Dogs of Imladris

Chaos the Golden baby

[thehmn]

One of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever heard a dog trainer say “A pushy pet who makes small demands and communicates their needs to you is a safe pet. It means they trust you and aren’t afraid of your reaction if they misbehave and push your buttons a little”

[hapalopus]

Love seeing working poodles with lion cuts, it's so funny

[hapalopus]

FIFI THE WONDER POODLE!!!

[securityunit-ese]

Explaining to people that MY dogs are my special interest. Not dogs in general. Couldn’t give a shit about other peoples dogs. Other peoples dogs are only interesting in how they relate to my dogs. But I still don’t particularly want to pat or play or train or engage other peoples dogs because I’m fascinated by MY dogs and I want to focus on MY dogs and think about MY dogs and do things with MY dogs

[animentality]

I love huskies. I'd never get one.

but I love them.

[lovertm]

stained glass dogs by Retro Lala Glass

[adventuresofwaverly]

I got cufflinks with Waverly’s pawprints on them and I’m kind of obsessed

[abirddogmoment]

Rory's first session with steadiness training and she's crushing it!

[blueboyluca]

ok here’s all my rambling thoughts about the future of dog breeding. ignore if it pleases you!

caveats: i am not a dog breeder. i am not involved in dog breeding in any capacity. i have a strong interest in the dog–human relationship and the continuation of that relationship. i own purebred dogs. i have absolutely no animal-related academic qualifications.

so. i think the future of dogs is to move away from dog BREEDS. i think dog people really struggle with this. purebred fans struggle because they instantly have a negative response because they adore their specific breed. mixed breeders also struggle with this because still the focus is on BREEDS and mixing them. and then you have all that shelter dog rhetoric which seems confused in itself by the desire to continue to have dogs but the opposition to dog breeding of any kind (pure breeding is bad but mixed breeding is also bad and registered breeders are unethical but backyard breeders are also dodgy).

i have read lots of different dog books. some published before the real Victorian dog breeding explosion (early to mid 1800s) and some published much later (mostly the 90s to now) exploring and documenting the origin of the dog and the current use of indigenous or primitive dogs. so there are people doing what I’m saying ALREADY, TODAY, AND FOR ALL OF DOG–HUMAN TIME (see: landraces).

but what all this has told me is that the real focus should be TYPES. to look at this, you really need to put aside the concept of dog BREEDS as we know them today. dog BREEDS today are defined by hyper specific breed standards that list in extreme detail what the dog should look like and, to a lesser degree, how it should behave. put that aside.

according to Kim Brophey there are 10 families of dogs (i like her categorisation, it makes sense to me). they are Natural Dog (or spitz), Sighthound, Scenthound, Toy Dog, Guardian, Gun Dog, Terrier, Bull Dog, Herding Dog and World Dog (or pariah). using this as a base, then we would jump into TYPES.

so for example. in early sheep and cow centred Australia (early 1800s on), they needed to come up with dogs that would suit the climate and the work. this meant they developed regional variations of Herding Dogs, taking collies (a type) and bobtails (a type) and anything else they had, and refining that into a heeler (type) and a kelpie/koolie (type). it makes sense to me to have these kinds of variations around general principles of environment, working style, temperament, coat, size, ears, tail – that’s how it’s always been done! with TYPES, you could still end up with hundreds of variations. but the key difference to what we currently operate under would be that TYPES have no hyper specific breed standard and they can interbreed whenever necessary while maintaining a general look/working ability.

take one of the breeds i own – papillon. under this proposed model, dogs that look like this would be Toy Spaniels. and when you go looking for a breeder of Toy Spaniels, different people would breed slight variations – up ears or down ears, shorter muzzle, longer muzzle, taller or shorter. however, the focus would be maintaining an open gene pool and producing healthy dogs while still having a general type and a range of reasonable predictability. that is the key difference here. no standards, no stud books. no discussion about “freaks of nature” because a dog bred with another dog. the sport of conformation would have to also radically change in this scenario. but it’s not like you can’t evaluate structure and form of any dog. if conformation must continue, it could change.

contrary to most dog people i tend to run across, i don’t think we should get more specific when thinking about dog breeding, i think we should get less specific. i understand that some scenarios require specificity, but for the most part we as humans should accept that dogs are as varied as we are, with general predictable traits. and our approach to dog breeding should probably be, IN MY VIEW, to find the dog TYPE that is most suitable for our situation, but still accept the individual characteristics within each dog and that no dog is totally predictable nor should this be expected or desired.

so what i am saying is not NEW. it’s just what people did before the Victorians got weird about it.

