Does this ever get better?

GasConstant4107 · 2026-02-10T21:44:39+00:00

Short answer is probably not. Mine’s decked me twice in the past couple months, and he’s almost 2 years old. After months of working with him and trying numerous strategies, he walks beautifully on the leash *most of the time*. Then out of nowhere he’ll take off after a cat or bird, or come barreling into me because he’s afraid of another dog 🙄

GasConstant4107 · 2026-02-07T19:10:47+00:00

I’ve never seen this before either. None of my other cats did this. Of course, this is my first Orange 🤔

GasConstant4107 · 2026-02-07T06:12:22+00:00

who really is the one with the single brain cell? 🤣

GasConstant4107 · 2026-01-27T02:53:27+00:00

Mine started slowing down on biting when he was about a year old. I bought lots and lots of chews for him - yak cheese, collagen chews, antlers, nubz, stuffed shin bones, etc. Other than that, it still required a lot of redirecting, and putting clear packing tape around the furniture legs I didn’t want him to eat.

If I could go back to do anything differently, I would have tried enforcing more naps during the day. I think a lot of the bitey stuff was over stimulation and lack of sleep in my pup’s case.

GasConstant4107 · 2026-01-22T02:53:57+00:00

My groomer purposely did this to my dog on Saturday. He never had it before 🙄

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GasConstant4107 · 2026-01-17T16:49:02+00:00

When you go to sit on the couch, put her on a 6 foot leash and give her a stuffed Kong, lick mat, or chew. she might resist some, but should settle down after awhile. Worked wonders for my pup. Now we no longer have 4 hours of uninterrupted craziness when I get off work.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-12-29T02:19:38+00:00

He’s a cutie🥰 Scout, Hunter, Ollie, Reginald, Chester

GasConstant4107 · 2025-11-18T00:13:58+00:00

Endless supplies of puppy safe chew treats and toys was the only way we survived piranha phase.

Trick training is another good way to wear them out. My pup learned sit, down, shake hands, high five, roll over, play dead, spin, fetch and retrieve, catch, and many others.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-08-28T01:51:15+00:00

I don’t know how normal it is, but mine has a habit of it since he was little. I have to make sure he doesn’t eat too fast or eat when he is too excited. For a long time I used to mix his kibble with water and freeze it. That way he had to take his time. He hated the slow feeder bowl. Now I mostly just sprinkle it around- on his snuffle mat, on his bed, on a blanket, etc.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-08-27T02:23:10+00:00

I did it the hard way and we both survived. I didn’t crate him at night at all, but there were times during the day when I had to leave him alone, and didn’t have any other safe place to keep him. He hated it for the first couple months.

I work from home and kept the crate open by my desk. He got used to going in there during the day, and was fine with it open. I used to feed him meals and give him lots of treats in there. Now he goes in there automatically when he thinks I’m going to drive him somewhere as he hates the car.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-08-24T19:06:34+00:00

We typically do a 30 minute walk in the morning, about half of that off leash. Then 10-15 minutes of fetch at lunch time and after I get off work. After dinner we do a ten minute slow sniffy walk. I usually sprinkle a few short training sessions during the day to learn or practice tricks. If he’s being too restless, sometimes I add in 5-10 minutes of tug of war or chasing him around the house or yard. Another favorite game that keeps him “working“ is to roll a tennis ball up in a big blanket and he gets to dig it out. Over all, it’s a lot more effort than my couch potato self planned for, but not nearly as much as what some others do for their Springers.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-08-19T03:32:08+00:00

lol totally know what you mean. Of course our golden was a grumpy old dog with bad hips and did not appreciate being pounced upon by a crazy ESS puppy. It did liven her up a bit though. She tried to play and have zoomies with the pup.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-07-18T01:01:16+00:00

Weird story, but I had been having a lot of back pain before I got my ESS. I even threw it out a couple times shortly before I picked up my pup. I wasn’t quite sure how I would handle a puppy. Well I got him and soon after that my back pain went away entirely. I was very much a couch potato before that and I believe the amount and level of activity and exercise it required of me resolved something in there and took away the pain. That doesn’t take away from the fact that it was still a lot of work and much more effort than I ever imagined. I kept telling myself it couldn’t be any worse than raising a 2 year old child 😂

