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 Glad things have calmed down your end and you are enjoying your cake.
Satan sounds like she would make a brilliant teaching dog. I used to take my first pair to classes where dogs were taught how to behave by other dogs. All carefully assessed and matched dogs; not a random pack thrown in together to battle it out.

P is well and truly fed up of crate rest. The sedatives don't seem to be having any effect at all. We're doing four ten minute walks round the village each day and two trips into the garden. But it still means she's caged for 23 hours out of 24. I've started walking different routes too for a bit of variety. She's usually pretty good on the lead, but my god she's a complete tool when it's windy!

Funny you should say about continuing to walk P and K separately. I have been thinking this too. The physio said P should have two or three walks a day of 30 minutes. So I wouldn't be doing her any favours by taking her out for an hour with K. And I need to do everything possible to minimise the risk to her other leg.
Plus I'm pretty sure K's behaviour on walks will deteriorate once she has her partner in crime back. The trainer asked me last night if I walked them separately and said it was 'sensible' when I said I did. 😂

N can only manage half an hour, so I can walk P and N together and take K out separately. P and K can round the garden together. And I could maybe hire a freedom field occasionally for them to have a run in together. The local one has started doing half hour slots.

I definitely need to increase my steps now I have started baking again. I have walking trousers in three different sizes and I have had to get my biggest ones back out. I can just about squeeze into the middle sized ones, but it's not a pretty sight.

We made progress with the training dummy today. Ķ picked it up on our walk and ran around with it, but wouldn't bring it back.

Is anyone else's dog(s) obsessed with eating dandelions at the minute?

@Silverbirchleaf the question is, would you mercy mission have involved rescuing the dogs as well or just the cake? 😂

It is absolutely delicious. Best cake I've ever had. Had some for breakfast this morning 😳

I keep toying with changing mine, and I did for a while strongly consider removing Butternut Box from Twatdog's plate, but they're so fussy I don't want to muck anything up. So I'm sticking with it, even though I'm not 100% happy at either the cost or the product.

@SpanielsGalore she is a very smart dog and very restrained. Although I think that's something that's come with age as she's quite old now and not as feisty as she once was.

When will P be off crate rest completely? Poor thing must be going bonkers. Mine get funny with the wind as well, particularly if it's blowing up their bums. N&P together would work well for a while then, or will P forever be on shorter walks? K might also really continue to enjoy her 1-2-1 walks - I know mine always do if I take one out individually. Always makes me feel a bit guilty for normally taking them out together.

I love a good freedom field, but I do find 30 minutes is more than enough. I don't know how some people can be in there for an hour. What do they do!? Do the dogs not get bored? I took mine to one in Blakeney over Christmas as I was feeling lazy and booked 30 minutes and after about 15 minutes they were queued up by the cars ready to go back 😂

I don't blame K for not bringing it back. She's not a retriever, you know! If you want it, you've got to work for it!😁

Mine aren't eating dandelions, but they love a camellia. I keep finding them pulling the flowers off the plants. It's driving DH crackers.

@tizwozliz it might be quite the selling point for them - their food is sooo good no dog can resist it?

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks We are back at the vets on the 30th. Hopefully P will be granted her freedom then. It will have been 11 weeks since the operation. I think if she was an only dog she'd already be allowed out. But the vet didn't want her play fighting and racing round the garden with K.

The physio said P should only be having half hour long walks before her ligament went, as she has dodgy knees and arthritis. So it's a life long restriction. It kind of makes sense, as she used to run wild for the first half an hour and then slow down. I thought she was getting older and more sensible at self regulating, but it was probably all she could manage really.

I know what you mean about freedom fields. I rented one when I was away and it was absolutely rubbish. Very small and lots of rows of trees, planted in bare soil. P was bored within 5 minutes, as there was nothing to sniff. And the ground was furrowed, so not good for running or walking on. Fortunately the one near me is excellent. It's big - one lap round at a leisurely pace takes about 20 minutes. It has a mixture of short and long grass, wooded areas and a pond. (Or is it a Loch up here?) The dogs really enjoy it.

Naughty doggies eating your camellia! I shall have to keep an eye on mine. It's doing really well this year, after last year's pathetic offering of three buds. The dogs have pretty much destroyed every other bush in the garden.

Glad you are enjoying your cake. Sounds like it was worth the extortionate expense.

