Dogs Are Life

[doomspaniels]

Cocker spaniels think they have hands.

[lifeandtimesofdog]

I thought that was a standard dog feature. Until I watched my current dog use three feet while chewing a bone.

[millenniallust4death]

I’m paying to force seven thousand strangers to see a photo of my late husband having fun with his dog. Tumblr Blaze is totally worth it. XD

[millenniallust4death]

Thank-you to all of my new Internet stranger friends for being so gracious about having my post shoved onto your dashboards. I loved reading all of your kind tags and comments! Both Martin and Bosco have been gone for several years now but for 24 hours, they felt very present in my life. I greatly appreciate this gift. ❤️

[psycorax]

Reblog to have your dashboard be visited by the spirit of joy that death can end but not erase.

[leavescrown]

Love that this is well beyond 7000 people now and still going

[millenniallust4death]

@leavescrown Exactly! It’s a beautiful gift. Martin and Bosco out there travelling around the Tumblr community, continually making new friends.

[millenniallust4death]

@sseanettles

#hello again martin and bosco!! sending you boys round for another go :)

Reading your tag made me laugh out loud. It’s like two old friends unexpectedly stopped by your porch for a quick visit. XD

[wtf-kryll]

Me: I haven’t been on social media much in the last three years. Since about the time my last two pets dies.

Nibling: (sympathetically) Since all the kids died.

Me: (thousand yard stare) Yeah. Since all the kids died.

[sidetongue]

rip moby 

[herdingdognerd]

Dog training with consent is just so cool. Like dogs that are drivey and want to train are fun in their own right, but it’s so exciting when a dog that previously didn’t have that drive starts offering to train with you. You’ve made training so fun they’ve reevaluated their stance and decided training is worth it! It’s a good time! And I feel like once that switch flips, the sky’s the limit moving forward

[herdingdognerd]

Never mind I created a monster

[kangals]

your post about animals screaming reminded me of i client i had who’s dog we took back to start a heartworm test… this dog is literally an angel and i bring her back to the owner and she’s got this horrible look on her face and she says “was all that screaming her?” no, ma’am, that’s a very very sick cat………. your dog is fine……..

cannot tell you the amount of times i have to walk through my work's lobby and you can hear some animal screaming as loud as possible, with the clients in the lobby all looking around with very concerned/fearful faces. and then i go into the back and it's just a fucking beagle who wants to be let out of it's kennel or smth

[lifeandtimesofdog]

….people can’t tell the difference??…huh…

[lifeandtimesofdog]

This dog was born to run wild

[wtf-kryll]

I hate that my mother will essentially put me on hold to google some internet nonsense I’ve just explained, like rule 34, and then I have to listen to her read aloud whatever god forsaken she’s found.

[lifeandtimesofdog]

Or like, I say there’s zero good reason for a senior dog to develop seizures. All reasons are bad. Look it up. And she fucking god damn starts reading articles to me about seizures in dogs. 1. I specified senior. 2. Read on your own damn time ffs. And stop trying to convince me that there’s a god damn benign reason when I just told you thrice that there isn’t one.

[lifeandtimesofdog]

TRAINING TIP OF THE DAY

In most cases, protecting your dog’s confidence should be the most important factor in your training.

[thedogfamily]

I haven't gone a day yet without crying. I miss him

[lifeandtimesofdog]

First agility trial. Maddie had a blast.

[doomspaniels]

For Your Immediate Attention:

Guinevere has a new triceratops toy. Please review the following material to submerge your brain directly in an infinite source of dopamine.

Thank you for your attention. You may resume your day.

[abirddogmoment]

I love my dog, I love my friends who give me access to agility, and I love my boyfriend who takes dramatic action shots of my dog.

[beansnpeets]

Hi dogblr pls give all your best llw tips.

I'm growing very frustrated with Sprocket. I know she's a baby. The frustrating part is that she can learn a new trick in 2 minutes, but llw is not happening most of the time. Why does it take dogs so long to catch onto this??? I totally gave up on it with Oscar since absolutely nothing seems to make any difference to him, but Sprocket is going to be much bigger than he is and I cannot afford to have her dragging me around when she is.

