#where you know they have been bred for that temperament. even then its not things like ''dumb'' or ''mean''

[dairy-farmer]

What if like, pre-puberty, omegas get assigned an assistant dog? Bruce gets Ace to care for Timmy, he's so good at his job! It's considered normal in the world to see a tiny omega being licked out in public, hanging off a knot on a walk, etc. And the best way to tell when they reach puberty and are ready for an Alpha cock? They get puppy pregnant (maybe Titus is Timmy's). And after that, it's open season on Timmy. 👀 (also I love your stuff, sorry I send you horny ideas when stoned, lol)

cw//tw bestiality, underage

brutim, jaytim, dicktim

!!! prepuberty omegas getting dogs to aid them before their presentation. people can always tell regular dogs from omega dogs based on the 'service animal' little vests they wear and the fact that an omega will be fussing over them, brushing their fur or weaving lace and ribbons into their collars. omegas have a tendency to like pretty things and so of course they pretty up their animals. when bruce had introduced ace to tim he'd spent hours fixing a ruffled doily collar to his neck and applying stickers to ace's hand leash.

not that bruce thought it was necessary, ace was specially trained and bred to help baby omegas. bruce had personally gone to the farm and picked ace out, according to the breeder ace had a well disciplined temperament, he'd never even nipped at any of the visiting omegas who tugged on his tail and ears. but he was also sturdy and strong, able to withstand physical activity for hours so if bruce had a particularly spirited omega then ace was perfect. and that had been the selling point because tim was going through a...phase. where he rode and bounced his baby omega cunt on anything that stopped moving for too long. more than once bruce would have tim on his knee and tim would start bouncing and grinding on bruce's dress pants, leaving behind a clear stain. and its not that it upset bruce just that tim couldn't behave like that in front of company. tim didn't like any of the stuffies or omega dolls they bought him to help. bruce had even specially purchased one that was made by the same company that made the knot milking toys he'd bought jason and dick. but that hadn't worked either.

so a dog had been the only other option. plus a well trained one would be able to help curb tim's bad habits and train him to take a knot. the first time ace mounts tim bruce makes sure to supervise and watches as tim writhes and squirms, little omega body rocked from the force of the thrusts plowing into him. ace is a good dog and bruce makes sure to praise and pat his head as tim whines from underneath pounds of fur. omegas and their beloved dogs are a common sight to see. plush omega dresses and skirts lifted up as their sevice animal sticks its head underneath, omegas on their backs and making soft cooing noises as they're mounted by pets that they hold onto with their hand leash. if one of the dogs ever gets too rough or their knot doesn't catch and they keep fucking into a tight, hypersensitive omega hole then the supervising alpha can pull the hand leash to briefly choke the animal to pull it off. its the same method thats been used for over hundred of years.

but bruce never has to get close. ace is a good dog, he knows when tim starts getting tired and licks at his cheeks to keep him alert and awake. he notices when tim starts squirming and shifting side to side and dutifully presses his head under tim's puffy dress.

dick is the one who notices when tim starts rounding out and growing a little pudgier. thats probably because out of all of them he's been the most eager to finally be able to mate with tim.

titus is a sweet puppy. shy and always curling up close to his mama which tim coos over, petting and kissing the puppy. titus is an excellent practice pup and bruce can't wait to see how tim will care for their puppies when he finally gets knocked up with their pups.

ace is a good father as well, often carrying titus away so that bruce and the others can fuck tim. its nice, probably because tim has had plenty of practice for getting into mounting position and taking a nice fat knot.

truly, getting a dog was the best idea bruce has had in a long time.

[msburgundy]

Can you expand on your thoughts on pitbull discourse, I'm genuinely very curious (I'm not super informed on the topic since I'm not a dog person but the arguments can get very heated and very confusing)

the issue kind of stems from the fact that aggression itself is way more complicated than "is it present or not"

for one thing, every dog is *capable* of aggression but that's certainly not the same thing as being prone to it. and there are a variety of factors that go into that predisposition, but also there are different types of aggression

the target of the aggression is the biggest factor. and there are 3 main types there: dog aggression, human directed aggression, and prey/hunting type aggression. the last one is typically referred to as "prey drive" and is seldom considered a form of aggression but i don't know why it should be called anything else.

and then there are different contexts for aggression: fear, territory, possessiveness/guarding of people or animals, dominance/control, etc.

pitbulls are specifically genetically predisposed toward dog aggression and territorial aggression as those things kind of go hand in hand for fighting, which is what they were bred to do. they can also be possessive of people they love and maybe that's where that insane nanny dog story comes from idk.

human directed aggression in animals is actually pretty rare and has to be trained in in most cases, some breeds that have been historically used for police work etc are more suited to that kind of training but almost any dog can actually be trained to bite if you do it during the early formative period

this can be trained unintentionally, or intentionally but improperly, through abuse (as is the case with my own dog) which creates a whole different set of problems

because what that does is essentially teach an insecure dog that biting solves problems. you get a lot of fear aggression from animals like that

this no doubt accounts for a non negligible number of pitbull bites on people but i'm not willing to say it's the majority either

overall mental stability of a dog is a big piece of this and that itself has several factors, including abuse, but also genetics and even training. a dog that needs a firm handler and doesn't have one will be insecure and untrusting. pitbulls need a firm handler

another component of stability is what the threshold for stimulation is that turns the brain off. this is something you kind of don't actually even see except in very unstable dogs, but using my own dog as an example again, there is a point where he gets too worked up that he simply cannot be controlled. he will bark and bite wildly and even bite me if i try to restrain him, without meaning to or even realizing he's done it until he snaps back to reality

the triggers for it vary depending on the dog, but the outcome is largely the same at a certain level of activation

so now if we take all of that, and apply it back to every "pitbull mauls toddler" story, it starts to make sense. nearly every single one of those stories goes "i left the dog and the baby in the yard for 2 minutes, i heard barking, and when i went out the baby was dead"

what invariably happens, is that another dog walked by the fence, the dog flipped out beyond its ability to reason, the baby cries because of the dog barking, the dog redirects on the baby

that is dog aggression redirected on a child, not human directed aggression

and that distinction REALLY matters

because for one thing, we need to acknowledge that pitbulls as a breed were not merely predisposed to, but selected for, dog aggression and that their use in fighting specifically has led to temperament based selection to either not occur or occur in a negative way.

many people have worked for a long time to change that and stabilize the breed, with great success, but not every dog is coming from those genetic lines. with pitbulls you just really need to know what you're getting

a dog that is WAY more prone to human directed aggression and is widely available and frequently biting people, badly, is the german shepherd

the stats are also very skewed. pitbull itself isn't a real breed, so any time a bully type dog bites someone it gets reported as a pitbull (which is fine) but then that gets compared against the total number of registered american pitbull terriers in the country and that's ridiculous

most bites are by pitbull type dogs because they make up the majority of the dogs in the country

the reason the pitbull stories are so prevalent compared to others is that they're shocking. "beloved family pet snaps and kills child" is just bigger news than "i bought a german shepherd puppy i couldn't handle and now he bites me every time i try to put a leash on him" even though one of those dogs is objectively way more aggressive than the other

[bunposting]

How wary are you of pet store rabbits?

Extremely.

1. Pet stores generally cater to the audience of people who don't actually do much research on the pet they want to buy in the first place, and considering how difficult it is to find genuinely good care advice for rabbits, that means it's even more likely that those rabbits will end up in the wrong hands.

2. Generally, a breeder that really cares where/who their rabbits are going to won't sell to pet stores because they know the people who are buying rabbits from there are likely people who won't properly care for those rabbits.

3. Because most reputable/responsible breeders won't sell to pet stores, the rabbits you buy at pet stores tend to be from irresponsible breeders. These may be people who otherwise breed for good reasons just genuinely don't care what happens to their culls (this is somewhat rare, but it does happen), or they may be people just throwing together whatever random adorable bunnies they come across together in order to pump out even more adorable babies to sell to pet stores or to literally anyone who wants a pet rabbit. Either way, by purchasing rabbits from pet stores, you're telling those pet stores that there is a demand for rabbits to be bought from them, which means they're going to continue to give those irresponsible breeders more business and encourage/fund them to keep going.

