#acds

[forgetfularo]

Totally normal deltarune fanart ❤️ 👍

[pixelarabcom]

المغرب يحظى برئاسة الكونفدرالية الأفريقية للرياضات الإلكترونية في شخص السيد هشام لخليفي | المغرب | pixelarab | بيكسل عرب

[grison-in-space]

Genuine curiosity: why would you expect to see Trump et al names with ACD's?

Oh, just thinking in terms of what kinds of shitty people wind up in which breed communities? Cattle dogs have a big old "rural, blue-collar, masculine, Western" association in the US, and one that tends to skew white at that: in some ways, they otherwise occupy a similar niche to pit bulls, but one that is pretty white-coded. This is a comforting kind of image for shitty right-wing people to pick up, especially if they want to be perceived as super masculine. Right-wingers often adopt the mythos of working-class rural people even if they're actually much more urban and affluent than that, partly to cloak how much they suck billionaire dick. They're the kind of dog I could see a Texas GOP politician on a campaign trail picking up if he wanted to engage in a particularly cynical kind of ploy.

It's not that this kind of stuff is everywhere in ACDs, but it's always worth keeping in mind what kinds of people are drawn to the "image" any given breed puts out, including the shittier kinds. (Honestly, implicit in that comment's context, talking to @doberbutts who has frequently discussed the tendency for Nazis to be drawn to Dobes, was the comparison to his breed communities' own brand of shitty people.)

[the-nerd-beast]

I've been hearing a lot about Bluey and it looks like a wholesome show and I am glad but there is one thing that makes me worry a little: that it will encourage people to adopt Australian Cattle Dogs without considering that the breed may not be suitable to their family life.

Now don't get me wrong all breeds are good dogs and any dog is trainable, but let's just say ACDs are not the best suited for a typical family dog role especially with very young children. They are cattle herding dogs and without enough stimulation will nip and attempt to herd children according to their instincts. They aren't dangerous by any means but there can be some friction and a few boo boos if the family doesn't take the dog's needs into account.

When 101 Dalmatians came out there was a surge in Dalmatian adoptions in families with children despite the fact that Dalmatians are NOT child-friendly dogs, not being patient with young children and very high energy as they were originally bred to run alongside horses and carriages. Dalmatians are best suited for young childless couples, such as the human owners in the movie. This led to more than a few Dalmatians needing to be re-homed because they were unsuitable for the living situation of those that adopted them.

tl;dr don't just adopt a dog because it is trendy, make sure it is suited for your living situation and be ready to meet that dog's needs.

[grison-in-space]

Potty training is continuing apace. Here's the view every time I step outside:

(Matilda is VERY earnest about working for cookies and sitting and making eye contact is her default offering. It's very cold outside, so @kawuli went out and spread some straw this afternoon in the hopes that she might find that a congenial place to pee. So far, she seems to think the straw is good for chewing on but the snow is required for peeing...)

[grison-in-space]

went to go check idly on the early history of ACDs because CM asked me what else was known to be in there beyond the dingo thing, perused a few sites with varying degrees of skepticism, and then

to my great joy

found a page that includes phrases like "His assumptions were misguided. Kaleski’s understanding of “dog breeds”, c.1900 was quite different from dog breeds of c.1800. “Breeds”, as we understand them, didn’t really exist until well after the 1850s, when dog shows became part of the dog world, but “breed types” were common, and they did not always breed true to type."

and the author has a recent book out, which I have bought, detailing her digging into pre-1857 cattle dog history including considerable delving into primary sources and also (bless her heart) an honest dose of skepticism and willingness to evaluate primary sources alongside their biases. BE STILL MY BEATING HEART

unsurprisingly she is deeply unimpressed by the whole dingo thing. I was hoping someone might have tested ACDs when they looked at dingo relatedness through Kelpies but no good in the literature, but this is nice to see too.