#Dog Trainer Programs

[border-collie]

One of the ways I've found to be kinder to myself is reminding myself I'm an animal and functionally I behave like one. It's easy to get caught up on things you did in the past, but you don't judge a wolf for killing a fawn, so it's just as not fair to judge yourself for shit you did when you were a kid. Yeah you did stupid shit as a teen, that's what teens do.

[heart-of-copper-dog-training]

Time for Jail update!

So I don't know what specifics I'm allowed to share, but we brought in this little pup today, 7 months old, terrified of the world. I had to hold him (he was probably 20 lbs lol) for almost an hour because his chosen handler hadn't been available immediately. But let me tell you about this little guy and his handler.

This little guy is gripping me with his paws in a vice grip, tucking his head into my shoulders, lip licking, nervous, shaking little boy. Just so scared of everything.

His handler is this sweet, patient guy. He was both very excited (you should have seen his eyes light up) but immediately knew to be very calm with this puppy, because excitement is NOT what he needs right now.

He grasped this little boy and held him, so soft and supportive. He was SO attentive while I went over decompression and what to expect this week, what homework he needed to start on. He was asking questions when he needed clarification and meanwhile giving this little guy soft, gentle rubs while cradling him in his arms like that puppy was the most precious treasure in the entire world.

Ya'll, I can't wait to see how this baby is next week. He's so shut down, so scared, yet his handler was so calm, patient, careful with him, loving. He sat in the corner of the room (puppy was too scared to be near the other dogs) and just let the baby lay down next to him. No pressure to engage in class, just a silent support for this little baby.

This is why I love this program. This is just one of the best experiences I've had in my dog training career. I am so excited to see him blossom and bloom.

[kelev9]

hey dog trainers of tumblr, is going through a paid program to become a dog trainer worth it, or would looking for a mentor/apprenticeship be a better way to go?

[straydogged]

sometimes I think about crawling back to the high control group (I wish. I fucking wish this was hyperbole but it isnt) "service dog" org that scammed my family out of 25k. because there was a verbal promise to make up for all of the bullshit by training me another dog for free. but I doubt he'd actually follow through on that and I cannot. I can't handle the surveillance and cult shit and group shaming and gaslighting and emotional abuse again. I think having to deal with the dog trainers and head of the organization again would break me.

idfk how I'm going to get a service dog if not through them but I just can't go back to that.

[frascospecimen]

elean is a teacher, right? what age group does she teach?

She’s a nurse actually! Before she was a nurse she was a dog trainer/pet groomer and the last one is a job she wants to go back to doing once she gets back from space.

[chiasemxh]

5 effective dog training tools at home you must have

5 effective dog training tools at home you must have

When you start keeping a dog as a pet in the house, the most necessary and supportive thing for you is the dog training equipment and tools. Let Pet-Care refer you to 5 effective dog training tools at home! There is one thing that is recognized by dog owners: raising a dog is not easy. When adopting and taking responsibility for a pet, you need to be equipped with the necessary knowledge and…

[wheelie-sick]

this is going to be a long post, it's kinda just me writing all my raw unfiltered thoughts on ABA therapy as someone who actually went through it

-> TW for ABA therapy, child abuse, suicide <-

I was functionally diagnosed with autism at the age of 3 but it wasn't until I was 13 that I was actually formally evaluated for it and given an official diagnosis. I was behind in social skills and developmental skills

[ID: "was also described as a sensory seeker. She does not currently have any friends and has struggled to make and maintain peer relationships throughout her childhood. Difficulties with social skills were initially noted when she was in preschool (years before the onset of clinically significant symptoms of anxiety and"]

[ID: "Social functions: [blank]'s mother also completed a questionnaire rating her social responsiveness. Her responses on the SRS-2 indicated that [blank] is demonstrating severe deficits in the areas of Social Communication (reciprocal social interaction and nonverbal and verbal communication), Social Motivation (motivation to engage in social-interpersonal behavior) and Social Awareness (perceiving social cues) and moderate deficits in the areas of Social Cognition (understanding social cues). Severe Repetitive and Restrictive Behaviors (stereotypical behaviors or highly restricted interests) were also reported. The total T-score on the SRS-2 indicates severe deficiencies in reciprocal behavior that are likely to result in interference in everyday social interaction"]

[ID: "%ile) are mildly impaired, while her social skills are moderately impaired (2nd %ile). By domain, demonstrates mildly to moderately impaired abilities in six adaptive skills areas, including self care (9th %ile), communication (5th %ile), home living (5th %ile), self-direction (2nd %ile), social (2nd %ile), and leisure (1st %ile)"]

and ultimately all this ended up with the number one recommendation after my autism evaluation being for ABA therapy.

