Beyond Adolescence and General Chit Chat - part 3

[SpanielsGalore]

Not tagging anyone. I'm sure you'll all find your way here if you want to join in. 😁

Ohhhhhh. I misinterpreted it. That makes more sense. Thank you for the clarification.

Thank you @YorkshireFelix thats exactly how I feel! I must admit I did have some thoughts about how I’m not owner enough for him, even though I know that’s not rational.

@SpanielsGalore That is exactly what he is doing, jumped up at another man this morning who was walking near us minding his own business before I had chance to react. I think I will need to get the long line out again definitely! Ended up in tears of frustration myself. He’s such a lovely dog, I know all that and I’m lucky to have him but my god it’s hard when he behaves like he did this morning!

That’s how I feel about them too! As @SpanielsGalore in wide open spaces they aren’t too bad but there’s not many places around here like that and the ones that are are always so busy.

I wonder if retractable ones are ok in the right situation?? I know it won’t work for pavement walking but I’m wondering if I carried one in a bag with me and then used that once we get to the part I’d usually let him off?

@VanGoSunflowers People hate retractable leads, but I've used one for my reactive dog. Short fixed lead for walking to the park and swap to a retractable once there.
That was in the days before he became so reactive it was impossible to walk him there.
I dug it out again in later life when he went deaf. It gave him freedom to range despite no longer having recall.

I'd imagine it would give a bit of a jerk though, once a full grown lab running at full pelt reached the end of the lead.

I was going to say that I follow a gundog trainer on Instagram and I had a conversation with them about longlines and how much I hate them. He said he recommends using a good quality retractable lead JUST for recall training - so swap to it for a short period of time, then back to a normal lead - but I’m also a retractable lead hater so I am stuffed 😂

I only ever use a longline on a big playing field we go to and still struggle with it so it’s defo a me problem! I just bloody hate the things.

Well those rules for breeding bitches are shit and make me feel quite sad. I thought a bitch had to be over 2 years old. P's Mum had her first litter at 18 months old, which apparently is allowed, but seems so wrong. It would be like me mating K now. She's just a baby. 😢
I also thought they could only have three litters - four seems a lot.

@SpanielsGalore Nope! They don't have to be for Guide Dogs UK either. Although, with GD UK you can even have two litters in a year and it be seen as acceptable - at least KC frown on that - which I didn't know until recently and immediately cancelled my monthly donation and have been harping on about it ever since. The breeding standards are really really poor across the board. The Council 5star licence is even worse.

For dogs prone to hip issues, I think it's even worse - up until 24months or so their joints are still 'fusing' so any health scores before then are also fairly meaningless. After about 24 months the hip/elbow score is v. unlikely to change, but before then it can vary quite a lot.

I honestly think more than two litters is pretty awful (but I do have very strong views about breeding). Pen is the only one of my girls I have bred more than once - I bred her at 3, and again at 5. I won't breed DWS until she's 3 and I won't health test her until she's 24 months, and then I'll do it again before her litter.

Finding a good breeder is so so hard. I only know of 4 in the South-East I would use (outside of myself, obviously) for Golden Retrievers, and one of them hasn't had a litter since 2022. I always say it, but you really do just have to pick the 'least worst' option most of the time.

@VanGoSunflowers try not to worry about it - these things do happen when they get to that age! Everyone who has ever had a dog knows that, and you're 100% not alone! They're absolute turds at this age and there's nothing wrong with going back to the long-line, particularly if their recall is going - if only for their own safety!

The only issue with retractable leads if I've found them quite likely to snap - Twatdog has broken two. That might be because he's a macho man (😂) but also might be because of the cheapo quality of mine...

Can we have a photo of the little monster?

So perhaps in the right situation it could be a useful tool? He’s got a double ended training lead for normal walks so I have more control over him but a retractable may work for training recall around distractions? Got to be worth a shot I suppose. If I clipped it to the back of his harness, and he did bolt, I’m assuming it wouldn’t hurt him when he got the end but it may pull me over?? I could live with that 😂😂 better me get a face full of mud than inflicting him on innocent bystanders 😂

@VanGoSunflowers Definitely attached to his harness and definitely more about you being yanked over than hurting P. If I was you, I'd also buy a wrist strap, so if you are caught unawares and the lead gets pulled out of your hand, it's still attached to your wrist.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Retractable-Leash-Wrist-Strap-Anti-dislodging/dp/B0FDWNYL57/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?

Thanks @SpanielsGalore thats a sensible idea! I will order one along with a retractable lead. Found one ‘suitable for dogs up to 50kgs’ 😂

If I used a retractable lead I'd have lost half my fingers by now. Bill's still on a long line but I can now let it trail on good days, though he still bogs off from time to time - but it's that deliberate adolescent 'fuck you' bogging off most of the time, rather than 'woo hoo I'm free'; he always knows exactly where I am and comes running after me if I hide. I say that now, I've probably cursed us.

Yes, it gets tangled, and I wouldn't give him the full 10m in woodland for example - he's tied us both to a gravestone before now - and I have to attach it to a walking belt, so if he does lose it and launch himself, I can brace myself, rather than be launched with him, or see my arm disappearing off into the distance without me (he may be a shortarse but he is solid muscle).

Some recent pics for his army handful of fans - special ears edition

Been away all weekend so just caught up with all the news. The COI discussion was interesting.

Loving the pictures of Merry and Bill, and Bill’s ears are lovely - soft and silky.

@Bupster definitely an army of fans. As @Silverbirchleaf says, look at those ears 😍In one of those photos he very much looks like he's just done a mischief and he's returning to you saying "mum, did you see what I did? Did you see?!"

I'm starting to think I have a bit of a thing for dogs ears. First Bill, then Merry...and I've always admired spaniel ears.

