A Cavalier And A Doodle

a senior cavoodle and a cavalier puppy plus their autistic human

[acheerfulcavalier]

Hello! I’m a 24 yr old non binary autistic/adhd dog walker/trainer in training, but you call me Andy!

My Dogs:

Lottie (12/02/13): 13 yr old ||Cavoodle Was the “family” dog but is now mine.

She has hip displasia, chronic pancreatic, epilepsy and nerve damage to her neck from a seizure but she’s managed well with meds, living her best senior life.

Darcy (07/04/26): 9 weeks old | Cavalier King Charles Spaniel

Currently working as a dog walker and trainer in training. I consider myself R+/FF, crossing over through working with my dog’s anxiety and health issues. You may see some of the dogs I work with on here with Lottie.

[acheerfulcavalier]

I’m 24 today and so happy to say I have a puppy!! My own dog (Lottie’s not fully mine).

I can’t believe I recovered from severe mental illness and being told I wouldn’t live past 18/or live without mental illness. Now I’m working part time, have a few friends and now a little puppy!

[acheerfulcavalier]

I don’t even know how people socialise their puppies when I’m finding it hard to meet his needs (he’s really struggling to go to sleep during the day). And I took him in the backpack down the street and just let him watch but it’s hard to tell if it’s a positive experince or not

[odddogs]

Albino Dog Proves Beauty Is Only Skin Deep On 'For the Love of Dogs'

The albino Pekingese, a breed which originated in China, is one of the most unusual-looking dogs to ever come through Battersea’s doors.

this thing was probably found under a log deep in the woods and i ... why did they steal it from the forest

[acheerfulcavalier]

Tiny lamb chop gets the approval from the tiny puppy

[acheerfulcavalier]

Day 1/2: Slept the whole way home from the breeder! Was very excited, running around with his siblings. Lottie had a sniff hello then ignored him!

Toliet training: wonderful, one accident overnight because I’m on heavy sleeping meds and just didn’t hear him. Otherwise he’s outside every 20/30 mins and goes when I say toliet so thank you breeder!

Sleep: never been in a pen, so I sit beside him til he falls asleep in the crate. And I moved my bed to the floor so, we shall see how that goes.

Anyways, I’m not too exhausted but gosh he’s adorable and Lottie likes him so far I’m thrilled!!!

[acheerfulcavalier]

DARY COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!

I’m super excited but really nervous!

[hazard-and-friends]

love playing 'I genuinely don't think you've ever met a competent trainer' on AKC FB groups

(Not what negative reinforcement is)

[hazard-and-friends]

some updates

(poster may be surprised to learn that this only happens at AKC scentwork trials--not NACSW ones.)

[autisticplants]

i think Formal Training and Food Snacks As Markers for Correct Behavior can be useful for teaching dogs the skills they need to live Safely in our modern human world

but like. truly it is way too easy to end up trying to micromanage the behaviors of this fully sentient captive animal. and i fully fell into that before Realizing and i think we're still dealing with the relational fallout + resulting Weirdness about existing in the world. i got sooooooo stressed about Getting The Training Right that i fucked up the relational communication reaaaaaal bad. all the guidance i got + advice i saw + my own personal life baggage = Really Bad Puppy Raising

sorry thistle.

[autisticplants]

like theres So many pet dogs in the world and barring some few conflicts the majority of them end up Fine, even if/especially when there is no Formal Training involved. because we've evolved together!!! to be able to communicate!!! a lot of the problems that pop up are related to modern misconceptions about species specific behaviors and needs and also modern life interfering with those needs safely being met through the dog's own behaviors

but i feel like i fucked thistle up in a Fun New Unique Way. by trying to control a puppy by using food when she didnt really care about food very much and cared about freedom and agency wayyyyyyyy more. and responding to her developmentally appropriate behaviors with distress and frustration instead of support.

i hope i can help her heal the harm i caused her.

[autisticplants]

thinking more before i went back to bed but binary Clicker Style Training makes a lot of sense as a tool to use to aid husbandry of captive wild animals in zoos and stuff. you need to motivate them to make them Safer To Take Care Of without having to fully sedate them each time you need to do some kind of husbandry task. voluntary blood draws with large undomesticated animals continues to be fucking amazing. it’s a Clear simple binary system to tell an individual of a different species what you are looking for them to do. it’s bartering Behavior for Food.

i think the difference between captive zoo animals and Dogs is that no one is ethically sharing a social household with the kinds of animals kept in zoos. with some MINOR exceptions (certain tegus come to mind) (and SOME!!! parrots)

i think um. using the language of the article i’m reading, clicker style training is an useful tool when two individuals do not share a lot of natural overlap in their semiospheres. it’s a bridge to use to communicate over that gap.

but when we have the ability to interact SOCIALLY!!!!! with other human beings and with dogs. using Mark and Reward style communication and Conditioning as the Main method of intentional communication gets bad FAST when we live so intimately together.

zoo animals are doing their own things in their enclosures 90% of the time. if they’re social animals then theyre in there with conspecifics.

dogs in the modern day are in near constant contact with their human people. we NEED to be treating them like social partners, not animals to clicker train into convenience.

which. again. clicker training can be A Tool you can use for teaching a new skill. it can also be a fun game you play together. but when the scope extends beyond those contexts yeah it is a form of Control over what should be a social peer.

[mousegirlheart]

um actually there's nothing wrong with letting cats be outdoor pets. your cat is depressed locked inside forever. it's animal abuse. let it outside. more cats should be let outside more often. especially overnight.

[acheerfulcavalier]

The countdown begins! I should be bringing him home next week (depending on dates as she’s going to a show which is at the opposite end of the country).

Anyways here’s Darcy and his “grandad” (his dad and grandad are from another breeder) Bentley having a nap under the living room table.

[aropride]

if your animal is lying on the floor, furniture etc, it’s important to take a picture of them. then, if they move or shift in any way, it’s important to take another picture. with this technique, you can take many pictures of your animal

[wyrddogs]

@farm-paws Uh oh.

[farm-paws]

UH OH!

[acheerfulcavalier]

Fingers crossed but I might have finally found a solution to Lottie’s scavanging! I found an Australian company that sells a version of the outfox foxtail guard.

I haven’t been able to muzzle her because the weight and where it sits on her neck triggers the nerve that she’s damaged so it hurts to wear it

If she can wear it then I’ll be able to take her off lead properly again and just walk without feeling so anxious but have to see if she’ll feel comfortable wearing it with careful conditioning.

[acheerfulcavalier]

Grinch feet doing paws ups on our cold afternoon walk

[groenendaze]

doggy doggy

[groenendaze]

you guys are not ready for this update

[soulpups]

A Háski relative is actively being used as a part of an outcross project for Cavaliers. May seem like a wild outcross, a Tibetan Terrier and a Cavalier, however their arguments are sound and when you think about it - they're not related at all, TTs are not prone to any of the issues Cavaliers are, so in theory (and probably practice), it'll make for very diverse offspring.

If you want to read about it, you can do so ~here~

I'll say, TT people are generally not in support of it. There was some lashing out, some arguments that didn't go anywhere, unnecessary snark. However, I'm in full support of it.

Oh also - the owner of the TT male is actually a FCI judge, a respected one, and a top breeder. Not all hope is lost yet.

[soulpups]

One of the puppies from said outcross -