All Things Acorn

Annie (human) & Acorn (dog) with special appearances from Fitz (cat). We love training, agility, and running around in the woods. My non-dog blog is @osawatomiebrown

[allthings-acorn]

After [redacted slur-slinging misogynist dog abuser]’s latest bullshit, I realized he doesn’t actually live that far from me. So out of an abundance of caution I went to block him on my personal and professional accounts. Turns out that a shocking number of dog people I know follow him. I really really hope they’re hate following but I’m honestly getting really upset. What is wrong with this industry? Methodology aside, why is it acceptable to treat your colleagues this way?

[allthings-acorn]

I’m in the project dogs group on fb because I love rage-baiting myself. Anyway, gotta love this dog’s “positives” including compulsive behavior, reactivity towards delivery drivers and tv commercials, and an obsession with rocks. Well the rock thing may just be a personal pet peeve of mine lmao.

And yes the negatives are also quite bad. No hate on this person— it’s a sad situation. Dog is not a candidate for rehoming imo.

[a-silly-poll-side-blog-yay]

was your pet expensive to get?

yes

no

not the most expensive but not the cheapest either

for free

it was a gift

found it outside

traded for something

results

Voting ended onJul 22

[midnightvrose]

[tooiconic]

both of them are me

[allhailthe70shousewife]

[pitbolshevik]

the weird looks i get from people when i say i feed my dogs purina is so funny like im sorry im not jumping on the salmonella train or the "give your dogs REAL food that makes their pancreas kill itself" train

[pitbolshevik]

and if you say something about how your vet says purina is good you get to watch the person you're talking to animorph into rfk jr for dogs

[pitbolshevik]

"b-but purina is owned by nestle" don't make me tap the sign

nestle owns fucking everything and the simple reality is that most of the brands of anything, not just pet food, that are anywhere close to affordable are owned by the same 5 evil megacorporations

and in the case of petfood, the smaller brands not owned by evil megacorps are often not researched as well.

[eebie]

i named them cruelty of the heart and sickness of the mind

[puppiesdoglover]

Wow i like it. Everybody say hi to them pleas.

[allthings-acorn]

Eggie just ran into a tree while playing with Acorn in the yard 😔 She’s in a lot of pain and favoring her right front leg pretty heavily. Vet appointment this afternoon. Please send us good vibes 🙏

[allthings-acorn]

Girlie looks to be ok! Limp improved and by the time we got to the vet it was very slight. She passed the exam with flying colors. Good range of motion, and nothing indicating serious injury. Went home relieved and with meds to keep her comfortable over the weekend.

I’m really proud of how brave she was at the vet too. Still not willing to step onto the scale on her own, but she was happy to interact with the staff and let them do everything with minimal restraint.

[allthings-acorn]

Eggie just ran into a tree while playing with Acorn in the yard 😔 She’s in a lot of pain and favoring her right front leg pretty heavily. Vet appointment this afternoon. Please send us good vibes 🙏

[allthings-acorn]

Big milestone agility class for Eggie today! She had two weeks off everything while I was traveling. Seems like some latent learning happened.

Three firsts:

Did an actual tunnel in class. Multiple times! She had just started doing a full tunnel in my yard before vacation.

Put back feet on the a-frame. Very brave stuff.

Able to step on the teeter, even when my instructor held the end an inch or so off the ground for her to push down.

[allthings-acorn]

We’ve definitely seen fewer street dogs the last few days. They seem to be less common in the more tourist-y areas, and the ones we do meet are off the beaten path. This cute girl was hanging out in the parking lot of a national park. She was trying to keep cool napping under a car. She was very polite but a little reserved at first— excited about cat treats but didn’t necessarily want me to touch her. She did eventually warm up though and I was able to help remove some of her blown coat. She seemed to enjoy the grooming and hopefully it will help keep her cooler!

We also met two lovely dogs outside Tito’s Bunker in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Unfortunately it’s technically still a military area and you’re not allowed to take photos outside of the bunker. But they were so sweet! I was able to get my dog cuddle fix.

[allthings-acorn]

Cutie patootie we met at a cafe in Kruja. Very polite boy! Big fan of the cat treats. Very pregnant-looking kitty also a big fan of cat treats!

[allthings-acorn]

We did not make any dog friends yesterday, except the one in the top right picture who was just chilling.

Today we met this lovely girl outside the Tirana Pyramid. She was super playful and silly. I also bought some cat treats yesterday and she really liked them! First street dog I’ve seen be interested in food. Not sure if she’s an outlier or if the cat treats really are magic!

[dragon-hoard]

if you are going to need some kind of sedative for 4th of july fireworks for your pets NOW IS THE TIME TO SCHEDULE THOSE APPOINTMENTS TO ASK FOR THEM

NOT WHEN ITS 2 DAYS AWAY

[alex51324]

I feel like to really get this circulating as it should, we need it superimposed over the picture of the turkey going in the fridge. (I can't do it I'm on my phone.)

[amaditalks]

[figtreeandvine]

With the 250th anniversary it's likely to be especially bad this year!

[allthings-acorn]

We entered Albania today! It was a big travel day but we did make one new street dog friend. This guy greeted us outside the cathedral in Korçë. Super sweet— he wanted a mix of scratches and personal play. More of a casual dude, he didn’t follow us around but socialized a little and then went to nap in the shade.

[allthings-acorn]

Day 2 of Balkan street dogs! We met two lovely dogs at a busy cafe/rest stop on the way to Ohrid. Very friendly and once again not terribly interested in any food that was offered to them. I watched some guy toss the white girl a whole piece of pizza and she turned up her nose. Big brown dog was very silly— I played some bitey face with my hands and he loved it and was super gentle. There was a third dog at the rest stop as well but she kept her distance from us.

At one point a man arrived and our two friends alarm barked and charged at him until he backed off. First time I’ve seen any aggression towards people from any of the dogs here. Clearly there was some sort of beef there because they were very friendly with everyone else.

The last two pictures are a very young guy who joined us on our walking tour of Ohrid. He loved catching pinecones and really wanted to tug— I wish I had a toy to play with him. I think it’s amazing how these dogs will just meet a friendly group of people and join the walk. He went almost the whole way with us.

One thing I’m noticing is how often I see these dogs turn down food. They are clearly being well-fed and I wonder if the enrichment in the environment makes food less valuable to them if they know they will always have enough to eat anyway. Attention and play seems to be a much bigger driver of behavior for these guys— although some confirmation bias since the ones I’m observing the most are the ones who choose to hang out with our group. But it does make me reconsider some of my ideas about how “normal” high food drive actually is.

[canidfigures]

☆ athenian vase of dog, 510-500 bce