@Silverbirchleaf hope you (and DDog) had a lovely weekend away!

It's pouring here this morning - the cold, dry, day of yesterday is long gone. But it's okay, as my garden is a lake (a very very small one) so the dogs are just going for a swim instead of a walk. I have to take the dogs to the vets today, so that'll be fun - our vets is tiny, and two of my dogs practically fill up the entire waiting room. Hen is having a 6 month check up, because she's an old woman and I'm a paranoid crone, and Clem needs to see a man about an ear-infection, so at least I know that's nothing serious. Wondering if I should take DWS at some point because I'm sure there's something in the pyshe that's not quite right...

Sorry for your struggles @VanGoSunflowers, I know what it’s like to be embarrassed by your dickhead dog!! But by the sounds of it, Pablo has a good foundation and as I have been told many times on here, this will be a blip. We are all allowed off days/ weeks sometimes and your little darling is still in there somewhere.

Thank you @Struckbylightning the walks I have had where he has behaved well seem like a distant memory 😑 how is Merry?

How did the vet visit go @TheHungryHungryLandsharks?

Horrible weather here today, so we've only managed a shortish walk in the woods.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Hope the vet visit went well. Not sure they'll be able to help much with the sexual deviant. Bless her. I'm sure DWS has some redeeming features.

Random question, what word do you all use to mark good behaviour?? I’ve always gone with ‘good boy’ but every trainer I see uses ‘yes’
Any idea why and if it makes a difference?

Ive just asked ChatGPT to write me a step by step training plan to deal with Pablo’s excitable behaviour and it’s really interesting what it’s come up with! I might give it a go!

@VanGoSunflowers I use ‘yes’ but I don’t think it matters so much if you’re consistent. I use good boy as a positive phrase which he responds to, but only yes when I am also giving him a treat.

Thanks @YorkshireFelix do you think it’d confuse him if I changed it now? I wonder if it’s because I tell him he is a good boy if he’s just lying there being cute so there’s no differentiation 😂

Yes I think this is why our trainer said to use ‘yes’ as you will probably end up saying good boy all the time without realising! I don’t think it would confuse him. I think he will pick the new word up pretty quickly as he’s v clever.

I thought it was because yes is a short word that can mark the desired behaviour. Like a click, if you do clicker training.

Has anyone heard from @CoubousAndTourmaIet ? I know she sometimes takes a break, but she seems to have been gone for a while now.

@SpanielsGalore yes you’re probably right there. I swear I could quite easily ask AI to run my whole life!
I was thinking about @CoubousAndTourmaIet too, I hope she is ok

I’m sure the good walks will return! Merry is doing ok actually. We always have an on-lead walk in the evenings and we seem to have got the hang of loose lead walking. She even sometimes does a lovely walking to heel. I have no idea why, I have never tried to teach her this. It’s always on the same stretch of pavement, just on the final leg home. The weird thing is, she walks at my heel and gazes up at me. When I noticed her doing it the first time I started saying ‘heel’ and shovelling treats at her. Now she does it every time. It’s very odd 😂

In the mornings we usually go somewhere where I can let her off. We definitely don’t have 100% recall yet; spotting a pheasant sends her loopy, though she still hasn’t caught one for our dinner yet. Without any birds around she is pretty good. If I produce a ball she is good as gold. Bloody collies!

I think I use ‘good girl’ and ‘yes’ interchangeably. As long as there is a treat in hand I think she gets the message!

I was also wondering about @CoubousAndTourmaIet maybe the long wet winter is getting to her. It’s pretty miserable. Hope she’s ok.

@Struckbylightning she’s so clever she has trained herself to walk to heel 😍 that’s really good news! Pablo’s heel walking has gotten a little sloppier over the past week or so, it’s still decent enough when there are no distractions around! Manage to get him to wait calmly while other dogs pass for the most part but as soon as the other dog walker starts talking to me/him in an excitable voice he loses his mind and I have to practically wrestle him with both hands and it hurts!

Speaking of which, I mentioned up thread that I was going to try a retractable lead for all the bad press they get. This may be a bit waffly so apologies in advance but I think I have found a nice route to use it on and only in a specific area. So we do normal lead walk up to the field, completely off lead in the field (I can see from a way away if anyone is around) so he can get that initial burst of energy out, then out the other side to a quiet(ish) leafy lane and that’s where I put the retractable on. It’s bright neon yellow and seems well built. It’s also not overly busy down there but busy enough that I can use it to recall/walk to heel (or wait) when other people or dogs approach. The rest of the time he can wonder from verge to verge having a sniff. He rarely gets to the end of it on that part of the walk as he seems to switch to ‘slowish amble nose to the ground’ mode down there. I can definitely see why it’s not appropriate in a lot of places - across the field for example where he will thunder around and definitely not on pavements and next to roads but it seems like a useful tool in the right circumstances

@VanGoSunflowers I think retractable leads have their uses. I've used them before and would use them again if I needed to. We originally bought them for a walking holiday in Wales, when we couldn't be sure there weren't sheep on the loose round every corner. It's the idiots that use them at full extent on the pavements, allowing their dogs to wander over everyone's gardens, that give them a bad name.

I also think retractable leads can encourage a dog to pull. Ie. It exerts a little pressure, so the owner releases more lead. The dog therefore learns that by pulling, s/he can go ahead.

Regarding yes/ good boy, I was monitoring what I was doing on today’s walk. I did a bit of heel training to test it and noticed that I was using ‘yes’ and a treat when he was back in place, and ‘yes, good boy’ if I didn’t use a treat. I think i use ‘good boy’ as a general affirmation or praise, and ‘yes’ as a more specific, behaviour praise.