[ID: "Recommendations: Based on the above results, the following recommendations are made for [blank] and her family.

1. ABA therapy: [blank] May benefit from an intensive treatment program to foster cognitive and communication skills, improve independence and adaptive functioning, and help manage interfering behaviors (i.e home-based, 1:1 instruction, task analysis, etc.) Most private and community programs are based on principals of operant conditioning and taught in home with 1:1 instruction"]

*I'm getting misgendered here. my pronouns are he/him

"operant conditioning"-- like a dog 🐕🐕. woof woof.

my mom didn't know any better so she put me in ABA therapy with the Center for Autism and Related Disorders. she regrets this. I regret this more.

my autism evaluation was cruel, it dissected all my flaws as if I was a bug under a microscope in a highschool laboratory. my evaluation was passed around to ABA therapists, a line of high schoolers peering through the microscope examining the most vulnerable parts of me.

and I choose the highschool analogy quite deliberately. most of the ABA therapists at my center were recent highschool graduates with no degree and little training. they knew nothing about autism and had no qualifications. you need more certificates to become a professional dog trainer than to become a professional human trainer.

"operant conditioning"

and I wish I could say it was just a poor choice of words but ABA therapy was dog training for children. my dad used to call me an "it" and somehow I felt less dehumanized by that than the entire experience I had in ABA therapy.

I was the oldest person at my center (I did not receive in home therapy) with the next oldest being approximately 3 years younger than me. at the time I felt babied. I was surrounded by 5 year olds and I was treated as if I was not just a 5 year old but an autistic 5 year old and anyone who has been a visibly autistic 5 year old knows what that feels like. I had escaped being an autistic child and now I was being treated like one again. The head of the program tried to console me by telling me adults received their services too.

[ID: "Following the principles of applied behavior analysis, CARD has developed a treatment approach for children and adolescents with"]

this was the first lie they told me. CARD does not work with adults.

I was not allowed the privileges of being a 13 year old. because I was an autistic 13 year old and therefore I was the equivalent of a 5 year old. I was in psychotherapy at the same time and I had grown very accustomed to some level of freedom in therapy. I was allowed to use the bathroom independently. in ABA therapy I was not allowed to use the bathroom independently. I tried once, me and my therapist were on an "outing" to the grocery store and I told my therapist I was going to the bathroom and walked off and I got a very stern talking to about how I needed to "stop eloping" and if I didn't stop it would "become a behavior"

eloping became a common theme used to control me and squeeze money out of my parents.

out of everything I hated in my life, including severe physical abuse at home (which they did not report), I hated ABA therapy the most. I would repeatedly make serious threats of suicide to try to get out of ABA. no one cared. everyone thought I was being dramatic but there were times I wrote out suicide notes and ABA was among the reasons I listed. ABA made me feel hopeless, depressed, revolting, disgusting, inferior, and less than human. between ABA, my home life, and my social life I had never felt so hated and it was boiling through my skin. I acted out, I was bullying people, I was behaving recklessly, I was starting fights, and all this only made the oppressive force of ABA crack down on me harder. I was a cat hissing in the corner begging to be left alone and ABA brought a net to try to tame me further. every time I scratched back it was listed as a reason I needed to be there.

I was "disruptive" and "rebellious" and "uncooperative" and "resistant to treatment" and no one could figure out why I was "regressing" despite me shouting the answer. I was screaming and no one was willing to hear me

I hated myself and my autism. my autism diagnosis made me want to die. I didn't feel freed by it or understood I felt ashamed and disgusted. I felt incompetent and like I had failed. I was ashamed to be at ABA, it was my biggest secret. I'd lie to my friends about why I couldn't hang out and I'd lie to people in public about who the woman I was with was and I'd lie about all of it to try to cover up my most shameful secret.

ABA therapy did nothing but foster this. In ABA therapy I was mocked for being autistic and what was happening only clicked when a young kid, maybe only 4 or 5, was flapping his hands and a therapist took out her phone and recorded him. we were circus animals. it was all an entertaining show to them while they poked and prodded at us with metaphorical hot irons to make us dance. the first time a therapist laughed at me for rocking back and forth I wanted to throw up. I almost did. it was systematic bullying of children I was forced to watch and experience.

my point is: the last place on earth I wanted to be was the ABA center.

so of course I tried to leave. my mom would bring me McDonald's and I'd beg, sobbing real tears, to leave early because only she could sign me out. every time I'd go to meet her I'd be marked as "eloping" and my hotel stay in hell would get extended.

