looking for it! 😂

I've always bought matching lead and collar sets. P wears purple and K wears pink. N has light blue with daisies on.