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.

Oh hell @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , I live in dread of this happening. Sorry that Pen was injured - really hope it won't have a psychological effect on Eris, with her still being young.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I don't know what it is with these people because you can bet if it was a large breed acting that way people would be lining up screaming it should be PTS for being out of control. Yet a dog like that, which draws blood on another dog, an attacks multiple dogs in a row...the owner thinks it's fine. He genuinely did not see the issue - at least not until his dog was pancaked by mine!

My lot are absolutely fine. Eris was a bit 'ohh' at first, but as soon as the others bounced back she did as well. Vet said Pen is fine, no harm done. Twatdog is the worst as he's not castrated, so when they go near his balls (and they're aggressive) he gets very twitchy and it takes him a while to calm down, bless him. But he's mostly fine now.

How is Brie? Hope it's not still raining up by you!!

Exactly, that's the worrying thing @TheHungryHungryLandsharks . You see it so many times and those of us with bigger breeds have our heart in our mouth because our dogs daren't put a paw out of line.
I'm glad your lot are mostly okay and calming down a bit.
The chap won't learn from it, that's the crazy thing. He'll just go around say "oh he's frightened of big dogs because...". We hear this all the time from people with small, in your face yappers 🙄

Feel slightly bad talking about our walks at the moment, knowing that both P and Vinny can't really have proper walks so much, kind of feel guilty. But on Monday night Brie had her first 2 hour walk around the whole woodland trail. By the time we were heading back it was going dark, I'd forgotten how so spooky it is in the woods at dusk 😨 Amazingly, though it was a beautiful crisp afternoon, we only passed one other walker. Saw a few roe deer, loads of squirrels, it was a lovely walk. Yesterday we did a different 1 hour loop. She's more like our boys - she doesn't need as much exercise as the other girls did, but she enjoys variety, so we try to keep it interesting. If there's too much repetition she gets very ploddy, but in the woods she was trotting along happily.

Off out now for a bit.

“You see it so many times and those of us with bigger breeds have our heart in our mouth because our dogs daren't put a paw out of line.”

So true. If the yappy, little, reactive breeds were bigger in size, there’d be a huge outcry.

Crossed the road to avoid another psychotic cockapoo on this afternoon's walk. I think they are fast becoming my most feared dog.
Wandered back through the woods, fairly quiet, just one quiet black Lab on a lead, couple of walkers, loads of grey squirrels.
Got drenched again walking home, and I only had my Barbour on, really should have worn the Seasalt.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Please don't feel guilty on my account. All three dogs get proper walks - either in the woods, across the fields or on the beach. They're short and sweet. Just like me. 😂
Having said that, I'm feeling guilty that K's needs aren't being met. It's difficult walking three dogs with different exercise requirements, so she's been being short changed.
I need to try to get P and N out together some days and take K out for a good trek.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks What an idiot man! He's lucky you let your dogs deal with the snappy, yappy little shit instead of booting it to oblivion.

@SpanielsGalore honestly I was so glad I didn't have Satan with me as she definitely would have gone mental. I feel quite sorry for his dog though, it was probably quite hurt by being trampled - and that is down to his negligent ownership.

Is there someone who could take K out once in a while for a good run? I have to say though, all your girls look so happy in those photos that even if you're feeling a bit guilty, they don't look like they're suffering at all!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I bet Brie LOVED that two hour wander! Was she nose down the whole time?

Glad you had a nice walk today as well, even if you had to avoid the cockerpoo!

We had a lovely evening walk - just out into the woods and back. I love evening winter walks as I tend to see so few people. Eris went scampering off after Clem so is absolutely fine after this morning - tbh I think Clem grumbling at her to piss off this afternoon probably upset her more than the Chi did! She's so determined to make Clem and Hen love her and they're so determined to only give her attention on their terms (usually when she's about to sleep)😂

I know what you mean though. I am always particularly vigilant on my walks, not only because of the size of the babies but also the amount - even if they do nothing wrong, their size and number of them would automatically make people think I was the bad guy.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet same here, don’t feel guilty! I love hearing about everyone’s adventures. It sounds like a very lovely walk.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks ugh I am sooooo sorry about the incident with the little dog!! It’s so frustrating as I’m sure the owner won’t give two shits really. I hope all your lot are ok. I am sure they are as they sound like a very robust bunch.