my natural response to a stressful environment (leaving) was pathologized. I was eloping this way and that way and never once did I actually, truly elope. that word was a weapon used against me. they used my "elopement" to justify extending my stay to my parents. they ate it right up.

they argued I needed to stay there because I was making friends. this was true, I'm great at getting along with children it's part of why I want to go into pediatrics, but I had also made real friends with people my age at my highschool. ABA was getting in the way. I wanted to spend time with my friends outside of school but ABA took up all my time from the minute I left school to 6pm and all day on weekends. I was doing a full time job's worth of hours. I complained about how I was missing out on spending time with my real friends (as in, over the age of 7) and I was met with almost no wiggle room in my schedule. I was allowed to pre-plan time to spend with friends but every time my friend group wanted to do something spontaneously? I had to say no, and I had to lie about why. my friends would share stories about driving around town with 2 people in the group stuffed in the trunk, of hanging out in the woods together, of taking part in ordinary highschool activities as ordinary high schoolers and it made me cry because I was not an ordinary highschooler and I was not allowed to participate in ordinary highschool activities. I was one of those weird, unpleasant, socially awkward autistic people instead. eventually, they just stopped inviting me. I was forced into the out group by ABA.

I'll never get that back. I'll never get a chance to be a normal highschooler ever again.

when I did have time available to hang out with people I never had the energy to. at the time I was living with an undiagnosed physical disability and I was begging to see a doctor but no one would believe that it wasn't just anxiety. the people who believed me least of all were the people at the center.

I was constantly told I was trying to get out of therapy by "feigning" very real pain and fatigue. I tried to explain spoon theory, and that I had limited spoons, and in response they made a task for me to name things to "regenerate spoons" that's not how it works. I wasn't the only physically disabled person there. there was a wheelchair user who was constantly forced to stand for periods of time despite being in agony doing it. he wasn't allowed rewards until he did it.

rewards were used to train us like dog treats are used with dogs. sometimes the treats were fun! I'd get to cook, play Mario kart, and go on outings. other times the treats were "using the correct name and pronouns for me." I'd constantly be threatened with deadnaming and misgendering if I was being "noncompliant."

misgendering because of my autism was a theme in my life. my neuropsych evaluation report misgendered me. my parents misgendered me. the staff at ABA misgendered me. at one point the head of the program suggested that my "gender confusion" was because of my autism. my abusive father latched onto this and still claims that the reason I'm "confused" about my gender is because the evil transgenders tricked me into thinking I'm one of them because I'm autistic and therefore easily impressionable.

the two therapists I had were nice because I refused to work with the others. they weren't on a power trip and both eventually left because they realized the harm the organization was doing. other therapists were not so kind. other therapists were on a power trip, because in their mind lording over autistic 5 year olds (and autistic 14 year olds) makes them powerful and strong. occasionally I'd get stuck with one of the other therapists when my usual therapists were out. they would talk to me in a baby voice. they would make fun of me for rocking back and forth, for not making eye contact, for talking about Skyrim "too much" and generally just for being autistic.

I never really knew what I was supposed to be doing, just that I was doing it wrong. the therapists there rarely actually told me what my tasks were they'd just mark yes or no on them, judging me for something I wasn't aware of. I was never actually supposed to graduate, I was never supposed to get out, if they wanted me to succeed they would have taught and explained what was happening but I was intentionally left in the dark.

I continued threatening suicide to get out. no one took me seriously. I was seriously considering it. there's no happy conclusion where someone finally realized it was all wrong, or I figured out how to be allistic and graduated, or I felt more comfortable there. I only got out when covid struck and shut the center down. it's gone now, replaced by a family advice center. I hope their advice for autistic children is to never put them in ABA.

there is no grander message here just suffering. I'm sorry if you were expecting some sort of great point at the end of this. there's not one. it happened, I wish it didn't, and I hope no one else experiences what I did ever again.

okay to reblog

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for not walking my dog with my neighbor anymore? 

I (20sNB) graduated from my masters program in 2019 and moved back home with my parents. It was meant to be temporary, but before I could save up enough to move out, the pandemic hit. I ended up living with my parents until late 2022. During that time I was responsible for walking our dog. I ended up meeting and connecting with a handful of other dog owners in the neighborhod and we would walk our dogs together and let them play together at a local dog park.  

One of these dog owners, C (70sF) turned out to live right around the corner from me, so we started walking our dogs together very often. Her dog has always been a bit domineering, and my dog has always been a bit submissive. But for a long time they played together very nicely. They would run and chase each other and play with the toys we brought to the park for them. Sometimes they would play fight, but I could always tell from my dog’s body language that she was having fun, and wasn’t actually feeling threatened or scared. 

