Post photos of your dogs (Vol 3)
Discussion
Our first dog - Gizmo, in a quieter moment and probably not in focus, as the wife took the picture.
He's a Labrador x Springer, 9 weeks old and growing very quickly. He seems pretty smart and already retrieves a ball quite well, undoes the latch on his pen and my daughter is convinced he sits to order, although I think it's just coincidence.
Never you mind said:
Welcome to the wonderful zany world of spaniels! They are super fun to be around although they can be a little bit mental. Well when I say a little bit I mean a lot! 
Had my first taste of true Springer mentality yesterday. I took Moose up to a windfarm that I had been taking him to over Winter to work on recall with much success. I had fallen out of the habit over the last few months, so now that it is bright in the mornings, I headed off and was parked up by 7am - no other cars in the car park so let him off as soon as we were out the car. Big mistake.Obviously over Winter, the moor was void of visible life and no distractions. But now as we edge into Summer, there's bird life everywhere. I was too late to see the signs about ground nesting birds and keeping dogs under close control (the very concept I was there to work on).
He took off like a bullet after the first tiny feathered thing he saw on the wing, and then kept switching to the next target as another bird's flight path crossed overheard. Within a few seconds he was off over a hill and out of sight
Took a lot of stomping through bogs, culverts and gorse to find him. When he eventually got back on the lead, he looked quite pleased with himself but knew he was in big trouble. He was seconds away from crossing over a rise that would have revealed a field full of freshly squeezed out lambs. So narrowly avoided disaster. Took him straight back to the car and drove home with legs like jelly.
Tried so hard to be angry with him and give him the silent treatment the rest of the day, but then he goes and has a kip on the stairs like this:
More work to do.
Edited by Wrathalanche on Monday 29th April 13:21
Damn us for doing our walk a week too early!
Wrathalanche said:
Had my first taste of true Springer mentality yesterday. I took Moose up to a windfarm that I had been taking him to over Winter to work on recall with much success. I had fallen out of the habit over the last few months, so now that it is bright in the mornings, I headed off and was parked up by 7am - no other cars in the car park so let him off as soon as we were out the car. Big mistake.
Obviously over Winter, the moor was void of visible life and no distractions. But now as we edge into Summer, there's bird life everywhere. I was too late to see the signs about ground nesting birds and keeping dogs under close control (the very concept I was there to work on).
He took off like a bullet after the first tiny feathered thing he saw on the wing, and then kept switching to the next target as another bird's flight path crossed overheard. Within a few seconds he was off over a hill and out of sight
Took a lot of stomping through bogs, culverts and gorse to find him. When he eventually got back on the lead, he looked quite pleased with himself but knew he was in big trouble. He was seconds away from crossing over a rise that would have revealed a field full of freshly squeezed out lambs. So narrowly avoided disaster. Took him straight back to the car and drove home with legs like jelly.
Tried so hard to be angry with him and give him the silent treatment the rest of the day, but then he goes and has a kip on the stairs like this:
More work to do.
You may have seen the discussion a few pages back, but I'd suggest investing in a Tractive GPS tracker.Obviously over Winter, the moor was void of visible life and no distractions. But now as we edge into Summer, there's bird life everywhere. I was too late to see the signs about ground nesting birds and keeping dogs under close control (the very concept I was there to work on).
He took off like a bullet after the first tiny feathered thing he saw on the wing, and then kept switching to the next target as another bird's flight path crossed overheard. Within a few seconds he was off over a hill and out of sight
Took a lot of stomping through bogs, culverts and gorse to find him. When he eventually got back on the lead, he looked quite pleased with himself but knew he was in big trouble. He was seconds away from crossing over a rise that would have revealed a field full of freshly squeezed out lambs. So narrowly avoided disaster. Took him straight back to the car and drove home with legs like jelly.
Tried so hard to be angry with him and give him the silent treatment the rest of the day, but then he goes and has a kip on the stairs like this:
More work to do.
Edited by Wrathalanche on Monday 29th April 13:21
HTP99 said:
Frenchies are f
king stupid (I say this as a Frenchie owner!)
I would say more lazy/stubborn than stupid, he certainly isn't stupid but very selective with what he does based on the risk/reward balance king stupid (I say this as a Frenchie owner!)
The sliding off the sofa thing he learned when young and seems to enjoy it, if he isnt in a rush for food or to get to the door for visitors etc he usually takes the easy way and slides off like that
Lazermilk said:
HTP99 said:
Frenchies are fking stupid (I say this as a Frenchie owner!)
I would say more lazy/stubborn than stupid, he certainly isn't stupid but very selective with what he does based on the risk/reward balance king stupid (I say this as a Frenchie owner!)The sliding off the sofa thing he learned when young and seems to enjoy it, if he isnt in a rush for food or to get to the door for visitors etc he usually takes the easy way and slides off like that
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