#or someone who works in pet care like a kennel.

[wwerewwolves]

HELPPPP MY BOYFRIEND WANTS TO OWN A DOODLE.

[despazito]

You're not being a dick! The dog world can be very convoluted.

Most reputable breeders show their dogs, and honestly it's a red flag if your breeder doesn't do any kind of activities with their animals (doesn't necessarily have to be conformation showing, can be any work/sports or obedience eventing).

Usually most of their puppies will go to pet homes, and breeders occasionally pick puppies they really like for showing/breeding prospects or opt to co-own with somebody who will show the dog under the kennel's name. The amount of puppies per litter who have showing potential can depend on how successful the parents are in the ring and how sought after the bloodlines are, but even if they look right they have to have a good temperament to be handled in the ring, and it's not uncommon for pups to fail that training and just become pets. There really shouldn't be a drastic range in soundness between show and pet quality puppies within the same litter or kennel. Most pups do end up in pet homes, and all show dogs are also beloved pets that are often extremely spoiled and doted on!

All these puppies will receive the same care and upbringing show quality or not, although I will say there are instances of puppies being put to sleep for being born without signature breed traits such as ridgeless Rhodesian ridgebacks, but nowadays that's a fringe minority. A good breeder will want all their puppies going to good homes regardless of showdog potential where they will all hopefully have the best QOL.

As for being "better off" if they're closer to the breed standard, that really depends on the standard! Most standards are fine, but here's an illustration of an ideal English bulldog from the American EB club:

imo a dog bred away from this standard to have a longer snout and less bulkiness that has a lower likelihood of developing brachycephalic obstructive airway syndrome, a condition which hinders QOL, would be 'better' than one bred closer to standard. This is why I'm cautious of the assumption that breeding to standard=breeding to health, because a handful of standards straight up encourage unhealthy traits..

That being said, someone not breeding to standard and not showing their dogs really should have solid reasoning and an explanation of their goals as a breeder. Because folks who simply "want to breed pets" with random dogs are almost always backyard breeders who breed unsound dogs with dubious temperaments. If they aren't producing working dogs or have extensive history with dogs and are working on, say, an outcross project or trying to solve a health issue within their breed that involves straying from the standard I would be weary of them (and an intensively researched outcross project is not the same as simply breeding doodles, the breeder should have a rigorous health testing scheme for the parents and choose the cross based on more than just how cute the puppies will look and the catchiness of the designer name. if it sounds like they're pulling something out of their ass to justify the breeding, i would leave).

in theory, getting a puppy from titled showdog parents should be an assurance of quality. it shows the parents are even tempered enough to perform in a show ring with many other intact dogs and be handled and touched all over by the judges without any aggression (very green flag if you're looking into serious breeds known for being temperamental). but not all clubs imo have strict enough health screening policies, so sadly a champion parent is not an automatic guarantee that your pup is free of inheritable disease, some of which can be sadly quite nasty. in the very worst cases a breeder can even ignore their dogs hereditary issues because the dog is very pretty and wins ribbons, and you can't always count on club authorities to pull poorly dogs from the ring. this is why i think there needs to be more veterinary involvement in conformation judging and non-optional screenings to enter based on common health issues seen in the breed. you'd be surprised how lax some health screening criteria can be even in the highest rungs of conformation.

in conclusion, it really depends on the breed and the breeder. the best thing you can do is your own research, get familiar with common health issues in your desired breed, and ask your prospective breeder if they've done the proper testing. ask ask ask. a good breeder should be proud of their kennel and bloodlines, if they're cagey run away!!

[nicksbestie]

Kittens - M. Sturniolo

Summary : One specific person becomes a regular at the animal shelter you work at, always visiting the cats <3

Warnings : mentions of anxiety but nothing graphic!

Word Count : 1614

Pairing : Matt Sturniolo/Reader

A/N : i'm a sucker for baby animals and matt <3 maybe there will be a part two for this?

You have always been an animal lover.

You’d grown up in a house full of pets, so really, it was no surprise that you had ended up working in an animal shelter, taking care of all of the pets there until they found a loving home. You worked at a no-kill shelter, and you were grateful for that, because there was no way you could get attached and then have to watch them die simply because nobody had chosen them yet. You worked there because you couldn’t take them all home with you, so you would spend a ton of time with them at the shelter to show them all of the love you wished you could give them forever. You couldn’t lie, sometimes your job broke your heart, for a multitude of reasons. 

Sometimes it was because you got attached to the animals, and then they got adopted. You were of course so happy that they got a loving family, but you did wish that you could be there for them, so it was a bittersweet feeling. Other times, you watched adoption paper after adoption paper fall through, and perfectly loving animals stayed in their kennels or were returned by families who had changed their minds. Even worse was when you saw the strays and abused animals come in, mangled and dirty, sometimes badly injured, and you hated the way they flinched away from you out of fear. You always made sure to show extra love to those ones, to let them know that regardless of what had happened they were in a safe place now, even though it wasn’t a luxurious home. 

You loved getting a chance to turn these animals' lives around, to make them feel better and redirect them to a family or person that would love them for the rest of their life, and you loved how many other people showed up for them as well. There were often people who came in to donate food, toys, leashes, or even just money, knowing that they didn’t want to adopt an animal or didn’t have the capacity to take one in, but still wanted to make a difference, regardless of how small. Every donation was always appreciated so much, and really did go to very helpful results. There were also the groups of friends that came in, the occasional birthday party for some younger kids who love puppies, and those often ended in an adoption or two, which warmed your heart.

And then there were the regulars. The people who couldn’t take any animals home, but loved them too much to not come visit them. The people who were there just as often as the workers were, nearly every day, who formed bonds with the younger and older dogs, and brought the shyer ones out of their shell. You were so grateful for the regulars because they really did help in forming trust between the animals and the humans. It helped with their socialization a great deal, and it had positive effects on the animals. The only thing that occasionally wasn’t great about it was that these animals would get attached to them, and be incredibly sad when they left, or when someone else took them home, but they always ended up okay in the long run. 

The workers also connected with the regulars, and some of them even joined the volunteer group, which was a great help because there was always something to do there. It was nice to have extra pairs of hands every now and then, especially when they were always willing to do something to better the lives of the animals they loved enough to come visit multiple times a week. You knew all of the current regulars by name, but you had noticed one boy who kept coming often enough that it seemed like he was going to become a regular. And you had yet to learn his name. 

He didn’t come every day like most of the regulars did, but he was here a lot. A little too often to just be popping by. He showed up every Wednesday and Friday, normally in the afternoon, and stayed until closing. He spent most of his time with the kittens, and it was heartwarming to see someone bond with all of the new babies. New kittens came into the shelter more often than people thought, as a lot of people abandoned kittens or pregnant cats because they had become too expensive or too much work to take care of. It was just that a lot of the kittens weren’t out to the available adoption areas because they needed medical testing, checkups, vaccines, and a lot of extra care. A lot of immediate human interaction paired with a weak immune system could be a threat to their health.

On the days that there weren’t kittens out, because they did get adopted very quickly, this boy would go see the puppies first. He seemed to be a cat lover, but he also seemed to like the younger animals, like most people. If there weren’t a lot, or they were playing with other people, he would find an older animal, whether that be a cat or dog, and spend the rest of his time with them. One thing you noticed was that it didn’t matter what he was doing with the pet. The pet could be ignoring him, too anxious or shy, (you noticed he always sat with the fearful ones), and he would simply sit with it and wait, offering treats, pets, and if they didn’t want to sit next to him, he would scroll on his phone and let them come to him. He seemed to have a special connection with the vulnerable pets, and you wondered what that said about him.

The biggest thing that you noticed about him was that he never smiled when he was coming in. He would wave, look up, nod, something like that, acknowledge the people at the front desk being there. Sometimes you were the one checking people in, but he never smiled. Not until he was sitting down with an animal in a short vicinity of him, and you noticed that he smiled the biggest when he was sitting on the floor with a pet in his lap. He never smiled when he was walking in, because sometimes you could see him getting out of his car, never as he was checking in, but he did as soon as he was with an animal, and he always left looking a lot lighter than when he came in. He always left the building smiling. 

