#training ask

[fruitless-vain]

So Yoshi is a service dog. Does Sham have a job too?

Also, do dogs enjoy learning commands? Is it more like play or a chore for them?

Shams job is keeping his brain cell between his ears, it’s a really rigorous task that consumes his whole day but someone’s gotta do it 😔

(Yoshi is the only SD in my home, Shams ‘just’ a pet. He knows how to retrieve certain items that are too heavy for Yo which he’ll do for me from time to time at home but that’s it for him)

Whether or not a dog enjoys cued behaviours tends to depend on a couple variables - how that behaviour was taught, the dog’s personality, and their history with the behaviour

How it’s taught:

If you teach a dog to walk loose leash by kicking them (exaggeration, don’t do that) every time they walk ahead you’ll eventually get them to stop walking ahead of you but they won’t be doing it because they enjoy it. They’ll be walking behind you because they’re scared and stressed by the potential outcome of walking ahead.

If you offer rewards for walking by your side they’ll be walking there because they’re excited about the potential outcome. They’ll end up enjoying loose leash walking because the anticipation of the rewards is firing off all those happy chemicals in the brain making the activity reinforcing and enjoyable.

(There’s so much more nuance to this but you get the idea)

The dog:

Some dogs were bred with following human cues in mind, by default their brains want to receive information from someone, they can find joy in the mere principle of getting a direction (herders, retrievers, etc)

Some dogs were bred with independence in mind, their heads need to be able to problem solve independently, or be focused on the environment (sled dogs, guardian breeds, etc.). As such they might not be as engaged in traditional behaviour=reward sequences and therefore less suited for service dog level behaviours.

Within breed categories each dog will have their own personal preferences, what they find rewarding, how long they can hold focus for, how much they actively want to work. Yoshi, my SD, a herder, can hold focus and react to cues on a dime for hours, she can do repetitive training sessions multiple times a day without losing motivation or eagerness to participate, she can get the same single piece of kibble as a reward for a month and not get bored of it. Sham, my northern mix pet dog, can focus for about 15 minutes on a good day, loses interest in repeated cue sessions, needs loads of breaks, and values environmental rewards over much else.

Both can be taught basic cues and have fun with training sessions but some will not thrive in more intense training settings that don’t line up with their personality and breed traits.

History with the behaviour:

Even if all the stars align, you trained the behaviour where the dog highly enjoys it, the dog is highly motivated, and everything seems perfect you can end up with a dog that hates the behaviour just because of something that happened one day.

If I’ve asked my dog to sit 200x and nothing bad happens and she’s excited to do it then one day I ask her to sit and a blast of lightning and thunder goes off behind her and scares her heavily it’s possible that she will be afraid of sitting again. The environment poisoned the cue for her, if it was scary enough she could think that sitting might make the lightning occur so she’ll be averse to sitting out of fear for that lightning again.

If you feed them from a certain bowl for years, hide medication in their food one day and they find it + it’s gross they will start to be wary of that bowl and potentially avoid eating anything from that same bowl again (or avoid that food entirely). One bad experience poisoned both the eating behaviour and the container itself.

(This is a huge reason why SD handlers hate seeing pets in not pet friendly places, one bad experience while the dog is in gear can cause them to anticipate being attacked by a dog any time they go to work. Causing the SD to have to retire early)

For the fundamentals of cues and training a dog /should/ enjoy it! The whole point of training is that it’s a fun enriching experience for the animals involved, it makes communication a two way street, makes living with one another easier, and allows for compromises to be made for the benefit of everyone. Any dog Can enjoy basic training, sometimes you need to get creative with what rewards you use, and sometimes training looks like one singular rep instead of 15 minutes of repetitions. Training gets their brains thinking, enhanced problem solving, and is overall a very enriching game.

When we’re talking in the service dog degree of things we absolutely do not want our dogs to feel like any of their tasks are “chores”, a dog who loathes their tasks is unreliable, doesn’t like their job, and will usually end up retiring early. You want a service dog to love their job, a dog who’s excited every time they’re needed, who gears up for work readily, and wants to work, is a dog who is actively looking for things to do, is paying attention for scent alerts, is responding to cues promptly and efficiently, is ready for the worst case scenario. A dog who doesn’t love their job is a dog who might not pay attention to a scent alert, who might not respond in an emergency, and a dog that’s ultimately just unhappy.