V has been ok today. I went to the office for a few hours and it was nice to get out on my own for a bit. I can tell he’s totally bored out of his brain though - he started scratching the living room wall earlier 😵‍💫 But this is a very good example of how so many adolescent dogs end up being rehomed when owners don’t meet their needs properly. It’s not taken much time for him to show unwanted behaviour which is obviously a direct result of not getting enough mental stimulation. I’ve been trying to do some different activities with him but can’t seem to find anything that matches our usual off lead training sessions. We have the physio again early next week so I am very much hoping she sees some improvement in him and we can gradually get back to normal.

I didn't mean it in a negative way @SpanielsGalore , I know your girls have very enriching walks - as I think all the dogs here on this thread do. I just felt guilty coming on with a post about how she'd had her longest ever walk. Because a two hour walk won't be an every day thing for us.

Surprisingly no, her nose wasn't down that much @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , despite it being a new place. She's more of a one for looking and listening, although there are moments when she becomes fixated by a smell. We do let her go at her own sedate pace (PMD are never in a hurry really) and she can stop to sniff if she wants to but she mostly just kept going. She also had the choice to paddle in two streams or go straight over the footbridges...needless to say, she kept well away from the water 😂

Thanks @YorkshireFelix . We're very lucky to have easy access to woodland as well as the moors here and it makes for nice varied walks.
I do feel for you, it can't be easy having to restrict such an active and intelligent youngster and I'm sure you're right that this is probably the prime age that a lot of dogs end up in rescue. Fingers crossed that the physio notices enough improvement for you to get out for training again.

Celebrating little pup walking nicely on her collar on this evening's walk. Normally, she's on a harness (which she hates) and a waist belt on our evening walks, especially if I'm walking both on lead on my own.

Still can't wait to go back to walking one each next week though (I've been solo dog parenting for 3 weeks). I don't mind walking both on my own when we can be mostly off lead, but nighttime sniffy walks aren't so easy. Invariably one will stop to sniff something and the same time the other pulls ahead slightly to sniff something else. When we've got one each we can just go at their own pace.

I’ve always wondered how people manage with more than one on lead. I can’t imagine walking two Vinny’s!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I know you didn't mean anything negative. And I know what you meant by proper walks. They do what they can with the ailments they have. Much like the rest of us. 😁

@YorkshireFelix What exercise is Vinny allowed to do at the minute?

I made the mistake of taking P and K together for an on lead walk round the village last week. Never again. 😂 Should have taken N with one of them instead. She's much more manageable on a lead.

Any of you that walk two or more dogs together are brave souls!
I will hold my hands up and admit that I'd often do three long walks in a day rather than walk Rose & Sylvie together 😬 If we took the trio out for an evening walk, I'd make my chap walk both girls while I walked the boy😁

@SpanielsGalorejust on lead walks only, and limiting any jumping up on sofa/running up and down stairs/general pogo-ing (very difficult as you know!!) etc. She didn’t actually give us a time limit on walks but he’s being such a shit that it’s not a pleasant experience for us, so it’s only been 15-30 minutes a time. Multiple times a day though as it’s the only time he goes to the toilet.

@YorkshireFelix Unless you crate or pen off an area, you've got no chance of stopping the jumping on furniture or pogoing.
P is fed in the hallway, so I have started putting her bowl on the bottom stair so it's raised. Only problem being, she puts her front paws on the step and stands at an angle to eat. Putting more weight on her back legs. 🤦‍♀️
Hopefully there's been some improvement and V can have a few minutes off lead after the physio appointment.

@YorkshireFelix I think they’re robust in the sense of it being once around the goldfish bowl and they’ve forgotten everything that happened!