He had come in for three weeks in a row before you ever said a word to him, and the first thing you said to him was a simple “Welcome back.” He snapped his head up at this, looking confused, as if he hadn’t realized that he had been perceived coming in so often. And maybe by most of the employees, he hadn’t been, but you made it a habit to notice people, even the people who looked like they didn’t want to be noticed. He gave you his usual nod, before moving towards the door to the Cat Cottages. Unfortunately, that day, the kittens had been moved to a different room so that the normal room could be deep cleaned, so you let your coworker cover the front desk and followed him, tapping him on the shoulder just as he reached the door to the cat rooms. He spun around, a seemingly shocked look on his face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you! I just wanted you to know that the cats have been moved today.”

He looked confused, simply staring at you blankly. 

“Sorry. I was just telling you because you always go to the cats first, so I figured I would save you having to turn around.”

He was still blankly staring at you but this time he spoke.

“You noticed I always go to the cats first.” 

You nodded, listening.

“Yes. I do. You always come here first.” 

“I didn’t think you’d noticed. I mean, I notice you when I come in, but I always assumed that you saw so many people per day that you didn’t have time to notice anyone else.”

You smiled brightly at him, hoping to help him feel more comfortable.

“I always notice our regulars.”

“Do I qualify as a regular?” 

 “You show up on the same two days every week, always in the afternoon, for the past month and a half. I think that falls under regular territory. Now, would you like me to show you where the cats are today?” 

He broke a smile for the first time, the first time you’d ever seen him smile before getting to visit with the cats.

“Yes, please.”

As you walked down the hallway to the holding room that the cats were in today, you learned that the boy’s name was Matt, and he opened up a little bit to you. He told you that he came to visit with the animals because they help a lot with his anxiety.

“They really seem to bond with you. It seems like they really do love you. You have one of those souls.” 

He laughed, sitting down and smiling as a kitten stepped into his lap, pushing its head into his hands.

“You can tell what kind of soul I have?” 

“I don’t need to know you well to know that.”

As you motioned to the animals surrounding you both, you smiled at him, and he smiled right back up.

“Their judgment tells me everything I need to know.”

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[louloulemons-posts]

congratulations on 1k!!! could u do prompt 30 adopting a pet for eddie munson?? 🖤🖤

thank you for the request 🫶🏻

1k celebration prompts list

30 : ‘adopting a pet together’

W/Eddie Munson

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

you and eddie had been living together for a while now, you apartment had become home very quickly for the both of you.

everyday life together was something you easy jumped into, not having any bumps in the road - it just worked.

but sometimes it got lonely, you’d be out at work and eddie would be alone, or vice versa. and then there were times where you’d lay together and thing - wouldn’t it be great to have a dog lay with us too.

so you had decided on it, to go to the shelter, it was christmas time and you knew a lot of dogs needed a home, especially now.

walking hand in hand to the shelter, you smiled up at eddie as he opened the door for you, letting you duck under his arm.

“hi, how can i help you?” a woman smiled from behind the counter.

you returned the greeting with a smile, “we were hoping to have a look at your dogs.”

“you’re planning to adopt?”

“mhm, we are,” eddie nodded.

“great, have you got any ideas in mind. age, temperament, breed?”

“we were wondering if we can see the dogs you’ve had here the longest?” you said.

a grin broke into the woman’s face, “that’s very kind of you, i know who to take you too.”

leading you through a door you saw a few rows of kennels, yapping and barking coming from inside.

you and eddie chuckled seeing a small boy and his parents playing with a young labrador pup.

“she’s just down here.”

“how longs she been here?” eddie asked.

“around four months, we’re actually getting to the point where a staff member will have to take her or, the other option.”

you frowned, “poor baby.”

“is there a reason people won’t take her?” eddie asked.

“well, yes. it’s the way she looks more than anything. speaking on which, this is echo.”

looking in the kennel your heart melted, there sat a golden brown pit bull. a long scar of an old gash across her nose.

the woman nodded towards her, “people see that and think she must be vicious. we rescued her from some not very nice people.”

you nodded, and eddie spoke up, “could we meet her?”

“of course.” the kennel was unlocked and you and eddie went inside, being quiet not to startled her.

“hi pretty girl,” you cooed, offering your hand for her to sniff. she did so, tail wagging like a helicopter, eddie followed your actions, the pup had a smile like expression.

the pair of you sat down near the dog, allowing her to come over to you. she did so with ease.

“how old is she?” you asked, giving echo a fuss.

“we’ve estimated around 3 years old, she’s neutered and has had all her vaccines. she’s probably not the best for a home with another dog, just because of past experience

“she struggles being cooped up with them for long periods of time - she’s okay outdoors, it’s just when she feels trapped.”

“that’s okay, she’d been our first dog,” eddie said.

you smiled, echo basically climbing into your lap, head resting on your shoulder, having a good sniff at eddie.

“oh eds,” you said, wrapping your arms around her.

“she’s perfect right?”

“she really is.”

“would it be possible for us to adopt her?” eddie asked, the woman couldn’t stop beaming.

“of course, we have a lead and harness for you to take for her. leaflets for care at the front, i’ll need you to fill out some paperwork.”

you nodded egarly, the lady called over another member of staff, “could you please get echo ready to go home?”

the smile they gave each other was contagious, “of course i can, i’m so glad someone’s finally giving her a chance. come on sweet girl let’s get you ready.”

echo let out a sweet bark, allowing you and eddie to get up, whining slightly when you exited her kennel.

“we’ll see you soon sweetheart,” eddie comforted, giving her a pat on the head.

“if you follow me back to the desk,” the woman said, leading the way back through the kennels.

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

the paperwork had been filled out and you’d grabbed so many leaflets so you could head to the store.

now you were just waiting for your girl, and with a small bark you knew she was on her way.

her tail was wagging like crazy her body was in a deep purple harness with matching lead.

you’d learned she was well trained too, didn’t bite, chew things she shouldn’t, potty trained, knew basic commands.

with a pull and bark she ran towards you, “hi pretty girl,” you smiled, kissing her snout, “you ready to go home?”

she was so excited , her whole body wiggling happily.

“i think that’s a yes babe,” eddie laughed.

“well let’s get our girl home.”

~ / / / * \ \ \ ~

and that’s how your evenings went, lay in between eddies legs on the sofa, echo’s head lay on your stomach.

your hand lazily rubbing her back, eddie doing the same, your other hands linking.

this was the life.

[reidsbookclub]

comfort fic for spencer reid x badass!reader watching one of those ASPCA-like commercials and spencer looks over and reader is BAWLING and he is so confused and yet wants to comfort r. maybe he promises to take her to the shelter the next day or something 👀? thank you <3

2 + 1 = 4?

AN: I’m sorry if this feels rushed. Also yes I know theoretically it’s virtually impossible for it to be the same cat but work with me here please I tried to make the timeline work since this is S1- S2 Spencer

Spencer was in awe of the sight before him here she was crying her eyes out, one would think something terrible and life threatening had happened but no, it was a commercial. Here she was, the person who Spencer had seen just a night earlier take down an unsub all by herself , crying her eyes out because the local shelter would be closing.

“Sunshine? Sunshine someone will adopt them it’s going to be ok” he said in a low whisper trying to calm her down

“But—but what if they don’t? What’s going to happen to them Spence? Will they be homeless—or worse?” She replied in between sobs.

“Ok what if instead of sleeping in tomorrow we wake up early and I’ll take you to the shelter. We can adopt one together—we we have been talking about expanding our little family after all” he said blushing to which looming up at him with excitement in her eyes she responded “now let’s go right now”

Spencer was amused at her child-like excitement “sunshine we can’t it’s 3:30 am” he said giggling.

•

She was the first to wake up, making sure to be ready by the time a half-asleep Spencer finished his coffee.

The ride to the shelter consisted of an excited Y/N screaming Taylor Swift and an wonderstruck Spencer taking in the view from the passenger side.

