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. 😁

That cakes look yummy.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Did the cake taste as good as it looks? That's handy being portioned before beig frozen. Although none of my cakes make 12 slices. 8 at the most.

@YorkshireFelix Do you have a training dummy that holds treats? I've had a look on Amazon, but as the reviews say, they're basically pencil cases with no weight to them. K is showing no interest in my hessian dummies at all. I thought a food bribe might help. I considered a rabbit skin one, but I don't think she'd give it up.

@SpanielsGalore @Silverbirchleaf it was absolutely delicious. Note quite enough passionfruit coulis for me...but I love my cakes sickly sweet. It says 8-12 portions, but we did 12 portions as otherwise it's only two portions each...

Hope you both had good morning walks - dry here and it was already 10 at 06:00!

I encountered a van driver on my way home and he put his foot down, to go past his designated pulling in place, to try and force me to reverse backdown the road (and around a bend). So I just switched my engine off and got out the car in a clear demonstration of 'no, you reverse back you stupid tit'. No one intimidates me 😂He held out for 15 minutes before another car appeared behind me and he accepted defeat. I got the feeling we could have been there all day. Twatdog was very exercised about the whole thing - if a human gets out the car, surely he is going to as well!?

@SpanielsGalore yes this one is what our trainer recommended and it’s great. The lady who owns F&F makes them herself!!

https://www.fieldandfireside.co.uk/product-page/field-fireside-reluctant-retriever-dummy

Our trainer taught me a method called ‘backchaining’ which is what you use for dogs who aren’t interested in retrieving, so you basically do the whole thing backwards and teach them to hold the dummy first. So we started by showing V the treats going into the dummy, then if he touched it with his nose he would get a treat. Then we progressed onto if he put his mouth around it he gets a treat. And so on. It’s a bit like ‘shaping’ where they kind of have to work out what you want from them but they pick it up pretty quickly. It just builds up the drive to want to hold the dummy because they then know it comes with a nice reward.

You are probably right with the rabbit skin, I think it would be too high value. We had the same issue with the rabbit ball! I still can’t use it inside with him but he’s so bloody distracted outside now that we can do maybe 2 retrieves of it before he gets bored and goes hunting elsewhere. The first time we used it outside he went absolutely mad for it and would not give it up for anything.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks very relevant to your interests - for Mother’s Day I got a bundle of treats from Get Baked. A huge slice of chocolate fudge cake (did the three of us for two portions each!!), brownies, a cookie dough bake at home thing and an Armadillo pie which is chocolate ganache, salted caramel and Daim bar pieces 🤤

Again they are expensive but both DH and I commented on how you can tell they use v high quality ingredients so it was very nice for a treat. I’d highly recommend the cake!! It was incredible.

https://www.get-baked.co.uk/

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks although may be no good as i just saw your DH doesn’t like chocolate!! Scandalous. Maybe a treat just for you…

testing.

@YorkshireFelix Eurghh i tried about six times to reply but it kept telling me I didn't exist 😂Switched to phone and now it works.

Those cakes look amazing. Bertha could easily persuade me. DH likes chocolate, but it wouldn't be his first choice of cake as he finds it too sweet so tends to go for chocolate and coffee or chocolate and hazelnuts etc. Which is fine by me because it means I can eat all the chocolate cake with DDs 😂

Sounds like you were absolutely spoilt rotten on mothers day! All from DD or did V get you anything? 😀The rabble always get me birthday and Christmas presents, but they're not very good on mothers day...or easter.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad it wasn't just me having problems. I couldn't tag anyone and when I tried to preview a message, it said I hadn't typed one.

I have a mental image of you standing in the middle of the road, with your arms folded, staring down a van driver. 😂

@YorkshireFelix Thank you. I have ordered one. Should hopefully be here by the end of the week and we can get some practice in before the course starts. And thank you for the training tips.

My friend suggested backchaining yesterday. I have tried with the dummy this morning, but she actively avoids touching it, even when I shove it in her face. 😂 The only time she went near it was when I put treats on top of it for her to take.
My friend suggested starting with an object she will hold, like a toy or a pair of socks. So I shall give that a go until the treat dummy arrives.

I imagine K would be exactly like V with a rabbit dummy. Way to hyper. It would probably benefit us to do some basic training before attempting the retrieves too. 1 - to get her brain switched on. And 2 - to calm her down and not be so bloody hyper. She was too wild to concentrate yesterday and I ended up with an armful of scratches.

That chocolate cake looks delicious. I dare not click on the link. 🙈

@SpanielsGalore I was really channeling my 'stroppy middle-aged woman' (as Gen Z would call me). I have a huge dislike of people driving larger vehicles who try and intimidate other road users. It wasn't quite in the middle of the road, but the point was made. 😂

It's so windy here that I have just realised the stuffing from Twatdog's latest elephant - which was given to him yesterday - and that I was leaving in the garden for the birds to make nests with, has blown into next-doors garden. I have sent a very sheepish text and an offer to go and collect it tomorrow... assuming it's still there.