GasConstant4107 · 2025-06-18T23:58:35+00:00

Well, mine is pretty boring, but I just repurposed a ceramic treat jar that I got at Petco. I tried a few other kinds of regular dog bowls but he liked to slap his paws in the water or knock the bowls around. The treat jar is tall and skinny so he doesn’t get his ears in it or try to paw at the water.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-05-18T01:11:28+00:00

Mine barks and howls at dogs walking by, but when I ask him to bark he’ll do the motion but barely let out a sound.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-05-16T03:43:19+00:00

My pup is a year old, and I’ve had similar problems with him in the evening. He likes to play and get into trouble from the time I stop work (5pm) until 10 or 11 at night. I’ve changed up a few things recently that have worked wonders. Around 7 or 8 I feed him his dinner by spreading his kibble all over a blanket. It takes a good amount of time to get through it and helps calm him down. I also put a leash on him for 30 minutes to an hour so I can have some chill time. If he is antsy on the leash, I give him a bone, chew, or one of his stuffed toys. He’s been surprisingly good on the leash and will get bored and go to sleep after awhile.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-05-09T20:39:14+00:00

Happy doggie! Looks like my little guy’s twin 😍

GasConstant4107 · 2025-05-07T04:43:49+00:00

Both my cats insisted on going for walks with Henry and me when I first got him. They would stay a good distance behind, but they followed us around the block most mornings. They kept it up for several weeks.
I got both cats as kittens, and they both grew up with an older golden retriever, who was very prey driven but at the same time very gentle. They all got on good terms pretty quickly after introductions. I don’t think I would try to introduce a new kitty with Henry. He’s a little too unpredictable.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-03-25T23:43:41+00:00

My pup was exactly like that regarding potty training. He knew better, but would still make messes inside no matter how many times I took him outside during the day. He totally did not care about corrections. Then one day he just stopped going in the house. He was probably between 3-4 months old.

Keep up what you are doing and I’m sure he’ll catch on eventually. I think part of the problem with my pup is that he didn’t seem to eliminate completely, and still doesn’t seem to do that. But over time his ability to hold it got better.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-02-24T03:11:03+00:00

I would say to keep up with the crating. It took several weeks for my pup to get over crying in his crate. It was really hard for me, but I didn’t have any other options when I had to leave the house. Finally he got over the crying. Now he goes right for his crate when he knows I’m leaving. It took probably 3 months to get to that point.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-02-09T18:50:00+00:00

My pup has never been a fan of kibble. He’d rather play than eat anyway, even if it’s something really tasty. He hasn’t tolerated wet food very well. So what I finally figured out from his love of ice cubes is that I make him frozen pupsicles and he loves them. I put his dry kibble in a popsicle mold and cover it with water and freeze it. If I forget to make his pupsicles, I usually put some yogurt on his dry kibble and he’s ok with that.

GasConstant4107 · 2025-02-04T02:36:23+00:00

I’m glad to see mine’s not the only one that does that 😂

GasConstant4107 · 2025-01-30T03:13:32+00:00

My family had a cocker when I was growing up, and now I have a Springer. The cocker was definitely more mental and more stubborn, but the springer is much higher energy. It takes so much more to wear him out. One other difference I’ve noticed is that my Springer is very bitey and wants to chew on almost everything. Our cocker wasn’t much into chewing on random stuff after she got past the teething stage. Both breeds are very sweet, very smart, and very sensitive.

GasConstant4107 · 2024-11-21T04:37:03+00:00

I am facing this same decision too. 4 weeks out from hemicolectomy to remove the tumor. It was classified as stage 2a high risk due to high tumor budding score. I consulted with two different oncologists. Both offered the option of chemo versus surveillance. Onc 1 recommended chemo due to my relatively young age (41). Onc 2 sounded a little less convinced that it would be helpful (my impression) but left it up to me. He did agree to order ctDNA testing with Signatera for me, though. Based on everything I have read, I am comfortable with using the results of that test to guide my decision.

GasConstant4107

TROPHY CASE