“I think we should get a puppy” she said, “a big fluffy one with a brown patch in his eye”

“That’s specific” Spencer muttered, and continued looking at our the widow, “ I was thinking more in the likes of a caramel colored bunny”

“But babe,” she replied, “bunny would be too much to take care of”

“And a puppy won’t?” He said chuckling.

They spent the whole 45 min drive talking about what animal they would adopt.

Once inside the shelter they passed a an African Grey parrot called Buckley, he used to belong to an elderly couple and would scream “spank me!” Every time someone passed. Spencer couldn’t help but be startled at the parrot shaking his head immediately.

As they approached the dog kennels Spencer could tell she was begins to feel discouraged not finding a pet that she felt connected to. It all changed when they stopped at the last kennel she saw a white and light grey fur Ragdoll cat. “Can we please see this one?” She asked the shelter volunteer.

They were both amazed at how the cat, whose name they learned was Dusty, walked right up to them and began asking for head and tummy scratches. “What’s her story?” Spencer looked up towards the volunteer. Who answer in a whisper, almost as if he didn’t want Dusty to hear and be reminded of it, “Dusty was abandoned two blocks away from here, she hadn’t eaten anything in a while it seemed like due to how skinny she was. But she never lost her friendly personality”

Spencer looked from the volunteer towards y/n and knew just by the look in her eyes that Dusty would be coming home with them. “Spence, babe I want her. Let’s take her home with us.”

“How soon can we take her?” Spencer asked the volunteer who scratched the back of his neck nervously, “well you see I don’t think you’ll want her..maybe how about…” but as he was looking for another cat to show them Spencer asked, “why not her”

“Well she got attached to another cat we have here at the shelter, a Chartreux, we wouldn’t want them separated but we also won’t pressure you to take both since the Chartreux, has been through a rough time. He is actually nameless at the moment which is sad because he’s a senior cat but his previous owner was brutal so much so he is blind in one eye.”

“Can we see him?” Spencer asked.

“Sure, he’s being checked by the shelter’s vet as we speak follow me”

The minute they saw the second cat from the window Spencer and Y/N knew that he would be going home with them and without looking at Y/N for confirmation he spoke loudly, “we’ll take them. Both of them.”

“Let me go tell the vet then”

As they were waiting Spencer couldn’t help but feel drawn to the Chartreux cat he hadn’t taken his eyes off

“You ok Spence? You seem spaced out babe.”

“He reminds me of Reginald”

“Who?”

A spaced out Spencer replied in a sad and nostalgic manner “He was my mom’s cat. She had him since he was a kitten, I was 8-9. I would call him Reggie, he was exactly like this cat but he wasn’t blind in one eye. I used to take care of him when my mom was first institutionalized. During my first year of college my roommate left the door open and Reginald left, he never came back.”

“Spence?” She asked, “was Reggie microchipped?”

“I don’t know”

“Excuse me?” Y/N said knocking on the window that overlooked the vets clinic station

“Yes?”

“Is either cat microchipped? We just don’t want any trouble if they are”

“Dusty isn’t but Im not sure about this one he’s been here since before I was working at this shelter, let me see” the vet replied.

“I’m sorry it looks like this cat is microchipped it belongs to a Diana Reid from Las V…”

“Las Vegas, Nevada address 42 Wallaby Way Apt 13B—she’s my mom. OMG Reggie is alive” Spencer interrupted. “I lost him my freshman year of college and he’s here in DC. How? Oh Reggie!”

The drive home consisted of Spencer telling Reginald everything he had lived through and for a split second she could see specks of child-like happiness in Spencer and with a job like theirs, that was the same as if she had won the lottery.

That night their bed felt smaller with two cats sound asleep by the end of the bed, using their feet as pillows but for the first time in the year they’d been together Spencer’s cold feet pressed on top of hers weren’t and issue.

•

Taglist

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[chalkrevelations]

OK. OK OK OK.

So, yes, the importance of Vegas telling Pete during that final hospital scene that Pete isn’t his pet, he’s the most important person in Vegas’ life is obvious. But I’ve been talking to @lu-sn and @minorfamilysupremacy about some of this, and new implications and layers of that KEEP hitting me. Bear with me a minute, because I’m trying to organize my thoughts and get them down before they get away. Back here, I talked about how Vegas’s question of whether “someone else” can feed Pete isn’t theoretical, it’s really about Kinn. And then the statement in the hospital, this “you’re the most important person in my life” is, in some ways, ALSO about Kinn, and about the main family, and about Pete’s relationship to them vs. his relationship to Vegas, and about the choices Pete’s made to stay with, and then to leave, and then to stay with Vegas.

So, from the beginning, Vegas calls Pete a dog because he is a dog for the main family. That’s the level of respect and care he gets from them. He’s a working dog, so he’s kept in good shape, and he’s a loyal hound, the way dogs can be. Even as he resigns, he tells Korn that he’ll always love the main family and feel loyalty to them (and excavating how much truth is there, and how long it’ll last in the face of Korn’s inevitable machinations of Vegas is a whole other question ...). But he is unquestionably there for the service of family members, to be used as a tool however they want to use him. We see Pete serve with loyalty and equanimity and even some surface pleasure in some of his duties, but underneath it all, we finally learn - after Vegas cracks that tailored bodyguard armor open and pulls Pete apart just as surely as he pulled apart any of his torture victims, to look at his soft squishy insides, to look at his heart, to look at his soul, to see who Pete really is under the dog collar bodyguard suit and routine the main family keeps him in (kind of just a different level of the kennel bedroom Vegas keeps him in with a dog bowl to eat out of) - we learn that Pete gets no real satisfaction from any of this, that he lives his life feeling empty and useless. So empty and useless that once he has someone see him for who he really is and treat him like an actual person and then has that snatched back out of his grasp by Vegas’s trauma responses and abuse, he would rather die than continue to live that way with Vegas. He would rather kill himself than be Vegas’s dog. So what he does is knock Vegas flat and run right back to the main family to be their dog again.

Because it doesn’t hurt as much when they only treat you as a dog and a tool. When they don’t see you as an actual person, when they haven’t seen who you really are, haven’t treated you as a person and touched you with tenderness and reverence, and looked at you like you’re the entire world and fed you and fed you and fed you until you burst with it, for the first time in your life - and then put the dog collar right back on you. Being a dog for the main family is business as usual. Being a dog for Vegas, when Vegas knows the person underneath it and - Pete now thinks he wrongly presumed - cares about that person, is unendurable. It’s so much worse than being forgotten by Kinn.

I think hearing that Vegas DOES love him during the parking lot beatdown/confession scene is part of why Pete can set aside his issues with the label and role of “pet” when he eventually disavows the personal autonomy he fought Vegas so hard for, in favor of saving Vegas’s life in the poolside scene. Vegas actually does care for him in a way that the main family doesn’t, and he’s told Pete so. This is Pete’s “I love you” back to Vegas, although I’ve also talked about how I think the beatdown and the “I’m your pet” line mirror each other as self-effacing and dehumanizing expressions of love. Which then becomes part of exactly why “You’re not my pet, you’re the most important person in my life” becomes so. very. important: Because it lets us see that Vegas knows what he’s cost Pete.

Vegas is so smart. We see that again and again and again. We see it when the lightbulb goes on almost immediately when Pete tells him that the abuse Vegas endures isn’t even about him, it’s because Kun is a shitty father. We see it when he almost immediately operationalizes this knowledge and shows up the next time he’s been smacked around having already done some self-care by putting on his soft pajama pants and Pete’s metaphorical skin. (Listen, I’ve decided the navy T-shirt is actually the same T-shirt that Pete was wearing the first time he got caught sneaking around the minor family house, that it was the dark T-shirt Pete’s wearing under the orange jumpsuit the second time he got caught sneaking around the minor family house, and then given that it’s already been stripped off of him by the time Vegas shows up to see Pete tied to a pillar in Torture Dungeon Main, it’s lying around somewhere down there for Vegas to pick up like a serial killer trophy, and now he’s wearing it like a boyfriend shirt. You will not change my mind about this.)

