Beyond Adolescence - part 4

[SpanielsGalore]

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

Hi all, I’m properly back now, after logging back in under another account. Sorry to confuse everyone.

Just saw this and thought @TheHungryHungryLandsharks may be interested.

Lots to catch up on so apologies if I’ve missed anything, (Or tagged the wrong person )

@Lavenderdog - lovely to meet you
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks et al - I didn’t see any hailstones but others reported seeing them
@SpanielsGalore Most improved dog - well done! He does look proud.
@SpanielsGalore glad P is doing well
@Idstillratherbepaddleboarding You fault for leaving a banana around!
@tizwozliz gorgeous picture in the yellow buttercup field
@YorkshireFelix lovely bluebell photo
@Bupster Hope our Bill is doing well.

Morning all.

Raining here again today. My car is in the garage (again), so we'll be mostly walking round the village and harbour.

The decorating took me a lot longer than anticipated. I am sooooo slow. But it's finished and radiator is back on. I only changed one wall and the curtains, but the room looks totally different. I love it, but I know it's not everyone's cup of tea. (The ex came round and said, "Elephants. Ergh no." 🙄.) It looks a bit darker here than it really is. The background is navy.

@Silverbirchleaf lovely to have you back! DDog looking as beautiful and silky as ever, I see.

Ohh that looks interesting, thanks! I hate to think of how I would negotiate with all the dogs...but maybe I can leave a few at home and just take the one I can trust to behave the most 😂

@SpanielsGalore Oh that's really lovely - your ex has terrible taste in wallpaper!!! Can I just see a baby gate being used out of the corner of the photo? Presume that's to trap muddy dogs? 😁

Hope it's not too serious with your car 😯

I'm counting down to holiday. Two days of work left. It's so dreary here and I got caught in a thunderstorm this morning on my walk. I can't complain (much) though as the dogs were so happy. There's nothing in this world happier than a Golden Retriever in the rain. Naturally I had to treat myself to a bacon and cheese roll and a coffee once I was finished to reward myself for being such a good owner and not just taking them out to do their poos and instead striding around the woods and fields for a good 60 minutes. 😁They don't know how lucky they are...

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Thank you. 😊 It is a baby gate, but it's not for muddy dogs. It's through to the hallway and the dogs get shut behind it if I need to open the front door.
I have another gate on the living room door. That gets closed if the dogs are wet or muddy, so I can attempt to keep one room cleanish.

No idea what's up with the car. It drives perfectly, but the engine management light keeps coming on. They're changing the external temperature sensor today, as we know that's faulty. It's cold up here, but not quite the -5° my car says it is.

The bacon and cheese roll sounds like a good reward for your sacrifice. 😇 A thunder storm is about the only weather we haven't had. I walked P for 25 minutes. 0 - 10 minutes was hot and sweaty. 10 - 20 was cold and windy. 20 - 25 was raining.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks A bacon and cheese sandwich sounds a fine reward for the walk. Certainly was wet this morning. Hopefully good for the plants though.

Nice weather heading our direction in the next few days. We’ll be complaining it’s too hot to walk the dogs during daytime… . Is it sad that when I heard hot weather was coming, the first thing I did was check that it wasn’t going to be too hot for dog agility training…?

@Silverbirchleaf It was delicious! I get them from Malabar in Sevenoaks Town Centre - perfect treat (admittedly a bit of a detour into Sevenoaks and back out again, but they are SO good).

Nope! Not sad at all. I am preparing for the time of year where the dogs either go down to one walk a day, or I am up v. late walking them. Fine for the older ones, but Twatdog is always a pest in summer as he always over-exerts himself.

I often wonder how labs cope in hot weather and if they're smart enough not to over do it! What's yours like? It'll be @VanGoSunflowers and @Idstillratherbepaddleboarding first 'adult' summer with theirs, so I'll be interested to hear if theirs are smart and don't do stupid thing to exert themselves, or if they channel their inner Golden and crash (literally) in a heap after zoomy-ing in the sun...

@SpanielsGalore Maybe I should move to Scotland, I've been caught in two thunderstorms so far this week!!

Ah that makes sense. I have to say, my 'proudest' achievement of training mine has actually been that they don't run to the front door - they run to the back door because that's where the treats live😂

That's so strange with your car!.And nothing else appears to be wrong? Mine went through a stage ages ago where the engine management light came on and the engine kept overheating, even though it had loads of engine coolant in. No idea what they did in the end, but they tried everything. Tbh I'm pretty sure that they just switched the light off and gave the car back to me as they couldn't find anything wrong 😳

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Yes. Move to Scotland. We can meet up and go for huge pack walks. I'll need to get another couple of spaniels though to even it up. 😁

Your dogs aren't daft, are they? 😂
Mine are trained to go behind the gate. Although it's more habit than training. My door opens onto the pavement. When I first moved here, some idiot opened the door and let the dogs out. P ran half way down the street to say hello to the Amazon delivery man. So it's safer to keep them away from the door. They can do a sit and wait, but it's not worth the risk.

