#cage free dog boarding

[doggyville]

Mental Stimulation for Dogs: Why It’s Essential for All Breeds

Did you know that mental stimulation is just as important as physical exercise for your dog’s well-being? Dogs of all breeds and ages need mental challenges to stay happy, healthy, and engaged. In this blog, we explore why mental stimulation is crucial for your canine companion and how it helps reduce boredom, prevent destructive behavior, and improve overall behavior.

Discover fun and easy ways to keep your dog’s mind active, from puzzle toys and treat games to training new commands and exploring new environments. We’ll also share tips for incorporating mental enrichment into your dog’s daily routine, regardless of their energy level or size.

Mental stimulation not only boosts your dog’s cognitive skills but also strengthens your bond as you engage in activities together. Whether it’s solving a food puzzle, playing hide-and-seek, or learning a new trick, these activities help channel your pet’s energy positively.

Unlock the secret to a happier and healthier dog with our expert insights on mental enrichment. Give your furry friend the mental workout they deserve and watch them thrive in every way!

[nbdaccounting]

Exploring the Top Cage-Free Dog Boarding Facilities in Hyderabad

As pet parents, finding the right boarding facility for your furry friend is a top priority, especially when you have to be away for a while. Traditional kennels, with their cages and limited space, often leave dogs stressed and anxious.

Fortunately, cage-free dog boarding facilities offer a more comfortable and home-like environment, allowing your pet to roam freely and interact with other dogs. In Hyderabad, several top-notch cage-free boarding facilities ensure that your dog feels at home while you’re away. Here’s a look at some of the best options available.

The Benefits of Cage-Free Dog Boarding

Before diving into the top facilities, it’s essential to understand why cage-free dog boarding is beneficial. These benefits include:

Reduced Stress: Without the confinement of cages, dogs experience less anxiety and stress, promoting better mental health.

Social Interaction: Dogs can play and socialize with other pets, which is crucial for their overall well-being.

More Exercise: With ample space to run around, dogs get more physical activity, keeping them fit and healthy.

Home-like Environment: Cage-free facilities often mimic a home setting, making the transition smoother for pets used to living indoors.

Key Features of Top Cage-Free Dog Boarding Facilities

1. Spacious Play Areas

A significant advantage of cage-free dog boarding facilities is the availability of large, open spaces where dogs can roam freely. These play areas are designed to provide a stimulating environment with plenty of room for exercise and exploration. Look for facilities that offer both indoor and outdoor spaces to ensure your dog gets enough physical activity regardless of the weather.

2.24/7 Supervision

Ensuring that there is always a trained staff member on hand is crucial for the safety and well-being of your dog. Top facilities provide round-the-clock supervision, ensuring that any issues can be promptly addressed. This constant supervision also allows for regular interaction and playtime, which is vital for a dog's mental and emotional health.

3. Clean and Hygienic Environment

Cleanliness is paramount in any boarding facility. The best dog care facilities maintain high standards of hygiene to prevent the spread of diseases and parasites. Regular cleaning schedules and proper sanitation protocols help ensure a safe environment for all pets. Look for facilities that are well-maintained and have positive reviews regarding their cleanliness.

4. Personalized Care and Attention

Each dog has unique needs and preferences. Top cage-free dog boarding facilities offer personalized care plans tailored to your pet’s specific requirements. This can include special diets, medication administration, and individual attention. Ensure the facility you choose is willing to accommodate your dog’s unique needs.

5. Socialization Opportunities

One of the significant benefits of cage-free dog boarding is the opportunity for socialization. Facilities that encourage interaction among dogs can help improve your pet’s social skills and reduce anxiety. Structured play sessions and group activities can provide a fun and engaging experience for your dog.

Choosing the Best Dog Boarding Facility

When selecting a cage-free dog boarding facility in Hyderabad, consider the following tips:

Visit the Facility: Schedule a tour to see the environment and meet the staff. This will give you a firsthand look at the cleanliness and overall atmosphere.

Check Reviews: Look for reviews and testimonials from other pet owners. This can provide insight into the experiences of others and the quality of care provided.

Ask About Policies: Inquire about their vaccination requirements, daily routines, and emergency protocols. A reputable facility will have clear policies in place to ensure the safety and health of all pets.

Observe Interaction: Pay attention to how the staff interact with the dogs and each other. Friendly and attentive staff are crucial for your dog’s comfort and well-being.

Conclusion

Cage-free dog boarding in Hyderabad provides a superior alternative to traditional kennels, ensuring your pet is happy, healthy, and well-cared for while you’re away. By choosing one of the top dog boarding options, you can enjoy peace of mind knowing your furry friend is in good hands. Whether you’re looking for short-term or long-term boarding, these dog care facilities offer everything your pet needs for a stress-free stay.

[images12345]

Dog Sitting By Ally is the right place for you if you are looking for the Best Cage Free Boarding in Canoga Park. Visit them for more information.

[sarushka-01]

a thought. everyone agrees that sunday’s wings express his emotions more than he’d want to, just like tails of animals (or dragons… staring at dan heng il)

so imagine, sunday boarding the astral express, to see the universe in a new light, to have a fresh perspective on things, to try and change the way he views himself. he lets himself loose a little, his body less stiff as he lets his guard down around the crew (that is, including you). he doesn’t try to smile all the time, doesn’t try to control his body as much as he did in the past, his halo glowing more or less depending on his mood and his wings… twitching from time to time. as the head of the oak family, he had to be composed at all times and never let his facade slip. but now, as just another traveler wondering through the cosmos, he’s free of all the responsibilities. as he grew accustomed to this new life the astral express has offered him, you began to notice tiny changes in his behaviour. those were details, really, but you couldn’t help yourself but smile whenever you looked at him. he seemed more alive, now that he was out of his cage. his eyes look liked two shining suns, instead of cold gold, smile less forced, steps unsure, but more free. and your favourite part; his wings. they would always flutter when he laughed, and you prayed to akivili that he’d never learn about this, only so you could see that sight more often. sometimes, when talking to someone (especially you), that same thing would happen again. and you had to try your best not to crack a laugh, because how could he be so adorable without even realising that? it felt like you were staring at a very cute dog wagging its tail whenever you approached it. another detail you almost missed - his sweet tooth. whenever pom-pom said something about desserts, a spark would ignite in the halovian’s eyes, barely noticeable. every time he’d get a taste of that sweetness he so seemed to love, he’d look like a giddy child. the way he smiled, you just wanted to grab him and kiss his lips. how could someone be so cute and unaware of that charm?

[turbo-virgins]

Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)

The first chapter of my Rook x Solas fic is now up!

This fic spoils one of the endings of Veilguard! You have been warned!!

Word Count: 3,165

Tags: Enemies to Lovers, Slow Burn, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Passive Suicidal Ideation, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, Fade Shenanigans, Forced Proximity

Summary: In which a Dalish Rook and the Dread Wolf himself are forced to navigate the perils of being the world’s shittiest room mates.

Notification tags: @nerdee-blondee

If anyone wants notifications for any update posts I might make here in the future, feel free to say so in the replies of this post!

Snippet of the first chapter is beneath the cut, but you can read the rest on ao3 🥰

Rook is one of the most important pieces on the board, but… she tends to think in straight lines, Varric had said once upon a time.

And that's what it all came down to in the end. One straight path forward that would pass her by in a heartbeat if she didn't take it. There was the tear in the Veil, a god, and the lyrium dagger he was so very desperately trying to rip from her hand.

Solas's magic coiled around her arm, bending muscle and bone to the breaking point. Snarling curses were trapped beneath the cage of her clenched teeth as her fingers threatened to give way. Every inch of her body quivered with exhaustion, all pathetic and mortal and made for sundering under the almighty pull of a god's will. A will Solas wielded not with mercy, but something worse- a grimace of pity.

"I do not wish to fight you, Shivan."

Yet he forced her to stare down the demise of everything she knew and loved, everything she was. So she took the only option left.

She lunged for him.

The force of all his pulling left her weightless. Inhumanly fast. Her shoulder connected with his chest and wrenched the breath from them both. Two pairs of clumsy, scrambling hands fumbled the dagger between them. Somewhere in the chaos it left a gash through the flesh of her palm and sliced across his fingers. She bit back a cry of pain.

There was shouting. So much damn shouting. From her team. From Solas raging and spitting in her ear like a mad dog. All of it was meaningless noise that fell on deaf ears, so far beneath her notice now that she'd made her final choice.

