Big Greedy Nose

29 nb she/her, and the dog

[ooppo]

Trump is dead this and Trump is dead that. The obvious answer for Trump's sudden disappearance is that Trump has gone into his very first heat and the Whitehouse is trying to cover up that he's an Omega

[ooppo]

[roomba-with-knives-taped-to-it]

For some reason the versions of this where he gives two salutes is being deleted and replaced with a version with a quick cut to a cheering crowd so I’ll just share it here 🙃

[memewhore]

[2urban2fantasy-deactivated20241]

Woman murders man in broad daylight

[theknightinslippers]

[halorvic]

[ringchollyandfriends]

I've thought about writing this post for a long time and hesitated each time because I worry about the reaction. But here goes.

Something I've noticed a lot that isn't talked about is that a common issue in training or coexisting with dogs I've witnessed seems to be how to deal with frustration.

I work at a dog daycare and almost every time I see someone struggles with their dog, pulling, barking, jumping, etc. there's frustration that, at times, turns into the use of adversive methods. You're frustrated, you don't have a solution, your dog isn't collaborating (for their own valid reasons), it's overwhelming.

I'm not here to cause a debate or to argue. I'm here to for tips, tricks or advice for people struggling to regulate their frustration. I think regulation is useful in many aspects of people's lives, so why not.

❤ How do you deal with frustration or how do you suggest someone could?

[release-the-hound]

I often use the DBT skill opposite action. Basically, I identify what the frustration is motivating me to do, and I intentionally choose to do the opposite of that.

When frustrated am I tempted to pop a collar or yank on a leash? Then I force myself to give a dog more slack or move in the direction they want to go (assuming you're not hauling them away from a dog fight).

Do I want to withold rewards? I'll intentionally look for opportunities to give treats for minor/easy behavior that I like.

If I want to end a walk early, I'll add another block to our route.

Also, at least for me, my frustration is often triggered by feeling embarassed or flustered in public. Therefore I take steps like wearing headphones and intentionally only looking at my dogs instead of other people to avoid that trigger. Or I'll choose to schedule more difficult training sessions that might lead to embarassment (such as training Biscuit's recall early on) at times or locations where there aren't many people around.

My other trigger for frustration is feeling like I am failing to train my dogs. This happens if your criteria for a behavior is too high. I may eventually choose to switch to the errorless learning method for this reason.

[blueboyluca]

I like to talk out loud to my dog about what is actually going on to defuse how I feel. So if Topaz is screaming about something I might start to get annoyed but then I say out loud, “I know it’s so hard for you when it’s bedtime!” Or if Marceline is barking at the neighbours I say out loud, “You hate it when the neighbours are out there!” Or if Luca is pulling really hard on the leash I say out loud, “I get it, you just really need to sniff that one spot!” It helps me to remember what’s causing them to behave in the ways that are irritating and ground it back in normal dog behaviour and therefore it reminds me to let my dogs be dogs.

[despazito]

Patterdales really feel like the transition fossil between the pitbulls and the terriers

[nymla]

Just two pumpkins, having a good time 🎃🎃 Stoneware ceramics. [Sold] If you want to be notified of my shop updates you can sign up to my email list here.

[mistahgrundy]

[bearie]

"i'm just a girl" okay? you should be a death knight instead

[vitaminkenjoyer]

jaime's descriptions of brienne throughout asos

[postdespair]

the children yearn for tumblr

[shamebats]

[guerrillatech]

[inkmo]

Just gonna add a couple of resources I've found bc encyclopedia metallum is often a bit vague

Black metal band list

Is X sketch? On Reddit

Against the vile grain on rate your music (noise and power electronics)

[inkmo]

One more... Anti fascist neo folk on Reddit

[gebo4482]

YUDHO

[parkchanwoohoo]

Public speaking is actually really easy if you don't respect a single soul in that room. I've had an incredibly easy time delivering speeches when I hated everybody I saw and they all thought I did amazing because my disdain was read as confidence. I don't have any tips for you I'm just telling you a fact

[herdingdognerd]

Everyone thinks their breed is the most special and every person is so right

[b-liba]

[doberbutts]

do you have a recommendation for a good “beginner” dog breed? both my gf and i have had dogs before but neither of us knew that we had to train/exercise dogs (we were children), we plan to properly train any future dogs we get

I don't really think that exists.

I think that pretty much any breed could be a beginner breed with the right amount of research and dedication to ensuring your pet gets what it needs. But I also think that requires you to be honest with yourself on what you can provide vs what you think you can provide.

Companion breeds are frequently easier because they don't need as much as working breeds in order to be mentally and physically fulfilled. That being said, the sheer amount of shithead companion breed dogs with zero training being dumped at shelters across the US speaks to people's inability to recognize that no matter what the breed, all dogs require effort to keep happy and healthy.