Cars are bloody great while they are working. And a complete PITA when they aren't. Not sure all the modern technology and features they have helps either.
My car is a conundrum. The engine management light has been on for a year. It's showing as a fault with the diesel particulate filter, which usually puts the car into limp mode. It's making no difference to mine though. They put in a generic replacement part, but after 60 miles the light came back on. The first diagnostic check said no faults were detected. Second check said it was the same problem as before, but further along the system. 🤷‍♀️
The garage have just phoned. He was going to replace the generic part with a genuine Ford one, but it's £350. So he's going to put the original broken part back in. Return the generic one as being incompatible. And I am going to drive my car with the light on for another year. If it begins to affect the car's performance I shall have to get it replaced. Beginning to think I should have let the insurance write it off, when I scraped the supermarket bollard, after all.

The dogs have been walked. I wore a t-shirt and light coat. Sweated with the first two and got drenched on the last one. Might walk K to the garage to collect my car. But I'll see if my NDN will give me a lift first. Google maps says it's a 68 minute walk. 😳

THE SUN HAS ARRIVED and it is not even 13:15 and I have only been in the garden for 4 hours, but I am already tanning (not the priority, but reminds me of how lovely and warm it is). I'm so happy it'll stay this way for a week or so now - I was so sick of starting a dog walk off in a coat and shivering and then being a sweaty mess by 20 minutes in!

@SpanielsGalore mine will do anything for food. I know I've said it before, but I honestly don't know how I would cope with a dog that wasn't as motivated by food - I'm quite a poor 'trainer' really.

Oh gosh! I suppose at least P found someone to say hello to and didn't just wonder off never to return.

I agree with modern features/technology not helping. Every new 'addition' seems to create 50 new possible faults. I have a personal gripe with automatic tailgates - I miss boots you can slam closed.

At least if you've been driving it with the issue, and you tend not to do lots of driving, you know it's nothing super 'serious' although still not ideal. £350 for a part though!!! There definitely comes a point where a car costs so much to maintain it's just easier to be rid of it.

Did you manage to persuade your NDN for a lift? Or did you and K get a very long (hopefully perfect weather) walk in?

My automatic tail gate came into its own this week. I ran for cover after trying to wait out the hail then I could open the boot for the dogs once already in the house :-)

It's still looking very changeable here, despite reportedly being 21 degrees.

Looking forward to the long weekend and some sun. Mine are both fairly heat tolerant. The first year big pup was an adult we had 40 degree weather, she was outside sunbathing at 28 degrees and most put out that she was made to come inside so I could shut all the doors to keep the heat out.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Glad the sun has arrived for you. Hopefully it will make its way up here soon.
With saying that, it rained on P's walk and I stripped down to a t-shirt for K's.

I asked my NDN for a lift. I couldn't face another sticky walk. They had my car for two days and I got it back in the same state it went in. They think it has a fault somewhere deep in the electrical system. But as it's not affecting the engine, I'll drive it with the light on for another year.

There's something wrong with K. We went for a walk in the woods and she was fine for 50 minutes or so. Then she came over and gingerly sat down, holding her front paw up. I brushed the pad down and she walked alongside me, back to the car. That in itself is a worry, as she's usually dashing amongst the trees. When she stood still, she seemed to be holding her back right leg out at an angle. When we got home, I went to lift her out of the car and she did a yelpy scream. The vets have no appointments available at any of their three branches.
She is very quiet and hunched up. She was just lying in the kitchen and her back leg seems to have swelled up, so I am wondering if she's been bitten by something like those nasty deer flies again. Although that didn't make her scream last time. She's a bit limpy on her front leg too.
She's currently asleep on my lap, so I'll see how she goes. The good news is, OOH vets has recently been restored for week days, so I can take her along in a few hours if she doesn't perk up.

@SpanielsGalore see, the south does have SOME benefits. Sometimes. And only a few...

Oh no! Between K and P they do like to keep you on your toes. Will keep my fingers crossed she perks up in a few hours - not only since OOH vets are extortionate but also since we don't want K being injured ❤Possibly she maybe caught herself in some brambles and hurt herself trying to get free? Mine have done that before.

@SpanielsGalore Hoping it’s nothing serious. Dog once got a bramble in his paw. We got it out but he played the wounded soldier for ages.