** “..the question is, would you mercy mission have involved rescuing the dogs as well or just the cake? 😂”

I was going to say both, until I read you fed them Butternut box food. Must cost a fortune feeding your pack. Dog was getting anxious on walks (would stop dead and not move) and a dog trainer suggested changing his feed. Not sure whether it was that, or changing to a harness (didn’t like neck pressure?), or just trying to be more relaxed overall on walks, but seem to do the trick. Lucky your lot didn’t wolf down the cake themselves!

Bet you can’t wait until P gets his get-out-of-jail card . It’s been a long recovery.

By freedom fields, do you mean dog secure fields. We have a few around here. They’re alot cheaper (£8-10) for an hour, compared to my sil, who pays £8!for half an hour.

Had a nice walk this morning. Quite warm. In the woods, there’s a hollow and Dog likes running between dh and I up and down. The speed he goes!

In other (non-) exciting news, got a new pot of facial moisturiser to open later. Simple pleasures.

@Silverbirchleaf I don't know which of us will be more excited/relieved for the crate rest to end. I am so bored of walking round the village and P's squealing when she thinks she's missing out on something is so annoying. I think my patience and sympathy ran out a few weeks ago. Absolutely dreading something going wrong further down the line and having to go through it all again.

Yes, we mean secure fields. The one I use is £10 for 50 minutes. It used to be an hour, but I think they had a lot of hassle at change over times, with people leaving late or arriving early. I don't know how much they charge for 30 minutes, but I imagine it's more than half price.

Glad you had a nice, warm walk. It's windy and rainy up here, by way of a change. Dug the fake dry robe coat back out.

I find secure fields so barren. Even when they have activity kit it's often badly designed and you can't actually use it for agility (for the most part - there's one we've not tried yet that does seem to have some decent agility stuff). The grass is too short, there's no wildlife, all Bill ends up doing is chasing birds who are miles away.

If anyone's interested, Sainsbury's now do Paleo Ridge raw Essentials range - £2.40 for 500g and nobhead here practically inhales it. I've got a backlog of Lily's Kitchen to get through so he's only getting half a thingy for breakfast with his kibble, but I think he'd cheerfully have only the raw and nothing else for both main meals and second breakfast, lunch, tea and late snack.

In mandangles news, he has been slung out of his most recent daycare for nobheadery - they were lovely people but not very experienced and in fairness to them, he was being an absolute nobhead. Here he is back at home not giving a single solitary fuck. Light of my life and bane of my life 😍

Totally agree on the dog fields being rather boring. We've used them a few times, with big pup when she was younger and not so reliable with recall and when they've been in season but it's a lot of work to be honest as mine expect me to be the entertainment in that environment!

Lovely sunny morning and the gorse smells wonderful right now. We've been mantrailing this afternoon, girls did super as always. Little pup took scent off a hair elastic and followed the trail from that. It still astounds me how they can do it. Fun end to the afternoon when the car wouldn't start, call to the AA and one new battery later we were on our way home but the girls were very sad that the AA man didn't need their help.

Hi everyone! Just catching up on the thread and bound to miss a few points but the main thing that stands out in my head is that cake @TheHungryHungryLandsharks bet that was beautiful with a good coffee!

And like Rory @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Pablo also thinks retrieving is life. It’s the only time I ever see him truly focused. Other than when there is a particularly compelling smell on the ground. If I take him on his regular route, I don’t tend to throw anything for him because he’s usually pretty good with engagement as he isn’t as over stimulated but if I take him somewhere new, I have to keep him on lead a short while and then do a few retrieves with him almost to ‘switch him on’ and then he’s usually ok for the rest of the walk. I can get him to sit and wait, throw something and then release him to retrieve it and he absolutely LOVES it. Still a total menace around other dogs though. Although I let him run around with a staffy yesterday and they both seemed to enjoy it and he was actually recalling to the whistle every time I tried it and then he’d go back again so hopefully we are making progress!

In other news, I woke up at 5am to two huge piles of runny poo on my bedroom rug 😩

@SpanielsGalore Oh 30th isn't too long! Will keep my fingers crossed for P. Although I'm not surprised the vet didn't want her overdoing it - from everything you've said, those two are chaotic when together!