4. You have no idea what you're getting when you buy a pet store rabbit. You don't know what medical conditions might run in its lines that it may either express or carry, you don't know what the temperament of the rabbit might turn out to be. Chances are, a rabbit bought at a pet store will have something wrong with it, and you as the pet owner have to decide whether you're willing to/have the financial ability to potentially go through all of the vet bills or if, should any issues arise, you are willing/able to euthanize that rabbit.

5. Just as a general rule, I would say the vast majority of rabbits found in shelters or found released/feral either come directly from irresponsible/non-reputable breeders or from pet stores. By buying from a pet store, you may either directly or indirectly be contributing to the amount of rabbits in shelters and/or found released/feral, and therefore giving rabbits rights groups such as House Rabbit Society more fuel to push their agendas by proving their point that 'there are too many rabbits in shelters/too many rabbits released, and that means all rabbit breeding needs to be stopped' - which then affects all breeders and all rabbits of all kinds.

Basically... Pet store rabbits are generally a huge no from me. They're irresponsibly bred and irresponsibly sold, and really probably shouldn't be a thing (at the very least not until more work has been done to make accurate rabbit care guidelines and facts about what it's like to have rabbits as pets way more accessible).

It gets a little complicated because yes, there is still a market for pet rabbits, and if reputable breeders generally don't sell any pet rabbits then where is anyone supposed to get one? I think the answer to that is... If you already prove yourself to be somebody who is open to listening and learning from folks who have been raising rabbits for years (or who have been taught by folks who have been raising rabbits for years/generations), then folks might be more willing to sell a rabbit that could be suitable as a pet to you. Idk how other breeders feel about this, but personally I think it would be cool if somebody really interested in a well bred pet rabbit came to a rabbit show and talked to some breeders that work with the breeds they're interested in. If somebody came up to me and said they were looking to get a pet rabbit and wanted to learn more about my breed and the general care of rabbits, I might be willing to take their contact information so I can let them know if/when I have something available for them if they're still interested. Again, that's just me personally, and idk how other breeders would feel about this, so I wouldn't say that's the be-all-end-all for how to go about buying a pet rabbit from a reputable breeder.

[colorfulfishbreeds]

Blue Tail Guppies & 5 Thing You May Want To Know

 Blue Tail Guppies, also known as Blue Moscow Guppies, are a popular and visually appealing guppy fish. Their bright blue tails add a splash of color to any aquarium. Because these fish are so beautiful, aquarists frequently seek them out to improve the appearance of their tanks.

We will discuss Blue Tail Guppies in general, including where they live, what they eat, how they breed, common health problems, special considerations, and any legal restrictions, in this essay.

Details about the entire situation

Origin:

Blue Tail Guppies are a type of common guppy (Poecilia reticulata) with blue tails that have been bred. Because this variety is the result of selective breeding over many generations, it is difficult to pinpoint its origins. Guppies, on the other hand, are native to South American countries such as Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil.

Size:

Blue Tail Guppies are small fish that average 1.5 to 2.5 inches (3.8 to 6.4 cm) in length. As a result, they are suitable for community aquariums.

Lifespan:

Blue Tail Guppies typically live for 2 to 3 years. A healthy person, on the other hand, could live for at least four years with the proper care.

Temperament:

Blue Tail Guppies are generally peaceful and do not bother other fish. They are social fish that can coexist in aquariums with other fish species. However, they must be kept away from aggressive tankmates or fin-nipping species that could harm their fins.

Appearance:

The Blue Tail Guppies are distinguished by their bright blue tails, which contrast beautifully with the rest of their bodies. Their bodies can be silver, yellow, or even black in color. Males have more vivid and striking colors than females most of the time. Their long, flowing fins add to their overall grace and beauty.

Various types and colors:

Blue Tail Guppies come in a variety of colors, but their blue tail is what distinguishes them. The body can be solid silver or yellow, or it can be patterned with mosaics or metallic colors. Blue Moscow, Blue Grass, and Blue Diamond are some of the most popular colors. Each of these has a distinct color and pattern combination.

habitat and tank requirements

Natural habitat:

Guppies are found in freshwater streams, rivers, and ponds throughout South America. They prefer areas with dense vegetation and slow-moving or still water.

Tank Dimensions:

Blue Tail Guppies should be kept in tanks no smaller than 10 gallons (38 liters). However, providing them with a larger tank will allow them to swim more freely and improve their health.

Water measurements:

Blue Tail Guppies prefer water temperatures ranging from 24 to 28 degrees Celsius (75 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit). The pH should range between 6.8 and 7.8. This means it should range from slightly acidic to neutral. They can withstand a moderate range of hardness in water, but the general hardness (GH) should be kept between 8 and 12 dGH.

Tank Configuration:

Because guppies are sensitive to dirty water, the aquarium should have a good filter to keep the water clean. Give them plenty of hiding spots and dense plants, both real and fake, to make it look like their natural habitat. Plants that float, such as water lettuce or water sprite, can provide shade and hiding places for fish. The tank's bottom can be made of gravel or sand.

being nourished

Diet:

Blue Tail Guppies are omnivores who eat a variety of foods. They can be fed a combination of live and frozen foods, as well as high-quality flake or pellet food designed for tropical fish. Brine shrimp, daphnia, bloodworms, and microworms are all viable options. A varied diet ensures that they get all of the nutrients they require for good health and color.

What they eat:

Blue Tail Guppies are typically very active and voracious eaters. They have small mouths and eat small amounts of food. Feed them small amounts of food several times a day to avoid overcrowding and to keep the water clean.

Having children

Reproduction:

Guppies are livebearers, which means they give birth to live fry rather than eggs. During mating, males have a modified anal fin called a gonopodium that is used to deliver sperm to the female.

How to Become Pregnant:

Blue Tail Guppies are simple to breed due to their large number of offspring. Make sure the tank has an adequate number of males and females to facilitate breeding. It is recommended that one man for every two or three women be present to prevent excessive harassment of women. Give pregnant females plenty of hiding places, such as dense vegetation or breeding traps, so they can give birth in peace.

Babies are born in the following ways:

To get a female's attention, a male will show her bright colors, dance around her, and fan his fins. The female will carry the developing fry inside for 4 to 6 weeks after mating before giving birth to live fry. To avoid being eaten, the fry can survive on their own and will instinctively hide in dense vegetation.

Most Health Issues:

Blue Tail Guppies are generally tough and resilient fish. However, they may contract diseases common in aquarium fish, such as fungus or bacteria infections, parasites, and fin rot. Poor water quality, crowding, and stress can all contribute to these health issues.

Steps to take to put a stop to it:

To avoid health problems, it is critical to maintain high water quality by changing and filtering it on a regular basis. Don't overcrowd the tank, and keep an eye out for signs that the fish are sick or upset.

To prevent disease transmission, keep new fish in a separate tank for a while before introducing them to the main tank. A balanced diet and a stress-free environment will also improve their overall health and well-being.

Consider the following:

Compatibility:

Blue Tail Guppies are generally peaceful and get along well with a variety of other fish. They can coexist with peaceful fish such as tetras, mollies, platies, and peaceful barbs. However, it is critical to avoid aggressive or fin-nipping fish that may bother or harm the guppies.

Male guppies can be territorial at times, so make sure there are enough females to balance the number of males.

Extra Care Instructions:

Blue Tail Guppies require a clean and stable aquarium to thrive. It is critical for their health that they regularly monitor the water parameters, temperature, and cleanliness. A varied diet and a balanced number of males and females will aid in the improvement of their health and the reduction of stress-related problems.

Limitations imposed by the law:

Blue Tail Guppies are not illegal to own or breed, and there are no restrictions on how many you can keep. However, it is a good idea to find out what the rules are in your area regarding the importation or ownership of specific fish species.

Finally, Blue Tail Guppies are fascinating and beautiful fish that are distinguished by their bright blue tails. They are peaceful and can be kept in community aquariums. They brighten and beautify any tank.

Blue Tail Guppies can thrive and provide hours of entertainment for aquarists of all skill levels if they are given the proper care, such as a well-organized tank, good feeding habits, and consideration for breeding. They are popular among fish enthusiasts because they are hardy and attractive.

[pokemonherpetologist]

What’s up with Flygon? Is it a reptile?

Wouldn't you know, I was just having a chat with a coworker about this last week! It's a bit of a sardonic running joke at this point. And it seems that everyone has their own opinion on the matter of how Flygon ought to be classified, so I suppose now's as good a time as any to get into that can of Wurmples.