Stupid spring weather making it impossible to know what's going to happen. This morning it wasn't due to be windy, but I just checked the forecast now and 40mph winds are due. 😳it was 13 and sunny about 3 hours ago!!!!

I was rubbing directly into a headwind on my run down the canal this morning! But it was weirdly warm and I had way too many layers on. Chucking it down now 😐

Not posted for a little while - was going to send the link to the Field and Fireside dummy but I've been beaten to it! Bill likes that one, though he never carries it properly. I'm keeping an eye out for their reluctant hunter one too - it's been out of stock for a while. It's designed to be heavy enough to bury itself in long grass apparently.

In other news that should cheer you all up, I took my nobhead for a walk on Sunday in the (very muddy) woods. I let his line trail for some of it, but he scented something in the undergrowth and somehow managed to tie us both to a tree.

Ah-hah! I thought, with my advanced monkey brain I know about physics and pulleys - I can hold him with one hand using the tree as a fulcrum while I untangle us both with the other. He watched me concentrating, thought 'bugger this,' backed out of his harness and bogged off, the little bollocks. I had to tempt him back by kneeling in the mud and waving chunks of steak around; I cannot even begin to describe the state of my car by the time I squirted him back in there like an oiled piglet.

He's also learned to nose the trackpad on my laptop when he wants attention. He's going to be the death of me.

Pictured: (clean) nobhead helping change the bed linen.

@Bupster Have to confess to laughing - purely at your description, not at Bill buggering off. The clever (and handsome) little piglet. 💖

There is not a cat in hells chance of getting either of mine to retrieve a dummy in the wild. I can't get K to retrieve one in the kitchen, where there are zero distractions.

P and N had walks in the village today. It was too windy for the sea front (brought my guttering down 🤦‍♀️) so I took K to the woods. We had a lovely 45 minutes of staying close-ish and being attentive. Practising stop at a distance, walking to heel, sit, wait and recall. 😇 Then she saw two deer and fucked off. 😈

Needed fuel for the trips to the vets on Thursday, so put £50's worth of diesel in the car today. It only filled half a tank!

Aah, Bill, keeping us all entertained and looking cute as normal.

All the cakes look delicious.

My Fb page is full of adverts for Get Baked. 😂 None for training dummies though, which is the item I actually bought.

Wet and miserable here today for a change. My phone says it is 4°. (Must get DS to go up a ladder and change the batteries in my weather station next time he visits. No, I can't do it myself.)

I wonder, is the correct response to someone who says ‘he’s a bit big to be acting like a puppy’ about Twatdog when he’s zooming and minding his own business with DWS to say ‘you’re a bit old to be acting like a insert rude word.’

Something tells me not…but in my sleep deprived menopausal state that’s what came out. 😂This has really been a week full of Twats, on roads and on walks! Yet to have a walk without some idiot appearing - think it’s the fair weather male dog walkers who hibernate all winter. A bit of sun and they’re springing up like Daffodils. I’m starting to remember why I like winter and it’s not even proper summer yet 😩

@Bupster Bill looking handsome as ever I see. I refuse to believe her did anything naughty -clearly you’re spreading disinformation to make it less likely we all band together to dog-nap Bill and his silky ears!

@SpanielsGalore bloody hell! What car do you have?! That’s so much. That or the petrol near you is insanely expensive. Diesel here has hits 170. 😞

I do love how K loves to lull you into a false sense of security!!! Acts the good girl then bang!

@YorkshireFelix I can’t remember (and I may well be imagining) but did you hope at one point V might be a running complain?

Hope everyone is having more successful walks than me! Cold but sunny here - really hoping it’ll warm up properly soon as I can’t cope with going from 10degreed at 6am one day to 1degrees the next!!

@Bupsterahh lovely Bill, you’d never guess he had a single nobhead bone in his body from that photo!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks ugh this is exactly why I kind of enjoy walking in the pissing rain as it means we don’t really see anyone else! I always forget I live in a tourist spot until spring appears then it’s chocka with visitors and I want to retreat to the hills!! Poor Twatdog just trying to enjoy himself. Some people are just miserable.

Funnily enough I’d not mentioned it here but I did wonder if I could build up to V running with me. I think it would stress me out though because he can be quite unruly sometimes! If I knew he would be on his best behaviour every time I’d definitely do it. I saw my friends husband running down the canal the other day with their whippet and the dog looked like he was having the best day of his life.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I am off this week again, and took Pablo to a National Trust place the other day. We popped in the cafe for a coffee and despite there being a dog less than 2 metres away, he actually laid down and relaxed for a whole 15 minutes before he tried to dart over to it to say hello. I got some bloke telling me “oh my son’s Labrador is much calmer than yours” and several other unwanted comments from complete strangers on the rest of the walk. Thing is, I thought he actually did really well considering his age and I left thinking the same thing - that I wish all these people would piss off and stay inside like they did all winter.