Poor Vinny and poor you! Could you do some brain games with him? Naming his toys and getting him to understand their names and then asking him the find them? Or would he get too excited and therefore it would be worse for his legs? It’s rotten, I really feel for you both ❤Will keep my fingers crossed for the physio!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet bless Brie! I don’t blame her for avoiding the water, I would as well!

I do find it interesting how different breeds are take to walks differently. I don’t think any of mine have sniffed more than ten seconds before either weeing or running off!

That’s also something I’ve been wondering…does anyone else have a bitch that marks like a boy? I never really noticed before, but with Eris starting to be a ‘real dog’ she’s taken to doing it and then I realised the other girls do as well. Pre-Eris I tended to watch Twatdog most simply because he’s an idiot and I don’t trust him. But now I have another girl and I’m watching her more… it’s definitely marking in the way a boy might, just without the leg cock (although Eris did try once).

@tizwozliz congrats! It’s so nice when you can have a walk without standing like a scarecrow!!

Lead walking is the one thing I hate. Mine all walk to heel on the lead, but that’s more out of my sheer bloody mindedness to make them do it. I will spend their first week after their litter mates go, walking along bent double holding treats in front of them. I walk like a little old woman half the time now because of all those hours spent crouched.

@YorkshireFelix V is a spaniel though! They’re sniffers. Goldies tend not to sniff. So if you see a gaggle of Goldies walking nicely on a lead it’s just because their one brain cell is thinking about food, and the reward of walking to heel, rather than focussing on sniffs! From what Satan has taught me, food is never enough for a spaniel…particularly when in the scent!

@SpanielsGalore could you get a feeding stand off amazon? I have them for my lot and it works wonders as they’re adjustable to the dogs height

Brie has recently started marking @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , she'll often do 5,6,7 wees on walks lately. Rosie was a leg cocker - I've probably mentioned it before on here. We were never sure if it was learned behaviour, because we got her at 7 weeks and Merlin (who was 4 years old at the time) became her parent/role model, although she was quite a dominant bitch anyway. But she always used to wee up walls. If Eris has tried it once, it's likely that she might start. I have some distant recollection that N did it on occasion too but I can't be sure because it was so long ago.

I'm surprised that GR aren't sniffers, I think I'd assumed they would be. I suppose I thought Pyries don't sniff excessively because guarding is more reliant on listening and watching, but clearly "hunting" by smell is not instinctive to GR either.

Typically, I'm the weirdo that likes lead walking 😁 Not as if there's any choice with most LGD, mind. But I do actually enjoy a walk with an on lead dog and I've been surprised how many dog people say they hate lead walking. It was nice that Sylvie could walk off lead but she wasn't a wanderer and I'm sure I'd have felt differently if she had been.

We don't have raised bowls because apparently it increases risk of GDV in giant breeds. We teach ours to lie down and eat, although Brie only eats lying maybe a third of the time currently, so I need to work on it more. But when we had three they would all lie in a specific place and eat slowly. It was probably a strange thing, if only I knew it. I guess I just thought it was normal and all dogs did it 😆

Mine both mark, the older one cocks her leg too but I didn't notice either of them start doing it until they were around 2. I'd love to understand it more, on some walks we've followed another dog and they'll insist on peeing every place that other one has, and at other times they'll sniff and decide not to bother. Mine will also settle for peeing on fox poo, dead animals etc. if I holler at them not to dare put their shoulder down.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks yes I’ve been doing some ‘find it’ games with him with toys and also treats which has been successful. Especially when I make the treats really hard to find as it gets him sniffing for ages. I even made a bloody apple bobbing activity the other day with a big bowl of water and pieces of cut up apple (thanks TikTok for that idea 🤣). I also did a thing where you hide a treat under a cup and he has to tap the cup to release it, then you eventually move to two cups and switch them around so he has to remember where the treat is hidden but he kept repeatedly tapping the empty cup then getting annoyed when the treat was missing 😅 I’m going to try that one again today and see if it will click with him. For a clever dog he can be a bit dense sometimes.