So, we know certain things about Flygon. It's the third stage of its line, evolving from Vibrava, which evolves in turn from Trapinch. It has excellent vision. It sheds its skin. It prefers flying/hovering to walking, and is well-suited to desert environments, particularly sandstorms.

What a lot of people don't know is that its typing has been the subject of dispute for...well, decades, really. At the moment it's ground/dragon, has been for a while, probably will be for the foreseeable future. The ground typing is indisputable, and Raihan's use of one in most of his gym battles has cemented its reputation as a full-fledged dragon. Even if we wanted to change it, I doubt we could.

But wait. "Barclay," you're probably saying, "what in the name of Lugia are you talking about? What type change?? What else could it be???". And yes, I'm afraid I must apologize, it's a very circular subject and that seemed the best way to break in. Yes, there are arguments about what type Flygon should be. Again, it's indisputably ground, but the dragon part is up for debate in some deeply academic circles. The alternative?

Bug!

So I'm afraid for the sake of simplicity, I'm going to be turning your question around from "is Flygon a reptile?" to "is Flygon an insect?". Insects are easily encompassed within one typing, the bug type, and rarely waver. Meanwhile, pokemon that would suit the title of "reptile" can be found in just about every type out there, making them all the harder to pin down. Phrasing it this way makes it an either/or question. It’s a a reptile, or it’s an insect.

So, is Flygon an insect?

There are a plethora of arguments to be made in favor of it. The way the anatomy of Trapinch and Vibrava are structured most closely resembles the segmentation of fellow bug types. Flygon’s signature “wing-singing”, an ability often found in insects, most famously the Kricketot line. Even its sensory organs, particularly the antennae atop its head, bear a superficial resemblance to our general cultural image of bugs.

And, it hasn’t finished peer review yet, but there is a paper coming down the pipeline that claims to have bred F1 Flygon that exhibit the compound eyes trait. If it gets published, that’ll be a major playing card in this overly complicated game of competitive solitaire, since that means a wildtype Flygon was able to produce offspring with an ability otherwise found only in bug types, implying they’re more closely related than we’ve been led to believe. Might be a few months before it’s widely available but I’ll keep you all in the loop in case there’s any interest. 

On the other hand, I can’t say I’m aware of any other 3-stage bug type pokemon that spends its second stage actively out and hunting, rather than hunkering down and conserving energy. Kakuna, Silcoon, Whirlipede, Charjabug, Swadloon, Dottler, the list goes on! It’s crucial for their biology - to undergo such a drastic change, they need that designated period of rest and resource allocation. Despite superficial appearances to other bug types (Yanma comes to mind), Vibrava would be an extreme outlier in this case, to the point where one particularly heated paper made the audacious claim that instituting it as a bug would compromise the integrity of the whole typing. Not sure how I feel about that, but anything is food for thought, I suppose.

(Mind you, I'm not an expert on bug types, so if you want another equally expert point of view I’ll direct you over to the far more qualified @poke-entomology!)

And just to cover our bases, let’s take a quick peek at why it’s been classified as a dragon type. The type standard for that (as far as I understand it, anyway; you want citeable answers, find a specialist) some degree of species-wide competitiveness, incredible power, and a temperament not well-adjusted to captivity. Flygon fits all of those boxes, exhibiting territoriality within the deserts it calls home and a disposition recommended only for expert trainers, not to mention its strength. 

At the end of the day, insect or reptile, I can’t find a single fault with the assertion that this critter is 100% a dragon. And isn’t that what matters? 

Anyway, I hope this helped at all...apologies if there were any parts that were difficult to parse, you really did manage to land upon one of the most nichely head-spinning topics I’m aware of right now. It's far more suited for a spirited argument among friends around a table, perhaps with snacks. Feel free to ask for clarification on anything mentioned here, too - still getting used to the “writing as outreach” thing. 

Thanks for the question!

[dogduocatquartet]

@kung-slinger i genuinely almost don’t know what to say to this reply, it reads as if you didn’t even look at my post before responding. i specifically said very clearly that i don’t have anything against pit bulls and nowhere did i imply anything about violence being a need for that or any other breed of dog.

dogs will more often than not prefer to avoid fighting, they have a complex language which in large part consists of navigating around conflict (similar to wolves, since you bring that up, since they’re both social species and good communication skills are essential for functioning in groups). there are many breeds of dog that, due to a number of factors, have weaker or less clear body language than others (language between dogs is also in no small part learned, so socialization is also a factor here). pit bulls are generally considered one of these breeds, which makes a lot of the signals they send out disappear or get misunderstood, leading to heightened stress and may accidentally end up in a fight/bite even though the pit bull may have been trying to signal “i need some space”. the exact same could be said for a retriever with poor body language due to lacking socialization. a lot of owners also punish dogs’ ways of communication, such as growling (“leave me alone”), unintentionally leading to their language growing even poorer and instead of a ladder of escalating signals, the dog in question may end up jumping straight from “this is starting to become uncomfortable” to biting, rather than modifying their language accordingly and having opportunity to remove themselves from the situation. none of this is exclusive to pit bulls, but a higher tendency of conflicts CAN be seen in breeds that have poor body language, just as with dogs that are poorly socialized with other dogs.

if the word “aggression” makes you uncomfortable, let’s call it “stress” instead. a stressed dog may engage in behavior we consider aggressive, so these often overlap or are basically interchangeable anyway. some breeds are more predisposed to stress around either other members of the same sex as them or just other dogs in general, though again there are many factors to consider as to why this is. it’s been a while since i read up on this specifically, so anyone is free to correct me on this, but breeds with same-sex stress often have a higher production of hormones, making them more “competitive” with members of the same sex. for wolves, this can be a useful trait if they break off from their original family group (that’s generally what wolf packs are; two parent wolves and their children) to mate, establish their own territory, and create a new familial group (aka pack). akitas, frenchies, shibas, and st. bernards are some other dog breeds that have a relatively high occurrence of same-sex stress. terriers, guarding breeds, and herding dogs tend to have this in higher degrees than hunting or companion breeds. but again, ymmv.

stress, aggression, fights etc. between dogs are also often triggered by resource guarding. any dog can have issues with resource guarding, but breeds that have typically been bred to guard often have a higher tendency of this, and may be quicker to escalate the situation, because that’s what they’ve been bred for. dogs that have been bred to be independent and guard the home also have a higher tendency to “deal with” conflicts on their own, than dogs bred to be more handler-oriented. again, these are things to consider when getting a dog. for some people, these traits are desirable, for some they’re a downside that other traits weigh up for, for others it’s a dealbreaker. all of these are fine, and should honestly be encouraged more, because, as i said, not all dogs are suited for any person, and not all people are suited for any dog.

the reason pit bulls are often overrepresented in discussions of shelters/rescues is partly because it’s more of an umbrella term than a very coherent breed, referring to bull-type terriers and mixes thereof. there technically IS the american pit bull terrier, though this is not a breed recognized by the FCI or the AKC. regardless, a lot of different dogs often get lumped into the same category, especially when the history of the dog is unknown and it kind of looks like a bull-type terrier breed. ive seen plenty of “pit bulls” that probably have more pinscher or molosser/mastiff in them than bull-type terriers. so just on that alone, you have a huge span of dogs with varying temperaments and historical uses, and that’s before you consider more “immediate” factors like genetic lines and socialization (or nurture, if you will). there’s also the fact that due to their appearance, history, and reputation, there are a lot of terrible bull-type breeders out there, who breed for unethical reasons or for profit, which in turn produces a higher amount of dogs with poor backgrounds and poor parentage, which in turn makes a lot of these dogs end up in shelters (good breeders will commonly take the dogs back if there’s an issue or the owner has to surrender it, so more bad breeders = more dogs in shelters). this is not the dogs’ fault, obviously. in my experience, huskies and border collies are also breeds that make up a big chunk of shelter populations, because they might be cute when they’re puppies, but they often end up being more demanding than someone just wanting a family dog can handle. no amount of nurture can change an individual dog’s energy level or need for stimulation. what you CAN do is meet the dog’s needs. this is not the same thing as nature vs nurture. i cant love or train away a husky’s energy level, but i can let it use its natural resources by taking it for longer/more frequent walks/runs, maybe do some sledding/pulling/packing with it, making it a happier and more well-adjusted dog.