They collided with the Veil and slipped through the loose weave of its magic. Invisible threads anchored to her limbs and began pulling her through to the other side.

She stole one last glance at the sky. All smears of red with black, ominous clouds that seemed to rain flecks of ash. A pity, then, that she couldn't find the sun. Everything vanished in a whirling vortex of blue and green.

Her momentum carried them through and spit them out into a tumbling tangle of limbs on the other side. Dust clogged her nose as she rolled and rolled. When all finally came to a stop, she landed flat on her back and lay breathless atop uneven ground. Above her loomed the gloomy gray skies of the Fade.

Before she could so much as blink a shadow descended upon her. Solas's hand hovered inches from her throat as she was dragged to her feet and slammed with bone-bruising force against a withered tree.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" His shout echoed to every reach of the Fade as her gaze was swallowed up by the stormy rage in his crackling, glowing eyes.

What have you done? What have you done? What have you done? each of the echoes demanded in turn.

"What I-" She gagged and wretched as magic held her throat in a vice. "What I had to," she wheezed. "You left me... no other choice."

With each word the pressure only increased until she was certain any moment she'd hear the sickening squelch of her windpipe finally collapsing upon itself. Black nothingness flooded the edges of her vision until her whole world was reduced to Fen'Harel's bleeding, snarling fury.

He's going to kill me, she realized with weary acceptance. A fair trade, she supposed, for sealing him away for all time.

[taggedmemes]

SENTENCE MEME ⟶ THE WOMBATS / B - Z Sides ( PART ONE ) always feel free to tweak the sentence to fit your muse.

"When I first held your hand, things felt right and in place."

"Why am I so afraid?"

"Remember when I first saw you?"

"If it's alright with you, I think I'll leave soon."

"I think I'll miss you."

"I think I'll love you."

"You were so hard to find."

"What took us so long?"

"The ceiling never looked so interesting."

"Say something to fill the void."

"This window never looked so small."

"My face never looked this disenchanted."

"You made me feel like Brad Pitt."

"I'm black and blue."

"There's no time for me to catch my breath."

"I'm in a cage."

"I think I'm out the game."

"I drink too much because there's not enough of you there."

"There's not enough of you anywhere."

"I've had enough."

"I think too much."

"I've given up on life and death."

"I like it when you're rude."

"I'll try, but I know there's no point."

"I'm not confident enough to play the field like those guys."

"I'm not secure enough to fool around like those guys."

"I've been knocked down."

"My head's in the clouds."

"I just forgot to breathe."

"I'm so scared about that stuff."

"If you've got nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

"She might turn me away."

"Today, I'm gonna make a change."

"The world loves hypocrisy."

"You wreck my mind more and more with each passing day."

"I think you're crazy."

"I think you're rude."

"We don't mean that much."

"I don't need much to make me happy."

"This is love."

"I think I'll go down just to get away."

"In the back of my mind I'm waiting for this to just end up in tears."

"I've just had the craziest week."

"I don't know why I want to voice this out loud."

"It's therapeutic somehow."

"We're not the same."

"I put one foot forward and ended up thirty yards back."

"Am I losing touch or am I just completely off the track."

"Are you gonna screw my head up?"

"You're pretty weird but you're not a psycho."

"I never got so many texts as I did from you last night."

"Is it such a big waste of time?"

"You and I could be so happily screwed."

"You've got selective hearing."

"I'm frankly bored now of your attitude."

"When we speak your eyes are everywhere."

"It's all or nothing for you."

"Take that cigarette out of your mouth."

"Don't you think it's time that we should move on?"

"Everything that meant anything is gone."

"Take my credit cards far away from me."

"I'm not mature enough to keep one little eye on anything."

"You don't call the shots."

"Why am I lacing every single night with doubt."

"I'm Mr. Jealous Man today."

"Don't wanna feel sorry for myself now."

"Let's not get lost in ourselves today."

"I can never be the good guy."

"My car broke down and mirrored both our lives."

"Politics make it so hard for us."

"This war's between two men and four million puppy dogs."

"They don't know it yet, but we both know they're coming between us."

"I can bury my head in the sand just as fast as the next man."

"They say that our strengths should have been growing over time."

"You've gotta see there's something wrong."

"We trudged through winter and spring for this."

"You're pretty desperate to get out of this town."

"Sundays and I are not meant to be."

"It doesn't affect you like it does me."

"I'd be a couch potato all my life."

"Why have you got an array of board games under your arm?"

"What's the point of going somewhere else if you're only going to do exactly what you would be doing at home?"

"Looks like we're both in checkmate now."

"Board games have a double meaning."

"That's your automatic response when everything is going wrong."

"What a happy, clappy fun day."

"This ghost train will derail and crash."

"I got a spot of bad news."

"There's not much you can do if you've got the theme park blues."

"It's just that everything is upside down."

"I'm the one who has the frown."

[sisyphus-speaks]

What do you do with a feral dog?

First, you muzzle it. You slip a cage over that snapping mouth, put away the sharp teeth that threaten to tear at your hand. Perhaps you even file those fangs down. Maybe you put a bit in its mouth to silence its snarls.

After that, you clip its claws. The dog whines as someone holds it back, as you take a file and cutter to its paws. You hold its feet firmly. It's for its own good. You could hurt yourself, you say. You could hurt me, you don't say.

When the dog can't bite or snap or claw, you try to tame it. You teach it to lie at your feet and whimper for a bone a day and a pittance of affection. In exchange for a ratty blanket and a grudging allowance of bed and board, you teach it to guard your home and recognize your enemies. You reward its obeisance with a tightening muzzle and a shrinking plate.

At the end of it all, if the dog remains feral (or maybe it's only wild), you put a leash around its neck, a cage around its body, and walk into a clinic. When you walk out, you only have the leash and cage. Afterwards, you tell anyone who'll listen that you had no other choice. The dog was just too feral. How could you feel safe, with a dangerous beast sleeping at your door ? You couldn't save the dog from itself. If only it were small enough, or more eager to please. Maybe if its teeth were blunter.

This is the foundation on which all systems of oppression are built.

What is the oppressor thinking when he takes away your freedom of choice, of speech, of press? He isn't thinking that you might say something you can't take back. He's thinking that you might say something he can't take back. If you put your words in the right order, his empire and his wealth can fall away in a moment. If you tear off your muzzle and sharpen your claws, if you find a way to feed yourself and bolt out of the clinic on swift feet, he won't be able to remain your beloved master. When you find a way to hold yourself up, he has no more argument that you need his protection. His hollow power crumples like yellowing paper.

Dogs were wild animals once. They once lived under their own power in a free land, chasing rabbits and dipping their snouts in streams. Then they were taught to sleep near a fire and chase game they could not eat, then to eat from a mocking hand, the only portion their master saw fit to give.

And yet, in the dead of night, the people who call dogs pets still feel a shred of fear. Dogs who betray even a sliver of anger are fated for the clinic.

Just like dogs, the oppressors have tried to domesticate us. What are the slums, the finishing schools, the re-education camps, the ‘churches’ that preach hate, or even the classrooms that house our future, but nought more than a dog's rickety garden shed? What else, if not something to point at and enforce as a punishment for disobedience? Just like the dog, once a wild animal, there will always be some of us who bite at the hand that claims to feed us. They can never fully beat us down. One bright morning on some sunny day in time, we'll burst out of our muzzle and cages, and break down the doors of the clinic. Dogs were wild animals. At heart they'll always be feral.

[singswan-springswan]

help I did more

words: 1407

rating: teen and up

warnings: attempted drowning, mentions of kidnapping

read here on ao3| part one | part three | part four | part five

@accidental-spice

Lucy’s memory of the drowning part is a bit fuzzy. She remembers the start and end pretty well. To start, Isabel answered a call at the marina. Something about public drunkenness or nuisance, or a third obscure uncertainty. She shot Lucy a wry smile and said it’d be good practice.

“Crowd control, boot.” She laughed. “We’ll see what you got.”

Lucy hadn’t looked forward to it. The group in question was an unhinged sort of rowdy when they showed up on scene. Their boat was docked. They’d invited her on board for a formal reprimand. She lost track of Isabel somehow. Trouble at the far end of the pier. A man and his kid needed immediate assistance, and Lucy was just wrapping up so it shouldn’t have been a problem.

