Snowy's Guide to Animal Minds

Behavior education from the animals' perspective. Visit us on Facebook @snowysguide!

[migrainepup]

Positive interruptors are the best. If you’re doing clicker trainer or force free training, it’s an essential tool for behavior management. Here’s how it goes: You say your word (something snappy, not their name), they stop whatever they’re doing to stare at you and run towards you and get a treat. It’s a good treat. Better than whatever they were doing. You start by just saying your made up word in a low distraction environment while the dog knows you have treats and if the dog looks at you, great, click and treat, if not, make some interesting noises with your mouth as a lure. He doesn’t even have to make eye contact, just look slightly towards you. Soon he’ll get to eye lock. Practice like that for a while until you get consistent eye contact, then you can build up distractions. A person looking away, a person looking at her, a person calling to her, a person making kissy noises and squatting, a person offering a treat, a treat sitting unattended on the ground, first far away, then closer, a toy sitting a cross the room, a moving toy, barking on a tv turned way down, then louder, then real barking Your dog can be distracted from all of these and more with one word that promises a treat. Use it instead of no, and reward your dog for stopping the bad behavior instead of just yelling. Use it to distract a panicked, barking dog. It’s my favorite thing I’ve ever taught a dog, and its essential for both my service dog in training and my reactive dog.

[trainmeproperly]

nice post   

[pet-lovers-club]

This is so adorable

[waterman12053]

[siriuswolfdogs]

*reach into pocket*

*pull out an unused poop bag and a dog treat*

[wilderun]

oh god this is my life

[allbarksomebite]

This website has no idea what Bolt is, but I might be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel!

[jointhevortex]

Person: he is NOT stressed. He is just being difficult

Me:

[drferox]

Restraining the dog in the car

@professor-hedgehog said to @ask-drferox: I’ve been curious about something for a while. Australia has a few good laws about restraining your dog in the car, while the US is still as backwards as ever. What’s the safest way to ‘seatbelt’ your dog? Is the backseat the only place you should put your dog? Being so lax about driving with a dog scares me, especially if there’s an accident (it happened to my teachers mom, dog got crushed by the airbag while sitting on her lap, hence my anxiety about it) Thanks for being awesome~

So there’s a few options for restraining a dog in the car, depending on the age and size of the dog.

You obviously don’t want the dog just loose in the vehicle! That’s an awful idea! As you know, what would happen if a small dog got under your feet while driving, or if the car stopped suddenly and the animal was flung through the window? It is dangerous to be unrestrained in a moving vehicle. The body of the animal can also become a dangerous projectile for other, human passengers.

If you are traveling with the dog inside the cabin of the car, you could pick from either:

Restrained in a cage or crate which is secured by a seatbelt, usually on the back seat

On the floor behind the cargo barrier in a wagon-type vehicle

Restrained by a suitable car harness on the back seat, attached to the seatbelt.

Curled up in the passenger seat footwell, as many guide dogs are trained to do. They must not get onto the seat.

A dog should never be put into the boot of the car, and shouldn’t be sitting on anybody’s lap.

You wouldn’t ride in the car without a seatbelt (or equivalent means of being secured), and neither should your dog (or cat, or other animal passengers)

For dogs traveling on the back of a truck that are not actively working livestock, they can also be restrained in an appropriate sized and secured cage, or they may be tethered. Those tethers have to be long enough to allow the dog to lie down, but not long enough that it can reach the edge of the vehicle. Some people use two tethers for this purpose, tethering the dog to both front corners of the tray of the ute (cars with an open cargo area at the back, you Americans) so that the dog has to stay roughly in the middle.

These tethers should have a swivel attached to the collar and the vehicle, so they can’t tangle.

Falling from the back of trucks causes serious injuries when the dogs are dragged, so it’s really important to secure them well.

[groenendaze]

smell

[parttimesarah]

I’m loving these protest pups!

[omghotmemes]

Show some respect, people.

[your-naked-magic-oh-dear-lord]

THANK YOU

[grandpanerd-world-deactivated20]

The story of Balto is interesting. He led a team of sled dogs across the Alaskan wilderness in the dead of winter with diphtheria antitoxins to stop an outbreak in Nenana Alaska. Diphtheria is a deadly infectious disease that could wipe out a third of a town’s population. It is mostly unknown to the public today because of vaccines. Balto’s body is preserved in the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

[your-naked-magic-oh-dear-lord]

He’s a big hero of mine!