i recently saw a family with a staffordshire bull terrier who was very sweet with them and all around a great dog, but who would bark and pull incessantly whenever he’d see another dog. they had no idea how or why this happened, as he was otherwise really nice and they’d tried to socialize him a lot as a puppy. turns out, what they’d done when the dog was younger was let him meet every single dog they saw or walked past on the street, which created an expectation which created stress which ended up in very strong “stay away from me!!!” signals (barking, showing teeth, leaning forward). this is extremely common for dog owners of all breeds and it’s honestly both annoying and saddening, because no dog needs to befriend every dog they happen across, and it’s often counterproductive and create stress instead, especially since leashes limit a dog’s body language. your dog can hate every other dog in the world, but as long as they can walk past them without acting out, it’s literally not a problem. some dog breeds are less inclined to get along with other dogs, and that’s fine! they don’t need to hang with other dogs to be happy and if you train them to walk past other dogs it’ll likely never be an issue. like i said earlier on, dogs will almost always try to avoid conflict when they can, so you’ll be doing you, your dog, and other people and dogs a favor if you stop trying to “socialize” your dog that doesn’t like other dogs with said other dogs, and instead focusing on walking well on a leash. which is something that all dog owners should be aware of, not just owners of breeds that aren’t generally sociable with other dogs or people outside its family, which are typical traits of bull-type terriers.

and just to sum it up and really spell it out: i don’t think any dog is born “aggressive”. i think genetics, socialization, instincts, and training all play a role, and sometimes you can do everything right and still get a stressed dog that may lash out. dogs have also been selectively bred for all kinds of purposes by humans for thousands of years, so dogs of different breeds and origins may have very different behaviors, reactions, and instincts that we’ve often deliberately created. it’s bizarre and just plain wrong to state that all dogs and all dog breeds are born essentially with the same configuration and everything else is just “nurture”. pit bulls are often singled out or used as examples like in the post i reblogged because of their high density in shelters combined with their bad reputation, media sensationalism, and stereotypes. they’re not inherently worse or better than other dogs. they’re similar to rottweilers to me; fine dogs, can be great family pets, but you should know what you’re getting beforehand because they’re big strong dogs that may possess strong prey drive, same-sex stress, or guarding instincts + for which there are a lot of shitty breeders. id say the same for poodles or retrievers honestly; they can be high energy and were originally hunting dogs, so you should do your research, as with any other breed. i feel like over-defending and figuratively “defanging” pit bulls may end up doing more harm than good, even if the intentions are good, because downplaying a dog or breed’s potentially negative traits and specific needs will likely just result in the dog ending up with people who don���t know what they’re doing and who were expecting, like.. a bichon in terms of temperament and drive. how about we all just have a normal, neutral, informed approach to these breeds instead of this insane, eternal discourse where both sides can be equally fanatical? thanks

[orsuliya]

Since you do such detailed asks and give a well thought out answers, I want to know your opinion on the Ma brothers. Zilong, Zilu and Zitan. What do you think about them?

Ah, our three intrepid Ma princes... Wait a minute, why three? It's not like we're in a fairytale and while Zitan is certainly a fool, he's not nearly good-hearted enough to play the role of Ivan the Fool.

But seriously, it seems mightily suspicious of Daddy Emperor to sire three sons in quick succession and then, as far as we know, never ever procreate again. He's an Emperor and obviously fertile, so how come the imperial nursery remains so glaringly empty? Could it be that he has no concubines at all except for his beloved Xie Guifei?

Or... has the Empress been aborting babies left and right, and poisoning her way through swathes of women to boot? Not impossible, knowing her temperament, but it doesn't really make sense within the dynamic presented in the drama. Drama!Emperor hates, hates, hates the Wangs and especially his wife, so it's hard to believe he wouldn't have used this juicy tidbit to weaken their influence. In the book Wanru is allowed to run roughshod over Potato's concubines and feed them contraceptives willy-nilly, but that's because Potato doesn't really care. The Emperor, as we see him in the drama, would have found reason enough to care upon being given such an obvious opening to start a smear campaign against his favourite enemy. Stymying the imperial bloodline?! Why, I think it might be a crime and easily provable one at that!

This leaves the other option - perhaps there aren't any concubines in the palace or, if there are, they're not being, pardon my French, bred. It's not that multiple imperial concubines of lower rank aren't a thing in this universe - Potato gets at least two and possibly more after sitting on the throne for a relatively short time. It's a pity we don't know what's the policy on entering the palace. Is there a multi-stage selection process? There is certainly no indication of that! Xie Guifei might have been an attempt to balance out a Wang Empress, Seagull was Zitan's impromptu choice, Miss Screecher was meant to be chosen by Potato outside of any organized selection and the same could be true for Potato's other concubines. Our only outlier might be Zilu's Mom and even then it's rather doubtful she was ever processed properly as it would have required a lot of effort and luck to conceal an already existing pregnancy. No, Zilu's Mom was most probably a gift of 'peace' from one brother to another.

My guess as to what Daddy Emperor is thinking? If Zitan has been his preferred heir from the start and he very well might have been since it never had anything to do with Zitan's actual qualities, then it's possible that he simply didn't protest - or did so in a purely symbolic manner - when the Wangs started limiting his reproductive chances. Why breed competition? We already know he has no use for any sons lacking powerful backing of their maternal clans, see: his treatment of Zilu. And any son with such backing would be a direct threat to his favourite, not to mention a potential upset to the carefully maitained Wang-Ma-Xie balance.

...or it could be that Daddy Emperor really loved Xie Guifei and wanted no other. Seeing as he's strongly implied to spend his nights in her chambers twenty years after their only and last kid was born, this would make a staggering amount of sense. The same principle applies - he'd still not protest Wang tyranny over the inner courts, only he'd do it for Xie Guifei and not for Zitan. It does seem to fit with Daddy Emperor's general mindset. Let the others do open battle and exert all that effort, he'll just sit there, look sage and reap the benefits!

After this rather senseless and overly long prelude, let's finally get to answering your question. Mind you, those are not going to be organized, thoughtful opinions, just my subjective impressions on each and every Ma Prince.

His Imperial Spudness Ma Zilong

The not-so-little Potato that could not, but still tried! Let's start with the elephant in the room, namely his rapist tendencies or the lack thereof. See, I'm convinced that raping Awu wasn't actually in the cards, at least as far as Potato was concerned. Compromising her, sure, just lure her into an emptied palace and cry wolf. Outright raping her, no, if only because Potato is way, way too weak and soft to execute a plan this ruthless in its entirety. Besides, harming Awu to this extent would be risky as all hell and sure to provoke authentic wrath in both Daddy Emperor and Daddy Wang. The Empress is not stupid enough to give her husband the perfect excuse to do away with her son nor to alienate her main supporter in the same move. Even if she was able to force a marriage in the first place, Potato would be pretty much done for politically unless both Daddies suddenly dropped dead. The most she would be able to get would be a grandson in a privileged position, so she'd be back to square one, only with one more female to share power with. No, what Potato did and what Wanru suffered was mostly courtesy of Zilu's suspicious drugs. Not to say Potato isn't a rapist all the same, but I'd argue for diminished capacity.

As for Potato himself in his shining spuddy glory, I truly pity the man. From time to time we see glimpses of the ruler he could have become and whom he still tries to be, and it becomes clear that there was something there worth cultivating. The problem is that nobody could be bothered to even try. Daddy Emperor certainly didn't, leaving Potato pretty much to his own devices and believe me, it had nothing to do with his talents or the lack thereof. Do you remember that lovely family scene at the beginning of episode 1.? You know, the one where Awu, Zilu and Zitan lure Zilong into a trap and then leave him there to lie amidst icy rocks in the middle of winter? He could have easily hit his head and died right then and there. Or get pneumonia and die a little bit later. Does the Emperor care? No, not at all! Baby!Awu isn't that good of a liar, but even if she was, perhaps it would behoove him to actually investigate. Not from any kind of fatherly feeling, let's not expect miracles, but perhaps from political expediency? Yeah, no. And I doubt that was the only incident of this kind. Potato must have known even this early on that his father doesn't care for him, not even like an Emperor should for his eldest male scion. Moreover, there is no way Mommy Dearest wouldn't harp on about the Emperor's negligence in private, further affirming this awful truth in Potato's mind.