Of course, C and I also ended up bonding. She’s a retired kindergarten teacher, and she’s very, very nice and kind, and I would consider her a friend. We now exchange baked goods on holidays and she sends me birthday and christmas cards now that I don’t live down the street from her. And since I moved out, whenever I came to my parents’ house to visit, I would call her up so we could walk the dogs together and catch up. 

However, a few months ago, while my mom was walking our dog at the dog park, a different, even worse behaved dog, attacked and bit her. This attack was bad enough to draw blood, and my mom had to take her to the vet and get her on antibiotics and everything to make sure it didn’t get infected. Plus, the dog we had before this one, got sick and almost died because of a bite from an unvaccinated dog, so this was pretty scary for us. But it ended up being okay. No infections and the wounded healed well. But ever since then, our dog, who previously was very social and good with other dogs (we took her to obedience school as a puppy, so she was socialized very early on) has become much more nervous around other dogs, especially new dogs.

We’re trying really hard to resocialize her, and she’s slowly getting better. She still sometimes growls at new dogs, though. Which brings us back to my neighbor and her dog. Her dog is poorly socialized, and growls and barks at other dogs. I know my neighbor tries her best to fix her dog’s behavioral issues and has even worked with specialized dog trainers to no avail. But I’ve noticed that my dog is much more likely to growl at other dogs when we walk with C and her dog, because C’s dog growls. Not only that, but I’ve noticed that when they play together, my dog doesn’t enjoy it anymore. Now, her body language does read as threatened and afraid when C’s dog play fights (C’s dog is a boxer, which means she loves to play fight.) 

So, I’ve started not calling C when I’m in town. I feel guilty about it because I really like C and avoiding her feels like a shitty thing to do. I feel like I'm basically ghosting her. But I know if I reach out to her, she’ll bring up walking the dogs together. Walking the dogs is the entire basis of our friendship and the only reason we spend time together, so I can hardly tell her I don’t want to do that anymore. 

AITA? I just want to take care of my dog, and right now walking with C is not only causing my dog unnecessary stress, it’s re-enforcing bad habits that I am trying really hard to break.

What are these acronyms?

[doberbutts]

Hi jaz! I know u dont post docking/cropping disc horse on ur blog so if ur ok with it i was hoping u'd be ok answering this privately. Im really really not looking for discourse i was just very curious on what your particular stance on docking/cropping was. There are like obviously advantages and disadvantages for both that I've seen on your blog (from various opinions) but I've only irl met dob owners who are VERY against docking and cropping. Sometimes i see like u reblogged a post of a puppy with docked bandaged ears and i was like "huh! Interesting!" So way less of like a trying to start a discourse thing and more of like. Do you prefer docked or not docked? Do u support docking for any specific reason or not, like i know it used to be so they wouldn't get grabbed or something like that. Sorry if this sounds weird or super blunt im autistic and really terrible at wording things gently,, i've just seen both sides talked about and was wondering like what u thought as a professional dog trainer who's opinion I trust. Its more about personal curiosity than any discourse attempt but also also if u aren't comfortable discussing it at all then no pressure!! Like i dont wanna make u discuss something ur like "damn this is gonna be triggering to talk about" i never want to do that to u.

Thank u for taking the time to read :)

I'm actually fine posting this one publicly, only because I've stated it several times before on this very blog:

I do not give a fuck what other people do with their dogs as long as it is legal within their country and the owner is doing their best to be compassionate and fair to their animals. That can be interpreted whatever way anyone wants it to be.

In other words, someone who makes the decision to have their dog's ears cropped under the care of a vet or who purchases a dog with already cropped ears? Who gives a shit. Not me. Someone who takes a pair of scissors to their dog's ears at home? That person is an asshole and I hate them.

Very few doberman breeders in this country will allow a puppy to go home without cropping the ears or docking the tail. I am not sure if that puppy's breeder counts among them, as I have very little interest in purchasing a dog from her and thus don't know much about that part of her program. The pedigrees are simply not what I feel holds the future of the breed in terms of efforts for longevity combined with working ability, so I simply look elsewhere.

It is worth mentioning that the two fully natural dogs I have had, with one still living, come from countries in which the practice is either banned or so heavily restricted it may as well be banned. If someone is serious about wanting a fully natural doberman, most people will need to import.

I know of less than 10 breeders within this country who would allow the same thing, and of them I think I would only purchase from maybe 2 of them, and *both* of those people would only sell a fully natural dog to me because they know who I am. Someone unknown to them is still getting a cropped and docked dog.

