Any dog owners here?

[12th Monkey]

We lost the second of our Labradoodles to old age just after Christmas - she had a great life and as peaceful an end as we could have hoped for. But it seems you have to be pretty decisive when you are looking at pups these days, so we may well be coming home with two more 'doodles tomorrow, if all goes to plan.

I confess I'm excited, but also know I have forgotten the hard yards of having pups - housetraining, being woken during the night etc...

Previous dogs in happy times:

 

[michael hoy]

We lost the second of our Labradoodles to old age just after Christmas - she had a great life and as peaceful an end as we could have hoped for. But it seems you have to be pretty decisive when you are looking at pups these days, so we may well be coming home with two more 'doodles tomorrow, if all goes to plan.

I confess I'm excited, but also know I have forgotten the hard yards of having pups - housetraining, being woken during the night etc...

Previous dogs in happy times:

View attachment 3154

Sorry to that she has passed away.

 

[12th Monkey]

Sorry to that she has passed away.

Thank you - but at least it was a good, long and full life, with a peaceful end. If we have the same with our next dogs, I'll count my blessings, Michael.

 

[Al ears]

Condolences, I know what it's like to lose a member of the family.
German shepherds were my forte, but since losing my second we have now downsized to a Golden Cocker Spaniel.
Heaven help me, wife's choice not mine.....

 

[12th Monkey]

The cigarette butts aren't the dogs', btw. Or ours, I hasten to add.

Our pets have almost all had names from TV comedy.

Cats: Itchy & Scratchy.
Rats: Richie & Eddie, and Digby & Ginger.
Dogs: Etty (Ethel Cardew) and Dodo (Doreen Hedgehog).
Next dogs will be Beef Galore and Bosh Rogan Josh (truncations tbc), though I favoured Dr. Piglet & Dr. Winston, or Midget & Crapper...

 

[12th Monkey]

They're a bit bigger than we were expecting (had got to four months old), but have been pretty good - not a peep overnight in the utility - and no 'messages' from their digestive systems - just three wholeheartedly-shredded puppy pads. What have we let ourselves in for...

 

[DCarmi]

Aww!

I refused to allow the Misses to get a dog for years because I knew muggins here would be the one taking it out for a walk in the wind, rain and mud. I finally gave in and we got a foreign rescue 6 months ago and sure enough muggins does most of the walking. Have to say I quite enjoy it, despite the fixation she (the dog) has with squirrels.

So far the count is one dead squirrel and a three mice. Otherwise, a well behaved and very cuddly dog.

 

[12th Monkey]

They've just bumped into one of the Spendors whilst mucking about. Time to have them destroyed...

(I am joking, lest I be misunderstood!)

 

[Al ears]

They've just bumped into one of the Spendors whilst mucking about. Time to have them destroyed...

(I am joking, lest I be misunderstood!)

don't destroy your Spendors, send them to me and let me do it.....

 

[plastic penguin]

We lost the second of our Labradoodles to old age just after Christmas - she had a great life and as peaceful an end as we could have hoped for. But it seems you have to be pretty decisive when you are looking at pups these days, so we may well be coming home with two more 'doodles tomorrow, if all goes to plan.

I confess I'm excited, but also know I have forgotten the hard yards of having pups - housetraining, being woken during the night etc...

Previous dogs in happy times:

View attachment 3154

They look sweet.
I used to have dogs: Mongrel, Labrador and a Boxer... all at different times.

We had the mongrel when I was born. She was called Shandy. She had pups. My parents gave them away to family friends. They named all the pups after drinks. One was called Mackeson, one was called Brandy, another was Whiskey.... they are the only ones I can remember.

Nowadays we have a cat

 

[plastic penguin]

Earlier today spoke to owner of a Vizsla hound. Gorgeous dogs.

 

[12th Monkey]

That photo illustrates exactly why I couldn't have male dogs!

 

[plastic penguin]

That photo illustrates exactly why I couldn't have male dogs!

These dogs have no shame 😋
Very good natured dogs but can be boisterous

 

[12th Monkey]

The dogs have settled into family life brilliantly, in almost all ways - they're very affectionate, will walk for England and are happy to go to the pub with us. Only drawback is that they aren't keen on other dogs. At all. They rear up, whine, bark, pull etc. It got to the stage where we thought we'd seek some professional help, and we now understand there is something called littermate syndrome, This means that because their pack predates the one you bring them into, they are sometimes much more interested in each other than in you.