Then she got tasered. And hogtied. And thrown in an honest-to-God dog crate. She wasn’t sure where the op went sideways, or what exactly she said to piss the partygoers off, but it was golden hour. Rationale took the anchor off portside at this time of day, especially when the booze ran freely. They were probably just anxious to start the fun offshore, and getting a citation before leaving harbor had to have been a real stick in the mud.

Lucy didn’t respond like she should have. She was disoriented, and panicking was such a natural reaction she didn’t think better of it at all. By the time she’d gotten her bearings, they’d smashed her cam and radio to itty bitty pieces. 

Someone asked what they should do with the meddlesome pig on board. Someone suggested they push her off the side. Everyone laughed. So they did just that.

This was the part where things got fuzzy. She remembers trying to scream, but then her head was underwater and she stopped, registering the fact that she’d need to save her air. Not that it made much difference. The cage tilted and slammed against her as it sank. Lucy panicked. She really didn’t mean to, but she was in pain and only halfway coherent, and there was already water up her nose. She lost her sense of direction pretty fast.

Her main mission had been to twist free of the duct tape, but between the burn in her sinuses and the chill of the water, it was difficult to focus on any one point of weakness. There were generous layers of tape on her wrists.

Anyway, she lost track of the time she spent down there. Her arms ached. Her head was pounding from the pressure. She was going to drown at the bottom of a marina before even taking the final exam. It was maddening. And frightening. She did everything wrong in a blind frenzy, wasting her oxygen and such. And the water was dark because the sun was just going down, but she does remember seeing a large shadow take shape through the murk, and she remembers thinking that the only thing worse than drowning in a marina was being eaten by a sea monster after drowning in a marina. 

The details after that are lost on her. Her vision was spotting out by then. There are sensations drifting around the backside of her subconscious, like the sound of metal snapping, and a strong pair of arms maybe. She’s about to give up and inhale saltwater when a stern voice in her ear tells her not to, and she’s so scared and dazed and close to blacking out that she doesn’t register the fact that she’s still underwater and should not in any circumstance be hearing voices at this time.

She loses a handful of seconds, where she must have really dropped limp, because when she blinks again she’s choking on a fist beneath her ribs. There’s a jumble of motion that she can’t interpret. The weightlessness of water scrapes away and gravity settles in. A calloused hand tugs off the gag in her mouth.

Lucy notes that she remembers, later, but now her brain is mush because she’s coughing, spewing up whatever she can’t stand to keep. Salt clings to her lips; she can’t tell if it’s tears or ocean spray. The sensation of tearing plastic runs up her arms as she hacks up her stomach on the cool surface she finds herself occupying, and then her hands are free. She fumbles to brace herself where she’s slumped against something firm and rough—a rock? A kind of boulder?

There’s a presence beside her. Just at her hip, warm and steady, and a hand on her arm like it’s natural. Her brain fills in the gaps. It must be a person, which makes a lot of sense. Someone saved her from drowning, and the humiliation that comes with drowning in that specific way. She’s rasping out a thank-you as soon as the words materialize at the back of her throat. There might be a low response—she can’t hear past another coughing fit—but it’s nice to imagine either way. 

She shoves at her stinging eyes. They’re blurred and raw from the water, possibly the pressure too. It takes a few firm blinks to clear her vision. Every full breath helps bring a bit of color back. 

She’s been dumped on the shore, just past the wall against the docks, easily blocking the whole marina from view, despite its otherwise proximity. The water is close enough to lick her boots. It’s a low shelf of rocks she’s sprawled atop, slick with spray now that the tide is in. Looks like a drop-off. A larger stone brims the surface by her ankles, and there leaning against it is her savior. 

He’s almost fair, with a stern jaw and solid build. Lucy would find his eyes pretty if they didn’t look like shark eyes, piercing and slit-pupiled as they are. But that’s not his most notable feature. Gills carve the length of his neck, feathery fins trace his forearms, and spiny rays fan up through his short hair, where his ears are supposed to hang out. The sight has so jarringly sidestepped what Lucy expected to see that her brain blows an already-shot fuse, and she panics again in the half second it takes her eyes to see him.

She chokes on a squeak and scrambles to get away. Her elbow bangs against a rock and it hurts like it should but it doesn’t break her focus because the pain is of secondary concern. Her voice is high and crazed when she shouts. “What the hell?”

The reaction seems to spook him. He lurches back with a startled expression, slipping on the wave-worn stone. Before Lucy can amend her composure he twists and dives underwater, snapping his lower half up to expedite the exit and… and…

That’s a fish tail.

A silky blue fin smacks the surface less than two meters away, disappearing in a splash of salt that hits Lucy square in the face. She sputters. She gapes and sputters, because what else is she supposed to do?

That was a fish tail. That guy wasn’t human.

Her brain has been abused enough in the last ten minutes; there’s no way she’s wrapping her mind around any of it any time soon.

A merman saved her life. She can tell that much.

It takes five minutes for Isabel to find her, still sitting dumbly on the rocks, a picture-perfect mess. Her hair is unsalvageable, clinging to her neck and the corners of her mouth. There’s still duct tape left in chunks around her wrists. She’s totally soaked; her gun is probably waterlogged. 

“Chen!” Isabel grabs her arm and hauls her up, sounding unusually worried—but Lucy is too shellshocked to be considerate about that. “What happened?”

Lucy manages to swallow. She’s been savoring the way the air tastes, still staring at the spot two meters away. “They assaulted me.” She brandishes her raw wrists. “I—almost drowned.”

Isabel might be giving her one of those signature looks. It’s hard to tell. Lucy doubts that getting kidnapped and almost drowning is the most dramatic thing she’s watched a rookie go through in her days as a TO. This is California. Second craziest scene for law enforcement, after Florida.

But Isabel doesn’t brush Lucy off—instead, her hand turns firm and her voice goes steady. “I can’t leave you alone for five minutes, boot. Come on, shift’s over. We’ll get water police to track them down.”

It’s almost a relief to be dragged away.

[cellspex]

10 Major Changes Fans Miss in Live One Piece

10. Sanji's Curly Eyebrow

Adapting animation is always a challenge given how much animation, especially One Piece, isn't restrained by the rules of reality. While Sanji's curly brow is hardly the most drastic visual change, not only was it his most unique identifying trait, but it would serve as the source of mockery in the frequent squabbles between Sanji and Zoro. Sanji did taunt Zoro with the iconic "Moss Head" in the series, but without his curly eyebrow, Zoro now provokes him by calling him a waiter, which Sanji has stated he never wants to be. (honestly I like this a little better)

9. Shoo Shoo the Dog

There’s a number of changes made to the Straw Hats fight with Buggy the clown, from shifting the location to a circus tent as opposed to running around the town, and we don’t have the impressive physical feat of Zoro carrying Luffy in a heavy cinder block cage while severely injured. But if there's one thing about One Piece that newcomers to the series won’t see coming, its that it has surprisingly devastating backstories, and that isn't limited to its main crew. During the fight they come across a dog named Chou Chou who doesn't move from the stoop of his owner’s pet food store as his owner has passed and he continues to guard it. The dog doesn’t even back down when the pirates pet lion wants to invade the store and gets viciously attacked defending the store in the process. His story greatly touches Luffy who delivered a massive beatdown to the lion. At least the lion was mentioned in passing. 

8. Jango

In Syrup Village, it might have been terrifying enough to fight the Freddy Kruger-esque Kuro as he stalked our crew around Kaya's mansion, but in the original story they had to fight against A LOT more opponents. Not only did Kuro have an entire crew of black cat pirates that the entire crew fought on the beach rather than the house, he had a partner named Jango, the vibrantly-dressed moonwalker who was Kuro’s first mate and technically took over the black cat pirates when Kuro wanted to retire. In fact it leaves a gap in the Netflix show as Jango has the power of hypnotism and used those power to make Axe-Hand Morgan believe Kuro was dead. While Kuro was fighting Luffy and the others, Jango went after Kaya with the goal of getting her to sign over her inheritance to Kuro before he kills her. There is a wanted poster of him on the pirate board in Episode 1. 