For my own dogs, I avoid all potentially painful procedures that are not medically necessary. This does include cropping and docking, both of which are surgeries and all surgeries do have at least some pain associated with them. However I also don't spay or neuter my dogs for the same reason. When it becomes medically necessary, I will consider surgery. Until then, I will not. Thankfully, I was able to find someone who was willing to play ball with that, and that is why I have had a couple natural dogs. My dobermans prior to that were not, because I was not able to find someone, because they simply didn't exist in this country and I was a poor college kid unable to import.

[bluwavez]

A TOXIC ENTANGLEMENT: HOW SON JINHWA GROOMED DEEPDIVE.

The Long and Painful History of MyDol's Most Successful Boy Group. TW || GROOMING & SEXUAL ASSAULT MENTION.

The history of KPOP's most successful boy group isn't easy, and it is one that their company would prefer you forget. DeepDive would usher in many firsts for their company, Angelico Entertainment. They were the first group to be formed by a survival show held by the label, the youngest trainees to debut under the label, the first boy group to hit 1 million album sales, and the first group to break into the international KPOP scene.

None of this came without struggle. A lot of struggle.

Starting in 2014 with their survival show "The New Wave," the boys, all teenagers, would be put through grueling weekly evaluations where the audience would vote on who they wanted to survive to the next episode. The New Wave gave the audience a first-time look into the Angelico training process, which already had a history of being one of the most intense training programs out of any company in the industry. Weekly, you could watch as 43 teenage boys got degraded, berated, and had their confidence shattered by the panel of trainers and judges, which consisted of Jang Kiha, leader of the boy group Priority, Jeon Jihan, COO of Angelico, Kim Minsi, Head Trainee Instructor, and Son Jinhwa, CEO of Angelico.

Son would prove to be the most brutal of the panel, notorious for having a high standard for his idols. However, his callous treatment of DeepDive didn't end with The New Wave; instead, it carried years into their career.

The final DeepDive lineup was decided in August 2015. The final seven members, listed by rank, were all considerably young, even for 2015's KPOP standards.

FINN LEE. FOURTEEN. 2,246,983 VOTES.

HWANG JISUNG. SEVENTEEN. 2,200,873 VOTES.

KANG "BLUE" WOOBIN. SIXTEEN. 2,176,234 VOTES.

KIM WOOJIN. FIFTEEN. 2,009,211 VOTES.

NOAH SON. SIXTEEN. 1,987,887 VOTES.

BAE KIWOO. FIFTEEN. 1,762,983 VOTES.

KIM DOWON. NINETEEN. 1,761,002 VOTES.

Their young ages were intentional. It's a running joke with DeepDive that Dowon almost didn't make it in the group as he was often the target of Son Jinhwa's endless tirades on the show, getting singled out for his age primarily as his skill never seemed to be an issue. "How do you plan on keeping up with the other boys? Will you be able to? Don't you think you're too old to debut?" All are phrases said to Dowon by Son Jinhwa during his time on The New Wave.

Today, Dowon is one of Son Jinhwa's active defenders, often showing up as a character witness to rave about how well Son and MyDol have treated him.

Son Jinhwa has proved time and time again that no matter how many times you kick a dog, it will remain loyal to you for a pat on the head. While his questionable relationship with Venus has raised eyebrows over the years, his relationship with DeepDive has been less reported on, simply falling under the category of a father-and-son-like relationship.

Ironically enough, Son's son is a member of DeepDive. Noah was born in Florida in 1999 before moving to South Korea with his father and mother at just two years old. He attended an international school throughout his youth. He began training at just ten years old under the guidance of his father, becoming one of the youngest trainees in Angelico history.

Finn Lee began training under Angelico at only 12, being recruited at a Talent show in Florida. Kiwoo was recruited at 13, Woojin at 13, and the rest of the members were recruited at 14. Son Jinhwa has been in every pivotal moment of these boys' lives, from graduations to debuts to awards to parental deaths. Jinhwa has been with them through it all and supported them through it all.

When Finn's father died in 2019, Son Jinhwa covered the funeral costs and paid off his family's home. What he didn't do was give Finn more than a week off. He only gave the then eighteen-year-old three days to attend his father's funeral, head back to South Korea, and process the loss of his father before he was back on stage.

in 2020, upon DeepDive's sudden massive success, Jisung's father, who had been absent for most of his life, attempted to claim ownership of half of his assets. Jinhwa covered the legal fees and had one of South Korea's top lawyers represent Jisung during the trial. However, what Jinhwa would not do for Jisung was give him a break after what Jisung himself said was one of "the most traumatic" times of his life.

Jinhwa love for DeepDive seems to only extend so far, operating their relationship on a hollow reward system that only benefits him in the end. When it doesn't benefit him, he doesn't reward. He leaves them to drown.