Mommy Dearest might care, but her care is no less toxic than Daddy Emperor's open negligence. Potato is her key to power, her only way to win the game of thrones and make all her sacrifices worthwhile... and this is exactly how she treats him. Oh, she loves him well enough as her son, clings to him in his role as Crown Prince and then Emperor, but she doesn't actually like him as a person. And oh boy, does it show! I get it, he's not this perfect shining prince that would justify her long years of suffering, but then I have this feeling she gave up on him the moment he showed himself to be perfectly average. Sure, she offers him (toxic) love and (conditional) support like nobody's business, but there's always this nasty undertone in their relationship. Mommy knows best, don't even try to think on your own, listen to me and only me. It's no wonder that Potato thinks he's perfectly useless and doesn't bother to try and better himself, if he knows that even his own mother sees him as a perfect nincompoop. Uncle Wang's open derision isn't helpful either!

And yet Potato is, deep down, a decent enough man. Better than the average Ma, I'd say. I mean, he has some scruples! They might be really, really tiny, but they're there, even as he's being subjected to a barrage of mental attacks from both his mother and his wife. Why, given proper support and a competent cabinet, he'd make a somewhat ineffective, but decent enough ruler, his handling of the flood crisis shows us this much. Potato's best quality is that he really tries. Oh, he fails, but he's no Zitan, content to sit in his room and mope while the country goes to hell. When it's important, he can make actual decisions! Which he may then go back on (or not), but it still counts. Also, he's not petty. Like, at all. He'd like nothing better than for everybody to get along and have lots and lots of plump babies. Even his decision to do away with Xiao Qi is not motivated by jealousy, no matter how hard Wanru and Mommy Dearest keep pressing on that particular button.

Is he childish? Yes. But then, he's never been given any real responsibility and for years and years languished under the care of a helicopter parent who never forced him to man up nor face actual reality, hence his disillusionment with Wanru, once she stops being this perfect smiling automaton. Is he selfish? Oh yes and it shows nowhere better than in his last will. But even so, such selfishness is pretty much par for the course when it comes to the Mas and at least Potato didn't wreck a country for the sake of personal spite, which puts him way ahead of his father, uncle Jianning and bro Zitan. And perhaps even cousin Zilu, who cared less for the country than for Huanmi.

At the end of the day, our humble root vegetable is a tragic figure. I can't help but pity him every time we see him bloom under somebody's attention. Give that man some respect and he'll pay you back with the same, weird comments about killing you nothwithstanding. And he did give us Miracle Baby, Our Lord and Saviour!

Our beloved Groomzilla, Ma Zilu

Daddy Emperor must have been stupid, high, blind or all of those in order to let Zilu and his beautiful brain slip through his fingers. He was right there, that defenseless, motherless boy and ripe for the taking too! If after years and years of being neglected and treated as an afterthought, after suffering an obvious slight of losing his love on Daddy Wang's say-so, after being allowed to supposedly run wild with no attempt at parental intervention... If after all this Zilu still craved his father's approval in whatever form he could get it, craved it so much that he allowed himself to be led into an obvious trap, then what kind of loyalty might he have offered, had somebody bothered to nurture him properly?

And it's not like his talents were easy to sweep under the rug. It's not until after he's an adult that Zilu takes up the pretense of being a never-do-well; during his adolescence he was still giving it his all, hoping in vain that his father might notice and offer him some sweet, sweet parental validation. Alas. The lack of powerful backing from his maternal family is an obstacle, but not if one actively tries to fight against consort kin clans and their influence. Or is it only the Wangs who are the enemy? Must be so, otherwise why the hell would one not see Zilu's relative independence as his greatest asset? You don't even have to make him Crown Prince to use him; just instill some sense of pride and validation, feed his need for attention and put him behind Zitan's throne. Okay, maybe don't do that last thing, deadly brotherly competition being a whole thing in palace environments, but still, use him! But no, Huanmi remained the only person to actually see and appreciate Zilu for what he was. Is it any wonder he was so absolutely loyal to her that even when it looked like she had attacked him with lethal intent, he still cared about her safety most of all?

And is it any wonder that he expedited his considerable will and brainpower solely for her benefit? I was absolutely floored when I realized that becoming an Emperor wasn't actually his ultimate goal - marrying Huanmi in the biggest, reddest wedding possible was! Even if he needed to drag the more august guests in at swordpoint. Not to say he didn't want to take the throne for his own sake; he absolutely did, but only as far as it served as a big fat fuck you to every person who kept dismissing him out of hand, so basically every person other than Huanmi. Taking the crown was a power fantasy, an idee-fixe of sorts, but for all that keeping a throne in one's basement can be seen as somewhat peculiar, there are very few - if any - signs of actual delusion in Zilu's actions. The throne is not a goal in itself, merely a way to achieve his primary goal, which is to marry the woman he loves, take revenge for Huanmi's sake as much as his own and build a life worthy of her. She's his Empress and by gods, she's going to be the real deal soon enough, no more cosplaying in private villas, however nice it might be!

Ma Zitan, the one and only Master of Mope

With every Ma Prince I become more and more convinced that there was something seriously wrong with Daddy Emperor's brain. Neglecting Potato makes some sense within the greater political picture, letting Zilu lie fallow is the height of foolishness, yet it's more a matter of criminal inaction than actively doing something wrong, but Zitan? Oh, there is no excuse for the way Daddy Emperor chose to deal with Zitan. If the Third Prince was truly his intended heir from the start and there is little reason to believe otherwise - if Wangs are to go then Potato is done for, Zilu was never even considered and Zitan remains the favourite long after showing his complete uselessness - why not try to prepare him for his future role? True, doing so openly might provoke the Wangs, but it's not like there aren't any ways to present such ruler lessons as something else, even a punishment. But no, let's just hope he turns out okay all by himself!

Now, logically reasoning, if Zitan was Daddy Emperor’s favourite and the prince he originally wanted as his heir, then Zitan should be given all possible help, right? So why wasn’t he taught any actual skills, whether in governance or in military matters? The thing is… they might have tried. In episode 61, when Zitan asks his faithful pair of retainers if he would be able to best Xiao Qi, their first answer is not that he’s the Emperor so it’s a given. Well, that too, but the first, immediate response? You studied the art of war. Which, okay, might be a reasonable guess when it comes to any prince, but those retainers are rather young and only recently-promoted. Before their soujourn at the Imperial Mausoleum they probably served somewhere within the wider imperial household, but not close enough to any great personage to be knowledgeable about what the princes might or might not have studied. Also, that answer, should Zitan’s lessons be limited to his early childhood, would make them look like idiots or bootlickers of the worst sort. But let’s say that Zitan actually studied the art of war and did so longer than his brothers. Or, alternatively, with more famous masters. That would naturally be a subject of some talk, if only within the imperial household itself. If so, then the female retainer, who seems rather astute in general, gave the best answer she could give.

Okay, so maybe somebody actually tried to help Zitan along. It still failed. Zitan at twenty or so is singularily useless and strangely unambitious, and no, calligraphy doesn't count as useful, not if one is an imperial prince and Emperor-to-be!

It's not Zitan's uselessness or even his refusal to feel any kind of reponsibility for his own people (as shown in the Huizhou arc) I have the most issue with. Although the latter is simply disgusting. And... really, really short-sighted. If Huizhou falls, as it surely must, Jianning and Co. get a clear way to the capital, leaving Xiao Qi to play deadly catch-up. Which means that Zitan's family is pretty much done for. Now, he might not care about Potato and Zilu, but surely he should feel something towards his father? Some filial piety, if not actual love? But no, screw the people of Huizhou and screw Daddy Emperor. Still, does he think that Jianning wouldn't pursue him to the ends of the earth in order to eradicate a potential claimant?

No, what really angers me is the way Zitan treats the women he claims to hold dear. And I'm not even speaking of Awu, although it's rather obvious that he cares little for her internality and rather more than is healthy for his idealized image of her. Xie Guifei dies for him, which is not his fault in the least... or is it? See, I'm pretty sure that Zitan's insistence on marrying Awu despite his mother's reservations was what provoked the Wangs to take certain... steps. Provoking a power struggle is all fine and good, if you're at least somewhat prepared for the consequences. Zitan is no fifteen year old well-bred young lady, he's an imperial prince right in the middle of a delicate balance of power, how the hell does he not know or care about possible ramifications? Naivety is theoretically not a crime, but that surely is criminal naivety. Which begs the question - how hard was that boy coddled by his mother? My guess is a lot. But Xie Guifei is but a trifle compared to the elephant in the room.

