William Frank Calderon (British, 1865–1943), "A Lady of Quality – A Borzoi on a Chaise Longue", 1913

@pippindot sent us everything we needed for the baby spell……including 1000 rose peddle…………..

angels watching over me

I wish there was a bigger tulip field near me but this is also ok when you use it right.

The location

it’s getting very popular to talk about emotional states in dog training (which is great, dogblr has been miles ahead of other social media for years) and how those emotional states impact the dog’s ability to learn and perform. those conversations are generally good and on track.

the weird ones are conversations about how the dog’s emotions impact our relationship with them—and one of the reasons that they’re weird to me is because it seems like a given that how someone feels about you is directly related to your relationship. the other reason is that some folks are still trying to handle relationship-building like an equation.

not to condescend or oversimplify, but your dog should just be your friend.

like I’m saying that it’s not a perfect, one-to-one, this-experience-balances-that-one type of negotiation. just treat your dog with the same respect and good will with which you’d treat a friend and you’ll probably be okay.

Oh hell, this. (It's wild as well because my research is currently centered on the important role of cognitive states for learning and motivation, and my natural inclination from the PhD is to tie that into integrating energetic, stress related, and social context cues. So as I sink back into dog training as a hobby, everything starts linking up with a pleasant kind of synergy...)

The thing I learned from attachment theory and what we know about human/human interactions is also that the most important thing about them is to focus on your dog and listen to her. Human relationships, like dog relationships, are built on cumulative responsiveness to one another. By carefully observing your dog's responses and adjusting your behavior accordingly, in thousands of low stakes tiny moments, you can build a relationship even if there wasn't one there before—or strengthen one that already exists. That's also how good parents interact with small children. None of this happens all at once: you can't ruin a relationship in a single instant any more than you can build it. It's an aggregate pattern, which means you can always, always stop, consider your approach, and change the direction your hundreds of tiny steps together are moving in.

Friendship is precisely the right word. I am friends with my dogs. Sometimes we do stuff together that I want to do, and sometimes we do stuff together that they want to do, and sometimes we just exist together. Their joy brings me joy. Mine clearly delights them, also. Isn't that what friendship should be?

You nailed my point, which is that there’s absolutely no reason to obsess over the minutiae of where the relationship is at—for better or worse. It’s an aggregate pattern.

This is exactly the area that I think is being neglected in most discussions. A lot of us (Dog People™) seem to have a hard time consistently providing support, consideration, and fun in a meaningful way which is why it’s so important to me to characterize the relationship as friendship. Some people might have had better parent-child dynamics than I did (disclaimer for my parents who will absolutely never see my blog: no shade) but it was not helpful for me to think of my dogs as dependents. I’d go out on a limb and say that’s pretty typical for my generation. I’m used to parents completely disregarding their children’s needs—ESPECIALLY emotional needs—in favour of adult agendas because they do not respect children as fully formed beings… and dogs get even more of the same. I love my friends and I don’t consider their needs an imposition; I make an effort to consider their comfort, pay attention to their moods, and have fun with them. Same with the dogs I know!

Let's irresponsibly breed a dog together!

Share as much as possible that dog gotta be atrocious by the end of the week

fucken wimdy today

I’m paying to force seven thousand strangers to see a photo of my late husband having fun with his dog. Tumblr Blaze is totally worth it. XD

Thank-you to all of my new Internet stranger friends for being so gracious about having my post shoved onto your dashboards. I loved reading all of your kind tags and comments! Both Martin and Bosco have been gone for several years now but for 24 hours, they felt very present in my life. I greatly appreciate this gift. ❤️

Reblog to have your dashboard be visited by the spirit of joy that death can end but not erase.

Y’ALL. We have one of those cling film covers in our bathroom window for privacy and in the afternoon when the sun hits it just right, it makes rainbows, right? And today my wife sends me the best pic she’s ever taken:

Dog with Plate of Sausages (also known as Caesar at the Rubicon) and Dog with Sausages (also known as Hail Caesar, We Who are about to Die Salute You) Wilhelm Trübner - 1878 Private collection Painting Oil on cardboard  

This stinky, smelly, bird munching, boo-woo hollering beastie is nine today! For her birthday she is being pardoned of all her crimes 🥰 she does not deserve it, but that’s the law

Do you have a snoot noodle or other variation of sighthound? If yes, there’s new heart health research for the breed happening!

A researcher at Texas A&M whose work I’m familiar with is starting a new study looking at genetic factors contributing to heart disease in Borzoi and related breeds. They just put out a call for dog owners who are willing to submit saliva samples & (noodle) medical records. Studies like this need a big sample size! They’re accepting new sign-ups starting now until March 1, 2025, for dogs both in the US and internationally.

Let’s help make some science!

From the study page:

“Background and purpose

Recent research in Borzoi dogs has revealed that dogs of this breed experience sudden, unexplained death. About 85% of sudden, unexplained deaths in humans are linked to an underlying heart disease. Our existing research in Borzoi dogs has shown that they are predisposed to developing arrhythmias (abnormal heart rhythms) and dilated cardiomyopathy (a heart muscle disease causing dilated heart chambers and weak pumping function).

Due to our documentation of the frequency of these conditions in Borzoi dogs, we seek to identify responsible genetic variations similar to what is seen in humans with electrical cardiac diseases that trigger arrhythmias and dilated cardiomyopathy.

The objective of our study is to identify genetic mutations associated with heart disease in Borzoi dogs and document their existence in other sighthound breeds.

What happens in this study

We are collecting saliva samples from both healthy Borzoi and Borzoi dogs affected with arrhythmias and/or dilated cardiomyopathy. We will also collect saliva samples from any other sighthound breeds.

We will extract DNA from these samples and perform genomic sequencing on a select number while retaining the remainder for further screening.By analyzing the sequencing data, we can compare the genes of healthy and affected Borzoi dogs and identify variants linked to their heart conditions. We will also compare the findings in Borzoi dogs to results from other sighthound breeds.

Pet owner responsibilities

A swab kit will be sent to you for at home use along with a link to an instructional video on how to properly obtain a swab of the mouth. The kit will contain equipment to collect the saliva swab, a history form for your pet, a client consent form and a shipping label to return samples to us.

Participation requirements

To participate, you must have a Borzoi dog or a sighthound breed that is either healthy or affected by arrhythmias and/or dilated cardiomyopathy. Pets may be any age or sex. Electronic or paper veterinary medical records will need to be provided.

Benefits and risks of participating

There is little to no risk for taking a brief swab of the mouth for saliva collection if procedures outlined in the video are followed. No individual genetic test results will be provided to study participants.

Compensation

There is no cost to the owner for participating in this study. No compensation will be provided.”

1: Photo from our walk

2: Photo of things found in Troj's tail after our walk

3: Photo if Troj post walk

Billie Holiday and her dog Mister photographed by Carl Van Vechten on Marcg 23, 1949.