lupin5th

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pinkmanthedog:

You all know me here for my love of dogs and dog training, but I am a certified  all-around animal nut. I did my degree in fisheries and wildlife, focusing on reptiles and amphibians (specifically North American herpetofauna) but also had the opportunity to work with owls, eagles, hawks, vultures, wolves, possums, and a host of other non-domesticated species. My passion for animals and animal behavior and training really started, though, with my love of horses. 

I have been riding and working with horses since I was eight or nine years old. I have always been an awkward, anxious rider; I am afraid of heights, I have scoliosis so my back is never straight, I am not pretty on a horse and I get bored going in circles so showing was never for me. Despite all of this, I also had a distinct reputation for loving “problem ponies” - does your horse bite? Does it kick? Does it run off? Does it stop in one spot and never move? Does it literally lay down mid-ride and roll on you? Sweet glittering baby Jesus come to daddy. I accepted that I would never be a “good” rider, but I was excellent at working through issues and improving behavior in “troublesome” horses and that’s what I loved most. 

When I was around 15, I had a terrible fall off of my own horse, Grace. She spooked as I was getting on from the mounting block, my foot got caught in the stirrup, and she dragged me across the arena. She ended up stepping on my thigh and breaking my hand, and I was (understandably) traumatized. In retrospect, I absolutely have PTSD from this incident. For months after I would panic at the mounting block; I felt like I was having literal heart attacks, and sometimes would vomit due to anxiety. 

My mom shows horses in a relatively high-strung discipline, and the adults around me during that time, including my mom, were vicious to me. They told me I was being a baby, I was stupid, I was a terrible rider, I needed to show her who was boss and if I wasn’t going to ride we should just sell my horse (whom I’ve had since she was a yearling) and be done with it. Shockingly, none of this helped my anxiety, and it quickly sucked the love and joy out of horses for me. I stopped riding altogether by the time I was in college, still keeping my horse Grace but only as a pasture ornament. I blamed myself for being “too cowardly” and not being able to “cowboy” up and just get on and MAKE my horse do what I wanted her to. 

A few years ago I had the opportunity to visit the director of the ranch where I learned to ride. I idolized her growing up, and I still think she is one of the most gifted horsewomen I have ever met. I told her I was no longer riding, and hadn’t in years, and she told me that out of all the people she every worked with, she fully expected that I would have had a career working with horses. I was shocked and asked her why she thought that, since I had spent literally my whole horse career having people tell me what a bad rider I was. 

“You’re not a good rider. You’re a great horseperson.”

What others (and I) read as timidness, she saw as the patience and flexibility to work within a horse’s comfort zone. Where others saw bad form, she saw mixing techniques from different disciplines to communicate in a way that worked best for each individual. And where everyone saw a coward who gave up riding, she saw someone who still loved horses, despite the trauma, despite the resentment, and despite the fact that many would consider an unridden horse “useless”. 

That conversation fundamentally changed how I see myself, and it also explained my history with animals. It explained why I would pursue a career with animals that I can’t even pet and why I’m drawn to the misunderstood critters (possums are my absolute favorite animals, with snakes a close second), and it also explains what brings us all here to this blog today: why I would take a chance on a little deaf puppy with no eyes, and how we could work together to create a happy, functional, incredible little dog - not in spite of her limitations, but in celebration of them. 

You cannot bully any animal into a partnership. Not a horse, not a rattlesnake, not your dog, and not people. You can bully them into compliance - which is toxic, fear-based, and usually temporary. A partnership grows from seeking to understand your partner instead of trying to make yourself understood; from finding or creating ways to meet each other where you’re at; and finding joy in the unique journey that you embark on together, even when it’s difficult. 