Xie Wanru. Xie Wanru, who supported Zitan as much as she could while being in a precarious situation herself. And whom he had no problems with asking for further support, going as far as to aim for the throne, disregarding her own and her children's potential interests. Xie Wanru, who didn't make the first move, even knowing Zitan to be a potential threat to her and hers. Xie Wanru, whose baby got a full portion of avuncular love in form of actual torture and was lucky to get away with his life. Xie Wanru, his sister, whose ghost must have screeched with fury upon hearing Zitan laud himself as this paragon of brotherly feelings in comparison to the well-intentioned Turnip.

Oh, and he just sat there like an offended child while the country kept sliding into chaos, simply because some evil old men didn't let him kill Cheng's entire army with his sheer incompetence. Those dastardly old bastards! Let them scramble around and let the people in the provinces keep dying; they all deserve this for not recognizing Zitan's awesomeness! I'm not saying he should have fixed everything. I'm saying he should have done the bare minimum. He killed a brother for that throne, now he should actually do something with it. Other than purposefully provoking the only guy who actually restored peace and stability simply because the man happens to be married to Zitan's first love.

I'm sorry, I cannot with Zitan. There's a lot more to be said about that twerp, much of which has already been said, but at this point refraining from plowing on it's a matter of mental hygiene.

[darkpokemonspecialist]

While I agree MOST dark types aren't suitable for children, there is some misinformation in this post I need to address.

First, you are spreading some MAJOR misinformation about Absol, because they actually only detect NATURAL disasters, as indicated by all Pokedex entries. Its horn detects changes in the environment, it can't actually see the future. Unless you were dumb enough to give your kid a weather-themed legendary like Kyogre or Groudon, nothing that kid does is going to be detected by Absol at all, let alone overstress it. As for Absol's temperament, it is the gentlest of dark types, which is why I HIGHLY recommend it for kids.

Plus, the more families that are raised with Absol, the quicker people will stop blaming the poor things for natural disasters that they were merely trying to warn people about.

Second, most Dark Types only steal in the wild because resources are hard to come by, with the exception of Honchkrow and Purrloin who will continue to do it for fun. If you get most dark types in its earliest evolution form and give it plenty of food, it will learn it doesn't need to steal, anymore. If you breed it from an egg, many will not learn stealing behavior at all because they never needed to do it.

Third, there are plenty of Dark Pokemon that are KNOWN for and sometimes even bred for being good with kids.

I know you already mentioned Litten, but Incineroar is known for being kind and gentle to children. Its dark-type attributes are mostly for show, as it's a PERFORMING Pokemon that acts as a heel in pro-wrestling shows (and we all know pro-wrestling is fake and scripted).

Maschiff and Mabosstiff are known for being family friendly Pokemon. There have even been cases where in the absence of parents (either due to the parents being dead or neglectful) the Mabosstiff will take care of the kid as if it were its own pup.

Your kid is only getting an Umbreon if it has high friendship with an Eevee at night, in the first place, meaning it has to be well socialized and cared for to even exist (except in places like Paldea where Eeveelutions run wild for some reason).

Alolan Rattata and Raticate are known to make excellent pets, and are common among Alolan children. They also don't steal more than their Kantonian counterparts, and no one has a problem with a Kantonian Rattata being owned by a kid. The only difference in behavior is that Alolan Rattata and Raticate are known to be pickier eaters, to the point a restaurant having an infestation of them is considered a GOOD sign.

Alolan Meowth was literally bred to be a pet, and is sometimes even given as a starter in the Alola region. While I wouldn't recommend it's evolution for kids (for the same exact reasons I wouldn't recommend a normal-type Persian for kids), an Everstone is an easy way to fix that.

Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone are high energy, but overall not that different from their counterparts in Hoenn. The only thing you have to worry about is it loves battling a little more than Zigzagoon outside of Galar, but since Pokemon already love to battle, that's not really out of the ordinary. It will also settle for play fights and tug a war.

Morpeko is only a problem if you don't properly feed it...and if it's not getting properly fed, then you shouldn't have gotten a Pokemon for your kid at all.

Even the ones that require extra supervision are decent

Poocheyena is a common pet in Hoenn, though it requires more supervision.

While personally I think Purrloin is for more experienced kids, it is a common children's pet in Unova.

Houndor need extra socializing and a fire extinguisher, but it and its evolution Houndoom have been known to be gentle when raised right (Still wouldn't recommend Houndoom itself for small children)

Sandile is actually pretty chill. The only reason I put it under "good with supervision" is that it has extra needs due to being a desert reptile Pokemon, and you'll want to keep it from evolving until your kid is older.

Murkrow is fine so long as you don't let it near a Dusk Stone, but you have to keep an eye on shiny things if you're raising one. Also make sure it doesn't work for a local Honchkrow. The Honchkrow will still consider it part of its flock and give it orders.

Nickit are usually caught while very young, giving you plenty of time to make it realize it doesn't have to steal to survive, anymore, before it becomes habit. Stealing is a LEARNED behavior for Nickit that is taught to them by their mothers. Heck, egg-hatched Nickits often don't learn how to steal at all.

Personally the only reason Stunky is in "bad idea" is because of its poison type attributes, namely its tendency to stink-spray when it feels threatened. It's known to be a decent pet with an affectionate temperament, otherwise.

Here is my personal list

Btw, Skuntank is supposed to be in the "Bad Idea" section alongside Stunky. No, I don't want to talk about the Pangoro incident. All I'm going to say is Pangoro won't harm small children who are bullies. The nearby wall in an attempt to scare them on the other hand...

The truth is, there are plenty of good options for a kid's first dark type (although some can only be found in a few regions and require trading to obtain), but the negative stigma against Dark Types gives them a reputation for being "not kid friendly" even though many non-dark Pokémon are far worse (Looking straight at the people giving "arson lover" Drampa to small children just because it likes kids) and even though there are dark types that are specifically bred to be family friendly.

tbh i dont think a lot of dark types are good first pokemon for kids, at least not if you dont intend on supervising damn near everything the kid does with the pokemon. a lot of dark types require larger groups of pokemon, naturally steal things to survive which will require large amounts of training to get out of them, or can be very territorial without proper training. and no offense but small children do not have the capabilities to deal with these things.

like there are pokemon that do evolve into dark types but arent dark types themselves that i think kids can handle like litten, sprigatito, froakie, corphish (if you make sure they know never to put their fingers near it) eevee, and nymble. maybe cacnea if you push it. notice half of them are starters (eevee is a starter in some places) and this is because starters are specifically bred and chosen for their ease of care in first forms.

stuff like purrloin and nickit CAN be owned by kids but they are known to steal in the wild and many children will not know how to train that out of them or redirect that energy or convince the pokemon that theyre stealing when they really arent and thus require a lot of help from a parent.

ive seen absol be lauded as a good first pokemon for young children because they can warn you whenever the kid is doing something dangerous so theyre good for the parents and tbh absol are not good pokemon around children because children are VERY GOOD at getting themselves into danger and many absol end up extremely stressed around them. source: i have been around my absol since i was a baby. not only that absol dont always consider the same thing disasters. some freak out over shit as small as dropping an ice cream, some will not react to anything less pressing than a natural disaster.

like i get a huge part of babies first pokemon is often having the parents help but a parent will have to do a lot less helping with a squirtle or rockruff than it would with a pawniard or zorua.

like originally i was gonna make one of those tier lists ive seen based on how good of a starter each dark type is and then i realized literally all of these range from only give to the most responsible of 10 year olds with parents who can keep an eye on them constantly to keep away from small children at all cost and i dont think any of those make for good starters. i love dark types but my god.

