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. 😁

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Regarding nervousness, he’s selective. Most labs, retrievers, spaniels, oodles he’s fine with although there’s one or two he’s not so keen on. It tends to be the flat face breeds he’s not keen on - bulldogs, pugs etc. I thought he wasn’t so keen on Rottweilers, as when he was younger, one used to bark at a gate. However, another local rotty he seems fine with.

Fortunately he shows his nerves by backing away, walking around them, or in the case of a (human) toddler, hiding behind my legs. For dogs he’s unsure of - wants to play but not brave enough to- he may bark at them with an odd sniff.

@Struckbylightning Could it be attention seeking and she wants dh to stroke and make a fuss of her?

@SpanielsGalore Ohhh you unfairly malign K like I unfairly malign Twatdog! Sounds like K is a little angel though. Let us know how P gets on? Do you know how soon you might hear back about an appointment? Fingers crossed that it's good news, or at least gives you clarity on what can be done

I'm pretty sure it's a case of tonsillitis which she's had before and the only reason she's not in school is because it's contagious (which is what she pointed out - I'd have happily sent her in) as she's pretty much fine in herself. I can definitely keep putting her to work😂 @VanGoSunflowers but I think she'll be back at school on Monday so I might need to find a new worker bee by then...

Very glad that Pablo was a bit better today! It's hard at that age as you want to trust them...but you can't, yet you don't want to undo the work you've put into their training by forcing the lead on them!

@tizwozliz oh I love a happy snort!! She looks very pleased with herself in that photo.

@Silverbirchleaf Oh bless him! Sounds like he trust you though if he puts you between whatever worries him and then, so that's a good base to work on his nerves from.

None of mine are fans of flat-faced breeds either. They also tend not to like terriers and Chis - they tend to swerve to avoid them, but that's based on experience of those breeds going for them 😟

@Struckbylightning honestly it's very hard to know. Can she only hear them and not see them straight away? And when your DH got closer to her and patted her, was she okay? No looking to you? No keeping you to her back? Was she open with him and confident/comfortable leaving you?

Sorry that was a lot of questions!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I do unfairly malign K. She's grown into a lovely little dog most of the time. And I always knew TD was a sweetheart. 💖

The vets did the referral last night, so hopefully it won't be too long before I hear from them.

Glad your DD is feeling better. Is it still a diet of jelly and ice cream for tonsillitis?

@Struckbylightning I agree with Landsharks. It's difficult to know really. I was going to ask if she couldn't see them properly, but you said she barks until they are right up to her. Does she bark if the room is empty and they enter? Or if someone else is seated when your DH approaches? What about if you stand up? One of my cockers guarded me, but only when I was sitting down. He didn't give a shit if someone attacked me when I was standing up. 😂 What about at other times of day? Does it only happen in the evenings when she's been in a deep sleep? I would want to be testing different scenarios to see her reactions.
Sorry. That was more questions than Landsharks and still not much help.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Chis?

Does any of the Labrador-owning folk on here have coats for their pooches? Being in hosepipe-ban country, we’ve had little use for them, but I think we’ve had more rain in the last month than the whole of 2025! Slightly fed up of drying Dog.

I read it as Chris and thought 'Who's he?' 😂 But I think it's short for chihuahuas.

@Silverbirchleaf once I am reasonably certain I can recall Pablo away from other dogs (hopefully it’ll happen one day!) I think I’ll work on rewarding calm greetings after that. He likes ALL other dogs. Doesn’t matter the breed, size, colour, age - he’s not fussy. But it’s once in a blue moon we meet a dog that actually likes him back poor thing 😂 understandably, they nearly all seem to find him a bit much! But fortunately he was just as well behaved on his second walk today as he was on the first.

@Struckbylightning sorry i have zero advice but I must admit to finding @TheHungryHungryLandsharks and @SpanielsGalore playing detective quite interesting so I’m reading along here to see if you manage to figure it out!!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks does it pay well? I’m looking for a career change but it’d be a long commute 😂

I did the same thing and wondered what Chris had ever done to them

We have drying coats to put on post walk. Both of mine would be too hot wearing anything on most walks.

Merry hasn’t taken against any dogs yet, she’s still fairly friendly and wants to greet every dog, but usually starts by lying down. Though if she’s ‘working’ ie playing with a toy, she gives only the most cursory greeting then back to work.

@Silverbirchleaf I’m sure it’s not attention seeking, she gets lots of fuss from the lads, they both dote on her. I am definitely the main human, they are the spares. When she does it it feels a bit like fear. Especially last night when she reversed herself into me, almost parking her bum on my knee.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks and @SpanielsGalore thanks for are the interesting questions.. definitely she hears them before she sees them and that’s what triggers the barking. Footsteps coming down the stairs or along the corridor. But surely by now she knows who lives in the house?
When they come into the room and approach her, she gets pats and is fine with them. She often plays with both of them, perfectly happily. Though chill time and everything else is nearly always with me.
‘does she bark if the room is empty and they enter’ - well I don’t think she is ever in a room by herself. She is still rather stuck to me so I’m not sure that has ever happened. Unless maybe when I am out and ds is dog- sitting. I think he leaves her alone, but I’ve never asked. Maybe it does only happen when she is fast asleep. I haven’t really thought about the sitting/ standing scenario… Interesting about your guarding cocker. Maybe he got the feeling that you were more vulnerable when in a seated position and he therefore had to be on duty at those times. Funny buggers aren’t they!

