Beyond Adolescence - part 4

[SpanielsGalore]

Didn't realise we were that close to the end of part 3. 😂

@tizwozliz ahh! If it's in a weekday, and unless you have lots of time to kill I would avoid Blues & Royals and go to Farmer J - that way you get breakfast and coffee in one and it's literally a 30 second walk from the Conrad!

I love Blues and Royals, but I've queued for 15 minutes before at 8 in the morning for a coffee (it's literally a one man band most of the time). Although I suppose the fact there's literally dozens of civil servants queueing at any one time between 7;30 - 10;00 says a lot about how good their coffee is. 😂

See your labs being too clever for their own good is why I like my Goldies - nice and thick. The lazy persons dogs of choice. I like a dog that can't outwit me.

Hope everyone had a lovely morning walk! Mine was absolutely freezing and DWS decided she wanted to chase a rabbit and then got stuck in some stinging nettles as they wrapped around her floofy tail. I, of course, did not have gloves so am now absolutely covered in little pin-pricks from where I extracted her...

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I'd say naughty DWS, but K has chased a few hares recently. I hope your hands are better. I keep surgical gloves, in my dog walking bag, for poo helping emergencies. Not sure they'd be much help against nettles though.

K did a brilliant water retrieve today. Unfortunately it was of a dead bird that I had wrestled off her and thrown into the estuary out of her reach. Little sod has finally discovered she can swim.

@SpanielsGalore DS did a tour of Estonia just before the war broke out. Are you able to send him care packages? He liked it there but I don’t know if things have changed, he went in Covid and they weren’t allowed to do much, he ended up training for and running the Tallinn marathon!

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding It hadn't occurred to me I'd be able to write to him and send things. That would be good. I shall have to get him to find out for next year.
They did a half marathon a few weeks before they left. From what he said afterwards, I can't see him wanting to do a full one. 😂

@SpanielsGalore hands are 100% recovered, and DWS did not chase any rabbits this morning. She did get so excited she nearly collapsed which is what happened to TD when he was about the same age. There's clearly something about rabbits that little pointless Goldens love.

Good Ol' K proving she's a real spaniel 😂Did she relinquish the dead bird again after she retrieved it?

I have to say I had completely forgotten you could just write to your DS, so @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding to the rescue! 😃

A care package is a good idea. I remember when DH was in the Middle East he kept asking colleagues to bring him fruit and veg as the food on the Embassy was basically just greasy rubbish🤔I could never do it. I need my 10 portions of fruit a day. Something tells me food in Estonia is probably better than that though...

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad your hands have recovered. Was DWS's excitement in the same area as the rabbit chase? K did that huge adrenaline dump collapse when she was younger. It's always in one particular area of the woods, so I avoid it now.

K never relinquishes dead birds. I throw treats for her to fetch and grab the bird while I can. Then she'll dash back and try to snatch it out of my hand. I put her on the lead the second time, so she couldn't swim after it.

I hope DS will be allowed his phone, but it's comforting to think we can write if not. I'm doing well. I have only sent 4 messages so far. 😂 I imagine the quality of food will depend on whether he is in camp or living off boil in the bag rations.

After fairly nice weather yesterday, it's absolutely lashing it down today. I'll have to dig my dry robe back out to walk the dogs. I hope training isn't cancelled after all the effort we've put into not learning how to sit at a distance. 😂

@SpanielsGalore It was! I should have known better really...but it's a really lovely walk with great views for miles and miles.

Poor K! She was just trying to show you how much her retrieving had improved 😂

Four messages is nothing! You're being very restrained!

It's dry here, but there were HUGE hailstones yesterday - big enough that Twatdog was scared and hid under the dining table for an hour. He's a bit of a loser, if I am honest. But I luckily managed to miss the hailstones between the various walks, so I'll take it as a win.

@Steelworks as you're close to me, I imagine you got the hail as well?

I am starting to think that my walks with Merry are really rather sedate, after reading about dead birds and getting tangled in stinging nettles! As for fainting with excitement!! That’s bonkers. 😂
My Mum lives in Suffolk and she had giant hailstones. We have had lashing rain, bitter cold and bright sunshine. It really is Wrong Coat Season!