ANYWAY. It took Pete having a complete nervous breakdown, a suicide attempt, knocking Vegas the fuck out, and running back to the main family, but Vegas finally also seems to understand what he’s done, what he’s cost Pete. He apologizes - repeatedly - and he literally puts his life in Pete’s hands, and then he leaves Pete in control of what happens from there, no matter how much it’s killing Vegas to do so. He actually prioritizes Pete’s feelings over his own, which is one reason I will go toe-to-toe with anyone who tries to tell me that Vegas isn’t actually the best character in the show, narratively speaking, with the best defined and most compelling growth arc. And so I have no problem believing that Vegas finally understands why it hurts Pete so much to be Vegas’s dog when he’s been able to endure it for the main family, but also that what Pete is getting from the main family isn’t enough anymore. Vegas knows what it costs Pete to take on that role again at poolside, just to keep Vegas from killing himself, and maybe Vegas even understands that Pete, himself, thinks he can endure it now that he has some assurance from Vegas that Vegas actually does love him. And what’s so so so important here is that Vegas doesn’t want that for Pete. He doesn’t want to treat Pete like the main family - “that filthy family” - does. He doesn’t want to treat Pete like Vegas, himself, has in the past. He wants Pete to know that, no, Pete doesn’t have to just accept the crumbs that fall on the floor off of Vegas’s table. He gets to sit at the table. When Vegas says “You’re the most important person in my life,” he’s saying “I still see you. I see you as person, not as a dog, the way the main family does, the way Kinn does, the way Kinn still does. I understand what you were telling me when you let me know that kind of treatment doesn’t feed you, doesn’t nourish you. And I’m not going to do that to you. This relationship is not going to be a poison pill. I’m going to feed you the way you deserve to be fed, treat you the way you actually deserve to be treated.”

And that’s why this line is just as important as Pete’s choice of Vegas over Kinn at the poolside scene, when Pete rejects the idea of someone else (Kinn) feeding him. This is practically in direct response to that. Pete’s made the choice that he wants Vegas to feed him, so Vegas is taking on the responsibility to feed him properly, and in contrast to the way Kinn and the main family have been feeding him.

Vegas is promising that Pete now gets to eat whenever he wants, whatever he wants, and that’s in direct contrast to the main family’s McDonald’s Kid Meal bodyguard rations version of affection.

[deadmomjokes]

Getting this started early this year.

A little PSA for animal owners in places where fireworks are a known occurrence:

Keep your animals indoors during fireworks evenings. I don’t care how well behaved or well adjusted or “chill” your pet is. I don’t care if your fence is escape proof or they’ve never been bothered by it before.

I worked at an animal shelter and in the days around firework holidays we were full to bursting, and it was always the “chill” ones who “never did anything like this before.” Unfortunately, we also heard the same story from the local emergency vets.

Repeated loud explosions and lights and colors in the sky can make even the best-behaved animal lose their mind; they have no framework to process it, and no way to understand what's happening or why or when it's going to stop, or whether it's going to hurt them etc. And even if they were fine with it in past years, formulations for fireworks can change, and maybe this is the year that the pitch is just right (or just wrong), or two go off at the same time and something about it pushes the wrong buttons and suddenly there goes Scruffy over the fence you swore Houdini himself couldn’t escape.

Set them (and you) up for success and safety this fireworks season.

Keep them home, and put them inside. Don’t let them out during fireworks hours. Get all the potty trips in before the sun starts going down.

Make sure they have their collar with tags on, just in case they slip out while someone is coming home or leaving for work.

Cover windows. I saw more than one dog with head injuries from charging at the window during fireworks shows.

Set up a safe zone for them. Offer treats and favorite toys, and consider white noise or soft music to help drown out the sounds. Make it a puppy/kitty spa night with things they enjoy to help counteract the stress of The Unknowable Horrors going on outside.

If you know your animal is reactive to sounds like thunder, loud engines, or gunshots, they will most likely react to fireworks too. Deploy anti-anxiety measures like calming sprays, a Thundershirt, and/or a blanket-covered kennel (if kennel trained).

Also, general tips for making sure your pet gets back to you if they get lost at any time:

If your pet is microchipped, call the company now and make sure your current, correct contact info is registered to the chip. Chips don’t do squat if it doesn’t link back to your information. I can’t tell you how many times we had a microchip show up on the scan, but the people never registered it because they didn’t know that was something they had to do. Check in at least once a year to make sure you’re still in the system!

If you don’t already know where your local animal control takes strays, find out now. (You especially don’t want the added stress of having to find out on or around a holiday while you’re frantically searching the neighborhood and making posters.)

On that note, have your local animal control’s nonemergency number written down or in your contacts somewhere. As soon as you lose a pet, contact them and let them know. Sometimes they will be willing to bring the animal back to your home instead of taking it to the shelter/pound, which could save you the fees.

Keep your animal’s current vaccination and registration tags on their collar at all times. In most places, you will get fined if your pet is found outside your property without them. Some places even have it down as a misdemeanor.

Controversial take: keep their collars on them, even at home. I know a lot of pets prefer to be “naked,” and sometimes it’s annoying to hear the jingling. But pets can be sneaky when they want to make a break for it, and the annoyance is totally worth it if it helps get them back to you, and/or avoids a citation.

Slightly less controversial take: If someone is pet-sitting for you, make sure they keep the collar and tags on at all times no matter what, no excuses. Most home escapes happen on someone else’s watch. Don’t get cited for the sitter’s slip up. Make sure they know it’s a non-negotiable.

Special notice for cat owners: Don’t freak out if your cat doesn’t show up at the shelter right away. Dogs are generally bigger and more noticeable; people report and catch them quicker than cats, because cats are really, really good at hiding and getting away from ‘predators’ (aka, strangers with a catch bag). They have amazing survival instincts, which tell them to hunker down first rather than wander in a panic. They will find a safe place and wait for quite a while, venturing out only to look for food and water. It’s normal for a lost dog to turn up at the shelter within a few days of being lost, but a cat can sometimes take weeks to come out of hiding. If Fluffy isn’t at the pound 2-3 days after you lost her, don’t panic and give up. Keep looking! At least once a week so you don’t miss her! We had a guy come check in every week for a little over 3 months, and actually found his cat. It was found less than a mile and a half from his home, within 3 blocks of where it had escaped from his car. Obviously this isn’t the norm, but it can happen, so please don’t give up hope after just a day or two.

[foxys-fantasy-tales]

Writeblr Cafe Secret Valentine Short

I signed up to give and receive a special secret story this V-Day with the @writeblrcafe event! The person I wrote a little story for will have to remain anonymous until I tag them in a re-blog of this on the 14th. So, for now please enjoy something way out of my normal style and topics! I had to scratch my head for a bit to come up with something I thought my assigned person would enjoy, so I hope you all like a little wholesome short of someone finding a pet and maybe something more along the way.

What a perfect day for a thunderstorm, and by perfect, they meant vile. Avery just had their hair cut and dyed and was currently attempting some vain protection with the thick Sunday paper. It had been left forgotten two weeks ago in their front seat next to a pack of gum approaching its first birthday. Only the ends of the faint rose gold color the hairstylist had recommended were damp by the time Avery tossed the soggy paper into the garbage. They stared at the peeling pawprint stickers on the window while under the canopy of the next stop on their list. 

Friends with Fur happened to be one of only two pet rescues in operation by what they had read online, and was also closest to their new apartment. The name was also more appealing than Montgomery Pet Adoption Center. They shook the rain off and brushed the shoulders of their maroon hoodie before stepping inside. 

“Hello!” 

Avery stumbled back just as the door shut behind them. A smiling woman in her early forties was finishing fixing up a messy salt and pepper colored bun in her hair, but still hopped out at the first bell ring like it was a boxing match. She was a bit too short and plump to have jumped the counter, and she took their bewilderment as an invitation. 