7. Sanji shows up a Snooty Customer

Sanji is introduced to the audience through a smooth but badass confrontation. A rich customer orders a fancy wine and describes to his date all the subtleties and flavors the wine, only for Sanji to reveal he switched the wines just to show his date he was a fraud. In retaliation the customer fakes there's something wrong with the soup, and when that doesn't get a rise he smashed the table and all the food on it. This brings out Sanji's berserker side as he breaks the table with his foot telling him to not waste food. This is given context later when he see how as a child, he nearly starved to death when the ship he was working on was shipwrecked. 

Sanji also is much more smitten with Nami as he is stunned and then drawn to her from across the room. In contrast to the Netflix series, Nami flirts back in hopes of getting Sanji to give her free food. 

6. Don Krieg attacks the Baratie

We do see Don Krieg briefly as he gets his fleet gets decimated by Mihawk. However in the manga he had a much bigger role. His crew member Gin that Sanji feeds at the Baratie is only the first one to arrive. Soon after, Don Krieg and the rest of his crew arrive, and they are all close to death due to starvation. Despite warnings Sanji feeds all of them, and after they've all regained their strength, Don Krieg declares he’s taking over the Baratie to take to the Grand Line, and there’s a long battle between his crew and Luffy and Sanji, This is separate from Zoro’s battle with Mihawk, who came to the Baratie to pursue Krieg, not Luffy. 

5. Genzo’s Pinwheel

Technically, the sheriff of Cocoyashi village does have a pinwheel attached to his hat if you freeze frame, but for the purposes of the story it might as well be gone. When Bellemere first adopted Nami and Nojiko, Nami cried when she saw Genzo’s scary face, so he attached a pinwheel to his cap to make her laugh. He still wears it to this day. As the closest person to a father that Nami has, when she replaces the Arlong Pirate tattoo on her arm, the design she picks is inspired by a tangerine for her mother and a pinwheel for Genzo.

4. Hachi the Octopus Fishman

Hachi was one of Arlong’s fishman pirates, but in contrast to other his sinister minions, Hachi was an oblivious and endearing space case, who was ‘accidently’ tricked by Zoro into letting him go. This does not change much in the current story, however Hachi would be a recurring character later and even play a role in one of the biggest upsets of the series. 

4. Zoro calls Nami’s bluff

After getting separated from the others and still wounded from his fight with Mihawk, Zoro is captured by the Arlong pirates. In contrast with the Netflix series where he insists Nami is a lost cause, in the manga Zoro is certain Nami is putting up a front. To prove it, he pushes himself into a nearby pool, and since he is tied up he can’t swim to save himself. Nami quickly dives in to save him, but punches him multiple times and imprisons him to keep up her act. Only a little time later, she unlocks his cell and tells him to get out. 

2. Nami “Killing” Usopp

After saving Zoro puts her under suspicion, Arlong demands Nami show her loyalty to him by killing Usopp who wandered into his camp. Usopp protests she wouldn't do this, but Nami takes a knife and appears to stab Usopp in the stomach and drops him in the ocean. However it was merely a prop knife and berries to simulate blood, so Usopp is able to swim away and tell the others that Nami's betrayal is all an act. 

1. The 4 Straw Hats March to Arlong Park

This is a quick moment that is ALMOST shown, we have the asymmetric shot of all 4 waiting for the call, but it is cut off before they all come together by an attack on Cocoyashi village. The image of the four other Straw Hats walking side by side up the road to Arlong to kick his ass is one of the most iconic shots of the entire first half of One Piece. It is the moment the group of them truly feel like unified crew with a common goal rather than a bunch of individuals that merely followed Luffy onto a boat.

[dog-boarding-with-a-family]

Dog Boarding With A Family provides your dog a family and a home when you are away. A loving family to live and sleep with. This is the best cage free boarding. Yards are fenced. For more information visit the website https://www.dogboardingwithafamily.com/

[doggyville]

The Benefits of Cage-Free Dog Boarding

Dog boarding has evolved significantly over the years, moving away from the traditional cage-based setups to more modern, cage-free environments. This change is driven by a growing understanding of dogs' emotional and psychological needs. Cage-free dog boarding provides numerous benefits for both dogs and their owners. Let’s explore these benefits in detail.

Reduced Stress and Anxiety

Traditional kennels, with their confined spaces and limited interaction, can be stressful for dogs. Cage-free boarding offers a more open environment, reducing the feelings of confinement and isolation. Dogs can roam freely, interact with other dogs, and feel more at ease, leading to lower stress levels.

2. Increased Socialization

Cage-free environments encourage socialization among dogs. They can play, interact, and form bonds with other dogs, which is crucial for their social development. This interaction helps dogs improve their social skills, making them more well-adjusted and less anxious around other dogs in the future.

3. Improved Physical Health

In a cage-free setting, dogs have more space to move around, run, and play. This increased activity level promotes better physical health, helping to prevent obesity and related health issues. Regular exercise also ensures that dogs burn off excess energy, which can lead to better behaviour.

4. Enhanced Mental Stimulation

Cage-free boarding facilities often provide various forms of mental stimulation, such as toys, obstacle courses, and interactive playtime. These activities keep dogs mentally engaged and prevent boredom, which can lead to destructive behaviour. Mental stimulation is as important as physical exercise for a dog’s overall well-being.

5. Better Sleep and Relaxation

Dogs in cage-free environments tend to sleep better because they are less anxious and more comfortable. The freedom to choose their sleeping spots and move around as they wish contributes to more restful and uninterrupted sleep. This rest is vital for maintaining a dog’s health and mood.

6. Personalized Attention

Many cage-free boarding facilities offer a higher staff-to-dog ratio, allowing for more personalized attention and care. Staff members can closely monitor each dog’s behaviour, health, and overall well-being, providing individualized care as needed. This attention ensures that any health or behavioural issues are promptly addressed.

7. Safety and Supervision

While the idea of cage-free boarding might raise safety concerns, reputable facilities have rigorous safety protocols in place. Trained staff members supervise dogs at all times to ensure they play safely and peacefully. Additionally, dogs are usually grouped based on size, temperament, and play style to prevent any conflicts.

8. A Home-Like Environment

Cage-free boarding facilities strive to create a home-like atmosphere, which can ease the transition for dogs used to be free at home. This familiarity helps dogs feel more comfortable and secure during their stay, making the experience more enjoyable for them.

9. Peace of Mind for Owners

Knowing that their pets are in a stress-free, supervised environment gives pet owners peace of mind. They can travel or handle other commitments without worrying about their dogs being confined or stressed. Many facilities also offer regular updates and photos, keeping owners connected with their pets.

Conclusion

Cage-free dog boarding is a modern, humane approach to pet care that prioritizes the emotional, physical, and social well-being of dogs. By providing a more natural and comfortable environment, cage-free facilities ensure that dogs are happier, healthier, and more relaxed during their stay. Whether you’re planning a short trip or a longer vacation, choosing cage-free boarding can make a significant positive difference in your dog's experience.

[wouldntyou-liketoknow]

Update the Letter Board!

(Disclaimer: only one of the characters in this story belongs to me. You can find more information about Azalea here. And if you’d like to learn more about the mob she and Murdock work for, go here.  Caliban will only be mentioned, but my boy still deserves credit. So, for more information about Caliban, go here. Murdock/Murderplier belongs to the Markiplier Cinematic Universe, but if you’re interested in my personal headcanons on him, go here.)

(Trigger Warnings: snakes, descriptions of pain/injury, blood, descriptions of medical procedure, syringes/needles, IV treatment/equipment, poison/venom/toxic chemicals, mentions of illegal business, slight mentions of eating/drinking, strong language. Please let me know if I missed anything.)

Snakes were typically very hard to read. Personalities varied from breed to breed, of course, but reptiles in general just couldn’t really express themselves the same way dogs or cats could. Aside from that, it was impossible for a cold-blooded creature to get warm-fuzzies. 

One could logically assume that a domestic serpent only tolerated its owner; that at most, it’d come to recognize said owner as some strange creature that provided food and shelter for whatever reason.

Well, logic didn’t seem to apply to Cuddles. 

The scarlet kingsnake was slithering up her driftwood perch. She lightly bobbed her head as she tried to lean up towards her owner. Azalea chuckled, lowering her hand into the small enclosure, allowing the snake to eagerly curl around her wrist. 

“Seriously? Your cage has been moved around so much tonight, and you still don’t want some alone time yet?” Azalea, who had just barely returned her pet’s terrarium to its usual place on top of her dresser, asked. The question was sarcastic, but she hadn’t worded it unkindly. 

