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. 😁

Happy Pancake Day!

We, that is to say, the dogs and I, have enjoyed American style pancake stacks for lunch. Pups got a peanut butter drizzle in place of caramel.

Third time of attempting to post. If I lose it all this time, I am giving up.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks By the time P is allowed to go on a proper walk, K will be perfectly trained. 😇 🤥 🙈 😂 We've been working on walking to heel off lead and stop at a distance. One is going better than the other.
I've just walked her and she stopped about 20 yards in front of me. I said, "K, heel." And she came running into position. 😱 Since we've only been doing heel for a couple of days, I was amazed. She'd be a brilliant little dog with someone who could be arsed to put the time into training her properly.

That's sweet of DWS. ❤️ Hopefully she as outgrown her WS ways. How old is she now? I can't keep track.

@YorkshireFelix Nice of your DH to keep you in the loop. 😂 Would you go back to the same breeder?

I'd agree there's colie in that mix, judging by the merle colouring and speckled nose.

@tizwozliz Happy Pancake Day, Big Pup and Little Pup. I bet those stacks didn't last long.

P is OK. She jumped on the sofa yesterday to escape the ice pack. 🙈 She's starting to put her foot down more often, which is good. It probably doesn't help that it's snowed here, so the ground is cold and frozen solid.

Lasted 7 seconds, including little pup stealing one of big pup's pancakes before finishing her own 😂

That’s such a Labrador look, looking at the food. I call it the Exocet missile look. Army research people (or Q from Bond) could learn a lot from how Labrador’s focus in on food, and gave that fixed, never-wavering look.

@YorkshireFelix Lovely picture of the two pooches.

@SpanielsGalore Good to hear the training is going well.

Had a scary moment on walk earlier, one of those heart-sink moments. Was walking through woods and Dog bounded off into the woods in the wrong direction. I called him, and instead of retracing his footsteps, he took a short cut under a fence, which had barbed wire on it. Images of Dog being caught up in said fence, or at least having a bleeding leg came to mind. Apart from a brief yelp, he managed to duck under and was fine. However, I did feel sick afterwards.

@tizwozliz I’d eat those they look delicious 😄

@SpanielsGalore ahh that is brilliant of K. If she’s anything like Vinny she will pick things up very quickly!! I think we would go to the same breeder as he is decent and literally the next village over. I’d very much like a non black cocker next time. I do also fancy having a springer potentially but not sure if one would be too big for our house really as it’s tiny.

Managed to get 3 out of 4. Missing the old man cocker but he’s 15 and is fed up of the young ones. I don’t really blame him as they are chaotic!!

@Silverbirchleaf - they both have different approaches when it comes to waiting for food.

Little one doesn't take her eye off it in case it disappears when she's not looking, big one doesn't look at it in case she finds the temptation too much to resist.

@YorkshireFelix - they weren't specifically dog friendly so we could all have the same recipe - it's just flour, yoghurt and egg

😂😂 I didn't imagine it to be quite that quick.

@YorkshireFelix Springers can vary so much in size. My friend has a bitch, who is the same size as P and a dog who is a lot taller. N is about the same height as P, but more solidly built.

Solid gold goes well with black.

Afternoon all!

Pancakes look delicious @tizwozliz. I forgot it was pancake day! Too late now 😂

@SpanielsGalore hope all is ok with your girl, sounds like she’s progressing well though?

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks how adorable DWS has a boyfriend and is all demure around him!

Hope everyone is getting on well and all pups are ok. We are much the same here, mud still driving me insane but at least it was sunny again today. Pablo is making tiny steps of progress towards being more neutral around other dogs on walks thankfully! I don’t know if he will ever not want to bound up to them. I do get some odd looks sometimes when I ask him to wait while a dog walks past. I can’t walk him past one as he gets too excited but he will stand and wait 90% of the time. I’ve had some say thank you, some look at me like I’ve two heads, some say ‘it’s ok mine is friendly’ and walk them right over to him (I then have to wrestle to control him which isn’t fun) and one shout from a few meters away ‘IS HE REACTIVE?!!’ In a very over the top way which also made Pablo lose his mind. It’s hard to aim for perfection but I’ll take little bits of progress.

@YorkshireFelix oh they're all so lovely! V does really have the most beautiful eyes in the world 😍The little white one with grey or silver splotches is absolutely stunning.

I do love human names that people give their dogs. To be honest, I really should not judge 'Frank' when Twatdogs real nameis even worse 😂Colin is quite a good name, but it just makes me want a caterpillar.