[theramseyloft]

Hello! I was wondering what sort of requirements pigeons would have and the whole breeds thing. (Sorry long ask) How much room would a pidge need? Like cage size and also, how would one go about excersizing them? Do you reccomend letting them fly free for the day and come back at night? Would they possibly get hurt or catch a disease/parasites out there? Are they expensive to keep? And what breeds are the most friendly/affectionate? Thank you :) 1/2

You know how some dogs have been bred to look nice but have a multitude of health problems (ie pug, chihuahua, great dane ,dachshund ect) does that happen in pigeons too? And if so, how does one know which might be genetically predisposed to getting problems later on or just generally wont have the best quality of life? 2/2

Whuf!

These are really broad questions. I’ll have to break them down and answer ne at a time, so I apologize in advance for the length of time it will take me to get this ask out.

“How much room would a pidge need? Like cage size...”

Pigeon breeds range in size from the tiny Valencian Figurita and Portuguese tumblers (vying constantly to be the worlds smallest breed) to the literally chicken sized Giant Runt.

So the amount of space required depends on the breed’s size and energy level.

Homers are about the average.

Here is an old picture from before the loft’s redesign of two of my breeding pair in their pens.

These are labrador sized dog crates, outfitted with a rabbit’s corner litter pan as a nest box and a garden stake cut to length as a perch.

Pigeons need flat perches because they are cliff nesters. Round ones like branches or dowels hurt their feet.

If yours is going to be a house pet, the cage should be what a crate is for dogs: A safe place to sleep or wait for you to get home until it learns the house rules.

Pigeons are intensely social birds that are happiest with the freedom of motion to come see you when they want, and go occupy themselves when they don’t want company.

The nice thing about pigeons is that they don;t need to be all over you all the time. They are independent enough to go do their own thing, but want to be able to come check on or spend time with you.

Which dovetails nicely into your next question: “how would one go about exercising them?���

A pigeon allowed to free range indoors will exercise themself plenty.

If you cannot let them free range the entire house, letting them out in your bedroom while you are home will be fine for most breeds.

“Do you reccomend letting them fly free for the day and come back at night?”

Absolutely not!

“Would they possibly get hurt or catch a disease/parasites out there?”

That possibly could be turned all the way up to a guarantee.

Performance breeds like racers, rollers, and tumblers are over bred to make up for the losses during training flights from inclement weather getting a bird lost, hawks snatching them out of the air, and diseases picked up from wild birds and brought back.

“Are they expensive to keep?”

After the initial cost for set up and the vet check to make sure they don’t have parasites and aren’t ill, the upkeep for a few is shockingly cheap.

You can get a lab sized kennel for $50-70. If you want an even bigger space, Great Dane kennels are about $80.

You can buy a wooden garden stake from pretty much any hardware store for about $5.

The bunny corner box is not required if you aren’t breeding. Pigeons will just as happily use a dollar store dog bowl to nest in.

My vet bill for a new bird is $70: $35 for the exotics wellness exam, $20 for a throat swab, and $15 for a fecal test.

I expected feral and lost birds to have lice, worms, parasites, and infections, but was floored when every single show bird I ever purchased from breeders did too!

You’re better off in the long run assuming something needs to be healed, cleaned out, or cleared up and just finding out from the vet as soon as they get there what needs treating.

Clear it out then, and an inside bird is pretty well set.

You can buy 50lbs of feed for $20 at Tractor supply.

And 50lbs of calcium supplements for $11.

I have 36 pigeons and 2 ringneck doves right now, so 50lbs lasts me a little over a week.

But a single bird will eat off of that for over half a year.

“And what breeds are the most friendly/affectionate?”

Most of the Exhibition breeds are pretty friendly, but from most to least kennel space, here are the ones I have enjoyed the most hands on:

Utility kings

These are the size of chickens and will need a LOT of flight time. 

They are a meat breed, so they are genetically predisposed to docility, but also obesity.

They do best free roaming the house full time. It’s really hard to find a cage big enough to comfortably accommodate them.

Giant Homers

Utility kings are a squabbing breed, designed for constant production of big squabs, so they are more bird-shaped than the Giant Homer, which was bred to be eaten as an adult, and then for the aesthetic of a fat round bird.

Like the Utility King, Giant Homers are known for their mellow, gentle temperaments. But after having worked with them for a few years, it seems mostly to be that they are simply too big and heavy to evade effectively, and they know it.

Along with being prone to obesity, their sheer weight puts tremendous pressure on their feet and they can develop huge, painful calluses.

I like my mixes better than their purebred parents, because they inherited the temperament with out the bulk that causes painful or dangerous health issues.

Lahore

Named for the city in Pakistan where they were developed, the Lahore is a huge, gorgeous bird. 

Their wing span more then the size of their actual body makes them difficult to cage, so it’s best they have the run of at least a bedroom.

these are laid back and mellow, but not exactly touch me birds. If one gets on your shoulder or in your lap, feel honored.

Frillbacks

For the same reason as the Lahore, Frillbacks can be difficult to pen indoors. 

An individual can be happy in a Great Dane sized kennel, but frankly won’t fit comfortably into anything smaller.

These are very laid back, not especially flighty, and quite friendly. Young birds are very much cuddle bugs, and the individual pictured still comes up to me to nurse between my fingers.

No known associated health issues, but individuals with especially long muffs can stay especially still because the shaft of the feather under the skin of their feet is bigger around than the bones of their toes, making walking painful.

Show standards require large muffs, so it can be hard to find them with muffs like Bean’s here.

There is one breeder that raises hers with short muffs and entirely clean legged. I’ll be happy to link you.

Voorburg Shield Cropper

These leggy, slender birds are a pain to house because of their height, but the only breed I know of with points taken off in the show standard if they are not friendly enough to try to court the judges.

This sweet flamboyant temperament makes them an absolute delight to work with!

These are the first on the list with no known health issues associated with the breed.

Show Type Racing homer

This is an elegant exhibition breed, easy to house in the example set up we discussed at the beginning of the ask.

They are bulkier than racing homers or flying type show homers, VERY tightly feathered.

This is a wonderfully sweet tempered breed that tends not to be especially flighty. 

Some of that is due to the sheer bulk of its musculature, but most of it does genuinely seem to be temperament.

Old Dutch Capuchine 

These have a reputation for being docile, but I have found them to be quite flighty.

Mixes incorporating this breed, though, tend to be quite bold and out going.

Racing Homer

This is the most commonly available pigeon breed.

Bred for endurance racing, this is a very high energy bird that needs a LOT of time out of the pen to fly. 

They have the strongest immune system and highest intelligence of any of the pure breeds.

though some individuals can be hair-trigger flighty, this breed is keenly intelligent and highly curious, and those individuals can learn to overcome their flightiness if their handler can learn to be aware enough of their comfort levels not to startle them with too-quick motion.

Lucerne Peak Crest

Named, like the Lahore, after the city in Switzerland where the breed was developed.

The Lucerne is an extremely temperature hardy breed. 

It’s among what are called the Owl Breeds; small, compact breeds with short to mid length beaks, round faces, and large, round eyes.

Most of the owl breeds are mellow and sweet tempered, boldly curious, and not generally prone to be flighty.

Their beaks being a little short makes their nasal slit narrow and the opening to their sinuses wide, so small seeds like Millet can get stuck in the nasal cavity of some individuals.

Classic Old Frill

Oh, this is my favorite purebred.

The total pidge package: Small, friendly, shockingly beautiful, devoted parents. 

There is absolutely everything to love about this wonderful cuddle bug breed.

Nun

These are a gorgeous breed, often described as being friendly because they are not smart enough to be wary.

They are unspeakably awful parents, prone to literally treating their eggs like an especially large, uncomfortable poop.

Old German Owl

Another absolute delight of a charming little Owl breed.

These are as stubborn as they are sweet tempered, which can make them a really fun challenge to train.

These are cuddle bugs, for the most part. 

Chinese Owl

These are tiny little clouds that range from intensely curious and strongly treat motivated to absolute refusal to have anything to do with anything even remotely human shaped with very little in between. 

Small and easy to house.

Portuguese Tumbler

This is a tiny bird, not much taller than a conure.

They are bred purely for aerial performance, so this is a SUPER high energy breed that, like the racing homer, needs a LOT of out time.

They are very bold in their friendliness, eager to check up on you and steal a cheek-smooch before zooming off to resume doing their own thing.

Unfortunately, their breed standard requires their back toe not to touch the ground. They go on tippy toes when they are happy, excited, or relaxed, which makes something like a human hand or shoulder physically difficult to balance on, and there for uncomfortable to stand on.

