Beyond Adolescence - V

[SpanielsGalore]

New topic for a new thread, inspired by a post about poo bags.

Does your dog's poo smell?

I was under the impression that dog poo only smells bad if the food doesn't suit the dog. Same goes for flatulence.

The only time my dogs' poo smells or they have windy bottoms is if they've eaten something rotten they've found on a walk.

Sorry you've all still been under the weather @TheHungryHungryLandsharks and hope you all have a better week.

The fireworks were awful here over 4 nights. We've never known it to be so bad before. Brie was dosed up on Valerian and hiding out in her safe space, behind the breakfast bar.

We had a strange weekend. I knew I'd slightly twisted my knee last week (Wed or Thur), but I stupidly continued going for walks. By Saturday I was in agony but we were having my cousins over to meet puppy (they're the vet and student vet), so of course I was on my feet all day. We had a lovely afternoon, but by the time they left my knee was swelling up and by Sunday it wouldn't bend at all. DP had to cope with dogs while I sat with my leg up. I had to negotiate the stairs backwards with a walking pole for balance. It's a bit less swollen this morning so I attempted a 15 minute walk with Odo, but the knee is still very achy. I've managed to get an MSK assessment for tomorrow lunchtime because the physio had a cancellation, so at least he'll be able to tell me if a knee support will help or hinder and give me appropriate stretching exercises to do.

No, we've never had a WhatsApp puppy group. I think there was some sort of Facebook thing that Brie's breeder had going, but I'm not on Facebook. We're not big on joining things really. We tend to email a photo and short update at Christmas and puppy Birthdays, but that's it really. 100 messages in 3 hours sounds very overwhelming to me, but I suppose everyone is excited about their puppy. None of them will have anywhere near your Mum's (or your) level of experience, so possibly some need moral support and reassurance, but I can totally understand both of you eye rolling and I'd be like that myself, I'm sure like I am on half the Doghouse threads.

Another stunning photo @tizwozliz , just beautiful.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Sorry you and the family are still not well. I've been ill for the last few days, which is most unlike me. It used to piss the ex off that he caught everything going and I didn't.

I'm with you on not knowing who Pippin is. I thought Merry was an only dog, so was going for a cat. But having just reread @Struckbylightning 's post, it says Pippin was barking so I'm guessing not.

I have P and K's breeder on WhatsApp, but not a puppy group. Fortunately my children predated class WhatsApp groups too. I don't want a bunch of randoms having my phone number.

We haven't had any fireworks here, except for one on Thursday. Next year, they are hoping to revive the village display, so we'll be in trouble then. It's was a big event with fair rides and food vans. People were bussed in from the neighbouring towns and villages.

My neighbour has lent me his ladders, so I can get my stairs decorated at last. Might have to wait for DS to come back from Kenya to help though. He's hating it over there. He says the highlight has been being delayed at Heathrow. 😂

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Sorry you've hurt your knee. Hope the appointment helps.

Thanks @SpanielsGalore , hope you are on the mend too x

No WhatsApp group here either @TheHungryHungryLandsharks, although V came from a very staunch Yorkshireman who doesn’t even believe in working with a dog trainer full stop so can’t imagine he would ever faff about with WhatsApp groups 😄 I probably would have liked it but the rest of the litter went to working homes so I imagine they wouldn’t want a group either. It would just be me talking to myself losing my mind 24/7.

Ooh dear that’s not good @CoubousAndTourmaIet, I hope you manage to get sorted.

Thanks @YorkshireFelix

Hope V is doing okay after the onslaught of Bonfire Night and Diwali back to back.

i wondered who Pippin was as well, or is Merry really called Pippin, and Merry is her stage name? Maybe she was a Christmas pup - Merry Christmas?

No, no what’s app group and a hundred messages in three hours is definitely over the top. I did see two pups grow up initially as they were used as assistance dogs for a particular local medical charity. One you still see on the Facebook page occasionally, the other dog was withdrawn by the family who couldn’t commit to the programme. I see older half siblings as well.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet Hope you’re in less pain now and able to walk better. I bet your cousins loved Brie and Odi (am jealous).

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks Hope you’re also feeling better.

@tizwozliz Another gorgeous photo. Is that a castle in the background? Not sure if that’s Big pup or little pup, but he definitely has a ‘This is my kingdom’ look about him.