@Struckbylightning They don't faint. More collapse from extreme exhaustion, as the adrenaline rush of an exciting chase leaves their body. Fortunately for me, K is small enough to carry back to the car. Landsharks would have to wait around for hers to recover.
I could really do without the dead birds though. They find at least one a day down the sea front. This one was a crow, which made a change. They're usually some species of sea bird.

We had hailstones and sleet yesterday. And this morning is gale force winds.

And in important news.....

Guess who won Most Improved Dog at training last night. 😁

@Struckbylightning Spaniels is right! And definitely easier when you have a little dog, I have to wait for mine to wake up if it happens. Twatdog is a real pain for it, but then he has so little going on in his teeny-tiny brain that even the smallest thing sets him off into bonkers land.

100% agree on wrong coat season though. I took the rabble for a lovely walk this morning and once again I started off shivering and by the end I was sweating without a coat on. It's due to be 23 apparently next Friday. I can't keep up with this weather 😂

@SpanielsGalore YES! Go K! See, she was only retrieving those dead things to prove to you that she was improving. What a good girl.

She is such a beautiful little girl.

Speaking of beautiful cockers. Guess who's mother is considering another cocker? As though Satan wasn't enough Cocker for one woman...

Aww well done K! He looks incredibly proud. Possibly even a little smug.
I’m so glad, and a little surprised that Merry has never collapsed, some of the wild galloping about she has done! I think I would totally freak and call in the air ambulance.
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I did the same this morning, after freezing yesterday I wore a wooly jumper and my big coat and ended up carrying them, it’s been a beautiful warm morning. We went down the canal and Merry was practicing her new really annoying habit of dropping her ball into the water then waiting for me to take my life or rather dignity in my hands and fish it out for her. Pest. One of these days I’ll just shove her into the water to fetch it herself.

@Struckbylightning maybe Merry thinks you're a retriever? 😂She says she knows she's not, but everyone else seems to have some sort of retriever so she doesn't want to be without one...

How is she doing in the mornings? Still demanding play-time whilst you try and wake up? Conscious it's only been two weeks or so but sometimes dogs just suddenly 'twig' and get it!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I think you may be right. Today while I was on my knees in the grass, arse in the air and trying not to topple in, some passing wag said ‘shouldn’t it be the other way round!’ Bastard. Every time she does it I tell her ‘last time’ but then she looks at me all mournful and I cave.

She’s still a bit of a pain in the mornings, though I am possibly detecting a bit of an improvement. She does play by herself a little bit, sometimes I send her out in the garden for a while, it’s easier now the weather is better and I can leave the door open. She also has a game where she clutches a toy in her mouth and rolls a ball around the room with her nose and feet. But of course, that gets annoying because the ball often rolls under the couch…. and oh my god, it’s just occurred to me that this is where the canal business has come from. It’s the same look she gives me to ask me to retrieve the ball. Is this her way of forcing me to engage?? I am being played by my own dog ffs 🤦🏼‍♀️
Please can I swop my collie for a nice thick Goldie..!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I saw on another thread that your DMum was after a second dog. Glad Satan hasn't put her off cockers. 😂 Shame you're not in Scotland. We have a few coming in.
Although if she doesn't mind toast hating, hole diggers, I'll have one up for rehoming soon. I had forgotten how frustrating P is to live with. She went outside yesterday while I was grilling sausages and wouldn't come back in. That in itself isn't annoying. But she must have come to the door at least ten times and everytime I opened it, she ran off back down the garden.