Poor P having a life-long restriction though. But if it keeps her healthy and pain-free, it'll be worth it. Plus I am sure she can get up to mischief in 30 mins...

I must say I am glad none of the fields I've ever used have a pond. I'd never get the dogs out of it 😂Mine do need lots of sniffs though, even if they don't ever actually sniff that much.

@Silverbirchleaf the ones on raw cost more! I have to supplement all their food with biscuits as well, but they're worth it. Although I can (rather embarrassingly) admit that the dogs cost more than our mortgage. But they are my luxury and 100% worth it.

£8 for an hour is a steal! I honestly don't know how some people afford them tbh. I know someone at work who has a dog sitter three days a week and books a field the other four (as well as walking her dog). I hate to think about how much that costs altogether.

@Bupster Ohh look at Bill. So handsome. Such a determined little face. What did he do in daycare? I am still willing to take him forever.

@tizwozliz sorry to hear about your car! I hope the AA man gave them fusses and scratches.

@VanGoSunflowers Oh nooo!!! How is Pablo now!?

In sad news, I can confirm the cake is finished. I will not be buying another as they really are too expensive to be bought too often and I am getting very fat.

It was so beautiful here today that we all spent the whole day in the garden or out and about on dog walks. I have a bright red face but hopefully this means that by the time it gets really warm I won't burn as easily. Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the weather!

@Bupster Obviously, Bill is just misunderstood, a sensitive soul. Maybe he has dog -adhd, and the daycare need to work with this, not against it.

@tizwozliz Lovely pictures, again. Apparently black dogs are the hardest to take pictures of. Love the contrast of the vibrant yellow against the black fur.

@VanGoSunflowers I hope your pooches are okay, after their loose ablations.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I think Dog is our biggest expense after food and council tax (mortgage paid off due to an inheritance). I never realised how expensive they were, and we only have one.

Lovely here as well. Love seeing all the bluebells on the wood. Also went to the park, and remembered there could be a football match on, so avoided that part of the park. Last time, Dog was the dog who nearly ran onto the pitch.

Morning all.

@Bupster Move to Scotland and I'll look after Bill for you. I'm used to nobhead dogs. Might make your work commute a little long though.
It's a shame the new day care didn't work out. What was Bill doing that they couldn't cope with? Or are they only interested in easy money rather than actual dogs?

@tizwozliz Dogs are amazing. That's very clever of Little Pup.
Sorry about your car troubles. I hope you didn't have to wait too long for the AA to come out.

@VanGoSunflowers Hope Pablo is alright and there hasn't been any more poo incidents. Did the rug clean up or was it a bin job?

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad you had warm weather and a lovely garden day. It was 8° here yesterday.

We had a very lazy day yesterday, as I just couldn't be arsed - 6 or 7 walks a day is tedious, even though most of them are short.
I did sessions of training and retrieves with K in the garden.
N was happy to spend the day pottering about.
P had one walk round the village and several trips into the garden. On one trip I threw two handfuls of kibble into the long grass/weeds and they all spent a happy 15 minutes sniffing it out. (Two Carrion crows tried to join in and got within 5 feet of us before K chased them off.)
P seemed a lot calmer in the cage yesterday, so perhaps 4 walks a day is over stimulating her and making her want to get out more. Either that or she's feeling a bit poorly. Her morning poos have been awful today and yesterday. Probably TMI but she produced a huge amount of soft, mucusy stool. I'm assuming the meds are irritating her stomach.

Raining here today, so I doubt we'll be getting up to anything too exciting today either. Hope everyone else is faring better.

@Silverbirchleaf but they're worth every penny aren't they? The only time in my life I didn't have a dog, or live with my parents with dogs, was genuinely the most miserable time. I'd never not have a dog now. Although give me twenty years and I might start thinking five is a bit too many...

@SpanielsGalore Ohh poor P! Fingers crossed it's just the medication. Dogs really do seem to be so sensitive around food and medication, more-so than humans.

Sorry it's raining for you!

Its colder here again today 😫But still 10 degrees or so, so I'll go out into the garden in a bit. I hit a new (very sad) total today of 13 poo bags by the end of my dog walk. Not all held at once, I hasten to add. I always pick up the dogs poo, but there is a part of me that wonders just how much damage I do doing by using 20+ poo bags over the course of the day...