[boofblr]

Do you mind sharing more about how the 10ft lead made a difference in his reactivity? I’ve never tried a longer lead with my dog and am curious!

so, because i try very hard to not anthropomorphize my dog, and therefore not make assumptions about his mental or physical state at any time, it's a little difficult for me to talk about how exactly the longer leash has reduced his reactivity. he has clearly become more confident and secure since we started using a 10ft/3m leash, which i know because:

his body is either less tense than before or entirely relaxed whenever we encounter one of his triggers now

he is able to turn away from a trigger and come to me for his reward on his own accord (meaning he initiates this behavior chain, before i can talk or move to get his attention)

even when he is trigger stacked, he remains in an operant state of mind

and the most obvious piece of evidence, he RARELY barks or lunges when we encounter a trigger

there can be a lot of explanations behind these changes in his behavior. my first thought was that the increased length of the leash gave him more freedom, of movement and of choice, which he found reassuring. but it could also be that he associates the gear we’re using with hiking, since that is previously the only situation when he would be attached to a 10ft leash. hiking is also a safe and highly enjoyable activity where we rarely come across triggers. it could also be that with a longer leash, he doesn’t have to be as mindful of a loose lead and can gallop between sniff spots (his favorite thing) fairly easily. without being able to magically read his mind and translate his thoughts into human concepts, it’s impossible to know what the true reason is. ultimately though, it doesn’t really matter why! what matters is his improved mental and emotional health, and that he now has access to another fun activity.

if you decide that you want to try using a longer leash with your own dog, i encourage you to do so! but make sure you take precautionary, safety measures — most sidewalks in the U.S. are only a few feet from the road, so make sure that you have planned out how you will quickly, safely, and effectively get control of your dog when they get into the street. this reply is already super long so i won’t get into the various redirection commands (not just recall! because that one takes forever to develop ime) that i have taught kima, but if you’re interested in those specifically you can either message me privately or send an ask! :) good luck with your pup, anon! i’m sure you’re already doing a great job with them.

[dndeactivated]

i am doing some remedial reading while i choose things to focus on before next weekend’s trial and i’ve started with dissecting our stopped contacts since, although he has never yet—knock on wood—actually blown a contact, dune often blows my criteria at trial.

i like to think i have done a good job of teaching our stopped contact behaviour; in practice, at least, it is consistent. there is exactly one (1) area where this behaviour breaks down for us and it is BULLET POINT TWO, CONTROL at trial.

i feel like a moron for not considering it earlier but i think i will simply reward in position (mid-course) leading up to trial and see how that serves us. if it is the solution i will lie on the floor for a number of hours.

[twobigears]

I cackled at your last sentence but also let me reassure you that while it may help a little, it is unlikely to be a long-term solution by itself.

Back when I actually cared about teaching agility, stopped contacts were my pet love and IME, stopped contact failures in trials can largely be boiled down to three things:

Handler is inconsistent about maintaining criteria, i.e. making sure the dog is actually in the 2on2off when they release. Not 4on, 3on1off, 4off, already moving, lifting paws, etc. Only a stationary 2on2off gets the release cue!

Handler is inconsistent at separating the verbal release cue from physical release cues. i.e. handler says “okay” (or whatever their release cue is) and moves forward, flourishes their hand, etc at the same time. Dogs learn very quickly that physical movement is part of the release cue, therefore any physical movement on the handler’s part easily becomes interpreted as a release cue.

Dog gets high rate of reinforcement in position during training. Oh no, that’s the opposite of the instructions! What are we to do??? I’ve had far more success with stopped contacts translating to trials by teaching the dog to stop in position and be released forward to reinforcement, rather than reinforcing in position. Yes I do use reinforcement in position but it is faded out as quickly as possible and they learn “stop to be released forward to treat/toy” very very early in the process. Ultimately this is much more successful because it mimics the trial picture of being released forward to the next obstacle, rather than stopping for treats/toys which do not exist in trials.

Anyway sorry for butting in unsolicited but I’m a TOTAL NERD about stopped contacts, startlines, tables, etc!!!!

[dndeactivated]

THIS WAS EXTREMELY SOLICITED.

i actually remembered a post (here or on your training blog? is that a fever dream i made up?) of yours about releasing to rewards and that has been our approach 100% of the time for the last couple years!

truly for us it is probably mostly an arousal issue in the trial environment—if he is reminded forcefully (my “you hit that bottom, you bugger” earned us a chuckle at the last trial) he will nail it just like it’s practice regardless of where i am or how i’m moving or anything else under the sun; if i expect him to restrain himself and hit the implied contact, 50% of the time he will blow beyond without even considering that he should stop. and this is pretty much par for every part of every course for us right now. 🥲

[ejacutastic]

anyways, if anyone ever is in need of help with a euthanasia decision, lap of love, a group of home hospice and euthanasia focused veterinarians, has some great resources with quality of life scoring tools and even support groups and other resources.

if you're debating euthanasia in an animal due to aggression, I encourage you to look at the Facebook group "Losing Lulu," not for direct help deciding but to hear the points of view from people who've gone through it and for support if you do decide to go forward with it. (more details on the Losing Lulu group here if you want to learn more or don't understand the realities behind behavioral euthanasias.)

euthanasia is an incredibly difficult decision and I understand the impulse to avoid it/not want to face it/etc. I've been involved in many euthanasias in my life, some my own pets, and I firmly believe that it's one of the greatest gifts I have been able to offer an animal and one of the most valuable parts of my job.