#tortora

[grison-in-space]

aiiieee my favorite dog breed book ever got delivered today! The Right Dog For You (Daniel Tortora) is well out of date today, having been published in 1980, but there's a lot to commend it in its approach to breaking down dog breeds that I wish we could update for today. Tortora broke down dog temperament into sixteen different scales and dimensions and then surveyed veterinarians, obedience trainers, groomers, and other animal professionals about their estimations about where each breed fell on each point. The book is full of tables like this one:

The attention to detail is just phenomenal. Every one of those scales comes with operational definitions of each and a description of what each level means, like this one for activity level:

Then each breed has a page where the author shows the range along each behavioral scale that most dogs of that breed fall within, along with some short notes. Some of the more popular breeds, like Toy Poodles, even have distinctions like "puppy mill" vs "well bred," with temperament ranges that vary accordingly. Here's the example for the Brittany:

I can transcribe these at request when I have a keyboard but right now I'm just nattering happily during an enjoyable activity, without much expectation that anyone will much care.

Woefully, 1980 is too early to have caught commentaries on cattle dogs--they wouldn't be recognized until 1985, IIRC--and of course the characters of several breeds have changed quite dramatically in the intervening 40 years. I bought the book more as a historical document than a guide, honestly, but I really wish someone would do something similar for the modern day. There are a few purported "honest guides to dog breeds," but nothing I'm aware of even close to this thorough, honest, and carefully cross checked against as wide a sample of people as possible. I've never seen anything else quite like it.

Anyway, I'm gonna have fun with this one. Let me know if anyone has any breeds they'd like me to hunt for as a sort of snapshot of temperament assessment through the 1970s.

[orticasimpatica]

Ortica Simpatica, the fog and the dove.

[detournementsmineurs]

“Une Femme dans la Révolution” de Jean-Daniel Verhaeghe (2013) avec Gaëlle Bona, Cyril Descours, Alex Lutz, Grégory Gadebois, Alexis Loret, Nicolas Marié, Nicolas Vaude, Thierry Hancisse, Julien Tortora, Félicien Juttner et Alexandre Brasseur, novembre 2024.

[pedrop61]

L'arresto di un pericoloso latitante...

[magnusficent]

Home Bar in Florence Family room - large contemporary open concept medium tone wood floor family room idea with a bar, beige walls, a ribbon fireplace, a plaster fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

[mayasphotography]

[revolverthemes]

Living Room Library Florence

living room library - large contemporary open concept living room library idea with beige flooring, white walls, and a media wall

[serialthrill]

Florence Open Closet

An illustration of a medium-sized, modern, gender-neutral walk-in closet with open shelving and beige cabinets.

[rausule]

Tortora, munisipaliteit in die provinsie Cosenza in die Calabrië-streek. Dit het 'n oppervlakte van 57,88 vierkante kilometer en 5997 inwoners (2011-sensus). Die dorp waar die stadsaal geleë is, het 'n hoogte van 300 meter, die minimum hoogte van die munisipale gebied is 0 meter, terwyl die maksimum 1238 meter is. Die graaddae in hierdie munisipaliteit is 1325, die klimaatsone is C. Die provinsie Cosenza het 'n bevolking van 734652 inwoners en bestaan ​​uit 155 munisipaliteite. Die geografiese koördinate van die Munisipaliteit is 39°56'31"N 15°48'22"O (Google Map).

In Tortora, in hierdie tydperk, kom die son om 5:13 op en sak om 18:45

Tortora, municipium provinciae Cusentiae in regione Calabriae. Area 57,88 chiliometrorum quadratorum et 5997 incolarum habet (2011 census). Oppidum ubi atrium sita est, altitudinem trecentorum metrorum habet, minima altitudo areae municipalis est 0 metra, maxima 1238 metra est. Gradus dies in hoc municipio sunt 1325, clima climatica est C. Provincia Cusentina incolas habet 734652 et ex municipiis 155 constituitur. Coordinatae geographicae municipii sunt 39°56'31"N 15°48'22"E (Google Map).

In Tortora, hoc periodo, sol oritur 5:13 et occidit 18:45 (tempus solaris Dr De Beer

[lumyerapp]

Transitional Kitchen in Milan With a farmhouse sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, a gray backsplash, stainless steel appliances, and an island, this small transitional galley kitchen is enclosed in terra-cotta tiles.