Mine always get lots of praise if they both poo at the same time right by the bin, so one bag shared and then disposed of immediately. They probably have no idea why I'm saying good girls 😂

It's beautifully sunny here but minus figures overnight and had to scrape the car.

55 minutes all in with the AA, from ringing to driving home with new battery fitted. So not bad at all.

Sorry @TheHungryHungryLandsharks . Changed my wardrobes from ‘winter’ to ‘summer’ yesterday, so obviously it’s got colder again. It’s lovely to discover clothes you’ve forgotten about.

Dogs my first dog , although we did used to look after a friends dog whilst they were way. He’s a placid little thing, and lulled us into a false sense of security. Having a dog (or at least, puppy), has been one of the most stressful things I’ve done. However, now he’s older, and the agility, I get alot more enjoyment from him.

I'd never not have a dog now

My two will be my two and only 😁

He was absolutely fine after the 5am wake up thankfully @TheHungryHungryLandsharks and I had managed to clean the rug @SpanielsGalore by using the Vax several times over it 😂

Agree with @Silverbirchleaf that having a dog is one of the most stressful things I have done! Well, this current phase is anyway. I wouldn’t change him and don’t regret getting him but he’s testing my patience regularly these days! Roll on maturity 😂

So I have a question. Really feeling in the trenches with Pablo at the minute. Probably why I haven’t been posting as much - feel like I spend a lot of my time worrying about my dog so when I pick my phone up to wind down I end up scrolling through mindless drivel instead!

What was/is adolescence like for you all? Is it kind of their behaviour gets gradually worse from say 7 months to 12 months, stays shit for a little while and then gradually improves? Or do they change overnight sometimes? I think the thing I am finding hard is that he is so unpredictable at the minute! He’s doing things such as bolting over to other dogs that are so far away I was probably thinking he wouldn’t go over to them as he never has before. It’s making me really nervous on every walk we do. I mean, I always try put him back on lead when I see another dog and it probably happens maybe once a week at most, sometimes he will come straight back and other times he won’t. I train him literally every day on every walk we do to some degree or other and have been daily since I first got him but some days it’s as if he’s never received a scrap of training in his life! Also the barking at every single person/dog/stray leaf that wanders past our front door, or next doors dog who never stops barking sets him off and nothing I do seems to make a difference!
Sorry for the long post and I feel like I have almost no right to ask because I’ve bad so bad at keeping up with you all lately, just feeling quite stressy about it all at the moment. I even posted on another thread about how pleased I am with his progress but that’s because we had one really good walk and the next day, he’s back to his usual shenanigans 🤦‍♀️

In so many ways I feel like I am so lucky to have him, I have the utmost respect for anyone who has a reactive dog or has had them in the past and had to manage to fulfil the dog’s needs, it must be so so difficult. So that’s another reason why I feel so bad about complaining about him because he does have a lovely temperament. In some ways I may be grappling with my own weird obsession with doing everything perfectly and worrying that I am failing I guess. Maybe I just need to chill out a bit more 🤦‍♀️😂

@VanGoSunflowers Never feel bad for asking questions or having a moan. That's what the thread is for.

There is a reason adolescent males are the most common surrenders to rescues. They're fucking nobheads!

Pablo sounds a lot like my sprocker. His adolescence was by far the worst I have been through. He too had the sweetest temperament, but he was an absolute PITA.
Every day seemed to bring a new challenge. I was often in tears over something he'd done.
He used to run over to other dogs. Some he would play with and then come away. Others he would annoy the fuck out of and not leave alone. And he'd bounce around just out of reach, so I couldn't grab hold of him.
He was very strong and pulled like a steam train, scrabbling along with his chest practically on the floor. And then other times, he'd walk perfectly on a loose lead as he'd been trained to do.
He stole absolutely everything he could get his teeth onto.
He also found a million and one ways to escape the garden. And since we lived alongside a field of sheep, that was another huge stress.
Honestly. If I hadn't been his third home already, there were days I could have happily returned him to the rescue.

Can you block his access to the front door? Does he bark at things he sees out of the window too? I have plastic film on my windows, so the dogs can't see out. I also have music playing all day to drown out any outside noises. (Appreciate that might not be possible for you as you WFH.)

Hang on in there. It does get better eventually. I think adolescence ends around 2 years old for labs. Although obviously it will vary for each dog.
And do come here for support. We've all been there (I imagine there is a reason TD earned his nickname) or are currently going through it too.