P is allowed 25 minute walks now, so I took all three dogs to the woods for a change of scenery. I don't think I'll be doing it again. K and N were fine. But P was pulling and lunging all over the place. I swear I had whiplash by the end. 😂

And in none dog related news - Yesterday I arranged for a plumber to come round to remove a radiator. Embarrassingly, I had a total mind blank and couldn't remember my address. 🙈 I live in a road that changes from (for example) Baker Street to Baker Road half way along. I used to live in 221b Baker Street and now live in 220b Baker Road. I knew the number and name, but for the life of me couldn't remember if it was Road or Street. I've only lived here for 3.5 years. 🤦‍♀️

@Struckbylightning sounds rather like Merry does have you trained. But clearly it makes her happy, so why would you change?😀

She is definitely getting to that age where she is growing up, so I wouldn't be surprised if you're not imagining it and she is slowly improving. I know Twatdog literally grew up over night and went from being a little turd to a good boy.

@SpanielsGalore There's quite a few near us as well - guess it's that time of year. There always seems to be peaks in May/June and then again in Sept/October. Not sure why!

I think Satan is probably what most people would call a 'soul dog.' She utterly worships my mum. She has to be touching her at all times if she's asleep and if she's awake my mum has to be in her line of sight. But I think part of that comes from her being an older girl now. I will admit, she is a sweetie (an evil sweetie).

Oh the running away after lying by the door would drive me crackers! At least it's getting a bit warmer though, so it's not like you're out in the depths of winter screaming for her to come back 🙁

I wonder what made P so manic on the walk? Do you think possibly just excitement over the new location?

Oh no!!😂😂I hope the plumber found you in the end!

had a lovely walk this morning, but now it's cold and cloudy again. I'm getting very annoyed with the changing weather. Admittedly not helped by Wanky Pants waking me up at dawn every day by staring into my eyes until I wake up. There is nothing more off putting than waking up to a dogs nose inches from your own and them staring at you in the darkness.😑

@SpanielsGalore Oh that’s a bit embarrassing, forgetting your own address, I do sometimes have to think hard about my birth date though 😂
Poor P, it will take her some time to readjust to being out of prison I guess.
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks She definitely does have me well trained. I’m a sucker.
This mornings walk we did get drizzled on, but my coat was on off on off because it was annoyingly warm. We bumped into what seemed to be a Goldie meet-up, which was rather adorable. Several of them galloped up to greet Merry. The owners were apologetic about the lack of recall, but I didn’t mind because they were all friendly and Merry held her own around them.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Might be getting warmer for you, but we had sleet and hail stones. P sat under a bush, sheltering from the rain. 🙄
I really can't understand her food phobia at all. She's usually fine with food preparation and cooking, and only hides once it's on a plate. Unless a visitor is here and then she'll watch them eat.

Yes. P was very excited to be in the woods. She hasn't been anywhere exciting since February 12th. Think I might have to hire the private field for her first off lead walk or I might never get her back.

Sorry TD is still waking you up before the crack of dawn. I'm not a morning person, so I wouldn't cope with that.

@Struckbylightning I often think it's the dogs that have us trained rathe than the other way round.

Like everyone else, I'm fed up of the changing weather. I wish it would pick one and stick with it for the whole day. I don't even care which any more.

@SpanielsGalore sorry I started typing a reply days ago and never finished it 🙈. I’m sure you’ll get all the info on where to send things before he goes properly. We just sent snacks, toiletries and my brother’s only request Yorkshire tea bags 🤣. They can get these things over there of course but apparently the shop on camp is very expensive and it’s a nice reminder of home.

In doggy news, Rory wins the prize for best food thief yesterday as he stole a banana from the kitchen side, peeled it and ate the contents messily on the carpet 🙈.

I got very distracted yesterday arguing with e-collar supporters. The other side always reminds me of why I prefer the sanity of dog house.

@Struckbylightning I’ve often thought that for total idiots, golden retrievers are quite switched on to other dogs emotions. Mine are - and they’re as thick as anything 😩

Is Merry quite social or is she more ‘quick sniff’ wonder off?