“This is Friends with Fur, or you already got that from the sign, huh? Come on in. Wipe your boots off, though I know the rug don’t look like much. Follow me.” 

“Uh, yes, ma’am.” 

Avery blinked a couple times before wiping their boots and jogging along after the woman who only came up to their chest at best. She turned back with another winning smile as she began to walk backwards through a couple sets of doors. 

“Love the hoops. Got some just like them but the cats like to hook their little paws inside and tug. Be careful of that, especially if you try and pick up Elenor. I don’t think there’s been a day in the months she’s been with us here where she hasn’t tried to swipe me regardless. Poor thing needs a good home, somewhere more quiet for her age. You’ll see we have plenty to choose from though, so have any kind of pet in mind? For you, right? Or are you looking for a friend or a sibling or some sort? Shoot! I didn’t even get your name!” 

“Uh, Avery. It’s for me. I just moved in over on Johnson Avenue. No specific pet in mind, but I’d like to walk off with something today if I can.” 

Anything was better than another quiet and sleepless night alone. The ruckus from the kennels and tanks they were approaching relaxed Avery’s tight shoulders, resulting in a soft slouch that only lasted a moment. Too many times had their father told them to straighten that back or expect to look like a cartoon villain in their elder years. They slouched again anyway. Amy, Emily, and little Bobby were far off and couldn’t tattle anymore. 

“Are you going to College here? You look about the right age is all. Dorms don’t allow any pets but fish and lizards if that’s the case.” 

Avery snapped back to reality and passed a hand through their hair. Vaguely they could recall hearing her say her name in return and a few random facts about this building, but nothing really stuck. They bent to be eye level with a pet behind those tell-tale lattice work steel fences. The swinging door was barred, and for a moment they recalled the sensation of their pudgy childhood fingers locked around the openings as they stared out at the dusty driveway and little else but trees and a few far off houses just like theirs. 

“That there is Will. We called him that ‘cause he’s willful. Always pops up barking a fit rather and likes to hoard the chew toys if he can manage. Got dropped off here as a pup a couple of weeks ago cause the family didn’t know how high energy his breed is. None of them had the time to play and walk him. Sadly, it’s a common story with a few of the pups here. That won’t be an issue for your living situation?” 

“Ah, no. I’ve got my own apartment. I’m going for a degree in Communications when the new semester starts up. One week… not too long to unpack.” 

The polka dotted pattern of fur was probably a fashionable choice. A dalmation would probably go off well with most people, given they were so well known. Didn’t a celeb have one, Avery wondered. Their thoughts trailed away until the pup licked their hand and woke them up for their reverie with a booming bark.

“Well, if you take a shine to the canines,” she giggled after her little attempt at sing-song, “Then you’ll need to be able to put in the care. Cats are a little less maintenance. We also have some hamsters and gerbils about. Lizards can be a breeze.” 

“I was hoping for something a little more uh, well, I don’t want to have to search my place for it if I let it out of its environment alone for a bit.” 

“Something you can touch, but not too wily then? Well, all our dogs right now are pretty hands on, most are, so lets scooch on down to the cats here. This way and step lively.” 

Avery retracted their hand from the kennel and waved to the pup before going. So many sets of eyes were on them they slid their hands into the kangaroo pocket at the front of their hoodie. On the way to the cats, there was a call from behind that was so clear it stopped them in their tracks before they could go through the yellowed doorway. The woman turned a few steps after and laughed, which only furthered the chill down Avery’s spine. 

“Heard our little songbird, did ya? Need to get her a friend, but most don’t end up here as residents in the good ways.” 

“Been a while since I heard a parakeet. Mom had one until last year.” 

“Oh? Well, how’d that go? People often like the same sorts of pets they grew up with.”

Avery didn’t. Their stomach turned at their imagination turning toward the sounds following them home, then back to the constant chanting of their mother’s little critiques of their appearance, of their chosen extracurriculars, of their chosen friends even. Once it happened right in front of their friends’ faces, all huddled by the television watching a movie, but not out of earshot. They didn’t come over much after that. 

They walked through the doorway and past the woman to the end of the row of cats. There sat the famed Elenor with her name written in pink glitter pen as if to make the fluffy, white cat with droopy eyes somehow more pleasing. There was even a matching bow tying up some overgrown fur out of her eyes to see, the same sort Emily used to wear. 

“Gerbils and hamsters are right behind that door to your left if you like.” 

“No, thanks. I’d like something that will live through my college years at least.” 

They winced after the thought slipped, but the woman didn’t pay any mind. She began to list the names of kittens like Itty, Bitty, and Teeny. Then there were a few older cats pointed out, but all Avery did was lift their head in intervals to nod now and again and lean to peer toward the other kennels. 

Elenor growled almost like a dog, but Avery took a shine to her appearance. They wondered if their sister would still be wearing bows like that by the time they visited home for the holidays. 

If they visited home for the holidays.

But their siblings didn’t have a choice. Even if they were struggling to adjust, the others didn’t have a say as of yet. Amy would get her say next year, but Emily would need to wait another six years before moving out. Maybe she’d need to wait more with the way the economy looked. They’d only managed to get out by working two jobs and letting their grades tank junior and senior year. It didn’t set them up in a great university, but it gave them a stable place to go. The apartment may be eerily quiet, but it beat arguing and sneaking around all the time. 

“Elenor seems sweet on you, but are you sure? You’ve just been staring for a while.” 

Avery coughed and jumped to their feet. Somehow, white fur had already gotten on their clothes, which they brushed at with a groan of defeat. Cat hair never came off anything. They learned that from their Grandma’s place. Wow. Really was like their sister just shedding on everything and claiming it. How many nice shirts did they lose that were found weeks later as her new nightshirts? 

“Maybe not a cat.” 

Avery sighed as they walked toward the lizard's area she motioned at briefly earlier. Their head remained low, eyes focused on the ground. They must have been causing trouble for this lady and had apologized for as much, but she just waved at it like she did everything and said it was no problem. 

The woman gestured grandly with jazz hands at a tank with a few tiny turtles in it. They would have fit easily in their hand, and to Avery’s surprise the woman picked it up carefully and held it out toward them. Avery took one step back. 

“A turtle?” they asked.

“A Reeve’s turtle to be precise. This one is already full size and has at least a decade ahead of him. He’s pretty fond of being picked up, which not all turtle’s are, but keep it to a short time frame. He also loves to swim just as much and gets a bit wriggly if you coddle him. Poor Jake still hasn’t forgiven himself for when he dropped the little guy on the counter a month back. Nothing but a little crack in his shell there in the side. We call him Nugget. Care requires a tank and a few pieces, but it’s not too bad overall. They’ll eat about anything. Greens, shrimp, well, I’ll make you up a list of foods if you like him.” 

Avery bit their lip. There was an unmistakable cuteness as the woman set it back in and they watched it calmly swim about and drift downward. There wouldn’t be any fur, but they would have to clean a tank. The task seemed daunting from the outside as the woman began to go over certain specifications they’d need to keep in mind. However, Nugget stared at them the whole time from behind the glass. 

Even though living in such a small spot seemed abysmal to Avery, the turtle seemed fine with it. Then again, that wasn’t so different from their own little studio setup that now surrounded the little critter. Avery smiled at a once sparse nook now covered in bags full of turtle supplies. They flipped on the little sun lamp and chuckled as Nugget made a beeline for it, but then groaned as they turned around and saw how many boxes were left to unpack before classes began. The soft hum of the aquarium motor and the rippling of water as their new friend swam about would have to serve as motivators. 

Halfway through a box and down the lettuce they were saving for a salad in tomorrow’s lunch, Avery discovered a framed photo in their belongings. Without being able to recall packing it, their first assumption was some slight from their parents. Maybe it was a picture of them at their sixth grade dance wearing clothes they hadn’t wanted to be caught dead in then, and wouldn’t be caught dead in now. Nugget’s cheerful munching on greens distracted them for a time, so with what small bit of courage such a small turtle could offer, they flipped over the frame. 