[adventuresofwaverly]

I think this is a really interesting idea, though as someone who really enjoys the specificity of breeds, I think I would prefer greater emphasis and normalization of open studbooks and outcrossing the way that many livestock breeds already function

in species other than dogs, it’s often pretty normal to be aiming for a breed type that is in a standard but not to need a closed studbook to get there; I grew up breeding goats that you could outcross to anything you wanted at any time to add what you wanted: size, genetic diversity, mothering instinct, parasite resistance, then to be competitive you bred back toward the standard. This increased their numbers in the US while repairing a severe genetic bottleneck and preserving a distinct breed type where you could get generally predictable size, look, and build.

I don’t think we necessarily need to do away with the concept of breeds and breeding toward a specific purpose or look that’s written down so that people can seek out that breed when they want that dog, since the way things used to be done (get a dog to do a job from some guy you know) isn’t the way we do things now, and it would be really difficult to search for the dog you actually want without breed names if types have a lot of variation, but we do need to reevaluate Victorian breeding practices and closed studbooks that were invented at an arbitrary point in time.

[whatjanesaw]

Waterdance Painting - Waterdance Fine Art Print

[butchshepherd]

the real fun of big dog shows is how nice it is being able to share the excitement of "oh my god there's DOGS" with other people for a few days and it being like, normal. im like this every day but then sometimes there's a good excuse for it

[blueboyluca]

Hello, I hope you're having a wonderful day. I very much enjoy you sharing your thoughts on dogs and dog ownership and I value your perspective. I was wondering if it was possible to ask you for book recommendations? Especially books about how to better understand your dog and dog behaviour. You are very passionate about dogs and you seem well read. If you don't have the time to answer this ask, I don't mind and I hope your week starts off great. c:

Hello! I love answering questions about dog books. Understanding dogs and dog behaviour is one of my favourite subjects and I have books that approach it from all angles.

For books that are about being able to observe and interpret dog body language, my top choices are Doggie Language by Lili Chin and Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff. Both offer excellent visual examples, the former illustrated and the latter photographic, which really helps to understand what they are talking about.

If you’re after a book that helps you understand what dogs need and practical ways to achieve it, the best book is Canine Enrichment for the Real World by Allie Bender and Emily Strong. It’s a handbook on how to make your dog’s life more enriched.

For books about dog ethology, the scientific study of animal behaviour in natural conditions, which for dogs is living with humans, my top three are Meet Your Dog by Kim Brophey, Ethics and Ethology for a Happy Dog by Anders Hallgren and Making Dogs Happy by Dr Melissa Starling & Prof Paul McGreevy. Brophey’s book separates dogs into ten types which helps to understand them, while Hallgren and Starling & McGreevy talk directly about how to make the dog that lives with you lead a happy and fulfilling life.

For understanding dog history and how dogs got to be who they are and where they are, I highly recommend How the Dog Became the Dog by Mark Derr, A Dog in the Cave by Kay Frydenborg and my new favourite The Invention of the Modern Dog by Michael Worboys, Julie-Marie Strange & Neil Pemberton. All three discuss the history of dogs – Derr and Krydenborg about the origins of domestication and Worboys, Strange & Pemberton about the modern history of why dogs are now separated into breeds.

My final recommendations for understanding dogs is some of the memoir-style nonfiction books written by leaders in the industry. These books give incredibly valuable perspectives on dogs through the eyes of very skilled, knowledgeable and empathetic people. My favourite books in this category are Plenty in Life is Free by Kathy Sdao and The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell, but I know other people love other famous titles like The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson and Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier (I have not yet read either of these… I am a slow reader and my list is long).