Provable through multiple police reports, Kim Woojin has reported DeepDive's long-term manager, Kim Hyerim, of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, indecency with a minor, and various other complaints that should have her fired and arrested. All these complaints were brushed under the rug and ignored by Son Jinhwa, who would pay off the police department to ignore these claims.

What Jinhwa did was put then-nineteen-year-old Woojin on a year-long hiatus in 2019, refusing to give any updates on him or even a proper reason for his hiatus for the entire year. When Woojin was reinstated as a member of DeepDive, he apologized for his "behavior" and promised to be better despite fans still being in the dark about what actually happened.

Despite all this, DeepDive has remained fiercely loyal to Jinhwa and MyDol, often shutting down criticisms of their label and proudly backing any decision their company makes, even if it's questionable and to their detriment. It doesn't matter to them, proving repeatedly that they will put their reputations on the line to defend the man they've been trained to believe they owe their careers to.

[privatehousesanatomy]

HOUSE MD 2024 ONE SHOT BASED ON THIS SCREENSHOT - in collaboration with @zethd

"hey wilson, i need to borrow some money," house announced as he swung the door open to his best friend's office. the brunette oncologist rolled his eyes and let out a groan, though he was more than used to the request of money.

"what do you need it for?"

"does it matter?"

"yes," wilson huffed. "i'm not funding any of your stupid schemes anymore."

"i'm getting a service animal. i figure it's about time i finally accept that in my old age, my leg can't keep up with me anymore," house replied, the sarcasm dripping in his tone. wilson was slightly surprised, and he took a minute to consider.

"how much money do you need?"

"about $10k," house answered. wilson blinked, almost as if he couldn't believe he'd heard that correctly.

"why so much?"

"i'm high maintenence," house shrugged. "the dog needs to be able to keep up. dogs aren't cheap and the training isn't cheap either."

"don't those dogs come trained?"

"well, yeah, but i still have to compensate the trainers for working with the dog," house scoffed, as if it was obvious. wilson sighed, pulling out his cheque-book and opening it, but he paused for a moment.

"you swear this is going towards a service animal?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. house rolled his eyes, nodding his head.

"when have i ever lied to you?"

ONE WEEK LATER

"house, what the hell is that?" wilson groaned, watching as house limped into his office with a robotic dog trailing behind him.

"this is rover," house replied, pointing at the dog.

"rover? and where exactly did rover come from?"

"he's my new service animal," house scoffed. "god wilson, keep up."

"you got a robotic dog as a service animal? that's why you needed $10k?" wilson groaned, leaning his head in his hands and shaking it. he should have known better than to trust house.

"what else would i have gotten?"

"a real dog."

"yeah, like i want something that sheds all over the place. the hookers leave enough of their hair behind for me to find later," house said.

"house, this isn't funny. how is a robotic dog supposed to help you?"

"he's a robot, moron. he's programmed to be smarter than humans. besides, he knows some cool tricks."

"tricks? like what?" wilson raised an eyebrow. what the hell kind of tricks could a robotic dog do?

"we have to go outside. i don't think cuddy will be too happy if rover did his tricks inside. she's such a buzzkill," house rolled his eyes. wilson sighed, knowing he shouldn't be putting this much trust into house, but he followed him outside regardless. they made it outside to the parking lot, coincidentally right near cuddy's car. well, wilson thought it was coincidentally, anyway.

"i have a bad feeling about this," wilson admitted, seeing the look on house's face.

"oh shut up and watch. it'll be cool. come on rover, do your thing," house instructed, pushing a little button on a remote control he'd pulled from his jacket pocket, and within seconds, rover was shooting a flame out of a piece of metal attached to his back. wilson stepped back immediately, though cuddy's poor car took the brunt of it.

"house!" wilson gasped, and house simply made a face.

"whoops. he wasn't supposed to do that...i think i pushed the wrong button."

"what the hell was he supposed to do then?"

"oh, he was supposed to shoot flames but not like that. i didn't even know he could do that. cool."

"no, not cool! you just torched cuddy's car!"

"honestly, i was doing her a favour," house shrugged. but speak of the devil, because out came cuddy when she realized that it had been her car that had been torched.

"what the hell did you do to my car?!" she exclaimed as she stormed over.

"rover had an accident," house replied, pointing at the robotic dog at his feet.

"rover? this is what you meant by a service animal?" she huffed, realizing that she too had been fooled into thinking that he had pure intentions when he came to her to put in the paperwork for a service animal.

"isn't he cute?" house asked, obviously trying to distract from the car that was currently in flames in front of them.

"you're really going to play dumb right now?"