[grison-in-space]

Dachshund

Ah, there's that learning -- obedience dimension suddenly vanishing again. I do love this little story about Terrence, because it's such a practical, clever fix for the problem. Once you work out that he's scared of the elevator crack, all you have to do is figure out how to teach him how to control and grapple with that fear.

[grison-in-space]

I think also, the shift in framing (to "throwing out behaviors and seeing what happens") reminds us that we are in control of what happens, and that by being consistent we can communicate clearly to our dogs what behaviors are rewarded and which ones are not. I've been thinking about this off and on for a few days and I like it more the more angles I consider it from.

Like, I have seen what "pushing boundaries" looks like (in the narrower sense of "I know what the rule is AND I am experimenting to see what happens if I do This in response"). You REALLY have to establish that the first half of that is true first because often it is not. And then you have to establish that the SECOND half is true insofar as the dog is deliberately modifying behavior to explore the consequene space.

(I've mentioned that Matilda struggles hard with dog reactivity? That is not a situation I see her in "experimenting" mode, for example; that's a situation where she is genuinely struggling with her ability to perform behaviors like pausing and engaging with me. "Experimenting" with boundary pushing actually happens most during play time, and a lot of that appears to be about self control, too.)

And... even once you've established all that... frankly, it's still better to frame that internally as "throwing out behaviors and seeing what happens" because it reminds me, the handler, that I am in control of what happens. More importantly, it also reframes the behavior as an attempt to understand the reality of the world around us rather than being about conflict. The lab I'm in right now often thinks explicitly about the importance of exploratory behavior as a strategy to get what you need in a world that doesn't explain itself clearly, and I do think that we systematically under weight the importance for young, growing minds of exploring the world's potential by deliberately changing behavioral responses and observing outcomes when we talk about dogs. Especially for "less biddable" (read: more independently thinking) dogs.

I spend a lot of time right now thinking off and on about reframing the concept of "dominance" from older dog books (i.e. that "updating Tortora" project I'm often muttering about) because I do think there's a baby in that bathwater, I just think that the concept conflates several different things and stops short of describing the actual variable parameters in temperament between dogs. I think "conflict tolerance" might work better: my experience is that some dogs appear to feel really bad about being in conflict with other social entities (other dogs and humans included) while others are more comfortable with the possibility of being in conflict if the outcomes are rewarding to them. We want some of that in all our dogs—a dog that is so terrified of being in conflict is a dog that won't perform any behaviors—but being comfortable with conflict is in no way the same thing as actively desiring it, and I think that's a wrinkle that might create more light than heat for folks.

i never really liked the formulation that puppies and young dogs 'push boundaries' because i feel like it suggests a kind of intent i haven't seen in our dogs, and it kinda feeds into that adversarial relationship that some trainers have been shilling for decades where you're always expecting your dog to challenge your authority or whatever.

my nephew has a puppy rn, and they described it as 'throwing out behaviours and seeing what happens' which i liked a lot better?

because at least it doesn't suggest that this semi-sentient bag of bones and slop has a crystal clear picture of the laws of conduct and is hell-bent on testing them, and it doesn't suggest they already know exactly how their behaviour affects the world. they're just behaving. and learning.

[roleplayerstips]

Living Room - Contemporary Living Room Living room library - mid-sized open concept, contemporary living room library idea with light wood floor, white walls, and a tv stand

[laragazzaconlaeos4000d]

Happy Saint Valentine's ❤️❤️ @justamanwithacamera #canoneos4000d #ef75300mm #sanvalentino #tortora #animali #happysaintvalentin #birdwatching #dove #canon #coupleinlove (presso Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoojD7OscOZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[primepaginequotidiani]

PRIMA PAGINA Libero di Oggi mercoledì, 11 dicembre 2024

[eventiecoeventi]

Profumatore con cuore @claraluna_official @eventi_e_co_roma_bomboniere @velia.25 #profumatoreambiente #claraluna #tortora #ceramics #live #union #glitter #golden #love #bombonierematrimonio #bomboniereroma #nozzeroma #tuscolana #onlineshopping #store #essence #ciampino #cinecittà #morena #flowers #appiolatinotuscolano #followers #fashionaddict (presso Eventi e Co. Roma di Velia De Cristofaro Bomboniere e Addobbi Floreali) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn9wrxAt-HO/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=