#4 yEARs

[intriga-hounds]

bazzy my beloved

[pippindot]

BAT MODE: ACTIVATE

[grison-in-space]

well, it's happened. at the ripe old age of four, Benton discovered he had a prey drive. he now believes that he is a mighty hunter and, faced with the loss of his quarry (another... possum? rabbit?) he has gone to stare out the missing plank in the back gate and shriek. prior to that he was circling the perimeter of the fence with glassy-eyed hope.

this is a new and horrible development, but at least pacing alarmedly around the perimeter prevents him from playing his other obsessive compulsive games like "Rattle A Pebble Against Your Teeth While Drooling Heavily" and "Dig Straight Down Into a Frisbee On The Ground" and his old great love, "Object Permanence: The Game." you know what, I'll take it. the newly awakened prey drive has also apparently overwritten Benton's terror of going outside on a summer's night (thanks, fireworks neighbors) so that he's actively resisting coming inside because he wants to hunt rabbits through the fence.

the one thing I also have to stress to you all is that Benton's actual hunting ability is very, very bad. All this got started when he identified that an adolescent opossum had moved in under our deck stairs, fixating on it for days, and eventually dug into its hidehole and evicted it. He had his teeth on that possum multiple times including an attempt at a death shake and as far as we can tell it played dead and we got him inside before it could wake up. He is awful at identifying mice and he gets so wound up that he starts traveling exclusively at a fast collected trot, like a dressage horse in heel. When he gets frustrated he screams like a toddler that fell down while trying to steal an entire pie. It is hilarious.

It's not that I intend to let him practice on the local wildlife, but I confess that his vigilance is not exactly keeping me up at night with concern over the possibility that he might succeed.

[poodletime]

thanks topes!

[isthatapuppydog]

Just another play fetch for 5 minutes and bring the boys back in from the heat kinda day.

[mandana-the-service-pup]

I wasn’t expecting her to use it to request grooming but here we are 😂

[girlyteeth]

I can't lie, I'm starting to get really desperate for girly brands to make clothes in a shade of pink that isn't borderline brown/grey or isn't super desaturated. I crave colour 🥹

[gayofthefae]

It's a good year for men I called were bisexual in 2020

A very happy Pride Month to all.

[dollybites]

will men ever stop treating me like garbage? when will this end, i have so much love to give and i would treat them so so well and they don’t see anything past my tits

[carldoonan]

The Midnight Gospel somehow premiered 4 whole years ago today!

Our endearing little anomaly of a show will always hold a special place in my heart. It feels like a small miracle that it even managed to get made, and another that I got to have it as my first animation job. ☕🧙‍♂️🎤

[intriga-hounds]

biteyface time

[pippindot]

Stole a seashell from my seashell bag and chombled it into shards and then stood like this when I took it away

[fidgetspringer]

Doing a big thing for Røst's 4th birthday <3

[poodletime]

babies

[pernillecfcw]

She isn’t finished yet🤩

[mandana-the-service-pup]

How we take medicine multiple times a day (with a picky eater / suspicious of food dog)

⚠️ Disclaimer // I’m not a dog trainer 🙃

Teach them to open their mouth on command.

Teach them to accept treats (that you know they enjoy and are easy to swallow) when placed in their mouth after “open”

Teach them what “now” and “later” means in everyday conversations with them

Teach them how to choose “now” or “later” and practice giving them this choice whenever possible (you can ask this for things like potty, play, nap, kibble, etc)

Once you have all the pieces you can put it together. Start with a medicine that’s easy to swallow and least aversive smell/taste. Ask them to “open” and WAIT until they actually open their mouth. If they don’t open then end the exercise and try again later. If they open and then change their mind LET THEM. This is about empowering them with choice.

When they are ready, put the pill in the back of their mouth past their molars if possible. I support her chin to encourage her to swallow or else she might gag it up. I DON’T HOLD HER MOUTH SHUT. If she spits the pills up I LET HER and offer to try again. If she’s not feeling it then we end the session and try later.

There are a lot of contributing factors that can make this easier or harder. I’ve tried various methods and even tried teaching her to take the pills herself like a treat but this is the least aversive method we’ve found for her in particular. She doesn’t mind it and will “ask” for medicine regularly without being prompted when she needs help with various things. We use words like “belly medicine” for stomach ache. “itchy medicine” for allergies. Besides pills we also have “eye medicine” for allergy drops and “ear medicine” for cleaning out her ears when they bother her.

Another great thing about this method is that I’m not trying to sneak pills past her so it makes introducing new medications super easy. I’ll often let her sniff the pills between each round so she knows exactly what she’s getting and because I’m putting it at the back of her mouth all she has to do is swallow so the taste, texture and size doesn’t make that much of a difference. Just be sure to ask your vet if a pill is supposed to be chewed VS swallowed. In that case I’ll grind the medicine in a pill grinder and mix it in with peanut butter or cream cheese and feed it to her on a spoon (teaching your dog to swallow liquids from a spoon like a person is also a useful trick!)