The trainer I spoke to suggested that a reputable breeder will not sell two pups to the same household, at least not without making sure that you can devote the required time and energy - apparently walking and training should be done separately so they adopt you as pack leader. We've started doing this, and the results are encouraging - but it would have been nice to know beforehand so we could have done the right thing from the off.

Beef:

 

[12th Monkey]

Bosh:

 

[WayneKerr]

Whilst I applaud you for attempting to get to the root cause of the problem with your dogs and trying to fix it, I really do have an issue that badly behaved dogs/children must be addressed with yet another tag as why their behaviour is poor. To me this is just a get-out... Oh, my child/dog is so naughty, but he has ADHD, blah, blah blah, I can't control him. Yeah right, my parents controlled me, and it wasn't just by discussion either, you did something wrong then you knew you were gonna get it. Have I turned into a bully? No! Too much mamby pamby discipline these days and zero respect.

To me bad behaviour is just bad behaviour and basically it is the job of the owner/parent to address it. Personally, I've always seen it as it is. Poor owners/parents who do not stamp their authority and allow behaviour to become a major problem are at fault. You need them to see you as the alpha, not them. I've had mutts in the past and a strong hand is essential, a rolled newspaper can work wonders.

Got an elderly neighbour whose dog is a damned nuisance, it does exactly what it wants; she thinks that talking to it will stop it barking... No, she has to assert her authority. Will she? No. Do I have a good relationship with my neighbour? No, not when the damned dog wakes me most mornings at 7am and I've only been in bed for 6 hours.

Rant over

 

[Gray]

"He doesn't usually do that" is my favourite (often quoted) comment from dog owners.

A former work colleague's Uncle was my town's first dog warden. He made the mistake of asking the owner to clean up after the dog.
He said that 6 police cars were necessary to restrain the owner. Not sure about that - but I know from experience that to some, their dogs can do no wrong.

Don't get me started on dangerous dogs eating kids.....and an adult in the most recent case.

 

[12th Monkey]

I really do have an issue that badly behaved dogs/children must be addressed with yet another tag as why their behaviour is poor. To me this is just a get-out..

It's a recognised 'thing', so not a get-out. I really dislike our neighbours who allow their dogs to bark - they are your dogs, so it's up to you to deal with their issues. Funnily enough, we get given some dog magazines by friends and Mrs 12th was looking through one this morning, which featured an article on...you guessed it.

Ours aren't in the garden unsupervised, aren't allowed to bark, we just have issues with how the behave around other dogs whilst out walking. And we will crack it - they're showing signs of improvement after three days, so I'm optimistic.

Basically, I broadly agree with you though - when you see badly-behaved children and dogs, blame the parents.

I have a favourite paraphrase Sartre's 'Hell is other people' - I prefer 'Hell is other people's children'!

 

[12th Monkey]

"He doesn't usually do that" is my favourite (often quoted) comment from dog owners.

Heard that all too often, usually after their dog has bitten yours...

(In fact it's usually 'he's never done that before.')

 

[Gray]

Heard that all too often, usually after their dog has bitten yours...

(In fact it's usually 'he's never done that before.')

I never have and never will own a dog (certainly not saying they're all the same - and thank God for that).

 

[WayneKerr]

Owned two dogs in the past, had several pussies over the years but only ever owned one

 

[12th Monkey]

Turns out that one of the dogs has juvenile cataracts - which may contribute to her issues because her vision is impaired. Mercifully the op she'll have next year should be reasonably straightforward, and they are insured.

 

[12th Monkey]

Thought I'd dig this up to see how long we've been walking them separately - over seven months. Jeez. We've started doing the odd walk together, and are taking them to the pub tomorrow (when it should be quiet) to see how they get on.

They're definitely better than they used to be, both together and apart. I have a sinking feeling that as much of the improvement comes from their having been spayed - if not more. We will have a dog (or dogs) again in the (hopefully distant) future, but they won't be from the same litter if we double up...

 

[KDA]

They're definitely better than they used to be, both together and apart.

We breed the occasional litter of Beagles (for show) We can't keep them all, so some are sold but never in a pair. Take one, train it and come back for another, perhaps next year.
Two together bond with each other rather than with their owners. Taking a younger one in later means it will be 'taught some manners' by the older one and it will copy the good behaviour.....

 

[12th Monkey]

We breed the occasional litter of Beagles (for show) We can't keep them all, so some are sold but never in a pair. Take one, train it and come back for another, perhaps next year.
Two together bond with each other rather than with their owners. Taking a younger one in later means it will be 'taught some manners' by the older one and it will copy the good behaviour.....

Glad to hear it, but alas about 14 months' too late for me!