#and so i'm learning about dog

[not-poignant]

I get the impression that there’s some tough times over there so I’m sending all the love and support I can x

There have indeed been some tough times, anon <3

It's just a few things converging all into this year (including my ongoing tumour/cancer surveillance to make sure my head/neck tumours aren't growing or that I don't have any new ones), on top of training an intense little enthusiastic smart puppy who we discovered has pretty serious Separation Anxiety and then instigating slow and tedious separation training which is exhausting (imagine having ADHD and then having to get up every 2 minutes around 10-30 times a day to go to the door to desensitise to it and ask me how your hyperfocus is holding up sadlkfjas).

He's wonderful, but he's also currently in puppy jail (the lounge behind baby gates lmao) because he's just discovered that it's fun to chase our elderly cat, so I think I'm back to having to leash him when we go outside into the back garden.

Tbh between overworking on the writing front for about a year, raising Toby to be a responsible little canine dude, some interpersonal stuff (those three words are doing some real heavy lifting), and some health stuff, the death of my uncle in December (on my Mum's side, and one of the few family members who I was close to), and the state of the entire world right now, I'm just very much done with it all a lot of the time and taking breaks wherever I can get them.

Today is a work day though, I've got some editing on the table, I want to do more Relaxation Training with Toby (I was hoping to do some trick training as well, but instead I'm waiting for his brain to calm down enough that he just disengages from Maybe (miss elderly cat)), I was hoping to cook tonight (we'll see), and the weekend promises to be pretty busy!

Anyway, there are good things too! I'm just... sometimes very sad or depressed or being sucked down a whirling vortex of despair at the moment, and that makes it harder to appreciate the good things. The love and support are so very appreciated anon. I am doing my best, as I suspect we all are! <3

[originalartblog]

I can excuse Dazai not trying to nullify Shibusawa's fog because Fyodor was there, and they really could have just incapacitated Dazai and gone right back to their nefarious plan

but the facts are that Shibusawa was unknowingly keeping himself alive as a singularity and Dazai can nullify singularities, so there was a much less convoluted way to stop him.

[barksbog]

sound on to hear the dangerous attack snorbino!

[welcometogrouchland]

I understand that literature nerd Jason Todd is kind of overblown in fanon compared to it's actual presence in canon (a few issues during his pre (and post?)crisis Robin tenure that highlight it) BUT consider that I think it's hilarious if the unhinged gun toting criminal has strong opinions on poetry

[lostfanboyarts]

Nothing in the world belongs to me But my love mine, all mine, all mine

[fayeandknight]

Just had the cutest interaction while training Forte.

We were working on alternating between casual heeling/llw and fmp with him in harness around the block. We'd come full circle back to the driveway when I spotted a young kid on a bike coming up the road.

I put Forte in a down and planned to reward him as kid and dad passed by. But the kid saw Forte and stopped in front of us while repeatedly pointing out the doggy. (Kid was young, training wheels and dad's hand on the back of his seat.)

I could tell dad was getting uncomfortable because kid would not move on and was very fixated on Forte. So I looked at dad and explained that this dog is learning to be a service dog, which is a special dog who helps people. That this dog loves people but needs to be able to ignore them when he's working so he can focus on the handler. And if they had a few minutes, would they want to help me train him.

Dad relaxed and said yes. So I asked the kid if he could ride around real fast and call to the doggy. If the doggy stayed in his down I'd reward him with a tasty treat. Kid was pumped to do so. After a few minutes I thanked them both for helping me train my dog.

As the kid rode off I could hear him excitedly telling his dad "I helped train a service dog. They're really special dogs ". And dad agreed that he did and that he'd done a good job. Kid proceeded to say "I'm going to tell mom I helped train a service dog. Does she know they're special dogs?" To which dad said mom's going to be impressed because she knows those are special helper dogs and their training is really important.

It was such a wholesome interaction.

[silverskye13]

In which there is a spar.

[kaurwreck]

oh, i figured out aya's skill.

[kangals]

since i forget it's not common knowledge for non-Dog™ people, brief overview of the collie thing and why i was losing my shit:

idk every country, but at least for the American Kennel Club (AKC) and Canadian Kennel Club (CKC), "Collie" refers to a specific breed of dog, most iconic as the breed of "Lassie":

these three dogs are all collies. collies come in two varieties, "rough" (longhair, more common), and "smooth" (shorthair, less common). both rough and smooth collies are considered the same breed, judged to the same standards, and can be born in the same litter, similar to how a black lab and a yellow lab are both labradors. it is equally correct to refer to them as a "rough/smooth collie" or as simply a "collie," as that is their official breed name in the US/Canada. while they used to be extremely popular in the mid-20th century, collies sit at #39 on the AKC breed popularity lists nowadays, making them solidly "somewhat uncommon."

a border collie is a separate and distinct breed of dog. while they share a common ancestor with the collie and are also herding dogs, their appearance, temperament, and herding style are all distinctly different. they can come in many colors, but are most commonly black and white with medium-to-long hair:

while a border collie is a type of collie-dog, in the US they are generally referred to as "borders" or "BCs" rather than just "collies," as "collie" is already the name of a different breed. BCs are more popular than collies nowadays, so most laypeople are more familiar with them than with rough or smooth collies. but given that "collie" already refers to a different breed, in the US/Canada it's not technically correct to also refer to a border collie as simply "collie" (or call them a collie, who cares, i'm not a fucking cop).

however, this gets further muddled depending on which country you're in - for example in the UK and many european countries, there is no breed that's simply called "collie" - Rough Collies and Smooth Collies are two separate breeds, in addition to Border Collies, which are significantly more popular. in the UK, "collie" isn't the name of any specific breed, but most people will use it as shorthand for their BCs. "collie" in the UK and "collie" in the US often mean two different dogs.

and then you also have the bearded collie, again a distinct breed, but much more difficult to mix up due to A) their rarity and B) the fact that they look like walking muppets:

and honorable mention to the shetland sheepdog or "sheltie," which while related to the collie is, again, a separate breed, and most notably is significantly smaller than a collie. if you see a dog that looks like Lassie But Small, it's probably a sheltie.

IN CONCLUSION:

several different recognized breeds of collie-type dogs

only one breed is officially named "Collie" and that's the rough/smooth varieties in the US and Canada (aka "Lassie dog")

ergo, there is only one breed of dog that "collie" actually refers to (in North America at least)

however due to the differences in names between countries and the overall higher popularity of border collies, they and other breeds are sometimes also referred to as "collies"

i own a rough collie and she is very pretty and therefore superior and if you call any other type of dog a collie except for the rough/smooth type you're Wrong.

thank u for coming to my TED talk.

[shiraishi--kanade]

I'm sorry but if I see one (1) more take that says "vbs is the only group divided into pairs" you will see me on the news.

[wardensantoineandevka]

I feel like it says a lot about the relationships between the major institutions of the Trust and the Consectorship's place in it that Spahr's role, the role of any Prime Consector, can be summarized as: show pony, attack dog, scapegoat.

[crossbackpoke-check]

Why I Am Not Coming In To Work Today [abridged], Jess Zimmerman

part one | part two

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I'm on a trip right now but next week when I get home I'm gonna draw Xiao Pingguo and Lan Wunian

Would you do it. Would you do it for them

[woosh-floosh]

comic about the mundanity of intrusive thoughts

[yakny]

"NUNCA APRENDES, PLATITA."