If a behaviour is seen as a chore then something went wrong down the road and we need to evaluate if it’s something we can fix or if it’s something the dog just doesn’t enjoy. End goal for any training is always for the dog to be an eager and excited participant who’s having fun with the entire process

[everythingwasnormalhere]

Ok so, I just remembered how people in the comments of a tiktok video were being assholes, and I want to rant now :3

The video showed two wheelchair users at a train(?), who had just arrived to their stop to find nobody was there with a ramp so they could leave the train. One of them blocked the door so it wouldn't close, and this lasted for 15 minutes. The train was stopped for said 15 minutes. There was a button by the door, that said that it'd contact the driver when pressed. It didn't. People offered to go find the driver, and they came back with the news that there were no people in the platform to put the ramp. In the end, passengers had to go out, and place the ramp themselves, before the train could carry on. The wheelchair users had warned they were coming, and asked to have the ramp put there so they could get down. The platform turned out to have workers, they all just ran away because they'd never encountered the situation in which they needed to do this simple task.

Because of the workers' negligence, the train was forced to stop for 15 minutes.

Everyone's comments?

"Why did they block the doors and stop the train? So selfish" Selfish were workers who refused to do their job.

"What if someone had needed to get to their stop urgently? They shouldn't have stopped the train" It wasn't the disabled people's fault, it was the workers who were negligent.

"Why didn't they just wheel themselves down those steps?" They shouldn't have to risk their (expensive) chairs just because people didn't do what they were paid to do.

"If I had been in that train I would've been pissed, how dare you stop it" And you probably wouldn't have even thought about fixing the problem yourself, would you?

"Entitled assholes" Ok I'll leave you stranded in a train with everyone who could help you get down outright refusing to. Let's see who's an entitled asshole now.

If someone fights for accessibility, as much as it might be a bother for you, you do not have the right to be mad at them. If someone fights for accessibility, it is exclusively the fault of a world catered exclusively for able-bodied people.

So next time you think, "hey the consequences of these disabled people fighting for their rights bother me", instead of blaming them for this, help them solve the issue. This way, next time they will not have to fight at all.

Able bodied people, go out and fight for a fucking accessible world if you're not an asshole.

[ Able-bodied people are encouraged to reblog this post, but try not to derail ]

[wishfulsketching]

More of the Silco survives AU! This is part three. Part 1 and Part 2

The girls learn the truth and Silco gets a taste of a monster

[crumb-crumblet-s-crumbington]

bee shows off his knife hands to optimus

[saixria]

The sillies

When even Athena the Virgin goddess whose most intimate encounter was stabbing her bff thinks you’re cooked, you’re definitely cooked

[httyd-art-requests]

here's an ask to post whatever you want, even something that's not related to what you normally post :3

I've been holding onto this ask and witing for the right moment

Do you guys wanna guess which recently revived fandom has been consuming my life lately?

You can't tell me this wouldn't be the perfect crossover

[frownyalfred]

the batkids all have a running joke with non-family members and mission partners where they stumble across something ridiculous and just casually throw out a “oh yeah Batman and I ran into this once” or a “B taught me how to do that actually” despite literally never having done/seen the thing before.

it started out as a joke and then it became a way to keep civilians and fellow heroes from panicking when things go sideways with an audience.

massive glowing alien that sucks out your soul? Batman fought one a few years back. defusing a nuclear bomb? B had them drilling on that once, actually. seance to rescue a civilian girl from a haunted sewer? not to fear, Batman had them do a whole unit on rescue spellwork actually

[beamerbky]

bite me💋

might be the last post for tonight (i should make it known if you’re buying i’ll respond to u first❤️)

[asha-mage]

MDZS AU where Jiang Cheng realizes that Lan Sizhui is the Wen orphan that Wei Wuxian took care off during the Burial Mounds arc, decides that's close enough to qualify him as Nephew, declares that no Nephew of His (much less a surrogate son of Wei Wuxian's) is going to be raised in the Cloud Recedes, and immediately launches into a custody battle with Lan Wangji.