Cuddles’ only response was to steadily advance along her owner’s arm. She soon came to rest her head on Azalea’s shoulder while the end of her thin tail looped around Azalea’s wrist like an organic bracelet. Azalea smiled, using her free hand to gently run a finger along the serpent’s glossy scales.

She already knew snakes were more intelligent than they were typically given credit for, so Cuddles’ curiosity and willingness to be handled hadn’t been too surprising. No, what had really caught her off-guard was the fact that Cuddles seemed to get actual separation-anxiety on occasion.

Aftertaste followed a perfectly reasonable schedule, but Azalea often stayed in the restaurant hours after closing time (alright, she was technically spending that time beneath the building rather than inside it, but the point still stood). A hitwoman’s work was never quite finished: jobs needed to be discussed, targets needed to be tracked, poisons needed to be studied and mixed and slipped into seemingly-innocent treats. . .

Since being a contract-killer wasn’t the same as being an irresponsible pet-owner, Azalea found herself transporting Cuddles’ terrarium back and forth between her house and her subway-tunnel-den on a semi-regular basis.

Azalea exited her bedroom and ventured downstairs, holding one arm steady for Cuddles. She soon arrived in her kitchen, where washed her hands before searching through the cupboards. She found a shiny kettle, which she filled with water and set on top of the stove. 

It was late, but Azalea was feeling restless. She’d adjusted to the odd, random hours that came with The Pentas Family’s business. She’d learned how to shake off shock like a normal person would a Sunday Morning Hangover. She’d grown familiar with not exactly having peace-of-mind, due to the plans, names, locations, codes, everything she needed to keep memorized for her work. 

In any case, tea had proven itself a surprisingly effective quick-fix. (Then again, maybe that was just an old instinct.)

The water would take some time to boil, so Azalea was about to move to the living room, weighing the benefits of putting a movie on. But she quickly found herself frozen in place.

Her backyard was spacious, and most of that space was taken up by her greenhouse—why buy plant-based poisons when you could just grow and harvest them yourself?—but the kitchen window was wide enough for Azalea to see past it. And as her gaze passed by that window, she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

The houses in this neighborhood were separated by personal fences. Beyond each of those fences, a weed-choked alleyway was commonly used as a shortcut, whether on foot. . .or by car.

Azalea watched as a lone vehicle quietly crept through the alley. The sun had set hours ago, so the machine was partially camouflaged by shadows. Neither its head-lights nor tail-lights were glowing; not a good sign. The fact that the car’s windows were tinted didn’t bode well, either. 

Especially when it slowed to a stop right outside her fence. 

The driver-side door popped open, and a tall figure climbed out. Due to the distance and lack of light, Azalea couldn’t make out any details other than the black clothing the figure was dressed in. The figure approached the fence’s gate, then paused. Paranoia began festering in Azalea’s stomach as she realized that the lock on that gate was probably getting picked right now.

Azalea turned, silently rushing through the living room and up the staircase. She returned to her bedroom, where she gently pried Cuddles from her arm and deposited her back into the terrarium. The snake didn’t resist, but her beady little eyes shone with a surprising amount of worry. 

Azalea then went across the hall to her office. She tugged a chair away from her mahogany desk before dropping to her knees. This house wasn’t connected to the abandoned subway tunnels like Aftertaste and so many other buildings in the city were, but it’d still come with a small crawlspace hidden beneath the carpet of this particular room. Hell, Azalea had found the compartment in question purely by accident. 

And upon that discovery, she’d done what anyone would do: cleaned it up and used it to stash things that most people would be better off not knowing about. (Now, you could claim that, when faced with a surprise crawlspace, you’d either just ignore it or cut it off via replacing the office carpet. But then your parents would’ve raised a frickin’ liar.) 

Azalea combed through rows of neatly-stacked, unassuming boxes that awaited her. She fished out a container made of purple-stained wood and opened it up. In its top half, six syringes were kept in place by velcro strips while six glass vials were carefully nestled in slots on the bottom half.

. . .Well, five syringes and vials right now, as Azalea took the sixth of both sets into her hands. She expertly pulled back the syringe’s plunger and inserted the needle into the vial’s rubber stopper, drawing out the clear, innocent-looking liquid inside.

Azalea’s work didn’t just involve killing—sometimes she was tasked with interrogations and the like. And no matter what kind of assignment she focused on, self-defense was always a must. Thus, she made a habit to collect toxins that, while not fatal, still promised a bad time to whoever’s system they ended up in. 

Now armed with a dosage of platypus venom, Azalea surged back downstairs. She glanced out the kitchen window, making sure to stand in a way that wouldn’t let her be seen from the other side. And then she found herself suddenly halting yet again.

As she’d predicted, the fence gate was now hanging open, and the figure was slowly but surely trekking through her backyard. He’d grown closer, clearly intent on entering Azalea’s house. 

In fact, he was now close enough for Azalea to see a head of raven hair that was almost shoulder-length. She also discovered a pair of circular, black-tinted glasses on his face. Along with a brass pendant hanging from a simple chain around his neck. . .

Azalea’s fear vanished, quickly being replaced by confusion and frustration. She slunk across the kitchen and into the laundry room. She approached her house’s back door, unlocked it, and wrenched it open to whisper-yell, “Murdock?!”

Upon hearing his name, Murdock startled badly, staggering back a little. Despite his spectacles, Azalea could tell he was making eye-contact. A few seconds passed before he awkwardly nodded and resumed his march. 

Azalea raised an eyebrow, stepping aside to let her surprise guest in. “You nearly gave me a heart-attack! If you needed to stop by, you could’ve at least texted me earlier!”

“You think I don’t know that?” Murdock muttered, clearly as exasperated as he was shaken-up. “I had to get here quickly. Couldn’t waste any time sending a message.”

One part of Azalea felt a bit relieved, but that only lasted a few seconds. She knew right away that something was very wrong.

Sure, Murdock was a hitman, and an unexpected visit from a hitman typically wasn’t a sign of anything good. But Murdock was also someone Azalea was familiar with. They’d worked together numerous times; hell, he was the reason she and Caliban had found new lives in The Pentas Family. Aside from that, one of this mob’s laws specifically condemned the act of betrayal. 

No, Azalea knew that she wasn’t in any danger. . .

Murdock was doubled-over, breathing heavily as he trudged across the threshold. His body language was anxious, distressed. Almost like that of an injured animal.

“What’s going on?” She questioned as she closed the door behind Murdock.

“I-I need your help, Aza,” Murdock proclaimed in a low pitch. He had a naturally deep voice, but this was different. His tone was hoarse, and his words were labored. “I need some medicine. I can’t afford to go to the hospital.”

It was then that Azalea noticed three things.

The first was that Murdock wasn’t wearing his leather gloves. (He took them off when he wasn’t focusing on mob business, but he was still decked out in the rest of the attire that he always wore while on the clock.)

The second was that Murdock’s left hand was clamped around the wrist of his right, shakily keeping it in a lowered position.

The third was that the back of Murdock’s right hand was adorned by a dull, reddish-purple splotch. As well as a pair of very distinct puncture wounds. They were small (snake fangs were typically thin, after all) but they’d been stretched out due to the obvious swelling in Murdock’s skin. 

And just like that, the syringe clattered to the floor.

“Oh my God! Hold still, hold still—!” Azalea reached out to tug at Murdock’s black overcoat. She easily pulled the first sleeve off of the hitman’s left arm, but she had to carefully maneuver his right arm out of the second sleeve. The overcoat was left in a crumpled heap on the floor as Azalea put a hand on the small of Murdock’s back, walking him through the kitchen and over to the living room.

“What was it?” She demanded. “What bit you?”

“A diamondback,” Murdock croaked, making an obvious effort to not lean on Azalea for support.

(Rattlesnakes weren’t exactly aquatic creatures, but, like many things, they were more competent at swimming than your mental health would be prepared for. While their preferred habitats were desert areas, they could still be found in seaside environments like the Cove Port Inlets.)

“How much time has passed since it happened?”  

“Erm. . .almost twenty minutes, I think.”

“You think?” Azalea repeated incredulously. 

“Yeah, that’s my best damn guess!” Murdock snarled. “So sorry it’s not a closer estimate. I was more focused on getting here before paralysis set in!”

Azalea couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “Good to know the venom isn’t affecting your brain yet.”