"like i told wilson, i was doing you a favour. no wonder you can't get laid, driving that thing around," house scoffed.

"that's it. rover is gone," cuddy said.

"you're really going to separate a boy and his dog?" house pretended to pout, looking down at his "pet".

"oh, i'm going to do more than separate a boy and his dog. i'm going to kill the boy and his dog," she said, and even house took a step back.

"uh oh. i think she's mad."

"you think?" wilson scoffed. it was obvious he was mad too, and house could tell.

"oh come, not you too," he groaned.

"i funded this! you told me you were getting a dog, not a flame-throwing robot!"

"this was cooler, and a lot less maintenance than an actual dog."

"he destroyed my car!" cuddy argued.

"look on the brightside - now you can upgrade."

"and you can pay for it."

"what? how? i had to borrow the money for rover from wilson. you think i can afford to get you a new car?" house scoffed.

"you're going return rover and get a refund, and you're going to give me that money so i can get a new car."

"you can't make me give up rover," house protested.

"i have a baseball bat in my office. you can watch me smash rover to bits if you'd prefer," cuddy shrugged, and house cringed.

"fine. i'll return rover. just know how heartbroken he is though."

"i'm sure he'll be just fine."

[heart-of-copper-dog-training]

Prison time

Hit up the prison yesterday due to the holiday. We mostly went over body language 101 and I quizzed the guys. I gotta say, while they aren't fully spot on, they are starting to see it and understand. It's pretty awesome.

We have our final three dogs: Tino and Tony the twins (I don't think they're actually related, but they look it) and Rubble. We will be getting the pups for service work next week, hopefully.

I can't help but smile when I see the guys and their dogs. Tino's handler told me he was holding the little guy at lunch and he reached over for a bite of burger, so he said, "Alright, Tino, we can share" and split the burger in half. So damn cute.

Cake rode in a little box on a crate to her handler's detail, a queen in a palanquin.

Tony's handler cuddles the little guy while we discuss our work.

I'm proud of the work they're putting in. These dogs are already making progress. We might adopt out Cake early (she's pretty much ready as her handler has been on the ball since the start) to give him one of the service dogs, so we'll see.

But genuinely, it is my favorite part of the week.

Here's Donut as I tell him about it. (I tried to get Pancake but she wouldn't hold still for a picture so they're all blurry lol)

As usual, be kind to yourself, to your dogs, to those around you. It's free to be kind.

[higgyisobsessed]

rescue corps but they're CATS!!!! PLOT TWIST I'm also just putting funny little notes about them because I love them all

Pom - the face of Dandori, the self-insert. canonically from a planet known for its Dandori Prowess

Collin - people said he looked weird in the trailer but he turned out to be the most regular and put-together of the whole corps. odd jobs, communications, the voice of reason. builds little robot gadgets in his spare time

Shepherd - feels the weight of legacy and leadership, full of fear but perseveres nonetheless, the dog trainer, has a good eye for those with potential for the team

Russ - the inventor who makes materials for structures and gadgets with the help of raw materials. super rich guy whose mom throws the rescue corps a party after every successful mission. always wears his lab coat under his space suit. oh yeah he also invented bombs and wants you to blow stuff up whenever there is any sign of a slight inconvenience (after drawing this I later learned his eyebrows are GREEN)

Dingo - the "lone wolf" who feels terrible guilt over leaving behind his crewmate. kinda lazy and obnoxious, but very skilled when he does get involved. also will single handedly win night missions with the power of blowing stuff up and punching. He drinks random glowing green goo bc it was just sitting on the table and it didn't look like anyone else was going to have it.

Yonny - doctor that loves experimenting without putting the proposal through an ethics check first. uses Dingo (apparently knew each other as friends in childhood) as an unknowing guinea pig. collin has to tell him to stop the breeding experiment program he started on the rescue mission. nicknames for everybody. nobody ever quite knows what he is thinking. the most likely to commit war crimes

Bernard - the speed limit is a SUGGESTION, he is rescuing people as the pilot with endless ENTHUSIASM and OPTIMISM! Inspiring speech for everything. Was turned into a leaf zombie and cured, so he's a bit purple now. Short king. Makes friends so easily you won't know what hit you. Thinks of the 20+ rescued castaways on the ship as one big happy family.

anyways I love Pikmin 4 and this game is everything to me

[khaire-traveler]