But since neither Jiang Cheng or Lan Wangji can acknowledge that Sizuhi has any connection to Wei Wuxian, both begin steadfastly and stubbornly insisting that he is a Cultivator of peerless potential and skill and he belongs in their sect thank you very much, and would clearly be very unhappy in the other's. This confuses the hell out of the already mystified Cultivation world, who had barely adjusted yet to gossiping about Sizhui being Wangji's illegitimate child by mysterious love affair.

(Eventually the common consensus in the rumor mills is that both JC and LW where in love with Sizhui's mother and both believe themselves to be Sizhui's real father.)

(LW couldn't care less what gossips say, but JC has to bite his tongue till it bleeds to avoid telling anyone the truth in a fit of anger.)

(It was Nie Huaisang who put that rumor out in the first place, partly to troll JC, partly because, in a way, it's a little true.)

[kidlit-queen-competition]

op sorry for my piss on the poor reading comprehension but when u said "trains came from the mines" in that post i thought we just like. found them down there.

Oh yeah nah that's how it happened. In our hubris we dug too deep and found beasts of fire and iron, you know how it is.

[gender-premium-tm]

begging on my KNEES for you to draw damian. My precious bean. My little meow meow. My gorgeous murder baby.

Please I know that you have the skills to truly capture his adorable little gremlin energy 🫁

(I misclicked and pressed lungs on accident but I'm leaving them there. You can have some lungs <3 your probably need them)

ask and ye shall receive, anon!!

i need you know that this ask filled me with so much motivation it’s unreal. my stabby son boy!!! look at him go!!! :3

reblogs>>>likes

[neytui]

A big field and a big cat

Happy Snoggletog!!!!

Speedpaint undercut :)

[catgrandpa]

Gotham has always been weird, so when the groundskeeper at the cemetery noticed the Wayne kid’s plot was disturbed, he just chalked it up to more of the same ol’. Alright, so ‘disturbed’ may be a tad too light of a word, but what’s an empty grave in the grand scheme of Gotham? God knows in a city like this one, they could use all the burial room they could get. He figured he’d just jot it down on the website and hope nobody noticed for a while.

Too bad he didn’t account for the 13 year old boy in Bristol who periodically checks the cemetery’s website when he’s feeling particularly lonely.

Plot Removed.

Tim Drake stared at the two words under the heading for Jason Todd’s plot number. Removed? What do they mean ‘removed’? They can’t just remove a plot? That’s a person down there! That’s Robin down there! You can’t Remove Robin!

Calm down. Deep breaths. Assess the situation.

Robin has been dead for 5 months and 14 days. There is no reason for a grave to be removed that early, especially one of a member of such an affluential family. Chances are likely it’s a simple clerical issue. He can call first thing in the morning and make them aware of the mistake. He can have it all fixed in 5 hours.

Just a phone call.

In 5 hours.

…

Tim hates talking on the phone almost as much as he hates waiting.

Well it won’t be the first time he’s snuck out to head to Gotham proper at 1am. It can’t even really be considered sneaking out if there’s no one home to catch you.

Buses stop running at 2, so he layers a couple sweaters under his coat and grabs his best running sneakers so he can comfortably make the trek back.

Just a quick trip to settle his nerves. Maybe get a few shots in if he spots Batman, but really he just wants to see with his own two eyes that things are okay and Jason can rest.

It’s 1:37 by the time he gets to the headstone reading ‘Here Lies Jason Todd’ and the gaping, muddy pit in front of it.

This- This doesn’t make any sense. This is not removal. This is destruction. Desecration. Somebody did this. Somebody-

Assess the situation.

A hole in the ground, approximately 1.5 feet in diameter.

Mud and grass flung outward but with little force.

Large chunks of earth turned over and shoved away.

No signs of tool marks or clean lines of entry into the dirt.

Dragging claw marks.

Staggering, shuffled pairs of foot prints in the mud.