Behind shining glass still carrying the sterile scent of the store it must have come from was a photo of them with Emily on their shoulders from a few years back. Amy was in the background scarfing down a BBQ hotdog, while Bobby was still just starting to get around on his own and had somehow flipped his whole plate of chips into his curly hair. Oddly, not a single parent had been in frame. Avery couldn’t imagine them taking such a candid shot, much less keeping it. They flipped it back to find a corner of notebook paper barely sticking out the back. 

They laughed loud enough that Nugget stopped eating. The paper was written on in pink glitter pen and signed off with Love, Emily in such large letters that must have been the most important part to her. The rest of Emily’s note was short and sweet. 

Don’t forget us. We fight a lot, but we’ll also miss you. Maybe we could see your new place or stay over when it’s convenient? I’d like to see the city.

With the recent purchases for their new pet, there was a sizable hole in Avery's bank account, but they also knew the exact damages. Without missing a beat, they dialed their sister’s cell and waited to hear her voice. It took three tries, much to their annoyance, but when she did pick up Avery knew just what to say. They looked at their new roommate, their new walls, their new hair, and asked, 

“How would you like me to buy you a train ticket for the weekend?”

[celestialcrowley]

Ello, ello, ello!

I’m late (fashionably) to the party, but…

I’ll start off by saying how awful I am at tagging my moots when it comes to ask games, but know that I love all of you. Please never hesitate to pop into my inbox anytime for a chat. 💚

For everyone who has become invested in my Good Omens fanfiction, thank you for your patience. I promise I am working on chapter two. I’ve only recently returned to my normal work schedule. I have been getting overtime since October.

Alright, let’s gooo!

I was tagged by: @paperclipbean — thank you so much!

1. Were you named after anyone?

🪐 Not that I’m aware of, and hardly anyone calls me by my actual name. It’s usually either Ginger, Khasper the Spicy Ghost (affectionate) or Pippin.

2. When was the last time you cried?

🪐 I don’t exactly remember, but maybe a month ago. I miss my girl. My dog. She lost her battle with arthritis at 13.5 years old. The anniversary of her death is coming up in February. I can’t believe it’s almost been a year.

And now you know what the hobbit behind this tumblr looks like.

3. Do you have kids?

🪐 I don’t, but my best friend has two wonderful sons, and I see them as my own. If I actually had a child, just picture Louise from Bob’s Burgers.

4. What sports do you play or have you played?

🪐 I currently don’t play sports, but I used to partake in tennis, badminton, wall ball, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics.

5. Do you use sarcasm?

🪐 Not really, but it does also depend on if something is said that warrants the use of sarcasm.

6. What’s the first thing you notice about people?

🪐 Personality. I am good at reading people. I may not always talk. I observe. I’m neutral on most everything, but — well, if someone has a bad personality or is mean to animals, that’s a no go for me.

7. What color are your eyes?

🪐 Nothing fancy. Green.

8. Scary movies or happy endings?

🪐 I am the spooky connoisseur.

9. Do you have any talents?

🪐 I suppose if reading books, writing fanfiction and reading people count as talents.

10. Where were you born?

🪐 I am a born and raised Florida bean.

11. What are your hobbies?

🪐 Writing, drawing, stand up paddle boarding and listening to true crime podcasts. I can recommend a good one if that’s anyone’s thing.

12. Do you have any pets?

🪐 Thing One Mycroft and Thing Two Patch

13. How tall are you?

🪐 So tall. I’m 5’5’’.

14. What is or was your favorite subject in school?

🪐 It was history and science.

15. What is your dream job?

🪐 The one I have now. I am a kennel technician responsible for the care of police and military canines.

No obligation tags: @ineffabildaddy @sad-chaos-goblin @skinnyscottishbloke @peregrintook @ritz-writes @bildads-shoes @peachworthy @phoen1xr0se @shadesofdeviant @scarecrowcloud @tragic-cosmic-magic @pretendygood @notagoodlad @ineffablemiscreant @ineffablemoist @azirapalalalala @crowleysgoat @justtofollowgaiman @xxxtosoxxx

[shouts like michael sheen] OPEN TO ALL!

[purplestrawberrywerewolf]

Headcanon that Zuko HATES dogs. They’re too loud and they slobber and leave the grossest poops and just shed everywhere but he LOVES cats because they take care of themselves and all he has to worry about is changing their litter and feeding them and they’re mostly quiet and only meow (bonus if Zuko likes to meow back at them for fun)

Then Sokka on the other hand LOVES dogs. They’re so cute and fluffy and he loves their playful nature.

Fast forward, Zuko is an unemployed student living with his uncle and meets Sokka. He meets him in physics class and First he’s like wow he’s so pretty and his eyes are like oceans and he wants to hold his hand etc.

They go on their first date and…

Turns out Sokka owns not one but TWO huskies, big full blown huskies. Of course, Zuko doesn’t know what to do with this information because of OF COURSE the guy he thought was cute would own two dogs but surprisingly Zuko found himself going on another date with Sokka despite him owning two dogs.

Then, he finds himself dating said person with two dogs and ultimately accepts that Sokka has dogs and gets endless teasing from Azula about him being a total simp because he’s willing to put up with the dogs for Sokka.

He later mentions to Sokka that he really needs a job because school is almost over for him and Sokka immediately offers him a job as a kennel attendant at the daycare his father owns and Zuko is just a total simp and finds himself sending in an application to his father and later gets a job interview.

He ends up meeting Sokka’s two huskies Lulu and Snowball who are really big and slobbery and make Zuko cringe when they start licking his face because they can smell their owners scent on him.

Then, he meets Sokka’s other coworkers like Toph and Aang and ultimately his sister who isn’t a huge fan of him and ends up being the one he’s more terrified of than Hakoda.

He ends up finding himself staying at the job for Sokka because everytime he jokes that he’s gonna quit, Sokka wraps his arms around his neck and whines against his chest “no don’t leave me” playfully and Zuko can’t find the strength in himself to leave because then he’ll lose someone so important to him, even if it’s something stupid like a job, he was willing to put up with the hyper dogs if it meant seeing Sokka smile.

Then, he finds himself finding an apartment with Sokka and moving in with his two DOGS and his two cats.

Of course they don’t get along, Lulu and Snowball wanna play with his cats Duck and Druk but they keep trying to scratch and hiss back.

Sokka feels worried about their pets and Zuko tells him that it’s fine that they’ll get along at some point like they did and become best friends. Even if it meant a few incidents of Sokka dragging Lulu back away from Duck who tried scratching her nose when she came in for a smell in the behind. He gets used to the dogs, taking them for walks, when they jump on him and start licking him even when he yells at them to stop.

Then, 2 years later, Zuko finds himself still working at the doggy daycare Sokka’s father owns and finds himself standing in front of Hakoda with a Corgi on a leash trying to control her while asking for his blessing to marry Sokka. Hakoda agrees and next thing you know, Zuko is on one knee with Lulu and Snowball next to him as he asks Sokka to be his.

They have their wedding and Sokka puts Lulu in a tutu and Snowball in a tux and follow behind him and his dad when they walk down the isle. During their vows, Zuko promises to love Sokka and sickness and in health and adds in there that he’ll love his dogs as well making everyone chuckle.

Another bonus is the dogs howl when Sokka and Zuko are married and even come to the reception when Katara says a speech. She tells them that she knew Zuko really loved her brother when he decided to work at a doggy daycare with them even when he doesn’t like dogs and knew right away he was the one for her brother.

They dance their night away and Zuko finally lays in bed with Sokka and thinks to himself that…maybe dogs aren’t that bad after all.

Another bonus: Sokka and Zuko welcome their daughter Aly (fight me) and Lulu ends up having puppies and one of the puppies becomes Aly’s best friend Snowy and Zuko is so happy he finally got over his dog hatred. (He still hates how loud they are yet there he is walking the two dogs when Sokka is asleep or feeding the baby)

ANOTHER BONUS: Zuko is visiting Sokka’s place for the first time and sees Lulu and Snowball. “You’re lucky I think your mom’s hot”

[doberbutts]

Wtf happened at the kennel?! As someone who works at one i cant imagine

Princess was boarding during a hot summer and they left her outside in the sun, no water or shade, for three days. They didn't even know she'd been dead for days when my parents went to pick her up, so I doubt they were feeding her either. A big dark sable GSD doesn't last long in the heat like that.