Quick snap of autumnal woodland walk this morning.

@Silverbirchleaf Not quite a castle, they're buildings that are part of the Newstead Abbey Estate.And it's big pup showing off her kingdom in this photo :-)

Thanks all! I admit it's not particularly useful for DMum (or DH and I who were subject to all the 'pings' every few seconds for HOURS) given her experience. I guess she (and I) were just not expecting the sheer bombardment of messages. Can definitely imagine it's useful for newer owners and/or group meetups, but clearly this amount of messages is not normal!

@Ylvamoon I suggested she mute it, but she doesn't want to miss any actual puppy updates 😅So ping ping ping it went!

@tizwozliz beautiful photo as always!!! Glad to hear your girls weren't too badly effected by the fireworks - but perhaps we should all have decamped to where you live if it was a bit quieter!

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I am convinced experienced breeders are probably the worst in terms of buying puppies from others. She was muttering darkly about the breeders choice of puppy food when she toddled off yesterday to the car. I suppose I should just be grateful she's polite enough not to say anything!!

Sorry to hear you hurt yourself and about the fireworks! Poor you and poor Brie! How did your boy fare? How's he getting on with early walks etc?

@SpanielsGalore the delay at Heathrow being his highlight says a lot about his tour! Sorry to hear he's not enjoying it and also that you've been sick! I'm rarely really sick as well - I always was when DDs were little, but that's just par for the course, but haven't been this ill in years!

@YorkshireFelix 😂At least it would be an interesting conversation talking to yourself! How did V get on over the weekend with the fireworks?

@Silverbirchleaf DDog looking handsome and slim as always! Looks so beautiful and autumnal there.

'Merry' short for Merry Christmas would be such a good name!!

Sorry everyone for the confusion! Pippin was my previous dog, (the perfect one we had before this lunatic arrived). Even I would not be cruel enough to name a child after a Tolkien character.
Looking back my posts, I see I have called Merry Pippin by mistake, so no doubt that added to the confusion. We do sometimes do it to her face as well, which is a bit mad, though I sometimes get my own children’s names mixed up too. It’s either just general brain fog or early onset dementia…
@TheHungryHungryLandsharks that WhatsApp group sounds infuriating! Am I right in thinking your Mum doesn’t even have the puppy yet? We definitely didn’t have a group. I had a couple of messages from the farmer early on, just to check how it was all going, but that’s it. I sometimes feel I would love to know how Merry’s siblings are getting on and if they are all as mad as her.
Gorgeous pic as ever @tizwozliz, your doggos are gorgeous! And beautiful weather! We’ve had total pea-supper here for about 3 days.
@CoubousAndTourmaIet your knee sounds awful! Hope it gets better soon.

Thanks @Silverbirchleaf @TheHungryHungryLandsharks @Struckbylightning The knee is frustrating because I have no idea what I did. But it's nowhere near as bad now as it was on Saturday night/Sunday, so hopefully the physio can reassure me that it was just a sprain.

Yes @Silverbirchleaf , my family love both the dogs. They first met Brie when she was 10 weeks old and she adores them.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks I'm not even a breeder and I've moaned about the puppy food with all but one of our lot. Brie was the only one that we kept on the original food for any length of time.
Pup is doing really well with the lead walking. He absolutely loves being out.

@Struckbylightning ahh that makes sense! Glad I wasn't forgetting you had two dogs or something similar! Was Pippin a BC as well?

I often confuse DDs with the dogs. DD2 has a fairly similar name to 'Clem' and I'm constantly calling Clem by DDs name and the other way around. Now DD2 just comes when I call for Clem 😳

And yep, no puppy yet! She will be picking puppy up the week before Christmas, so its a while away (its to coincide with their holiday). She doesn't even know for sure which one she'll have. She's hoping for a girl, but it might turn out a boy is a better fit (essentially, it'll be whichever puppy can live best with a crusty old winky wart rat dog aka Satan).

@CoubousAndTourmaIet so glad to hear he's doing well! How are him and Brie getting on?

Had such a lovely walk this morning with my lot - went out just before sunrise so by the time we got to the top of the hill the sun was rising and it was stunningly beautiful. Dogs were better behaved than yesterday and I had coffee and cake after and did not tell DH or DDs as they are still sick and cake is not a good idea when you're sick.