A trail of dirt.

Something… Something large clawed its way out of the ground here. Something large and bipedal and- and humanoid.

Tim refuses to jump to any conclusions he can see all the facts laid in front of him. He’s going to cautiously follow the trail and simply hope to any god listening that he isn’t the world’s first line of defense against the zombie apocalypse.

He’s been walking for 23 minutes and there’s good news and undecided news. Good news: he’s closing in on the target and the trail isn’t taking him out of the way so his trip home won’t be prolonged. Undecided news: The potential Zombie Robin is heading directly for Wayne Manor.

As zombie apocalypse news, this is very bad. From Tim’s collected observational evidence, his not-so-professional opinion is that Batman, faced with a horror movie level zombie of his dead son, would not respond well, and would likely not fight back.

In Batman and Robin news? Tim’s unsure. If Jason is simply back? What could that mean for them? Batman can have his Robin. He wouldn’t have to continue nearly killing others and himself every night in his grief. Jason could-

No. Stop. Do not jump to conclusions.

Hope only brings heartbreak.

What would Batman do? Get close and see if the target is a threat.

Target is male. Mid-teens. Dark hair. Pale skin. Leaning against surfaces as he walks. Appears injured and disoriented.

Minimal risk assessed. Approaching and attempting contact.

Target identity confirmed: Jason Todd.

“J-Jason?” It comes out as a croaked whisper. Jason shows no sign of acknowledgment.

Tim clears his throat, steps right in front of his path, and tries again.

“Jason. Jason, stop I want to help you.” Still nothing.

“Please, Jason. I can help, I promise I can help!”

Why isn’t this working?! Why can’t he just do something right for once?! He wants this to work, he wants to help Bruce, he wants to fix Batman, he wants to not be alone, he wants-

“Robin!”

Robin jerks to a stop.

Tim reached out his hand.

“Robin. Robin please, I’m sorry you’re going through this, it’s really scary, I’m really scared. But I just want to help you. Help you find Batman. Help you get home.”

Jason just stares at him. Of course he does. Of course it’s not going to work. Why did he even bother hoping he could help?

Hope only brings heartbreak.

His sight blurs as his eyes fill with tears and he starts to lower his outstretched hand.

His arm is slowed as a cold hand weakly grasps his own.

“Don’t… scared… Bat… help… Dad… help.”

A relieved sob tears out from Tim’s chest and he gathers himself together. He yanks his extra sweater off and gently pulls it over Jason’s cold shoulders. Jason lets Tim drag his arm over his shoulders to try and carry some of his weight.

“Okay, Robin. Yeah. Your dad will help us.”

Batman will solve everything once Tim gets Robin home.

[darkfantasyprincess23]

[daisyblogsblog]

Daddy likes fat ass ?

[s0fter-sin]

thinking about the way ghost doesn't hesitate to start killing shadows when graves betrays them but soap only takes one hostage

you can almost hear the voice in his head telling him it doesn't have to be this way; they can still talk it out

"i'm calling shepherd"

his first instinct when confronted with betrayal is to play it by the books: to go up the chain. that goes against everything we've seen him do. he bucks authority at every chance except for the one time he's confronted with the barrels of his allies' guns

he wants a peaceful resolution; for the first time we've ever seen, he doesn't want violence to be the answer. there has to be another fix, a solution that doesn't end with him killing the same men he's been working with; his friends

nothing's happened yet

it doesn't have to go this way

but ghost has been betrayed before. he knows the way this ends; either with him six feet under or his enemy

he doesn't hesitate

it's only when they knock alejandro out that soap shoots; when they spill the first blood and cross a line they can never come back from

only when ghost orders him to run and he has to cover his retreat

and somewhere along the line, between civilians’ screams and taunting voices, between his shaking breath and ghost steady in his ear, that naivety is stripped away; his trust turned to teeth that he uses to sink into throats of men he'd have given his life for

"be careful who you trust, sergeant; people you know can hurt you the most"

he's learned the price of trust

just like ghost did

but unlike ghost, he has someone to guide him through the aftermath

"good advice, It"