Lovely and warm here. I wore shorts this afternoon, but only in the comfort of my own home. Don’t want to scare anyone.

Does any dog eat grass? Dog seems to like the long lush grass that you get on verges at the side of paths. He’s not really eaten grass regularly before. Maybe the fresh Spring grass is particularly appetising.

Bill grazes like a cow, honestly. He prefers the longer, fresh growth. I'm fine with it until I have to pull it out of his backside 🙄

@SpanielsGalore gosh I hope K is alright! When Merry’s face swelled up the OOH vet told me to give her Piriton. Though of course, that’s assuming it’s a bite or sting.

@SpanielsGalore how is K doing today?

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Pleased to say K is almost back to normal this morning. Her paw still seems a little sore, so I think we'll just do short walks with P today. She was standing with her leg stuck out to the side yesterday, so I was panicking her knee had gone.

@Struckbylightning I hadn't got Piriton, but my NDN had some antihistamines, so I gave K one of those and hoped for the best. 🙈 I'm wondering if it was a horse fly, as her leg swelled up like a balloon. P was bitten/sliced by one once on her ear and that swelled up. The deer flies wiped her out last time, but there was no swelling or screaming in pain.

@Silverbirchleaf All three of mine are eating grass and dandelions like their lives depend on it. The nutritionist I follow says it's a spring and autumn thing. Apparently it contains various nutrients that a dog's sense of smell identifies as valuable. And this year it is more appetising than usual.

Glad K is better, and hoping P is okay as well.

Glad to hear the grass eating is nothing to worry about as well.

Owning dogs can be stressful!

@SpanielsGalore so glad she’s better. What a relief!
@Silverbirchleaf my old dog used to graze like a cow, and Merry enjoys a munch of grass too. What interests me is that it is only certain kinds of grass, so I suspect the nutrition thing is correct. My Mum always used to say that they eat it to settle their tummies. An Old Wives Tale, but like many old wives tales probably based on some kind of folk wisdom.

Just back from a lovely sunny walk. We went to a local meadow which follows the river so there is lots of shade and chances to drink. But it did get me wondering how long it would be until we start to get those angry frothing Facebook posts saying that anyone who walks their dog during daylight hours should be strung from a lamppost and their pets removed. Got home, opened Facebook and Bingo!

@Struckbylightning That's so funny. Is it very hot where you are? It's 19° but cloudy up here.

I think a lot of old wives' tales are probably based on older knowledge of plants. When we were kids, we used to say if you picked a dandelion you would wet the bed. No idea why. But I've googled them recently, since the dogs are eating them by the dozen, and they are a diuretic.

It is a massive relief that K is feeling better and is now standing with all her paws in the correct place. I had visions of swapping one dog on crate rest for another. Not that I am overly dramatic or anything.

P is now on half hour walks. The last couple of nights she has wanted to come upstairs to sleep. I figure her leg should be strong enough now to manage the stairs twice a day, so I have taken the crate down. You don't want to know how much hair had piled up behind it in three months. 😳

According to my phone app it’s 24•. So yes, pretty toasty but with quite a pleasant breeze. I actually love this weather.
We also used to say the thing about dandelions, made it a bit awkward because I loved telling the time by blowing the seeds but was embarrassed if anyone saw me and said I was going to wet the bed 😂
Cant say that my dog has ever eaten them. Do they eat the flowers or the clocks??
I have occasionally (not very often) pulled the sofas out to do a proper hoover and OMG one time the carpet was black with collie hair. Glad no one else witnessed what a terrible housewife I am!

@Struckbylightning 24° would be lovely. I could live with a summer of that.

There was a thread the other day asking how often you pulled the sofa out to vacuum under it. I was in the 'never because it's too heavy to shift' category.

I think we only said it if the dandelions were still yellow flowers. We were safe to pick the clocks to find out the time. The dogs are eating the flowers and the leaves. I haven't seen any clocks yet. P spends her village walks darting from one flower to the next and swallowing them whole. Lost count of the amount of times I've nearly kicked her in the head as she lunges across infront of me as I'm walking.

And in other news, K has started her second season. Hopefully she won't be too hormonal and will bleed less than last time.

I wonder if that’s why K was off colour yesterday. She was suffering from pmt!

We are not enjoying the heat. Poor Bill has got a bit chonky since we found a raw food he adores and he's really struggling today. We did have a nice lunchtime walk to the cemetery where he rolled around in the long grass in the shade, but he was panting like mad on the short walk home, and he's struggling to nap even when I've got my (crappy cheap) air con running in the bedroom.

Wow, that’s hot! We’re a bit cooler here, but warming up over weekend.