[pugcrumbs]

Let’s not forget Togo! Who, at 12 years old during the serum run, lead his team 200 miles through much more dangerous conditions during the first leg of the journey before Balto ran the last 55-mile stretch.

[bulldogges]

more pictures of this very Good Boy

and here’s a quote from Togo’s owner:

[kudamon-deactivated20201231]

problematic horde of sassy spitzes

[itsabirbthing]

So messy…

[megpricephotography]

“Baby” Barney!

I can hardly believe that, as of last week, I’ve had my handsome boy for 11yrs… but apparently it’s true :) Not shared these on tumblr before - Barney during his first year with me, back in 2008. 

[kuttithevangu]

The Arctic Fox Research Center in Iceland put cameras in some bird colonies to see if foxes were stealing eggs/chicks

and turns out the foxes were UNJUSTLY ACCUSED

the culprits were horses

[pipistrellus]

HEY THIS IS BAD

[glumshoe]

My grandfather grew up on a farm in Kansas during the Dust Bowl. He and his brother shared a horse named Patches, which they rode to school each day. Despite being poor as shit and not having quite enough to feed their animals, his family noticed that this horse looked great. His coat was unusually glossy and beautiful all of a sudden - he looked healthier than they did. 

The mystery was solved when my grandfather went into the chicken coop to collect eggs, and saw Patches lifting the window cover, pushing his muzzle underneath the hens, and eating the eggs right out of their nests. 

[user274628-deactivated20210126]

Horses have been known to also eat meat.

http://thehorseaholic.com/the-forgotten-story-of-meat-eating-horses/

1) The BBC filmed horses eating fish on a beach of an English Island.

2) In Iceland pastured horses are provided, salted fish as a protein and mineral/salt supplement.

3) Horses have been known to consume raw meat and blood willingly in Arabia, New Zealand, and United States.

4) Lord Chamberlain of Bhutan confirmed that the 40 kings horses routinely received a special meal of Tiger fat and still feed their horses beef, and yak meat.

5) There was an American gelding in 1958 that routinely hunted and killed and even consumed small birds. He also repeatedly attacked humans. He was known as “Freight Train”.

6) Lisette a French mare, killed and consumed a Russian Officer during the Napoleonic Campaign.

[bring-us-back-light]

Horses are now literally the most terrifying shit what the f u c k

[mori-esque]

I love how that list goes “fish, fish, opportunistic and pre-prepared meat, small birds, A WHOLE RUSSIAN OFFICER”

[handsomejackass]

horse people are weird

[railroadsoftware]

what does this mean

[evnw-deactivated20230112]

horses can see demons

[danubedogs]

Dogblr Map

An idea that tanpoint​ came up with to unite dogblr a little more!

HERE’S the map.

How it works:  With this map it’ll be easier to meet new friends nearby and schedule meetups, doggy playdates, and go to shows!  You can edit the map to add your approximate location. For privacy reasons, this is limited to city. Example: San Diego, Phoenix, etc.  

1) Click on the “add marker” icon below the search bar.

2) Click on your city/town. In the title, write your username, and in the comment box write your city, state. Example:

3) That’s it!

[danubedogs]

There’s been a lot of positive reception over the DOGBLR MAP, so I think it’s time to take it to the next step! You can see who lives near you and schedule puppy play dates, or even make new human friends that you can hang out with! Maybe we can even do a world-wide dogblr day where we try to hang out with as many people as possible! (this might be tough, but it’s just an idea)

And btw, if you had added your url before, make sure to update it, since friends might want to contact you through the old url.

[securityunit-ese]

@you-will-never-be-fucking-lonely

This is a map to help coordinate finding other dogblrs for dog shenanigans!

Anyone is allowed to add themselves

Also if you’re on instagram, I have found that a GREAT way to find new doggy walking partners.

and when you start attending dog school, another great way to connect with people (especially if your school has a facebook social group or instagram tag.)

[dakotathegermanshepherd]

This is so good!!!!!!

[nefja]

Let’s bring this back for anyone who wasn’t there the first time.

[small-sesame-seed]

This is cool!

[husband]