Does everyone pick up poo on every walk?
I read the rule of the woods was to 'stick and flick'. If the poo is in the woods, leave it lying. If it's on a path, get a stick and flick it to the side.
They have signs up at Balmoral telling you to do that. Obviously not in the official gardens and lawns, but in the wooded areas.
There are no poo bins in the woods round here.

If I am walking on the beach or in a maintained park, I pick up. If it's rough ground, I don't.

The two FB moans on local pages are people not picking up poo on pavements and people who do bag up their dog's poo in the woods, but then leave it behind. Why bother? There is a prolific pink poo bagger who does it regularly. I saw 4 on one walk last week. They weren't even near the path. So the person has stepped 4 metres off to the side to bag up a poo and then left it in situ.

Thanks @SpanielsGalore they do definitely sound similar! Did your sprocker improve with maturity? I know it’s not a catch all and you have to train them through it but I’m hoping his impulse control will improve!
He doesn’t have access to the front door but will bark at the living room window and sometimes out the back! I do try and have chilled music on most of the day which helps and I have noise cancelling headphones for work calls! I just have no idea why he does it, surely he’s not being territorial as if someone comes in to the house he greets them like a long lost friend! It’s the bolting over to other dogs that worries me the most I think. I used to have a good grasp on when a dog was far away enough that he wouldn’t bolt over but that seems to have gone out of the window recently and he will not listen when a dog tells him no. They can bare teeth, growl etc and he just thinks the best way to deal with that is to bow down low and lick their faces 🤦‍♀️

Sorry for the long post, I’m wondering if I just need a mind set change. So carry on as I am but accept that this is the dog I have and then if there is any improvement then it’s a bonus but I may never be able to give him as much off lead freedom as I had hoped I would.

@VanGoSunflowers K has started to bark at noises she hears - car doors slamming, other dogs barking, birds and dogs on the TV. It's very annoying. N will bark at the door bell, whilst wagging her tail and greeting visitors like long lost friends. I try to look at it as their way of communicating whilst being annoyed and telling them to shut up.

The harassment of other dogs used to really stress me out. I'd gone from having a reactive dog and hating people who let their dogs come running over to him to being THAT owner. I stopped short of saying "He just wants to play" though.
It wasn't every dog and I never knew how he'd be. I started to use a long line on the beach and recalled him every time I saw another dog in the woods. My trainer said since it wasn't every time, I should just say fuck it - apologise and move on. He did improve over time.

I don't think you need to change your mind set. This is the dog you have now. It's just a phase and he will grow out of it.

@SpanielsGalore that’s pretty much what I do to Pablo - tell him to shut up 😂

That’s how I see it too, that I am THAT owner that can’t control their dog going to play with others. I do try, put him back on the lead or change direction whenever I see another dog but there’s always an odd occasion when I don’t react quick enough, if he sees the dog before I do. I always apologise to the other owner as I’m going to get him back (if he doesn’t come back to the whistle) and luckily so far they’ve all been very understanding. In some circumstances I can put him on his extendable and recall him that way but it’s not a tool for every environment. I don’t know whether to carry on as I am or do some specific “let’s go over the field when there are dogs in it and use your long line and hammer recall in to him” or to just carry on as I am and hope he improves with age.

@VanGoSunflowers I'd carry on as you are. And did so myself. The vast majority of people are reasonable and, if they see you are making an effort to get your dog, will accept your apology.
You will inevitably meet one person who says "If you can't control your dog, you shouldn't let it off the lead." In which case, you go home and have a good cry, feel shit for a few days, and then get back out there. 🙈
As a reactive dog owner, I only hated the owners who made no effort to get their dogs back. Those who stand at the other end of the field, rattling a treat tin and calling their name, whilst the dog clearly ignores them. Or they saunter across whilst yelling "It's alright. He's friendly." Well mine isn't and neither am I, so fuck off. 😂

@VanGoSunflowers would going to a dog secure field help you? You could let the lead without any worry.

Regarding poo, Dog tends to go into the undergrowth in the woods to do his business. No way am I searching for it. If it’s path edge, I flick it in. If all the path, I pick it up. It does annoy me when people don’t be pick up poos from woodland (and all) paths.