Warning for next time, if anyone asks me about dog books I can write paragraphs…

[blueboyluca]

I wanted to follow up with something that helps people decide which books to read. I understand that reading can be very time consuming and can use up a lot of mental bandwidth, so I thought I would put these recommendations into a more accessible format.

Easy reads: books that are pretty short and easy to understand Doggie Language by Lili Chin Ethics and Ethology for a Happy Dog by Anders Hallgren Plenty in Life is Free by Kathy Sdao A Dog in the Cave by Kay Frydenborg

Medium reads: books that are a bit longer and take a bit more effort to follow Canine Enrichment for the Real World by Allie Bender and Emily Strong Making Dogs Happy by Dr Melissa Starling & Prof Paul McGreevy The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell Meet Your Dog by Kim Brophey

Difficult reads: books that are quite long and take a lot of mental bandwidth to absorb Canine Body Language by Brenda Aloff How the Dog Became the Dog by Mark Derr The Invention of the Modern Dog by Michael Worboys, Julie-Marie Strange & Neil Pemberton

[catchymemes]

Wild Dogs see a Domesticated Dog

[headspace-hotel]

African wild dogs are one of my favorite animals. Those huge round circle ears and tricolored coats. I love you African wild dogs

[bunjywunjy]

HEY. HEY. HOW DID YOU GET OUT??? HEY-

[darkwood-sleddog]

[cerastes]

It’s so immensely cool that dogs have evolved so closely to humans that they can tell smiles are positive, even though smiles often show teeth, which is a big no no for 99.999% of animals. They are less enthusiastic about hugs naturally, because you are restraining their movement (which usually means Death for animals) but they’ll still reluctantly allow it in most cases even if they haven’t particularly acclimated to hugs.

Dogs put up with so many red flags. Out of love.

[securityunit-ese]

For 2024 I would really like to sit down and read more dog books. Delve into people's insights and thoughts at a depth greater than a social media post.

My reading goal list of the year:

Meet Your Dog: The Game-Changing Guide to Understanding Your Dog's Behavior - currently reading

The Secret History of Kindness: Learning from How Dogs Learn

Plenty in Life is Free

Constructing Canine Consent: Conceptualising and adopting a consent-focused relationship with dogs

The Dial Method: The Busy Parent's Shortcut to Raising a Family Dog Right

The Midnight Dog Walkers: Positive Training and Practical Advice for Living with Reactive and Aggressive Dogs

What Dogs Want: An illustrated guide for HAPPY dog care and training

The Stress Factor in Dogs: Unlocking Resiliency and Enhancing Well-Being

Considerations for the City Dog

[abirddogmoment]

she's trying to singlehandedly sell you all on the brittany conspiracy but try to resist

[inkloom]

I started thinking about that one post about how from dogs POV humans are beings that live like 500+ years (because I was petting my dog and I was looking at her like “thirty thousand years of cooperation have led to this. our species have spent 30k years building up to the point where you, child of wolf, descendant of noble hunters and wild things,  would come all the way out of the office and come sit with me in the hopes of letting a souped up monkey rub its paws on you”)

and then I thought about what it must have been like for the first humans to let a fucking wolf, maybe only a few generations from the wild, behold their infant child. Like man can u believe that? Maybe this alliance is only a few years old and sure you’ve seen the wolf’s kids but now you’ve got one of your own. And even though you’ve seen this wolf tear out the throats of creatures that could kill you, this wolf is your family. This wolf is your friend, you love them and they love you and you gotta show ‘em the new kid, look, friend, I had a child. I know you are wild and dangerous, but look at this, my most precious thing, sniff him, give him a lil lick, his children and your children will be bound together for thirty thousand fucking years because I love you

There’s a set of  preserved footprints from 30k years ago that is a young child and a wolf standing side by side can you fucking imagine? Maybe the kid’s mom was like “hey go get some water from the stream, but take the wolf with you. I trust him, he will protect you.”