My parents tried to sue and it went more or less no where. Princess' corpse was so rotted and cooked by the sun that there was no way to prove anything more than wrongful treatment of a corpse, the argument was that she could have died naturally and thus it wasn't neglect. It was very traumatic for my parents, Princess was my dad's first pet ever and their first pet they got together as a couple.

So we don't board our dogs anymore. Ever. I don't care how many good reviews the kennel has. This kennel had good reviews too.

[kamiimiya]

TEEHEE 1, 3, 5, and 7 with kokonoi hajime >:D

THANK YOU LOVEBUG I APPRECIATE YOU SOSOSOSO MUCH ♡

ask game here

♡ If you have one, what's your ship name?

kokomiya !! just a silly basic little shipname cuz those are the ones i'm used to in most fandoms and i'm simply not creative enough to think of something unique and funny.

i honestly like the tag misconceptions more than i do the ship name, because i Thought about that for a little while even though its kinda basic so it doesn't even really seem like i did much thinking. but for a long time we didn't like each other, he thought i was wayyy too nice and just going to be used by everyone around me ( deadass projecting but go off koko dearest ) and i couldn't understand why he has such a grudge against me. we understand each other a little bit too well in some regards, despite each of us being on the opposite ends of The Horrors. sometimes he mentions that i would understand inupi more than i understand him, and he just doesn't understand why i'd choose someone like him when it's so obvious that he had the capability to hurt others. he's so blinded by his lack of self worth and inability to truly understand other people's depths that there's just a lot of miscommunication between the two of us for a really long time.

♡ What song would you duet for some chaotic late night karaoke?

umbrella by rihanna. is it because of that one scene with inupi where koko was hiding behind the umbrella and trying his best to act confident even when he was losing it a little bit ? yeah. maybe. who cares. it's also a BITCHING song and you can't look me in the eyes and tell me he doesn't know it by heart. and to be very clear, i'm not saying he's gonna be jay z and i'm rihanna. we alternate lines like how god intended. i will step out of the spotlight this one time and let him have the last little bit with the last few lines because i feel like he needs them a little bit. maybe it would do his psyche some good who knows.

in the tune of rihanna, also s&m is a very good choice. my minds eye can see him swaying his hips and doing a little dance and dammit he's feeling himself. gonna do that silly debby ryan thing where he pushes his hair behind his ears trying to be hot but its kokonoi hajime so it just works idk how to explain it. first verse is his and he'll sing it alone, i'll just sing the background vocals. we alternate the lines of the chorus & sing the post chorus ' come on, come on, come on ' part together at the same time. second verse is mine. if you see him blushing at the mention of whips and chains no for the love of god you do not.

♡ If you were dogs, what breeds would you be?

so he's definitely going to be something like a doodle or a golden doodle. something that looks pretty but actually may not be the best pets. i lived in a house with golden doodles and let me tell you they were wild and rowdy if not trained right and also practically impossible to kennel train at any point in time, and maybe it was just the dogs that the person had but they had the worst separation anxiety i've ever seen in dogs, and that's pretty much just koko. if you look at them from a distance you think that they're pretty and fancy looking and then you spend more than a minute in the same room with them and you realize that they're actually a handful, and i love koko for that.

for myself, i don't really have an in depth answer. i like pomeranians and also i too have a bark wayyy bigger than my entire bodyweight. they're like 3 apples tall and mostly fur, and have one of those super annoying barks that just simply don't shut up ever, and i'd like to think that's me going on and on and on about stuff that no one objectively really cares about. they're also extroverted but can get aggressive with dogs much bigger than their own size. and yeah that honestly just checks out with me i will body check a dog 4x my size because i don't like the way that it didn't look at me.

♡ Describe how your f/o smells, be absurdly specific.

oh boy he's expensive but also depressed. you can tell he's having one of those days where he just can't be half assed with anything because the cologne he wears will be sprayed so much that you can't smell anything else. he chooses savage from dior because it's one of those colognes that covers up everything else with just a little bit sprayed, but he'll still overspray it to the point it almost chokes you with the scent of it. if he's not wearing any cologne ( rare, but not impossible. i just have to catch him at the right time ) he probably smells like a mix between his lotion he wears and his body wash / exfoliant. he shops at bath and body works for lotions because he likes the deals and also has a thing for their candles.

if he's out doing ' business ' i think honestly he sweats wayyy more than he likes to let on especially since most uniforms are a jacket of some kind and they're actively fighting most of the time, so he has to use a pretty strong deodorant to hide it. definitely carries deodorant with him and he's so shameless about it. he definitely hops into the shower the moment he's home though.

sometimes, though, he smells like blood and a housefire, with the smell of smoke so thoroughly coated in his hair and blood underneath his fingernails, and i can't mention it because it's really not the important part going on right now. sometimes i just gotta pull him into the shower and wash his hair for him really well and fix dinner for him without mentioning it. tears or worried words from either one of us may break the fragile thread hanging on and it's just not worth it. i know he's okay, he knows that he's safe. it's,,, important that the nights we're together stay as normal for him as possible, especially on nights like those.

and anyways so i - ( gets shot )

[myhairfeelsnice]

I have nothing to fill my life. I won’t be working again for a while. I start school in a few more weeks. I’ve just been looking for a new housemate which is heartbreaking because he was going to move in with me. I don’t want to live with another stranger. I don’t want to go through that whole shit show again. I don’t want to take my chances on living with someone I know nothing about, but I have to. I just wanted a home I felt safe in. I wanted a life I felt safe in. I don’t understand anything. Im not even aware of what I should be doing. I’m hurt but I knew it had to be done. I couldn’t leave the feeling to linger any longer. I can’t lean on anyone, all my friends are on holiday and I’m only really close to one of them, but still, it doesn’t feel like I really have anyone. I can’t drop everything and go back to the UK and stay at someone’s house because no one would be able to babysit Blue and Fifi, and I wouldn’t be able to afford a ticket home let alone to put them in kennels. Sure having pets at 23 isn’t an amazing idea but I also think there is a slim chance I’d still be kicking if I didn’t have pets to whip me into shape. The tears come in waves. I knew he wanted to leave this city. I knew it before he knew himself. I’m not attached to Paris but I just want to finish school and then I don’t care which country I am in. He had a home though, he has something to go back to, I don’t. And who knows if it even is the right decision for him. Maybe if he’d have listened to my plea and gotten a therapist, he would be thinking about this differently. I just don’t want to be so alone. Having him meant I could finally be someone. I had love and support. Our lives weren’t unnecessarily intertwined nor did we have any issues in the relationship, it’s just that I know he doesn’t want to stay here. But then I wonder, am I not enough for you to stay ? Does it matter so much that you don’t feel at home ? Will home ever really feel like home somewhere else ? I don’t have the luxury of having a feeling of home. I wonder why he can’t just do things how I do them, just take a place for what it is. It’s never the place anyway, it’s the people, that’s what I think. I don’t know. I’m afraid this time he won’t talk to me, i told him since I have no friends he needs to help me gently work through this. He said of course he would still talk to me. I told him I loved him. He told me ‘You know I love you too’, but is it really about love ? No. It’s more that he can’t make a decision to save his life and I’m left suffering because of it. He goes home next week anyway and can be cradled in the love of his family whilst I sit in my mouldy apartment with a housemate that never makes me feel comfortable. I think of how incessantly he told me he was going to marry me, how we would have kids. He referred to me, blue, fifi and him as his ‘family’. I don’t feel I have a family so this was just intense to hear and even more intense to lose. Sure I’m young and I don’t expect anybody to settle down with me at this age, but i was convinced that someone did want to. This would all be manageable if I had some sort of support system, and my therapist seems to be on holiday all of the time. It’s not enough to try to make friends when I am already so low. I wonder whether I could ever manage. I started to fall in love with my life with him, and now, will it all leave me ? Im not a whole person when im on my own, I know this, im too fragile without support, but then again who wouldn’t be ? I’ve been awake since 7am and no one really seems to have to time to talk to me. All my friends in Paris are on holiday. All my friends in the UK are at work. Blue remains by my side but he’s just a dog. I remember telling him last night « How are we supposed to explain this to Blue ? » and he said « oh fuck. » and we laughed. He loves my dog in a very beautiful way. Is it too much to ask for someone to just be there for me ? Just to have people I know won’t leave ? I get it, I have learnt I can be loved and love in return, but can I keep it ? Or is it just for show ?