I will pay more attention from now on and will report back.

I don’t put a coat on Pablo, he runs around too much to need one! But I feel your pain, it does get tedious to keep washing them/drying them off. After a particularly muddy walk, I just get him in the garden with a warm bowl of water and dog shampoo and use a mitt to clean him off and then wrestle him with a towel after to dry him! Luckily it doesn’t seem to take much to get him dry. Other walks I just let him dry off in the kitchen and then brush him when he’s dry… and mop my kitchen floor… A LOT 😂

Silly question. Do you just put the drying coat on and then leave him in it for ten (?) minutes or so, and then he’s all dry? You don’t rub him down at all?

@VanGoSunflowers i think Dog eats half his body weight in treats when I dry him off, just to keep him still and standing on the mat. I know that post-walk wrestle well.

Do you just put the drying coat on and then leave him in it for ten (?) minutes or so, and then he’s all dry?

Maybe more like twenty depending on how soaked they are but pretty much. We often put them on in the car if we've driven somewhere so by the time we get back they're pretty much dry. Ours only get actually washed if they've rolled in something unmentionable

@Silverbirchleaf its like a work out isn’t it 😂 I throw a massive towel over Pablo, anchor him between my legs and rub him dry that way and he loves it, he thinks it’s a game though and absolutely wont stand still!

@SpanielsGalore I'm not sure! It definitely was 20+ years ago when I had it, but tbh she's still eating like normal including my chocolate croissant this morning.

@Silverbirchleaf Can confirm it's chihuahua's - I'm just too lazy to google how to spell the name. But I suppose I should get points for just shortening the name rather than calling them what DH has taken to calling them. Nothing against the name Chris @VanGoSunflowers @SpanielsGalore although I'm not sure I actually really know any Chris' so there's still time😀

@VanGoSunflowers DD would claim it doesn't pay well. But she's had three meals a day, and a hot chocolate with whipped cream which she would get normally anyway. So I don't think it's bad going...not sure it's enough to justify your commute though.

@Struckbylightning I wouldn't go straight to thinking resource guarding with what you've described. But definitely worth keeping an eye on and seeing how she reacts. She's still young so it's entirely possible she's just going through a worry period. If she starts anything else though, or refuses to leave your side when they enter or keeps you behind her, or stiffening/growling, that's when you need to pay proper attention as those are often early warning sighs.

Satan barks when people enter the room, even though she knows who is around. Part of Satan's issue is eye sight so she doesn't always realise who people are until they're practically on top of her but she's also a highly strung little wreck, bless her.

DWS greeted a dog this morning without doing anything nefarious. Hopefully we are turning a page in her winky sucking ways, but I won't hold my breath. It was at the end of the walk, so she might have just been to tired...

Seriously misjudged the walk this morning and ended up doing 15 km. Am shattered as I'd already swum 2.5km.

@tizwozliz wow you will sleep well tonight!

Handsome boy, tired from doing absolutely nothing all day…

I needed a nap just reading it. 😂

@tizwozliz No wonder your girls look so fit. How long did that take you?

Wet and miserable here today, so I took K to the woods and left the others at home.

I'm not sure we've ever done 15km previously. It was just me and big pup as little pup was on arrow finding duty with the OH in the woods.

It was an unexpectedly sunny day and took advantage with just having the one of linking various bits of walk together but my estimations of distances were slightly out. Very muddy in parts which made it hard going and I'm aching now as didn't walk normally in the mud. It took about 3.15 hours

Love the shadow picture. What a handsome chappie.

@YorkshireFelix I feel V's pain! He is just so handsome 😍

@tizwozliz how do you do 15km by mistake?!😄On the plus side, think of all the cake you can eat now...

I was thinking what I was planning to do was about 10km, maybe 12 at most but hadn't actually tried to measure. It was only when I studied the map after about 90 minutes that i realised my error but at that point going back was no shorter than carrying on.

I've just noticed in that photo you can see daylight underneath pups bum. Too much of a princess to do a proper sit in the mud 😂

@tizwozliz I used to do walks like that before I had Pablo. I’d leave the house for a bit of a stroll up to a local cafe for some breakfast and then just carry on. Ten miles later I’d be back home exhausted and would have to eat my body weight in carbs!

@YorkshireFelix soooo handsome ❤️

How is everyone this morning? It’s a bit overcast here. I am getting so tired of all the mud 😂 my mop has never seen so much action!