canisitsnotlupus

[canisitsnotlupus]

Honestly, the reason I very rarely get into actual training discussions is that I very rarely agree with the premise. I don't care to involve myself in how you, a professional or far-above-averagly engaged hobbyist dog trainer, approach your dogs. I may not necessarily agree with it, and it may not be aligned with what I would consider a harmonious household, but it's not actually my business. You can stack your dog with prongs and ecollars from sternum to axis and I'll just trust that your ethical barometer and situational reflexes are well tuned. It's not really an interesting topic for me to discuss.

But the vast vast majority of people who train, handle and own dogs aren't dedicated dog trainers. They're the people in front of and behind you in line at the grocery store. And if we can't agree that 1) a misplaced reward is probably a kinder failure than a misplaced correction and b) we owe it to the animals we brought into our lives for our own enjoyment to at least err on the side of kindness, and so the most generic public-facing baseline form of dog training should at least be reward-based, then I really don't know how to help.

[canisitsnotlupus]

in case anyone hasn’t heard: BarkBox has apparently chosen to cease all advertising for their pride kits, stating that they want to avoid “making a political statement”, and that it would go against “ensuring our marketing remains inclusive and welcoming to everyone in our community”. they also compared it to promoting a MAGA-themed box 😬 so yeah, great time to cancel your BarkBox subscription if you have one

[canisitsnotlupus]

important life update: my dog came out of the woods with half of an artisanal baguette

[canisitsnotlupus]

[canisitsnotlupus]

unleashed is probably tired of me saying it so im saying it here but i am still raging about ruffwear (or nonstopdogwear) not having their gear available in bright, blinding colors i am thankful for *finally* getting hunter's orange for the front range but can we please get brighter teals and bright pink and stuff

[canisitsnotlupus]

spend any amount of time in the comments on the dog side of instagram on a post of a perfectly reasonable (if not really nice!) day routine of an older puppy owned by a working person (multiple walks! training! home for lunch time potty and enrichment toys!) and not only will you will begin to immediately understand why some pet dogs you encounter are overstimulated, neurotic, reactive, separation anxiety riddled POS (babes they are TIRED let them rest), but you will also understand the effect dumbass shelter requirements (home all day? most people do not have that ability...) has had on dog culture as a whole.

like do these people genuinely think working line dogs of any breed do not rest? what do they do with their dogs when they have an injury or illness? old age? i guarantee they have never seen dogs in true WORK (vs sport) where there is often a lot of necessary downtime the dog must be capable of navigating.

[canisitsnotlupus]

just saw someone claiming that chihuahuas aren’t beginner level dogs. we’ve done it, we’ve finally ruled out every dog. you can no longer have a dog unless you’ve had a dog before. but you can’t have. seeing as none of them are for beginners

[canisitsnotlupus]

Dog Forum Simulator

- Will Purina kill my dog? I’ve been feeding him pure salmonella but it’s getting expensive. I heard Purina makes dogs explode???

- My dog is wanted for murder in 6 states. Should I rehome him to my frail grandmother?

- match me a breed for service work! It needs to be handler focused, neutral in public, love learning, medium sized and brown but NOT A LAB I HATE LABS!!!! also it needs to be good with other dogs and kids should I get a wolf dog?

- my husband has killed five of my dogs. How do I train my dogs not to be killed by my husband?

- I love my doodle he is the perfect match for me! Isn’t he cute? [400 comments] [600 angry reacts] [300 laugh reacts] [OP’s house has been set on fire]

[canisitsnotlupus]

my theory is that they are evolving from large herbivores to small carnivores . thoughts?

[canisitsnotlupus]

forget herding, hunting, retrieving, guarding, companionship. the REAL most valuable work a dog can do is when you accidentally spill food on the floor and you can just point at it and go "hey eat this."

[canisitsnotlupus]

Romulus and Remus are doing what puppies do: chasing, tussling, nipping, nuzzling. But there’s something very un-puppylike about the snowy white 6-month olds—their size, for starters. At their young age they already measure nearly 4 ft. long, tip the scales at 80 lb., and could grow to 6 ft. and 150 lb. Then there’s their behavior: the angelic exuberance puppies exhibit in the presence of humans—trotting up for hugs, belly rubs, kisses—is completely absent. They keep their distance, retreating if a person approaches. Even one of the handlers who raised them from birth can get only so close before Romulus and Remus flinch and retreat. This isn’t domestic canine behavior, this is wild lupine behavior: the pups are wolves. Not only that, they’re dire wolves—which means they have cause to be lonely.

The dire wolf once roamed an American range that extended as far south as Venezuela and as far north as Canada, but not a single one has been seen in over 10,000 years, when the species went extinct. Plenty of dire wolf remains have been discovered across the Americas, however, and that presented an opportunity for a company named Colossal Biosciences. 

[canisitsnotlupus]

We love dogs and the dog fancy, despite our many criticisms.

While we do believe the fancy should be striving to improve the lives and welfare of the dogs in our care, and that one byproduct of the racism, ableism, misogyny, etc. enacted against human dog owners is that dogs also suffer, this conversation is not actually about dogs. It’s about human values.

Eugenics is the set of beliefs and practices that aim to “improve” the genetic quality of a human population, often applied through violent means under the guise of concern for health and welfare.

[canisitsnotlupus]

[canisitsnotlupus]

the taigan sighthound

this breed comes by way of kazakhstan, and i couldn’t help but be floored when i came across some of its lines. visually, this sighthound strikes me as quite unique especially due to the downward turned ears, but the curled tail ends are also equally appreciated.

[canisitsnotlupus]

'do you think dogs understand' this, 'do dogs understand' that, our relationship with canines predate everything we now call civilization.

[canisitsnotlupus]

A little live illustration practice to a recent Cog Dog Radio episode (as a guardian to two differently nervous dogs I’m always always intereated in these things)

[canisitsnotlupus]

i like that she doesn't look like she has a mouth