She led Murdock to an armchair sat in one corner. “Here, sit down. Move slowly.”

Murdock nodded, turning around and carefully lowering himself onto plush leather. 

Azalea ran back to the kitchen, rummaging through the drawers until she found a clean hand towel. She held it under the faucet, soaking it in warm water and lathering it with soap, then hurried back to the living room. She knelt down beside the armchair, rolled up the right sleeve of Murdock’s currant-colored turtleneck. She turned his arm so that his palm was facing the ceiling, then spent a moment scrubbing at the bite wound. Murdock hissed in pain, but he didn’t jerk away. 

As soon as Murdock’s hand was a bit more sterile than before, Azalea stood and began jogging away once more. “Don’t move that arm unless I say otherwise!” 

She stopped by the laundry room to chuck the towel into an empty hamper, then raced up the staircase and back into her office. Unlike the cabinet she kept in her subway-tunnel-den, the hidden compartment also happened to store a decent quantity of antidotes and specific painkillers. 

Considering the nature of her work, Azalea hardly ever found herself having to use this stuff. Then again, being unhinged didn’t automatically disqualify one from having foresight. 

Azalea quickly found a larger green box adorned by a small sign, which proclaimed ANTIVENOM in her handwriting. She grabbed it and hurried downstairs, now rushing over to the medicine cabinet in the hallway, where she snatched up another box (this one stark-white), as well as a fresh roll of bandages and some odd-looking, folded-up metallic contraption. 

It was a bit miraculous that Azalea didn’t drop anything as she sprinted back to the living room, setting all of the things in her arms onto the coffee table.

She made yet another trip to the kitchen to wash her hands and, for good measure, donned a pair of fresh latex gloves from a container under the sink. Once she returned to the living room, Azalea wasted no time dressing Murdock’s injured hand in a few layers of gauze. 

With a series of clicks and snaps, she unfolded the metal object, revealing it to be what looked like a coat stand that was apparently collapsible. She opened the white box and fished out the essentials of an Intravenous Infusion procedure. 

Azalea searched through the green box until she found a batch of vials specifically labeled RATTLESNAKE. 

She carefully opened up a clean IV bag, pouring vial after vial of antivenom inside until it was full, then hung it on one of the metal racks at the top of the stand. Next, she unwound a long plastic tube and piped one end of it into the valve at the bottom of the IV bag. At the other end of this tube was a cannula: a small, somewhat cone-shaped object that almost resembled one of those toy syringes that could be found in a child’s pretend-doctor set. 

Unfortunately for Murdock (well, sort of fortunately, considering his predicament), this was not a toy. Azalea took a clean, slender needle from a little package in the white box and loaded it into the cannula. 

As soon as that was done, she produced a purple tourniquet, which she tied around the center of Murdock’s forearm. 

“Augh—what’s the pressure-cuff for? We’re not in a goddamn pharmacy!” Murdock sputtered as Azalea adjusted the tourniquet, undoubtedly making it uncomfortably tight.

“Oh, I’m sorry, would you like to handle this? Because it sure doesn’t seem like you’re in a position to!” Azalea snapped. “If I can’t get this right, then you can’t get the antidote. So do yourself a favor and STOP WHINING!”

Soon enough, a long vein visibly bulged under Murdock’s skin. There; that was the place the needle would have to go.

Azalea quickly poured some rubbing alcohol onto a cotton swab, wiping that patch of flesh clean. Then, she took the cannula into her hand, holding it like she would a syringe at a 30-degree angle to the vein. 

“Brace yourself. This is gonna hurt,” she warned.

And with that, she pushed the needle into Murdock’s forearm, right below the tourniquet. Murdock sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut and grinding his jaw.

A couple seconds passed before Azalea felt something pop against the cannula. She kept it parallel to Murdock’s skin, watching as a few drops of his blood oozed into it. Her hands were a blur as she deftly removed the needle and connected the free end of the IV tube to the cannula. 

Little by little, she fed the tube further into the cannula hub. Once a good portion of the tube was very clearly inside Murdock’s forearm, Azalea tore a few pieces from a spool of medical tape to keep the IV attached to him. She then untied the tourniquet and swabbed at the skin around the injection area yet again. 

After that, she stood and reached up to the IV bag, twisting at it in order to open its interior valve. The antivenom, now actually having somewhere else to go, quickly flowed through the length of the tube. . .and, obviously, into Murdock. 

Azalea quietly took a couple steps back, holding her hands up in a way that suggested the IV set might spontaneously combust. 

The hitman shifted in his seat, no doubt feeling the odd sensation of foreign liquid entering his veins. Azalea knew he was still in pain—hell, he would be for the next several days—but he’d be okay. The cure was actively being guided along his bloodstream. 

For a moment or two, the pair were frozen in silence, slowly peering back and forth between each other and the antivenom in the tube. 

“Is. . .is that all?” Murdock eventually asked. His voice was quieter than it had been earlier, but there was a generous amount of anxiety in his tone. “Is there anything else to do?”

“No,” Azalea replied, shaking her head. “There’s more than one way to deal with a snake-bite, but getting an IV is the most efficient. Recovery’s gonna be rough, but you’ll be fine.”

“A-Alright.” Murdock nodded, some of the tension draining away from his frame.

“Well, I suggest you get comfortable,” Azalea announced. “You’ll need to stay attached to that bag until it’s empty.”

“Let me guess: that’ll take the rest of the night?” Murdock inquired. 

“Most likely. And even after that, it’ll still take a while for the venom inside you to be completely neutralized.”

Murdock was only able to shrug halfway before wincing. “That’s fine. Better than being at my place without any treatment.”

 “Damn right it is.” Azalea hummed in sarcastic agreement. “You owe me at least half of your next payment.”

“Why?” Murdock asked, although his tone of voice made it clear he already had an idea.

“Because I’ve had to use five vials of antivenom on you, and that stuff is not cheap,” Azalea answered. She picked up the aforementioned empty vials and carried them over to a small recycling bin in the kitchen. 

“What if I just found that diamondback and brought it over? You’ve milked snakes before. Plus, you always say antivenoms are kind of like vaccines.” Murdock tilted his head to the side, offering a shit-eating smirk that only lasted a few seconds before his face contorted with discomfort yet again. 

“True,” Azalea admitted, “but I doubt I’d have the time to actually make some antivenom afterwards. Considering I’d have to save your ass again.” 

“. . .That’s fair, I suppose,” Murdock sighed. “Besides, I can already tell you’d be more concerned about the snake.” 

“Yeah, I would,” Azalea snarked. “Because the snake would be an innocent victim of circumstance only trying to defend itself. Meanwhile, you’d just be a moron who screwed around and found out for a second time.”

Murdock huffed at this, but he didn’t really put up an argument. He rested his head against the chair’s back cushion, cringing in irritation. “When I’m up for my next job, we’ll talk,” he murmured. 

“Sounds good,” Azalea replied with a nod. With not much else to do, she went about cleaning up the living room. 

She threw away the used latex gloves away before strolling outside. Quickly and quietly, she crossed her backyard to close the fence gate, then raced back to the laundry room and locked the back door. The weapon she’d abandoned earlier glinted against artificial light. She carefully plucked it off the floor, carrying it and the antivenom box back upstairs. 

The platypus venom was drained back into its vial, the syringe was cleaned, and the boxes Azalea had opened were finally tucked back into the office crawlspace, now lying in wait for another day. 

Azalea stopped by her bedroom, instantly feeling a pair of eyes on her, and a smile finally flickered back on her face as she approached Cuddles’ terrarium. 

“Sorry for the panic,” Azalea announced, gently gathering up her pet and setting her down around her shoulders. “A friend of mine just made a mistake. Everything’s alright now.”

Cuddles always seemed to know when to live up to her name. She happily began cosplaying as a scarf, rubbing her scaly head against Azalea’s collarbone, barely even flinching when the keening distress call of a boiling kettle stabbed into Azalea’s ears. 

Azalea hurried back down to the kitchen, turning off one of the stove’s burners. Steam billowed from the spout while she washed her hands. She then poured herself a cup and fetched a little bag of almond tea from the pantry; clouds of spice colored the hot water as she carried her beverage over to the living room. She immediately noticed how Murdock’s tinted glasses lay askew on the coffee table, suggesting their owner had lightly tossed them onto it. 