My third day of work was, in fact, so wild that I left with a migraine and threw up four times when I got home. My back hurt so much that I could barely bend over by the time I left. 💀 Someone's stalker came in so we had to call the police, someone stole something, a manager yelled at someone through the radio that we all have while I was working with a customer on that guy's last day, a lady kept asking me whether or not she should buy a brand new red jeep Cherokee then proceeded to advertise her old black Lexus to me (I was just her cashier, like, why), some guy told me about how he can't give anyone his email because he's part of the FBI senior program (?), I saw two dogs, I didn't get to take either of my 15 minute breaks so just my 30 minute lunch break, my trainer was talking so much in my ear that I straight up disassociated during the middle of a customer interaction, I helped a super angry customer fax something and he told me that his partner had died and how he needed to get stuff to the state or else, and many, many, MANY other things. This job is low-key awful for me, personally. TvT

[whatisshelties]

Some jumping + conditioning resources for @wyrddogs

The Truth About Jumping by Carolyn McIntyre

This one doesn't get specific, but the last paragraph does explain the concepts behind conditioning for jumping and why it's important. She does mention that you need to target the front limbs, rear limbs, and core. That message I got there was conditioning all over will help, lol. From what I grasp, strengthening the front end helps with the forces from landing, while strengthening the rear will help add power to the take off. The core holds everything together.

Canine Conditioning Coach Video Library

You can sort the videos by using the tags. There are videos behind a paywall, but you can sort to find the free videos only. I think a lot of the beginner/foundation exercises are free. You can also sort by the body region the exercise targets as well. I feel like I need to make an obligatory mention of the FB group Canine Conditioning and Body Awareness. CCC owner is also an admin on this group and sometimes will review videos. You could also search the group for discussion about jumping related exercises. What I think is really cool about her site is that if another program has an exercise your dog is struggling with, you can see if there's a foundation level video available on CCC that might help you build up to that other exercise.

Movement Puzzles

Not specifically jump related, but I do think Mud had a lot of fun with this concept and I did notice his coordination improved while working on them. I need to get back into it. I think there are videos on her FB page that can give you ideas. The foundation 2 Bowl Game is free. I paid for the class (after she changed it to lifetime access, lol) and never worked through it it as written. I just sort of got the concept and ran with it.

Focus on Jumping by Bobbie Lyons on Clean Run

This appears to be a purely conditioning based self study course on Clean Run. Just the list of skills the class says it will address gives you an areas and movements you can work on. I think I actually had this class bookmarked at one point for Mud when it was only on Bobbie's website. I believe that was a working class with no audit option, so it cost more and I didn't see myself following along when I didn't know if Mud was sound. Now it's on my radar again.

I follow a good chunk of canine fitness or rehab pros on FB and other dog sport people sometimes share stuff. I saw this two part webinar series shared a couple weeks ago. Like I said in my comment, I was having a hard time thinking of things that weren't behind a paywall. There seem to be plenty of those. I'm going to guess that's partially the fitness trainers protecting themselves. They don't want people saying they found this exercise plan on the internet and then it injured their dog. Most of them will only work with sound dogs. I think some of the conditioning pros might have a video or post here and there that get a little more specific on their FB, but trying to track them down would be challenging.

Edit: I also feel like I should mentioned that you shouldn't feel like you need to buy all kinds of inflatable equipment. I honestly use board like items the most. I actually picked up a couple of these things (not this exact brand, but same item) after someone posted about them and they get used the most. They happen to be wide enough for Mud to sit on, but not really long enough, so I really should make boards, but we've been making due with what I've got. Any exercise is better than nothing.

[zooophagous]

I've considered reaching out to a professional dog trainer because my dog has some anxiety issues. What is your advice on finding a good one?

You may need to talk to more than one trainer before you find one you vibe with. There are lots of different trainers and training styles and some of them might be distasteful to you or not the right method for your individual dog.

For example, Tuunbaq was trained by a professional trainer who included a prong collar in her tool kit. If I used a prong on Egon, he would probably shut down. Tuunbaq does not seem to actually realize he is wearing one. I would not use this trainer's methods on a soft dog like Egon but a confident and fairly rough and tumble dog like Tuunbaq, who comes from a breed developed for hunting boars on rough terrain, may respond well to it.

Maybe you don't want a trainer who uses aversives like that. That's ok! But you'll need to read their course descriptions carefully to make sure you aren't signing yourself up for something you disagree with.

Read reviews wherever possible and do feel free to write emails asking questions, a decent trainer should be willing and eager to explain their philosophy and methods. Depending on where the unwanted behaviors occur, you may have a trainer come to your home as opposed to taking the dog to a facility. I've done both to have someone assess both dogs. Sometimes a dog that's a hellion at home will be an angel in the facility or vice versa.

I would start by doing one on one sessions instead of paying for a full course so you can see how you get along with the trainer first. I would avoid training programs in big box stores like Petco or Petsmart.