I want to get a dog but I have to work, how does everyone on broadway market do it ?

Very much so - ours seems very convinced that either we are all dogs or he is a human and looks genuinely confused, put out and frustrated that we don't all perfectly understand each other all the time. I'd love to see how he would be if we had another dog. Last time he spent an extended period with another dog it was a cocker spaniel pup who was quite untrained and he just ignored her most of the time almost as if he regarded her as a different species.

You will not catch a toy poodle that doesn't want to be caught.

Yeah - ours (miniature) you can catch quite easily, unless he has his ball when no one can get near him.

I tried having two balls to play fetch with for a while, thinking that he'd drop the first before going for the second. He ended up just chasing the second one without letting go of the first then when he got to the second he'd decide which one he liked best and come back with that one.
The end result was a dog with a ball that he still won't let go of, and another ball on the other side of the field.

Thankfully he drops it when he sees his lead so we can get out of the park pretty easily - I never trained him that, he's just picked it up I guess :)

The end result was a dog with a ball that he still won't let go of, and another ball on the other side of the field.

Yup - have been there. I think with ours it was just training the 'touch' command and he's stopped doing it, mostly. Nowadays he will still play the game on occasion but usually only if he's tired and now it just consists of lying down and refusing to budge. The first time he refuses to drop it on command it goes back in the bag. Tough love!

Once ran into a lovely chocolate-lab at the park who had a big red squishy ball that he kept in his mouth permanently and a smaller version of the same the owner had to constantly throw and he would pick it up with the other one still in his mouth. didnt see him drop it once.

When it comes to high value treats he just runs around the flat whining looking for a place to 'bury' it, which is usually under one of our pillows or in a washing basket.

Benny does this, his favourite place usually to hide his treats is to tuck it underneath either me, my partner or my mums legs or behind our backs. I think that's part of why it caught my partner off guard that he snapped trying to take it off him. I suspect a large part of the reaction is when it's a "new" thing he's not experienced before, in my case a minging bit of dead bird, in her case a previously ignored chew toy that he had only just discovered was edible and also amazing he has no idea if he'll ever get it again so it provokes a stronger reaction.

Did you see that article I linked to about Guarding, Ciq? Seemed like quite a sensible approach to training it out of Benny...

I don't think it's really trainable as it's happened literally once or twice in three years and he's fine with normal treats and us going near his bowl etc.

Make sure all family members and everyone who visits know never to approach or interrupt your dog if they are eating or have a chew.

i think this first item on the bullet list of actions is all that was needed as emma persisted after he'd warned her with a growl.

if we see any more signs then it'll need correcting but i think it was an unfortunate one-off and I was just opining that it's a shame he did it when he finally discovered a new source of entertainment.

Ah thats goods news that its not a regular problem at least. I was probably overthinking because of the number of out of control cockerpoos I know. Jana reminded me of another one that belongs to her friend that is going through a guarding agression phase. In terms of percentages, 100% of the cockerpoos that our friends own have guarding problems. I'm not including Benny in that because I haven't met him yet :D

My aunt had multiple Cocker Spaniels, they all had issues with toys and food. They were all charmingly mental, even the one that had a touch of distemper and bit me.

Got sent this from Crumpet's walker. I reckon she might be having a nice time.

1 Attachment

Really is a lovely day for a walk.

Not sure where his walker took him today. Will be somewhere in SE London.

1 Attachment

I've settled into a really nice routine during the week. Long walk first thing (currently about an hour with each dog, hoping to combine them once Luna's issues are under control); go straight to work leaving them at home (Reggie on the sofa, Luna in the crate); come back home just after lunch and take them out into the garden; work from home in the afternoon with both of them by my desk; finish work, feed them and take them both out again for 20 mins (longer now the weather/light has improved); they crash for the evening.

This is interspersed with games when I want a break from work, and Luna waking Reggie up for a fight at around 3pm. I realise I am really lucky that I have the space, can work flexibly and work a 20 minute ride/30 minute bus journey from home. I haven't had to use a dog walker and have grown up kids, neice and nephew who will jump in when needed. I couldn't have taken on a second dog otherwise.

Looks like my punk yesterday. Dug his own grave.

1 Attachment

Quite pleased

1 Attachment

Its good the routine huh. I take my son and dog out for 2 hours in the morning, normally at dawn so just us enjoying the birds. Often the highlight of the day.