Glad you're feeling better and had a nice early walk @TheHungryHungryLandsharks , but how on earth do you manage to pick up coffee & cake - or go in a coffee shop - with 5 GR's? Whatever, I am in total awe at your handling skills.

Ah, so presumably the name Fortuna/Tuna could be used for male or female pup... But it's going to be a hectic Christmas with tiny pup on top of your gang and Satan, or maybe your parents are away (with pup in tow) for the whole of Yuletide, I can't quite remember what you said...🤔

How are him and Brie getting on is a very good question.
She is full-on snooty female Patou - she refused to even look at him for about a week. Now she watches him, tolerates him outside on walks, but very much still wants her own space at home.
The biggest problem with integrating them fully is the size difference currently, and Brie is not a "Gentle Giant" like Merlin was. We trusted him with puppy Rose from day one, but we won't risk Odo being hurt by Brie's rough play. She's not aggressive at all, but she's only two years old and they just have no concept of their size and strength. So until he's more like GSD size and weight, we're being cautious at home.

So, I've been assessed and I have a meniscus tear to my right knee. I need to keep mobile and I'm okay for short walks with pup, but banned from walking the big girl for 6 weeks 😭Mainly because I need to avoid twisting the knee and she tends to do lead biting and crazy zoomies. The irony is that I wasn't walking her when I twisted it 🙄

Fortunately, my partner works from home, so he's able to fit in a walk with Brie at 6 before logging on, quick walk during his lunch break if he eats at his desk, and he can finish at 3.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet oh no I’m sorry to hear that! Glad to hear you have back up for walks at least - it would have been a nightmare if he wasn’t available. Hope it heals quickly 🙏🏻

Thanks @YorkshireFelix
Yes, we're very lucky. He was in the office full time before Covid, and we would have really struggled. The timing isn't great, with Odo just starting socialisation/acclimatisation walks, but we'll manage.

We can take turns to look after gorgeous fluff of ball, Odo.

He’s grown! Still gorgeous and fluffy though.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet If I have all 5 with me, I tend to leave them in the car! Then I sit in the car with my coffee and cake and eat it in front of them😂n occasion I might sit outside but rarely tbh. If I have 1-3 with me, I'll always eat in.

Honestly, the main reason I don't eat in is because I don't trust the general public not to be stupid. One too many instances of rogue small children yanking on my dogs for me to trust the public much!

Oh she has an even worse name in mind if it's a boy. But I refuse to even mention it. It's worse than Tuna-Fish.

So Satan will visit us at Christmas Day with my parents but her and puppy will only interact under careful supervision. 😁Puppy will stay with us until we're sure Satan is happy with him. Her happiness comes first and my parents don't want to rush her, given she's a little old lady. She's less than 10kg now and by 8 weeks puppy will probably be 2-3kg less than her. But we're expecting Satan to do a bit of a Brie tbh - tolerate but not really engage.

Odo really is beautiful. He's gotten so big already!

So sorry to hear about your knee❤Are you able to walk Odo still though?

Hope everyone is having a good day! The pointless wonder has found a new hobby - staring out the window and sighing every few minutes. Sometimes I do really wonder if he's part Collie or working done in some way/shape/form. He settles so nicely, but always has this look about him like he's ready to work at a moments notice and nothing is ever quite enough. If I move. He moves.

I don't want to make anyone jealous, but I booked our M&S Christmas Food Order today. Food is my one big luxury (except the dogs) and Christmas is the best time of year to be a foodie fatty.😍

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks that made me wonder - what kind of car do you drive that fits 5 GR’s? Do you have a minibus?
Well if the pointless wonder is part Collie maybe he should come and hang out with Merry. They can do crazy stuff together. She has been extra mental today; this morning she had an attack of the zoomies. Full on puppy zoomies all around the house, galloping about the garden, the works. That was after our morning walk as well. On a very cute note, she has taken to carrying one particular toy about with her, that ridiculous alien with 8 legs that is nearly the same size as her. I have realised that she even gets up in the middle of the night and goes and finds it to take back to bed with her. Cute weirdo!

@Struckbylightning She looks very comfortable her little den.

I cannot envisage walking five @TheHungryHungryLandsharks . We have photos of me walking our PMD trio when Finn was young, but five sounds daunting.