I have a working breed dog in my house right now that has been through at least 4 homes in under a year because the people who got her did not understand this. While she is a mixture of working breeds, she also is really nothing compared to my purebred working breed, working line (half), actively worked dog of similar age. Fenris is fairly intense and would not be a good fit in a lot of homes because of how high his needs are. My visitor on the other hand just needed to be taught some manners and rules and is otherwise a perfectly livable pet dog for someone who is willing to invest the exercise effort needed to keep her so.

So, I can't really tell you what a good "beginner dog" would be, because the answer is honestly that without knowing anything about how much effort you're willing to put into your dog, there's no way for me to know if even the easiest breeds to own would be too much for you.

[grison-in-space]

There's also the bit where different people experience the challenges posed by different dogs... differently. For example, a retriever or pit who isn't very sensitive to physical pressure might be a bad match for a delicate older person.

Some people fall to anxious pieces if a dog starts making a loud, barky scene in public; other people care less. Some people can't cope with housetraining problems or messiness. Some people don't like being patient with a shy or introverted dog, or having to be careful about how calm they present around an excitable one. Some people find providing physical exercise difficult, and other people feel that exercising with the dog is a huge part of the point of having one. People are different!

The trick about a good "beginner dog" is to think deeply about why you want a dog, what you want to do with that dog, and what kind of things you really don't want to deal with. Is high pitched, very loud barking not something you can either cope with or work through? Maybe a cattle dog isn't your cup of tea. Do you have limited time to physically exercise a dog? Maybe steer clear from some of the pointers. Would you rather handle a shy dog that needs support or a bossy dog that needs boundaries? How much loose hair and attention to grooming do you have patience for? What "hard parts" of dog ownership sound awful, and which ones sound kind of fun?

Every dog has "hard parts". The trick is to look for dogs with "hard parts" that aren't hard for you.

[doberbutts]

As always with the good food.

For me, my "beginner dog" aka the first dog I had as an actual adult, was Skoll. An unadoptable, known biter, fear aggressive doberman who had bounced through several homes in his short life because he kept biting the fuck out of people.

Why was *that* my first dog? Because I'd had Shepherds and chows and pit bulls growing up and had been personally involved with rehabbing other known biting fear aggressive dogs on their last shot before being euthanized, including a very long apprenticeship at a Shar pei rescue learning to sort the "needs help" dogs from the "lost cause" dogs.

I did end up euthanizing Skoll. After the state had me in a legal chokehold and there was no other option. My next dog after him was Creed, another doberman, and I immediately signed him up for a sport in which he learned that biting people is okay sometimes and also trained him as my service dog for my disability.

I have walked the unconventional path, which is why I say that I don't think there is any such thing as a "beginner dog". Would I have been happier with, say, Tater as my first dog instead of Skoll? She wouldn't have attempted to maul me in the middle of the night, sure, but I honestly think I would have been bored. She's fine as a housepet, but she's got the personality of a stuffed animal and the mental capacity to match. She's basically a barely sentient beanie baby that sasses me when it's close to meal time. I love her, but I would not have been satisfied with her knowing what I like in dogs.

Even Sushi is a little boring for me- she's a great dog, easy to train, overall very friendly, likes to be included, and super affectionate. But a lot of that... makes her boring. I like dogs with more gusto and spirit. I've said a couple times that all of Sushi's traits that make her a good service dog are great, but the things I get frustrated with her about are 100% her lack of doberman traits. She's a mountain dog. She'll never be a doberman. I can't put blame on her for me being dissatisfied with her at times because she's not my high-octane high drive high energy sport dog that bullies me into being a better handler and trainer. That just never would be her regardless. She's just not that type of dog. It makes her a great service dog! And also a very bad doberman!

A friend of a friend has similar experience to me, mostly having had shelter dogs and rescue rejects and taking the time to mould them into something more- service dogs, good pets, search and rescue dogs, things of that nature. Well, he got one of Fenris' brothers and now he's basically sold on the breed for life. He constantly comments about how he never knew dogs could be like *this*. And that was my experience even owning Skoll- something was deeply wrong with him, but he was such a fantastic dog for me regardless of whatever was going on with his brain. He sold me on the breed- I knew immediately I'd always have one until I'm too old to handle such a big dog. Skoll was everything I wanted in a dog besides his seizure-like fits of aggression. I never knew dogs could be that perfect of a fit until I had him.

So while I think there is truth in discussing how certain breeds tend to be easier for beginners, the truth is that dogs are dogs, and if you are honest with yourself about what you can handle, then you shouldn't feel like you HAVE to restrict yourself if that's not where your heart lies.