On a springer being too big, I don't think that's the case! I've known Golden Retrievers live in two bed semis with only courtyard gardens and be perfectly content. Quality of walks and life is far more important than size of house!

@SpanielsGalore Glad P is doing okay and that K is behaving herself! What's the betting that once P can run wild and free with K again that all of K's training goes out the window? 😀It's funny how quickly dogs can pick up new words though, even as they get a bit older.

DWS is nearly 7 months! Time flies when you're being tortured by your dog 😩We've done four walks over the last two days and not once has she done a naughty.

@Silverbirchleaf oh no! You must have been terrified. Glad your boy is okay ❤

@VanGoSunflowers she tries to be demure, but licking his nose still feels a bit....shifty for lack of a better word! But I guess at least it's his nose.

@VanGoSunflowers I feel your pain! I find other dog owners and pedestrians are always the worst when it comes to trying to train a dog! Their well-meaning attempts to be friendly just cause issues 😂I have found it easier the more dogs I have though, as people seem far more reluctant to let their dogs near yours if you've got lots (not that I blame them).

All fun and games here. I'm WFH as the plumbers were coming to give me a quote. Unfortunately, said plumber turned out to be terrified of dogs and minus one room and the toilet, the whole of our downstairs is open plan including to the staircase...so I can't really shove them out of the way. And he refused to come in the house unless they were locked away, even though they were all sat there doing nothing. I can't blame him, but I did say when I enquired that I had dogs and an open-plan downstairs so whoever did the job would need to be dog comfortable! Sigh. They had really good reviews as well 😩

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks A plumber who terrified of dogs is not going to get much business in this day and age. In our street, I once calculated that one-in-five houses have a dog.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks It probably makes them more likely to wander up to us because at that point, Pablo is standing still calmly watching and from the outside, he looks obedient, friendly and well-trained. But what they can’t see is how much restraint it takes him to do that! So as soon as their dog gets close to him, or they start talking to me in a sing-song voice and he loses his mind, they get really confused at the change in his behaviour!

I agree with @Silverbirchleaf, not great to be doing that job and be that uncomfortable around dogs - especially if they are sitting there minding their own business. Has he decided to leave or is he soldiering on regardless??

@Silverbirchleaf Quite! On our road, it's nearly every other house has a dog if not multiple. @VanGoSunflowers it was a bit ridiculous - particularly as I did say I had an open planned house and five dogs so whoever came had to be dog confident. He left when I refused to lock the dogs up.

Just very sad as our original plumber was great, but he's moved and doesn't cover the area anymore!

On the plus side, gives me more time to try and weasel more money out of DH for a nicer bathroom😁

@VanGoSunflowers I know what you mean! On the outside they look so well trained but you can just see the internal fight happening inside but random people don't see it. I had so many incidents where people have done that 'sing-song voice' to Twatdog and a few moments later found themselves with 38kg of Golden Retriever plastered to their chest.

Has anyone been reading that thread on 'Pets' about the puppy with the heart murmur? Taken away from it's mother (unvaccinated) at seven weeks 😤I joked ages ago about throwing my puppies out the door at seven weeks, because they get so mouthy and bitey and 11 of them like I had last time was bloody awful, but I'd never actually do it!

Yes, I saw that thread. I used to threaten my dog with The Dogs Trust when I was having a bad day. I may not have been joking… .

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I don't have a problem wih the unvaccinated part. I think that's quite common these days, because of vaccines being incompatible between diferent vets. But the 7 weeks old bit is wrong and illegal. Not sure of the point of these laws when they're not enforced. But that aside, I'm not totally convinced it's a true thread.

That's a shame about the plumber. And a bit ridiculous since he was pre warned.

I am under no illusion that no matter how much training I do with K over the next three months, it will all go out the window once her partner in crime is back on the loose.

@Silverbirchleaf I think it's probably one in three houses with dogs in my street. And most people have at least two.

P was very whiney yesterday and bucked like a bloody bronco when she was allowed out of her cage. Thankfully she's been a bit more settled this morning.

I had a sausage and bacon sandwich for breakfast. P turned her back to me and faced the corner. N stared at me the whole time I was eating. K went to sleep on my feet. Funny how different they all are.

I still threaten the 4 year old with the naughty dogs home 😂

@Silverbirchleaf pretty sure I threaten Twatdog with moving in with Satan every week...he's not yet grasped the fact I mean it! 😂

@SpanielsGalore no one I know lets their puppies leave without first vaccinations and I've never known of any issues tbh except that one on the puppy thread a few months ago! Perhaps we've just been very lucky. I just can't imagine doing it though. I'd never forgive myself if something happened.