I have been riding Grace again, alone, just the two of us with no one to criticize or antagonize, and our relationship has never been better. Some days we ride through the desert. Some days I spend an hour getting on and off from the mounting block. Some days I get too anxious to get on at all so I lead her up to the patio with Pinkman and Bitsy and we watch Australian 60 Minutes and split a beer. We’re doing things I never dreamed of because she trusts me and I trust her, and I have learned to treat myself the way I treat my animals: with kindness, patience, flexibility, and compassion. I will probably always be a timid, awkward, ungainly rider, but I am an excellent horse person and no one will take that away from me again.

Oh, and if you hear of a crabby, stubborn, willful horse with a bad attitude, let me know - I’m in the market. 

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thehmn:

I’m sorry for talking about dogs so much but I need to rant for a moment.

If you hold a small animal, any animal, and it starts to wiggle or push away from you put it down. Don’t just laugh. Don’t hold it tighter. Unless you have a good reason for holding it put it down.

I constantly have to tell children to put my chihuahua down and leave her alone when she wiggles. That’s okay. Children are stupid and don’t know anything about anything yet. We’ve all been there.

Adults have no excuse.

When you see a chihuahua like this you should not be thinking “demon dog” you should be looking at the owner and thinking “What did you do to this poor animal?” or alternatively if they got it from another person “What did that person do to this poor animals?” If a dog gets like this, any dog, the owner fucked up, not the dog. That is learned behavior. Those are extremely scared, uncomfortable dogs who have been mistreated. And by that I don’t mean beaten.

When people say “Treat a small dog like a big dog” that doesn’t just mean train and socialize it. It also means “Don’t do anything that would make a bigger dog bite your face off”.

Respect it’s signals. Let it know that it’s okay for people to hold and pet it by leaving it alone when it says “No more”. This can include wiggling, walking away from you, not responding when you touch it and looking at you in a way that shows the white in it’s eyes. It’s not hard to decode.

Only if you ignore signals like this will it start to show teeth and growl, and you have no right to get upset if it bites you after this. That’s on you. And eventually biting will be it’s first response because it has learned that the more subtle signals doesn’t work.

If it’s not your dog let it instigate contact with you. If it’s your dog respect it and you’ll find that it becomes much more tolerate of you and others handling it. Yes, if you try to clip its nails or something else it doesn’t want to do it might scream bloody murder, but it won’t bite because it knows this only happens sometimes and it’ll be over soon.

People have gotten so used to this idea that dogs have to be robots who should put up with everything we do to them and that’s really fucked up. They’re allowed to tell you no if there’s no reason for you to do it. It shouldn’t be forced to be held by you just because you want to hold it.

Hold it against its will to get vaccinated/groomed/other important things? Yes. Hold it against its will because you want to pet it? Big no. And of course teaching them tricks and commands are a must, but that’s not forcing them to do things. That’s teaching them that if they do the thing something good happens.

Of course animals are different. If people (me included) offer my shih tzu some food he will often show his teeth and it’s totally understandable that people get scared, but he’s not doing it to show aggression, he’s doing it because he doesn’t like to get food on his lips. How are people supposed to know that? I sure as hell didn’t the first time he did it, and it’s the right reaction for people to pull their hand back. Then I, the owner, can tell them not to worry, he’s just weird about food on his face.

And some dogs are more standoffish and take longer to warm up to people, and some trust you right away.

My point being, just assume every dog in the world show the same signals until the owner tells you otherwise.

I’ve said before that my chihuahua doesn’t like small children and avoids them at all costs because they do all the things I just told you not to do. She loves older children and adults though, and loves to be held even by complete strangers and is quick to roll up and snooze in the lap of any guest even if she has never met them before (trust me, no matter who you are, if you came to my home she would be sitting in your lap right now wagging her little tail wanting nothing but love from you), which is also why I panic when adults doesn’t respect her signals and try to force her to stay with them because Aw she’s so tiny and cute.

I don’t want to lose the sweet friendly dog that she is and I’m sure a lot of other small dog owners feel the same, which is why I made this post. Please just respect dogs no matter size, okay?