I’ve been trying to do some shaping with him as our trainer suggested it but he just gets soooooo frustrated.

@SpanielsGalore I have a slightly raised bowl for V on the recommendation of the physio as it reduces strain on his neck and back. It was a cheapish set from Pets at Home. Not sure how much of a difference it makes but always think it’s worth trying.

@YorkshireFelix I was surprised the physio didn't recommend it for P as she did for N. I thought it was because N has arthritis in her front legs and P's issues are her back ones.
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I have a feeding stand for N. I was hoping the stairs would work as a cheaper option for P. And a less faffy one for me.

Pupsy marks and cocks her leg – she started doing it after her first season. She doesn’t do it everywhere though, mostly just on lead/pavement walks as I guess there are more wees to wee on there. When she’s offlead she only doesn’t seem to do it at all – the environment takes over I imagine. She doesn’t roll but she will helpfully mark on horse poo rather than scoff it.

We walk with our friends in the village and their two dogs a fair bit and the girls always wee on the other girls’ wees – always in the same sequence, one after the other with no regard for how many times they’ve all been already.

Ohhh! I’m glad it’s not just mine being weirdos. I never really noticed before but Eris piddles on everything Twatdog does - she follows behind him and wees where he wees. And once I noticed that I couldn’t help but notice the others…

@SpanielsGalore sounds like P is determined to make life difficult for you! Bless her 😊

@YorkshireFelix perhaps V is secretly a relative of Twatdog (just hiding it very well given their differences in terms of breed…) Twatty is particularly bright and yet very dim.

The apple bobbing one sounds like a good game, but I know mine would just end up swallowing a tonne of water and making themselves very very sick! It’s rotten that Vinny is struggling

@CoubousAndTourmaIet as long as she doesn’t cock her leg as high as Twatdogs! He sometimes tips over he cocks it so high.

I think with mine it may be the way they’re bred! The retrieving gene - although I know @VanGoSunflowers has said Pablo is a sniffer - plus me/the type of life I live + stud dog chosen. All the studs I’ve used have been show line, but they’ve all worked or partially worked. That being said, none of my Goldie breeder acquaintances have low energy dogs and they are more ‘show’ than mine are in terms of nature.

I do sometimes wonder if people have put out a bit of a disinformation spin on Goldie energy levels and underplay it. I always see people on MN say their Goldie needs 45 mins a day and it’s happy. It’s also something we hear a lot from people relinquishing their adolescent or older Goldies ‘he gets an hour a day and he’s happy.’ And that just doesn’t ring true because after a few days in foster it’s so evident they’re not happy. I’d say that they need similar amounts of exercise to a Spaniel, but it’s more distance and speed with Goldies than sniffing if that makes sense?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/PawHut-Equipment-Four-Piece-Adjustable-Obstacles/dp/B0DV46YT5C/ref=asc_df_B0DV46YT5C?mcid=b3a6a684aeae3330880ab98560936871&th=1&psc=1&tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=729793731984&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=12770567535907153878&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9045888&hvtargid=pla-2398838668525&psc=1&hvocijid=12770567535907153878-B0DV46YT5C-&hvexpln=0&gad_source=1

Sorry for the long link. I have these and do ‘indoor agility’ with Dog. Jumping over low jumps (you could just lie the poles on the ground), weaving in and out, going around them, figure of eight course etc. (obviously careful with wooden floor)

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks
Errr, yeah, seemingly, boy dogs are good at that highly intelligent but very very dim thing. That was Merl & Algy too.

I think with regard to exercise I'd assume that all gundog breeds are high energy. Certainly it's noticeable to me that most of the dogs we meet in shit weather will be Labs & spaniels. If it's raining we never see a toy breed or a poodle/doodle, just the gundogs and border collies. So I'd have thought a couple of hours a day for a GR.

With PMD they can take it or leave it; they'll happily go a long walk but they're not fussed about missing a day or just getting a quick round the block if it's raining. I could say Brie isn't getting enough at the moment but we average 60 - 90 minutes of walking. She is very calm and content anyway.