As Fortuna/Tuna is female I'll guess at Quirinus for a male - am assuming it won't be Pluto...nobody could be that cruel. I would have said Vulcan but it sounds more GSD or Cane Corso than GR.

I don't mean this is a bad way, but find it hilariously ironic that you and your mum - as such experienced and responsible breeders - are getting a puppy for Christmas 😂 How will you ever live it down? It's going to be an exciting and memorable Christmas for your girls though. I hope Satan copes okay. Brie is mellowing towards Odo now so hopefully once he matches her for size she will have stopped being scared of him 🙄

Yes, I'm still allowed to walk Odo. I could pavement walk Brie but it's just on the fields she goes into random zoomies, which would be quite jarring on the knee. Hopefully it won't be six weeks, although when my cousin tore a meniscus, running, it took 8 months to heal😨so I do need to be cautious, especially as I'm well into my crone phase of life now.

Merry looks very comfortable and content there @Struckbylightning , with her alien/octopus. None of ours were much into plush toys before, but Odo has a little elephant that my DP bought to go in his car crate for collection day and he carries that around quite a lot. We bought him a similar toy reindeer last weekend, but he's not so interested in that.

@Struckbylightning XC90! I can fit three in the boot and two on the backseat. For holiday earlier this year when it was me and the dogs, I had my wheelie case on the floor on the front, coffee machine on the floor behind the first row of seats and the dog food on the rest of the floor space. 😅

Ohh that's so lovely that Merry has her special toy😍Is she quite gentle with it? Perhaps the extra zoomies is because the weather is just perfect for dogs - crisp but not too chilly? Mine have been outside almost all day every day for about a week now.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet it's honestly quite easy. I find it easier to walk my five than say Twatdog and Satan together. Mine all just lurk by my hands because I have chicken in my pocket which makes it very easy. Sure i've said before, but I have no idea how i'd train a dog that wasn't so obsessive with food.

Oh I know 😫I remember someone said once I wasn't ethical because I'd mentioned the litter Twatdog came from was due to go home Christmas Eve (think you might have been on that thread)! Nope, it was just the right timing for Pen's first litter and the litter was 5 days early.

I do think sometimes puppies can be so full on that it's a bit offputting for adults, particularly if they've never lived with a puppy before. Puppies just don't understand social cues, do they? And poor Brie is so gentle and mild from everything you've said she's probably completely bewildered by Odo 😃

That's really sweet about his toy! Clearly he has a very strong bond with that toy, perhaps because it was his journey home one? Like a security blanket that children have?

Hope everyone had lovely morning walks! We went out a bit later today as I have some late meetings (7pm😭) so I'm doing odd hours today and it was chaos. Dogs everywhere. Usually I can go an entire week without seeing dogs on the morning walk, but today it was a dog every five minutes...

No, I don't recall that thread @TheHungryHungryLandsharks but it doesn't surprise me that the "ethical breeding experts" of MN would be on there having a go at you 🙄Social media has such a lot to answer for when it comes to how puppies are portrayed. All the sickly "puppy surprise" videos on TikTok and YouTube, where kid is given a cardboard box containing a puppy, just infuriate me. Common sense seems to have gone out of the window.

Brie is very sensitive, so we're giving her space and time away from puppy, but she's quite happy playing "Mama Bear" on a walk and keeping him safe. IYKWIM. Again I curse social media for the "wolf killer" stuff, because it attracts the wrong sort of attention.

Brie had a flamingo plush toy that was in her puppy pack and she completely wrecked it, so Odo carrying elephant (or the plush doughnut from his own puppy pack) around without shredding it, is a bit of a novelty. He is much gentler natured than her, she's a wild one and plays rough. Unusually for a LGD, she does like play, and will retrieve a spiny ball numerous times, whereas he has no interest in a ball whatsoever (need to clarify, no jumping allowed, so ball only ever kicked or rolled). Funny how they're all so different.

@TheHungryHungryLandsharks we had such a lovely morning walk. There were still patches of frost in places but the sun was so warm that I had to take my coat off and hang it on the gate to the field to collect on the way home!

I’m on leave this week and went out this afternoon to buy some new Christmas decorations but all I came back with were Christmas presents for Rory 🤣🤣.