I know it's probably a bit irritating to train K and know as soon as P is back it's going to fall apart...but it is also absolutely lovely that they are the best of friends.😍

P is a bit of an odd duck about food isn't she? Love a bacon and sausage sandwich. Brown sauce or Ketchup? You've made me absolutely crave a sausage and egg sandwich - so I am off to make one.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks precisely! I’d have thought it was obvious what I was trying to do, seeing as we are stood still and I have treats in my hand and saying ‘wait’ to him but there you go!

Hope you manage to talk DH in to a better bathroom 😂 and enjoy the sausage and egg sandwich. I am of the opinion that only brown sauce will do on a bacon sarn. No sauce if there is egg.

@SpanielsGalore Pablo only begs for food if we are eating at the table or if I eat at my desk. If it’s on the sofa, he just completely ignores me!

@Silverbirchleaf most of the houses around here have dogs too. A fact I wasn’t happy about when nextdoor’s Dachshund woke me up yapping at 5am. He was going for a good half an hour out in the garden. That woke Pablo up who then naturally wanted to go out for a wee but he did ignore nextdoor’s dog and came straight back in thankfully!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Vaccinations have come up a few times on MN. I thought it was common practice for breeders not to do it these days. P and K's breeder had stopped back in 2021, as some of his buyers had encountered issues and had to restart the course.

Hope you enjoyed your sandwich. I had ketchup on mine. I am guessing you had brown sauce.

P is indeed an odd duck. I have taken advantage of her being incarcerated and drugged and treated myself to a loaf of bread. Hence today's sandwich and yesterday's slice of toast. Living the dream! 😂

@VanGoSunflowers I don't usually eat on the sofa, so I wasn't sure how K would be. I thought she'd try to steal it off my plate to be honest. Poor girl has been badly misjudged. 😇 😂

@SpanielsGalore I thought the same thing about Pablo. He would try and steal food from my son if it was him eating sat on the sofa (and if I gave him the chance) but I could sit with a pizza box open and a full, steaming hot meaty pizza on my lap and he just ignores me. Funny little things aren’t they 🥰😂

V wasn’t vaccinated but for the same reasons as said above - which vaccination they give depends on what area you’re in so I think his breeder had people before who couldn’t get the same second vaccine from their vets and had to start all over again. But I think if we were to use the same breeder again I’d get him to have the first lot done, as we use the same vets anyway so I know I’d be able to get the second no problem. We had to wait aaaaaages for V to be allowed to walk outside because I couldn’t get an appointment for a week or so then the wait between vaccines was ages.

We went down the beach and it was absolutely freezing!! It was very bracing as they say. Makes you feel alive at least 😂

-43 with the wind chill here and blowing snow. Staying indoors today.

When we were looking in 2021, the default was chipped and vaccinated. The person we got our pup from advised us to check that we could carry on the course(this was when pups were 4 weeks) and we could have opted not to have the first vaccination with her if it was going to be problematic to continue the course.

It doesn't make sense to me to have a blanket no vaccination policy unless it's to save money.

Priority for me was to be able to get out asap so I would have travelled to where I could get it done if our vets hadn't offered the same.

Blimey I don’t blame you!

Pablo came to me partially vaccinated. I called the vet prior to getting him (my first choice vet because of proximity and recommendations) and they confirmed they would carry out compatible second vaccinations so it never crossed my mind to think about it 😂

Has anyone read the ‘dogs off lead around sheep’ thread?! What on earth have I just read??

@VanGoSunflowers I read that thread and got into an argument with OP (SURPRISE!!!!), but honestly I think that's a troll as well - hitting her dog into submission and claiming it's well trained 🙄

Speaking of well trained, DH has reluctantly agreed that perhaps cheap floors are not a good idea and we should go for something more upmarket as it makes the house more sellable in the future. I say reluctantly agreed...I spammed him with photos of floor tiles all day until he told me to 'bugger off and leave him alone'😁As DDs said when I picked them up from school 'happy wife, happy life.'

I have to say on this vaccination thing, I have never heard it be different area to area! It's never even crossed my mind....possibly it should have. But I follow @tizwozliz of getting them out and about asap particularly as golden retrievers can be quite fearful.

@SpanielsGalore No sauce at all! I just slather it in butter. Perfectly runny egg though😍I love that you don't have bread that often because it upsets P. That's true dog love that is.

@YorkshireFelix you sure you don't want to swap V for Twatdog or DWS? He's such a lovely little chap.

@MooseBeTimeForSnow can we have more snowy (and dog) photos please!?