@YorkshireFelix It's a shame I can't use my prediction abilities (i.e. you and V running) to guess the lottery numbers accurately😂

Maybe you could do an afternoon run with him after the morning walk? That way he might be a bit less manic and more likely to behave? Could also always tie him to you - my sister does that with her Golden through some sort of belt on her hip. Stops the dog getting into mischief. Although she did nearly end up flat on her face several times at the start, but then again a Golden is a lot bigger than V...

Honestly, and I know someone would say this, but Twatdog was causing no harm. He was nowhere near the bloke. Although still better than the time someone tried to grab Hen by her collar🙄I will never understand people around dogs they don't know.

@VanGoSunflowers I am so glad it's not just me! I was so unbelievably annoyed this morning.

I very much take the 'if the dog isn't bothering you or anyone, shut up' approach. I honestly have no idea why people feel the need to comment when the dog isn't do anything that impacts them in anyway. And tbh, given Pablo's age and breed, it's 100% impressive. It's so much harder to get a young, energetic, dog like a retriever or spaniel, to relax and be calm than it is to get something like a Pug or a Greyhound. Twatdog could do it at Pablo's age but only if he had a responsible adult dog with him, otherwise he would get all shifty and barky.

I hope Pablo has been enjoying the week and that you've been completely focussing on him (and DS obviously)😀

You'll all be entertained to know that today I had to strip all the linen off the bed and re-wash all the last lot as well as the little bollocks decided to wipe his paws over everything white that I had in the house.

Completely apropos of nothing at all, we're off to the vet's in a bit to talk about neutering. I'm looking at the Suprelorin implant. I'm really anxious, for no reason at all. I think he's a prime candidate for it really helping his behaviour and if we only saw a 20% improvement in specifically bollock-driven nobheadery (as opposed to breed-driven, or Bill-specific, like tying people to trees and bogging off) that would still make such a difference to us. I am super-worried about the testosterone surge though. I also hate the idea it might change his gorgeous coat, though I'll get over myself.

Has anyone here had any experience of chemical castration? For your dogs, obviously. Close up of his gorgeous ears attached for the connoisseurs.

Hi!

Is there a teenage phase thread or is it all in once place now? I've tried to search but can't find it.

Thanks in advance

@Bupster oh those are some sexy, silky, ears.

No idea over that implant, but my googling told me it's also use for ferrets which seems very niche and random. I think it's really hard to know as all dogs seem to react a bit differently to it, sort of like spaying in bitches. There was a thread last year: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/the_doghouse/5251613-chemical-castration-experience-and-diary-for-anyone-interested which might be of use? Sounds like it took about 3 weeks for behaviour to calm down, but again that's dofg specific.

@Goldenspanners I'm not sure if there is a teenage phase one (there definitely used to be) but you are more than welcome here (we have dogs of all ages and sizes from just about a year up to 13.5 years)! 😊We do get very distracted by cake related discussions on occasion though...just to warn you!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks thanks so much! Just feel like I need somewhere to vent about teenage puppies 🤣 hopefully to be told to hang in there and it gets better. Cakes are all good too.

We are in Denmark again. Weather is very much like the UK, - four seasons in one day. Grateful that the pups are such good travellers, although I think this was the first time in 10 ferry trips that big pup actually went for a wee on the ferry. 3 hours in the car, 12 hours on the ferry, then 9 hours in the car and they take it all in their stride, only a small amount of cheese burger bribery.

We've been to our favourite dog forest today, and hoping to get in some beach trips before the end of the month when off lead is no longer allowed.

One of the dog toys bought yesterday had already been delivered squeakered

Looking forward to lighter evenings when the clocks change this weekend too.

I'm fortunate enough not to meet any eejits on walks or alternatively completely oblivious :-)

I don’t think I ever get such annoying unsolicited comments. Maybe Somerset people are just nice…
I have recently had some nice ‘what a lovely dog’ and ‘what a well-trained dog’, which is lovely and makes me unreasonably proud. It’s mostly from joggers and cyclists, because I have trained Merry to stand nicely to the side of the canal path and wait for them to pass. I think they are grateful not to be tripped up or chased!

I am actually very pleased with the way she is developing, she is very ‘collie’, so as long as she has a ball or toy to look after, she is very good. The only thing that bugs me is she is still very lively in the house. When she’s awake she pesters to play constantly. I do play with her of course, and do training sessions, but it’s hard to sit and have a quiet cuppa without having a toy dropped on your lap. I’m hoping she will eventually calm down, she is only 10 months. Or maybe I should be trying to train some calm, I’m not sure.

@tizwozliz what is a dog forest, because I love the sound of that!!

Also, does anyone else’s dog seem to have a tongue which is too big for their mouth? See pic…