As expected, Murdock was waiting for her, trying and failing to ignore how the fingers on his injured arm involuntarily twitched. (Despite all the dramatics he was infamous for, even he knew better than to just rip an IV cord out of his arm.)

At the sound of Azalea’s footsteps, Murdock instinctively glanced in her direction. Azalea glanced right back, tilting her head. Unlike just a few minutes ago, she was able to see her guest’s dark brown eyes. 

The Pentas Family was exceptionally skilled with secrets. One couldn’t simply talk about underground business, after all. When it came to interactions between the mob’s members, however, the Fight Club rule didn’t always have to apply. 

Therefore, anyone who knew Murdock probably also knew about his case of eye-misalignment. 

Specifically speaking, Murdock’s right eye was turned to the right, as though he was looking at something sideways without having to move his head. His left eye could shift around in its socket as intended, but his right eye never followed along. This didn’t render Murdock half-blind, despite how traumatic the accident that had shoved it to the side apparently was.

It was also something that Murdock was adamant on not being self-conscious about. His sunglasses were a memento from one of his earliest jobs; that was his reason for constantly wearing them (when he was doing things on the less-than-legal side of the spectrum, at least. He wore a medical eyepatch while keeping up appearances in normal society.)

And for the most part, this was true. 

“Comfy?” Azalea asked, heading for the plush sofa that stood adjacent to the armchair. She took a seat on the far side of said sofa, not wanting to crowd the hitman.

“Not exactly,” Murdock answered. His face ever-so-slightly fell at the sight of Cuddles. Azalea couldn’t help but smirk, practically able to hear the Red Touch Yellow rhyme echoing between his ears. 

Murdock lightly shook his head, his expression shifting back to a casual one. It was still too late for him to hide the mild panic he’d just felt. 

“That’s a shame.” Azalea shifted on the couch cushions, taking a sip of her tea. “So. What’d you do this time?”

Murdock flinched. Despite its blank screen, the television at the head of the living room suddenly seemed very interesting to him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know exactly what it means. Don’t tell me you think I’d just believe that a rattlesnake attacked you out of nowhere.” 

Murdock rolled his left eye. He was about to petulantly fold his arms across his chest, but the IV tube had other ideas. “Maybe the rattlesnake was being a dick.”

Azalea raised her eyebrows, obviously not convinced. 

Murdock let out a melodramatic sigh, clearly not looking forward to explaining himself. “Y’know that loan shark who’s been renting a place uptown?”

“Of course I do,” Azalea replied.

The Pentas Family had eyes and ears all over the Cove Port Inlets. Whenever something—or someone—new came to the city, at least one member of the mob would be aware. That, in turn, would lead to a report to The Boss, who would then bring all of her subordinates up to speed on the matter. New residents were just typical background characters most of the time, but one could never be too careful. 

It’d been years since The Boss had claimed the Inlets as Pentas territory. And thanks to reputation, protecting turf wasn’t too difficult. Even so, it wasn’t uncommon for pests to try and set up shop in the community. They didn’t pose much of a threat to the mob’s power, and they weren’t as tricky to deal with as organized groups were, but they were still so. Damn. Annoying. 

“I overheard The Boss complaining about him,” Murdock continued. “She’s worried that he’ll start trying to lend to potential clients around here—”

“—and if that happens, our earnings could be damaged when he starts exploiting his borrowers,” Azalea finished, narrowing her eyes in disdain.

(This particular idiot hadn’t exactly tried to weasel his way into a partnership with The Pentas Family, but it was still less than ideal to have him on the loose in the community. Loan sharks in general were just complete scumbags.)

Murdock nodded enthusiastically. “Bingo. Since we can’t really let that happen, I took it upon myself to send the guy a message.” 

Azalea blinked, the focus of her annoyance quickly transitioning from the pest to the man who’d dropped by in the middle of the night for pro-bono medical attention. “And that’s where the diamondback came in, huh?”

Murdock flinched, undoubtedly having seen the shift in his accomplice’s expression. He was already the worst kind of adrenaline-junkie; working with The Boss and being paid to kill was just a bonus on top of that. And yet he still wasn’t immune to the humiliation that came with making stupid mistakes. 

“. . .Yeah,” he finally stated, his voice tired. 

Azalea pointedly raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to continue his story. Sure, she was still kind of pissed off, but schadenfreude was a natural thing in this line of work (and Murdock was damn well aware of that).

Murdock stayed quiet for a long moment. He glanced around Azalea, probably staring at the calendar hanging on the wall behind her, which was currently displaying a picture of a bouquet of roses just above the word February. 

“I went to the department store and bought one of those heart-shaped boxes,” he finally muttered. “I took out the chocolates and. . .well, I remembered you saying something about rattlesnakes nesting in one of the fields by the beach, so. . .”

Azalea clicked her tongue, slowly shaking her head. 

“Murdock.” She set her tea on the coffee table in order to start massaging her temples. “Murdock—look, I appreciate you. You’ve done a lot of things to help out Cal and I. You’re one of the most resourceful people I know. But right here, right now. . .you’re an idiot.”

An indignant squawk emerged from Murdock’s throat. He threw up his hands in a lame gesture, gritting his teeth at the stinging sensation of the IV tube’s protest.

“At least I know the message’ll get across!” He argued. “If the snake bit me, then it’ll probably bite the loan shark! So, if he doesn’t die from the bite, then he’ll run off after he gets treatment; and if he’s stupid enough to stick around, then we’ll just bump him off! One way or another, he’ll be out of our hair soon!”

If there was ever a time for a record to suddenly be scratched. . .

Azalea was about to respond with more sarcasm, but stopped short upon hearing this latest statement. Murdock pursed his lips, realizing too late that he probably should’ve just left that part out. 

“Let me get this straight,” Azalea pronounced. She rose from the sofa, beginning to pace back and forth on the living room carpet. “You went out into a field to try and catch a snake. A venomous snake, remember. And, somehow, despite not having any equipment—”

“Hey, I found a forked stick before I started looking,” Murdock protested.

Azalea, not to be interrupted, gave the hitman a death glare. “—you actually managed to catch that snake. Then, that snake bit you, because OF COURSE IT DID. . .”

She paused, as her brain was still attempting to process this. On one hand, Murdock was a contract-killer: he was professional when he needed to be, but he and lapses-in-judgment were still old friends. On the other hand, Murdock was a grown-ass man who should’ve had a few more shreds of common sense than this.

“. . .and you STILL went through with your little message plan? After you were bitten, you decided NOT to let go of the thing that bit you and run far away from it?!” 

A little voice in the back of Azalea’s head worried about her eyeballs potentially dropping out of her sockets due to how bewildered her expression was.

“You STILL thought it was a good idea to put it in a box?! Not just that, you drove that box over to a secondary location! You did all that BEFORE you made your way over here for the cure?!”

Murdock’s eyes were also currently the size of dinner plates. Although the movement was subtle, there was no mistaking how he shrank back into the armchair. 

He may have clearly been much taller than Azalea, even in a seated position. 

He may have had more than enough experience maiming, mutilating, and murdering his fellow humans for money. 

He may have known that he’d long-since earned Azalea’s trust (and vice-versa). 

But he still knew what Azalea was capable of. And, despite The Pentas Family’s laws, he was still very much aware of that phrase about women being scorned.

“. . .Pretty much,” he eventually murmured. 

Azalea blinked, unable to stop herself from reaching up to pinch at the bridge of her nose. 

“You can’t say I wasn’t dedicated,” Murdock tried.

“No, I can’t,” Azalea admitted. Before Murdock could start thinking he was off the hook, however, she added, “But I can say that you’re a dumbass sometimes.” 

It took no time at all for Murdock’s natural sardonicism to resurface. “I mean, you don’t have to say that, but alright.”

“Have you ever seen that one video of some guy poking and licking a Portuguese Man O’ War?” Azalea inquired. 

“You think I live in a place that doesn’t get WiFi?” Murdock snorted. “How couldn’t I have seen that? It was all over the news.”

Azalea nodded, smiling in an exhausted manner. “Good. That means you know.”

Now having been thoroughly thrown out of the loop, Murdock tilted his head to the side. “What exactly do I kn—”

“The clout-chaser in that video is the only reason why what you did tonight doesn’t qualify as the stupidest, most reckless thing I’ve seen since I started working with you!” Azalea swiftly marched across the living room to give Murdock a surprisingly harsh flick to the forehead. “Thank your lucky stars!”