@SpanielsGalore P just has her (slightly irritating at times from what you’ve said) quirks. But would you love her as much if she was normal? 😃

A field might be a good idea! She’s just going to be so excited, not that I can blame her. It’s been a long time…

Oh he’s a wanker. We have blackout blinds and curtains but it’s like he can sense it. We’ve already dog walked, showered had breakfast and I’m about to go and clean the garage. So at least he’s making me productive

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding Rory is a genius. What a clever boy!!! I know that’s probably not the response you wanted, but it’s all I can think 😂

I have so much respect for service men/women. They have it so much rougher than the diplomats who just wander around being self-satisfied and attending nice dinners and events. When DH was in Eastern-Europe he and his colleagues used to rotate who went to Austria once a month as there are huge numbers of British shops there 😂

I do think it takes particular resilience to live overseas (diplomat and military). I’m always in awe of people who can do consecutive tours or postings.

An unwelcome first this week - first time cleaning poo off the carpet*. I guess we've been pretty lucky that we've never had to do this before. I'd literally just said to the OH as I was just going to take little pup out as I didn't think she was quite right when she squatted on the landing :-( Could have been worse, the one she did 2 minutes later when she was outside would have been far harder to clean.

Big pup saw her opportunity and raided the pantry which I'd left ajar when I went and grabbed the cleaning spray and ate two packs of beef gullet.

Night away in London this week and I wish they could understand that I'm not coming home as they sat on watch for a while apparently and had a generally unsettled night. Thanks for the recommendations @TheHungryHungryLandsharks - I had breakfast and coffee at Farmer Js then coffee at Nostos before I came home. It was peeing it down so didn't fancy walking any further!

I've been very fortunate to dodge most of the inclement weather this week but have had to sprint for the house/car a couple of times. The rain actually bothers me less than the fact it's Baltic. No leaving the door open here @Struckbylightning

We had a good Hoopers session, considering this is her 4th session back after an 8 month break I'm fairly pleased.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYWvGJDt6nZ/?igsh=MWh2MzdyM3N2anIxdw==

*the carpet was something on the list to replace when we bought the house, 15 years later it's still here 😂

@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding I imagine snacks would be top of DS's list. It's annoying that the camp shops are so expensive. The people who work in the shop at the barracks often tell them not to buy from there as it's a rip off. If anything, they should be subsidised. Most people don't realise they have to pay for bed and board too.

That was very clever of Rory. My muppets would have eaten the peel.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I would love P more if she was normal. It's rained over night here, so the garden is wet. She's spent half an hour outside digging holes and has just walked muddy paw prints all over the carpet. She is now shut outside until I can catch her and wash her paws.

I saw the e-collars discussion and decided to keep out of it. Anyone who thinks they are useful will not be persuaded otherwise. One of the local dog walkers used them. I met her out with a client, training recall. The dog ran across the field to my on lead muzzled dog. The trainer and owner stood at the far end. All the shock did was make the dog shake his head and neck. And they did it a fair few times before coming to fetch the dog. The trainer gave up training a few months later after being reported for shocking a dog on full power the first time she put the collar on it.

Gosh. You'd achieved so much before I was even awake. 😂

@tizwozliz Poor Little Pup. Hope she feels better soon. Has she eaten something she shouldn't? If it's a bug, I hope Big Pup doesn't get it.

Must say I think you've been very lucky to not have had a carpet incident in 5 years. My neighbour gave me a Bissel Pet Spot Cleaner that he no longer has any need for. So I finally managed to get the stains out of my kitchen carpet.

It's quite sweet the dogs missed you. Although not nice they were unsettled.

Today's job is wallpapering one wall in the dining room. It's only four full pieces and two little bits above the door, so shouldn't take too long. It's navy paper with safari animals on. Not everyone's cup of tea, but I like it. And it's probably as close as I am going to get to my dream safari holiday.

@SpanielsGalore I tried, but I've now given up - using an e-collar on your dog after one instance of recall failure just seems bananas. If everyone took that approach, no dog would ever be off the lead.

The only dog I've ever known who had one likewise reacted poorly - it was a horribly stressed little thing and I have to say I did stop speaking to the person over it.🙁

How long did it take you to catch P? I would say I hope she learnt her lesson, but chances are she thought it was all great fun...