[pynkhues]

I saw someone mention the Golden Trio’s “pedigree breeding” made them less close to Logan as a result since they were held to a higher standard then Connor

And like, thinking of it that way, that the way Logan treats the Trio as tho they are supposed to be “show dogs” with certain exceptions of the “breed” like look, temperament, intelligence, trainable, etc and how they all fail to measure up or perform to expectations despite the harsh training he gives them

vs Connor, who is a “mutt” and therefore he’s just a “pet” and he can do things like chew on the furniture and Logan just rolls his eyes and shoos him to the backyard rather then actually disciplining him

And so the Trio (and sometimes Connor) sees the attention they get from Logan means they are more important, but they live in the kennels and Connor gets to live in the house. The Trio goes to dog shows with Logan to be paraded around and judged and Connor gets left home with a dog sitter coming by 2x a day to feed him, but when Logan is around Connor can hang out on the couch with him.

(Except, you know, they are people and it’s all fucked up lol)

That's a really interesting theory. It actually reminds me a bit of my aunt and uncle who live in a worker's cottage on somebody else's farm. There are quite a lot of working dogs on the property - Australian Shepherds and Border Collies and Jack Russells (Jack Russells are snake hunters, which is something I didn't know until my aunt and uncle moved to this place), and its a similar thing there with the showdogs you're talking about. The family has a Labrador, which is the dog and is allowed inside, while all the working dogs are really basically staff.

It's been a really interesting thing for my aunt to observe, especially as she's gotten very close with one of the older Australian Shepherds, because while these dogs guard the cattle at night from snakes and dingoes, it doesn't always work out. One of the dogs was killed by a dingo a few months ago, another chased a cow onto the road and was hit by a car, and the family feels this, but there is a degree of separation. An understanding that these dogs are loved and cared for, but they're not family.

It makes for an interesting point of consideration, because we know that Noah and his wife had cattle themselves, and I don't think it's a stretch to imagine that they had working dogs. What that means for how Logan was raised is anyone's guess, but I think it's an interesting thing to consider in his domestic sphere. There's this sense of Roman growing up with a hard, distorted parody of a family - not a mother and a father and a family dog, but an aunt and an uncle with perhaps a working dog. No love that isn't conditional, an enforced sort of distance, a 'yes, but' to what should be the most fundamental of relationships. Not a mother, but, not a father, but, not a dog, but.

With the way this show treats people like dogs too - - yeah. I think there's something there.

[pigeonwhumps]

I love you!!!

Calixte/Cass ♥ - family headcanon

Cass: ☾ - sleep headcanon

Bug: ൠ - random headcanon

*throws in random tackle*

*tackles you back*

♥ - family headcanon

When they move to Canada, they move to a little community called Rising Sun Bay, for refugee pets and their families. Calixte works at the archives there, and when she needs Cass' help with something (most of what she transcribes is pet-related, the archive being what it is, and sometimes she just goes, "is the world really even more fucked up than I thought or am I reading/hearing this wrong?" And then she needs Cass' opinion), they sometimes end up making it a family trip. Isabella loves it there, and there's a park out the back that's accessible that Cass can play basketball (or wheelchair basketball in his case) with his children in. Aaliyah's there too, provided she's not away at university. And then they have a picnic.

Calixte and Cass have always made it a priority to have family time, but after Cass' years away it's even more of one. If they can make anything into a family outing or experience then they most certainly will (do they get odd looks sometimes? Yes. Do they care? No). They love to have family movie nights or game nights, and none of the children are complaining either.

☾ - sleep headcanon

After Cass is safe, he still instinctively tries to conserve heat in his sleep. If he's with someone he'll curl up around them, or at least wrap his arm around them, keeping very close. If he's sleeping alone, he'll try and curl up, although sometimes his back hurts too much to do that. In that case he tends to end up in the position he did in Tyrone's kennel – on his front, arms tucked under his body and legs bent, feet under his thighs.

ൠ - random headcanon

Bug likes to read scientific papers about insects. It started while they were with their last owner Mary (who was in a care home, more of a caretaker, and Alix's grandma), who had a stack of entomology magazines that Bug used to read and Mary would answer their questions. Then it just continued, bc Bug really likes insects. They will eventually study entomology, but for now they really like reading the papers. Alix isn't as good at answering their questions as Mary was though!

[cleverdonutninja]

8 Tips for Finding A Professional English Cream Golden Retreiver Breeder

Finding the right puppy to welcome into your family can be a challenging task. The key is to first find the ideal breeder whom you trust and then ensure they meet your requirements and standards for finding the puppy of your dreams. As with a responsible pet store, professional breeders like Elite White Goldens want the best for their puppies. They want them to find loving homes where they will be fulfilled by loyal and loving owners who respect their dogs as family.

If you’re a family or someone looking for fur babies or white golden retriever puppies, these tips will help you find a reputable breeder to help bring a new Golden Retriever into your life. Take a look below!

1. Know What Makes a Professional Breeder

For starters, professional breeders provide a safe and clean living environment for dogs and puppies. They treat the animals as their family members and don’t lock them in tight spaces. Reputable breeders also tend to stick to one or two breeds and have extensive knowledge about them. For example, Elite White Goldens focuses on breeding white golden retriever puppies only.

2. Start Your Search With Local Breeders

It’s a good idea to start by contacting professional breeders in your area. If you can’t find one, an excellent move is to consult your local veterinarian. Veterinarians can recommend professional breeders as they have a good working relationship with them.

3. Meet the Breeder in Person

Once you know a breeder, we recommend meeting them in person. The best location would be in the place where they raise the pets. By doing so, you’ll be able to see the puppies, how they’re taken care of, and how they interact with their master and strangers.

4. Ask the Breeder Questions 

One way to identify a professional breeder is to ask them questions about the puppies and dog care practices. Hence, before the meet-up, you should prepare a list of questions. Professional breeders are passionate about pets and will patiently share their knowledge with you.

5. Visit the Pup’s Parents

The best way to see how your dog will turn out is to look at their parents. This will give you an idea of the puppy's size, temperament, and appearance.

6. Take a Look at the Dog’s Medical History

Professional breeders ensure their dogs are healthy by providing health screenings, such as OFA and CERF. Thus, before buying one, it’s crucial to ask for these documents. Moreover, the breeder will explain health conditions that typically affect that particular breed.

7. Only Buy From Assured Breeders

As a rule of thumb, don’t buy puppies from puppy mills or back yard breeders. Most reputable breeders hold a business license and pay taxes. Once you identify a reputable breeder, read their reviews and take some time to get to know them. Reputable breeders screen their dogs for common health concerns, and provide pre-and post-sale support to ensure your puppy has the best possible life.

8. Check Their Breeder of Merit and Bred With H.E.A.R.T Certifications

Reputable breeders cooperate with pet associations like American Kennel Club (AKC) to promote integrity and consistency of breed standards. As such, they’ll have certifications for Breeder of Merit and Bred with H.E.A.R.T. programs.

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The bottom line is that partnering with a professional breeder guarantees you get the perfect addition to your family. When you’re looking for golden retriever puppies for sale in Michigan, you can count on us at Elite White Goldens. We’re a professional breeder that provides quality care and generous love to our goldens as well as a lifetime of support for our adoptive families.