@sammys-magical-au  @insane4fandoms  @callmegkiddo  @neons-trash-blog   @ayoreneehere  @flamestar456  @inkangeliguess  @safe-hayven  @dleep-deprivation-idk-jelp  @forestcouncil  @themarpsimp @slasher-smash  @sw33tst4rs  @butterboyfly 

[puppyexpressions]

How Do I Find a Dog Groomer?

Choosing a grooming facility based on an ad in the yellow pages or on the Internet is not the best way to select a groomer. Because groomers are not regulated or licensed by any government agency, the skills and experience of groomers can vary greatly.

A good way to start looking for a groomer is by asking for recommendations from friends, veterinary hospitals, boarding facilities, and animal trainers. You can also visit Websites, such as those of the National Dog Groomers Association of America. This organization provides groomers with education and certification and may be able to recommend a groomer in your area. You may also want to consult the Better Business Bureau (bbb.org) to ensure that no complaints have been lodged against a grooming facility that you are considering.

What Kind of Grooming Facility Is Best?

First, decide whether you would prefer to take your pet to a grooming facility or to have a mobile groomer come to your home. In general, mobile groomers charge a little more for convenience.

Before taking your pet for grooming, stop by the facility during regular business hours to see the facility and watch the groomer(s) in action. Ensure that the facility is clean and well-ventilated and that the cages look comfortable. If possible, watch the groomer(s) as he or she grooms pets, noting whether the pets are handled gently and appear stressed. If the facility uses heat-producing dryers, ask how the staff ensures that pets are not burned or overheated.

Ask about the facility’s health policy. If it doesn’t require proof of vaccination, it is in your pet’s best interest to go elsewhere. Ask about the policy on accepting sick pets. For example, coughing dogs may carry a contagious disease that can spread to your dog. For references, you may ask the facility for contact information of current clients.

What Services Should Be Included in Grooming?

It’s important to discuss what is included with the grooming fee. Most facilities offer bathing, drying, brushing, clipping, ear cleaning, and nail trimming. In most cases, there is an additional fee for animals that are severely matted or need additional shaving. If your pet has skin allergies, consider taking your own hypoallergenic shampoo to the groomer to avoid skin flare-ups.

Some services should only be performed by a veterinarian. Proper dental cleanings should be done while a pet is under general anesthesia to allow a veterinary professional to remove plaque and tartar from beneath the gum line with minimal stress to the patient. In addition, only a veterinarian should empty anal glands. If your pet has frequent ear infections, ask your veterinarian whether a groomer should pluck ear hair. Pets requiring any kind of tranquilizer or sedative, such as cats that are severely matted, should be groomed at a veterinary facility where they can be closely monitored.

How Can I Make Grooming a Positive Experience for My Pet?

If your pet will require a lot of grooming throughout his or her life, start familiarizing your pet with the grooming facility when he or she is young. At home, try to brush your pet and handle his or her paws on a daily basis. The more comfortable your pet is with being handled, the more tolerant and stress-free he or she will be at the groomer.

[the-firebird69]

Reactions are varied mostly they look a little bit horrified and scared and start looking around the room saying I don't really believe this it's a horrible car it doesn't handle in any way and you show them the Corvette and the g r u l l o n and I scream this is wrong and he says no it's wrong to bastardize a Corvette for no good reason all those regular sedans can be turned into a supercar it'll be faster than the Corvette especially with the same motor I can make it faster with a smaller motor and they start saying why is this and they looked into it and said that people have some numbers on it and it's true so we started to say we're going to make these and they said no no you can't. And we said why and they said we have memories almost crashing and all sorts of weird stuff and so our son says okay okay so what you want to say is this is not a dog it's more like some sort of roadkill and they say we call it something it's not a dog it's more like a half dead dog okay so we can make a motor club name the half dead dog and really this car is going to kick ass you get out there and there's only like 20% of the supercars can beat you and they all cost over $2 million dollars and they said no way we got to get on board and that's the whole point of finding a half dead dog that works and the frame on this or the it's sturdy and you don't need the panels which just are heavy and you add a roll cage in a frame and it's aluminum it's a steel alloy and it doesn't have aluminum is not true but it's not flammable and it doesn't bend it's a lot lighter and when you combine them it's very strong and they said okay it's metallurgy we're talking about but it's a dream like a Volkswagen you driving around it's bouncing around like the fiesta it bounces off the road a little even though it has four wheel independent suspension we're going to keep and with new suspension but the same configuration almost it's high performance and they said hooray and it's cheap and it's good and they said hooray and you keep the motor which is front wheel drive and a new exhaust which will free it up and super cool it with a kit and they said hooray but the thing is is front wheel drive so it's snow and rain and mud and with a hydraulic suspension we're going to offer as an ad it's not too much you can raise it up three or four inches and go over the speed bumps and other things and they said hooray and yeah you can put Uncle Phil and a couple of you others in the trunk if you need to hide and they said hooray that's where we have to do that a lot. And seriously that would work and it'll be like a fake engine look at each other and saying he's going to turn our fiesta into a party and this thing all sorts of things you should hear the Lions but you should have seen their faces they're in shock and they said no and it started thinking it's kind of heavy and with all that stuff you have in there in the top the top of it off it probably is light they sort of figured a little bit out they figured it'd probably work but we're going to go ahead and try and get it going

Thor Freya

We really love the Dead dog club it's an auto club and you have jackets and all sorts of stuff and it would be this jacked up supercar with doing a burnout and it would be the car I love it I think that people should make a shirt or jackets and everything so he loves it too because people wonder why says dead dog and they don't want to say it but okay it's really nice

Hera

Yeah we call certain people dogs and really this is an awesome idea and I think I might start investing in it and trying to get some time in I do understand what it is it probably will kick off a problem and we're seeing it too people who try getting punished and I want to try it and the way you laid it out is we're going to be doing it and getting parts and stuff and they're going to manage it and I like that I liked it it's going to be like Disney or something but done right and designed right and the system would be nice and clean and simple and just rack it like at home Depot and you drop it down and fill it up and drop it down and trucks are just come up and drop off stuff it's really nice it's all going to be created and that's the way to do it and you know this is a dream come true we need something like this and it's going to look awesome and it'll be fast as hell I said it look like a Ferrari more or less and it's true too I can't wait

Uncle Phil

So slightly different look than a Ferrari it's more aggressive but it really really is very hot it's going to be awesome

Frank Castle hardcastle

We got to get him going and it's the shower and he has to go to rest now so sleep and I'm wearing this later on

Good looking Blockbuster Duke Nukem

Olympus

[capitolcanineclub]

Dog Boarding Service in McLean VA

Capitol Canine Club offers a comprehensive Dog Boarding Service designed to provide a safe, fun, and comfortable environment for your pet. Here are some key features of our dog boarding service:

Key Features of Dog Boarding at Capitol Canine Club:

Cage-Free Environment: Dogs are not kept in cages; instead, they enjoy a spacious, supervised play area where they can socialize and play with other dogs.

Supervised Play: Trained staff members supervise all play activities to ensure safety and positive interactions among dogs.

Daily Schedule: The boarding experience includes structured daily schedules with playtime, walks, and rest periods. This helps keep dogs engaged and comfortable.

Group Play: Dogs are grouped by temperament, size, and energy level to ensure that they have compatible playmates, promoting a positive social experience.

Trained Staff: The staff is trained in dog behavior and care, ensuring that your pet receives the attention and care they need during their stay.

Additional Services: Capitol Canine Club also offers grooming and training services, which can be scheduled during your dog's stay.

Comfort and Care: The facility is designed to be a home away from home, with comfortable accommodations and plenty of activities to keep dogs happy and engaged.

Booking and Reservations:

To book a boarding stay for your dog, you can visit our website or contact us directly for availability and to discuss any specific needs your pet may have.

[southparkdoggielax]

Choose Dog Boarding Los Angeles For Your Pet's Staycation

Do you need a place to leave your beloved pet while you're on vacation? See what Dog Boarding Los Angeles has to offer. Our cage-free boarding and daycare facilities and full-service spa provide everything your dog could want while you're gone, including baths, grooming, and more. Our first-rate facility has qualified staff on call around the clock, so you can relax knowing your cherished pet will be in good hands. Your dog will have a great time here, meet new friends, and learn valuable social skills!