Cleaning the garage took hours. It's where things go to die, or go when they have died, so there were four toasty makers in there and one coffee machine as well as tonnes of boxes from the dogs various food orders. I hate going down to the tip (huge queues and they always seem to have a 30 minute wait every hour whilst they change the containers over and no matter when I go, I seem to hit 'that time') so I just bung it all in there and try not to go in unless I have to. So this morning I shoved it all into the car and gave DH the keys. He came back 90 minutes later...the tip is about a 15 minute drive away 😂But that seemed fair after he had a lay in until gone 9!

I hope you'll be showing us a photo of the dining room when it's all done. You did such a good job with your kitchen that I bet the dining room will be even better! Tbh the wallpaper sounds lovely.

@tizwozliz I hope the breakfast was good! What did you get? I always get their smoked salmon and scrambled eggs with latte. Hopefully you don't have to go away again anytime soon - mine are equally bad when I stay away for the night, although my job now requires far less travel than it used to!

Pup (not sure if it's big or little?) did great with that hoopers! I could see the moment it clicked for her and she realised what she was meant to be doing - she seemed a bit unsure at the start. But 4 sessions after an 8 months break...goes to show just how intelligent your girls are. Mine would have forgotten😳

Hope little pup is feeling better ❤I suppose, on the plus side, at least you weren't overly fond of the carpet/had only just put it in!

We congratulated little pup on her excellent solid poo on today's walk so she seems to be over it. I managed to get some prokolin down her yesterday. I'd failed giving her some other belly buddy stuff earlier in the day.

I had a salmon and avocado double egg pot and a flat white. Itsu used to do something similar and it was my Friday morning treat when I used to work away. Part of the issue is I'm often only away for one night so no chance for them to settle, I've been away for longer a couple of times and they're fine after the first night.

With the Hoopers we always do the full course at the end of the session and she has no concept of pacing herself so she's knackered after an hour hence the less than enthusiastic start. Last week she went and got in the car around 50 minutes in 😂 it's brain work as well as exercise so really tiring for her. It's little pup btw, big one will only do Hoopers if the mood takes her, otherwise she'll run round the field with a cone or my hat or something so not worth paying for!

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Merry is surprisingly social, especially for a BC, they are known for not being interested in socialising. She wants to greet every dog and is very polite about it. Sometimes she even has a little play, which I love. She also joyfully greets lots of humans, but not all. I can’t work out why she chooses who to greet and who to ignore.

@tizwozliz I’m glad little pup is feeling better now.

I also saw the e-collar thread. I felt very sorry for that op. The man she met was clearly a nasty twat!

I really need to clear out our 2 sheds, which are also dumping grounds, but I haven’t been able to face it. They are very spidery and chock-full of crap.
Another weird weather day. I left the big coat in the car because it was so warm and sunny, but of course it rained on the return leg of my walk and I got back to the car wet through. You may have seen if you were watching the cricket…

@Struckbylightning Oh that's lovely. I know what you mean about not knowing who they choose and why though - mine are like that. They have particular humans they just seem to gravitate to? I can never work out how they decide who they should bother...they do seem to have a knack, I think, of picking 'dog people' though. At least mine do!

Sorry that you got soaked! 😫It rained overnight here, but I managed to dodge any rain on the walk - although the ground was surprisingly slippery. It's meant to be 25 on Friday...we're leaving for holiday then, so we have booked out the local dog walking field for 2 hours. There is nothing worse than getting to the holiday cottage early given how many of us there are as it makes the logistics challenging! Plus in such hot weather, I don't want the dogs in the car for 6+ hours. So dog walking field for two hours it is - there's a sandpit and a shelter, so they'll be entertained.

@tizwozliz Hope you enjoyed it! They're fairly reasonably priced (by London standards) I think.

Poor pups. It's funny - mine are the same whenever DH heads overseas on a new posting. They cry and miss him for a day or so and then they're fine.

Glad to hear little pup is feeling better ❤She must sleep so well after Hoopers. Big Pup is definitely more like my dogs when it comes to things like this. I did try, years ago, to try doggy dancing with Clem as I thought she'd enjoy it, but she spent the whole first session running away from me 😳But then she spends most of her time running away from me anyway, so probably should have expected it!