Hahaa, great photo.

curious to hear how the raw feeders here manage the whole defrosting dance.

we have the 1kg packs from paleoridge and I defrost them in a tupperware that fits the package inside at the bottom of the fridge, but [golfclub] we recently got a fancy new fridge that excels at keeping our fresh stuff fresh by being really fucking good at keeping things cold [/golfclub] and it takes up to 3 days to defrost the solid block of meat to the point it's ready to serve but we get through a kilo in about 2.5 days and if there's any wastage we end up having to defrost on the countertop and that gives me the dry itch because I dont want to give our pooch salmonella or something. every time things get a bit loose at the other end I'm worried we're not doing properly right by him.

am curious what other peoples routines are...

edit: also does anyone give their dog extra fibre in any form? I think sometimes the raw stuff goes through him a bit too quickly hence why we get the odd super runny one.

We use the frozen nuggets from Nature's Menu, and just give our dog the nuggets straight from the freezer. He's happy with it and it slows down how fast he scoffs it down.

We feed the dog carrots as treats for extra fibre and also the occasional fruit and veg nugget (again from Nature's Menu)

We use the same tupperware and 1kg blocks as you. We just take a box out of the freezer a day in advance and leave it outside the fridge for 8 hours or so before putting it in the fridge. Maybe closer to 4 hours in the summer.

A block will take about 34 to 36 hours to defrost in our fridge so sometimes we just think ahead 24 to 36 hours...only a couple of meals or so.

We use the frozen nuggets from Nature's Menu, and just give our dog the nuggets straight from the freezer. He's happy with it and it slows down how fast he scoffs it down.

CSB warning.

Paleoridge is owned by the founder of Natures Menu. She left and started Paleoridge when the company she sold out to started compromising on quality and safety. They always have some sort of safety scandal, which is the main reason they rebrand every few years.

That said, we fed it to Otto for a few years before he suddenly just started to refuse to eat any flavour of it. Around about that time it was in the news that some dogs had died of food poisoning from Natures menu food...seemed like a good time to switch. Up until that point though, Otto got on well with it so perhaps/hopefully the fear/rumours aren't as bad as the real picture.

Its quite hard to find info about the issues but its there if you search for it. There is also some confusion with the US version of Natures Menu which seems to have regular Salmonella recalls and other issues too.

We use these things that come divided into 100g patties: https://www.mypethq.co.uk/product/luna-me-dandy-duck-patties/

They thaw a bit faster, but also you can easily get the right number of patties out and just bung them in the microwave on chaos defrost.

I'm not too worried about salmonella given that he eats food he finds on the floor and will, given half a chance, drink straight from the Thames.

If anything less fibre should mean less water in the stool, and indeed they're usually dry & compact.

I'd be interested to read some reliable info on this. I've fed three dogs Nature's Menu and all have loved it (to be fair, they'd eat horse shit out of a bowl if you gave it to them). I like the portions it comes in - 400g blocks, nuggets, "free flow" mince, bags of wings and necks - all of which mean it can easily be defrosted overnight/during the day, so gets around @HatBeard 's issue. If there are proven cases of poisoning in this country, it would be good to know - 10 minutes searching reveals some product recalls, but that is the case with pretty much all producers, including Paleoridge.

Can you split them before freezing or do they come frozen? Have you tried soaking it in a big bowl of cold water?

We are using Natures Menu nuggets, Bosco is a big fan.
We dispense the daily dosage into tupperware boxes and keep them in the freezer, get one out before bed and leave it on the table in the garage (where our classic middle class spare fridge lives)
As we hit summer it may be put in the fridge over night.
If we forget, popping them in his bowl frozen and letting them soften for an hour or so seems to do the trick.

Not had any issues, other than he hates the lamb ones.
Duck or Rabbit are all we buy now.

If anyone wants the benefits of raw food without the hassle, I'd recommend Rocketo.

It's dried raw food, you just add water to turn a 4kg bag back into 12kg of raw food. No mess, no chance of contamination, etc.

It's expensive (£60 for 3kg which is actually 12kg), but you can get 20% off with a referral code:
https://gorocketo.com/aff/jon.marshall-1233/

Maurice loves the beef one, they do an insect one too?!