So trying to pet one throws their balance and stresses them severely.

Mixes with stronger feet are thrilled to have the affectionate attention of human flock mates.

Valencian Figurita

The tiniest owl breed, currently just barely winning out over the Portuguese tumbler.

It’s known for its trapezoidal head shape and upright stance.

This is a bold, plucky little bird that in my experience loves shoulders. ^v^

They are bred a little too small, though, tending to only lay one egg to a clutch, with many dying in the shell with out space for the peep to develop.

Their hatchlings are often given to ringneck doves to foster.

“You know how some dogs have been bred to look nice but have a multitude of health problems (ie pug, chihuahua, great dane ,dachshund ect) does that happen in pigeons too?”

Oh, god, you would not believe the number of pigeon breeds that aren’t even bird shaped!

There are nearly twice as many severely distorted breeds as fit, bird shaped ones.

Check the Modern art Pigeons tag.

“And if so, how does one know which might be genetically predisposed to getting problems later on or just generally wont have the best quality of life?”

Pippin is a feral pigeon.

This is about the closest you can get to the base line natural shape of the species Columba livia.

The more pigeon-shaped the breed, the better.

Ferals are, genetically, a blend of the homers, rollers, and tumblers that survived getting lost on training tosses or during performances.

Here is Wilson, another purebred Racing homer.

Because this breed is designed to fly marathons literally hundreds of miles, it’s a lot more compact and muscular than Ferals and genuinely wild Rock Doves, who only need to fly as far as it takes to find enough to eat in a day.

The farther off this base line you go, the less physically fit the breed.

The American Fantail is an especially heinous train wreck.

Its chest is out thrust over its head, its neck curves parallel to its spine, and its head is propped up by its own tail feathers.

This pitiful creature is not just displaying.

Their skeleton is permanently stuck in that shape.

Parlor rollers are bred with a combination of neuromuscular defects that throw their balance when ever they flap their wings, sending them into a panic as they flail to right themselves.

Parlor Tumblers have a less severe version of the same group of deformities:

We talked about the Old dutch Capuchine above.

Jacobins are the extreme “modern” version of the ODC.

You could trim their feathers to clear their field of vision

But their very long necks tend to collapse into their shoulders with age.

The male Barb’s huge, wrinkled wattle and ceres block off their nasal passages and deform the eyelids so that they may not be able to fully close.

Cocks usually go blind with in three years, but that doesn’t matter to their breeders because their peak show and reproductive performance is between their first and second year of age.

The Short Faced Budapest’s show standard requires its eyes to telescope as much as possible.

Its eyes are literally bigger than its skull, and don;t fit in their sockets.

The eye lid is all that holds them in.

And some can’t fully close their eyes.

This is the Oriental Frill, also called the Modern Frill.

they have literally no beak.

Turbits have a longer head, but a nearly inverted beak.

These birds can;t feed their own young, and struggle to preen themselves.

Aaaand here is the Egyptian Moraslat 

This is a very typical attitude among breeders of these birds with extreme body shapes.

I also have a series on weird, but physically sound breeds, and would be happy to go more into those in another ask.

[satonthelotuspier]

Fur and Feathers

Part 3 of the XiCheng story arc. I’ll no doubt write more of them in future for extras etc but this is the main part of their story finished.

Part 1 and Part 2 can be found at the links.

After 2 years of avoiding his responsibilities it’s time for Jiang Cheng to return to Lotus Pier, and the political husband he walked out on the day after their marriage.

Once back the two settle down to ignoring each other wherever possible, until a misfired talisman created by not-so-genius brother Wei Wuxian causes them to have to forget their differences and co-operate from close quarters for a while.

7k words

XiCheng Part 3

“Isn’t it about time you went home to your husband, Jiang-gongzi?” Nie Mingjue asked pointedly at dinner that evening.

Nie Huaisang coughed once to hide his amusement and pulled out his fan, opening and covering his face with it. He had pre-warned Jiang Cheng to expect something like this, apparently his brother hadn’t bothered to hide his displeasure at Jiang Cheng’s return from Huaisang.

And really, Jiang Cheng thought that he had likely pushed his absence as far as he could. His mother would probably have him beaten with the discipline whip when he arrived back at Lotus Pier. He had chosen to ignore letter after letter from her demanding his immediate return over the past two years. The longer he had left it the harder the thought of returning had become; distance and a level of maturity had allowed him to admit what an absolute bastard he had been to his new husband. He had walked away from Lotus Pier the very day after their political marriage had been enacted, leaving the other alone and adrift in a new clan, ripped away from everything he’d known.

He knew Lan Xichen had been as much of a pawn as he had in the union; perhaps more so, having offered himself in the place of his brother to ensure Lan Wangji, who had been in love with Wei Wuxian for many years, had the chance at happiness Lan Xichen and Jiang Cheng were to be denied. Yet Jiang Cheng had still acted out on his childish humiliation, wanting to hurt the other as much as he had been hurt. He had probably more than achieved his wish.

Jiang Cheng had spent the last two years at Qinghe with Nie Huaisang, and visiting Jiang Yanli, his elder sister, in her new home at Lanling with the Jin clan.

She had gently scolded him about his terrible behaviour, but as ever she wouldn’t push him on the matter. He had also spent a year night hunting with a pair of rogue cultivators he had met on his travels; the two owl shifters had been investigating a troublesome ghost haunting in a beleaguered village at the same time Jiang Cheng had happened upon it as he’d been making his way home.

They had cooperated, and Jiang Cheng had been invited to travel with them. And he hadn’t taken much convincing, anything to put off the inevitable for a little longer. Eventually they had parted ways, however, and this stop off in Qinghe was his last before he genuinely did return to Lotus Pier to face his mother and his husband.

“You’re correct Nie-zongzhu, I will be leaving for Lotus Pier at the end of the week” he agreed, and at his agreement Nie Mingjue could say no more.

***

The night before his departure Nie Huaisang joined him in his rooms.

“So, what are you going to do about your trophy husband when you return home?” Nie Huaisang asked him lazily from where he laid on Jiang Cheng’s bed. Nie Huaisang’s version of helping was being present to offer guidance and moral support.

His mouth pulled tight at Lan Xichen being described as his trophy husband. Sadly, that was likely the extent of how Madam Yu saw him; a coup for Yunmeng Jiang to have had the former heir of the Gusu Lan clan and foremost cultivator of his generation, marry into it. The thought left a sour taste in his mouth, for he had equally played his part in the Jiang clan treating this well-bred gentleman cultivator like a thing to be used and ignored.

“How do you mean?” Jiang Cheng asked eventually, not quite understanding the question.

“Are you going to attempt a reconciliation? Divorce?” he prompted.

“We can’t divorce, that would defeat the purpose of the marriage in the first place. Much as Lan Xichen, or either of us, might wish to. And how could I possibly attempt a reconciliation? Would you forgive me or my clan in his place?”

Nie Huaisang hmm’ed his agreement, before a devilish look came across his face, “Or you could seduce him, once he’s under your sexual spell he might”

“My sexual spell” Jiang Cheng repeated flatly, trying to ignore the fact the thought of Lan Xichen in that way made his neck heat up in embarrassment. “Look, we’ll probably just get on with it like my parents. We don’t have to like each other to be married. It was about the politics” the thought of such a marriage, stretched out in front of him was a lead weight in his chest, however.

“How romantic, what a life to look forward to, being just like your parents”

“I don’t exactly have much choice” Jiang Cheng snapped, then rolled his shoulders in irritation, “we’ll be fine, at least there won’t be any children for us to ruin”

“Or you could try to get on with him, its a novel idea, I know”

But Jiang Cheng was finished discussing the subject.

***

His mother was the expected level of incensed with him when Jiang Cheng did arrive back at Lotus Pier. Salvation came from an unexpected source, however, and Lan Xichen moved in to greet him after her initial sally. He was drawn away with various comments on his tiredness due to travelling, welcomes home, and queries after his health.

He was about to thank the other but Wei Wuxian had found them, and Lan Xichen took his arrival as opportunity to leave, and turned on his heel and walked away.

Jiang Cheng felt the cut, but he wasn’t sure if Lan Xichen had intended it deliberately.

He had little time to dwell on it, as Wei Wuxian trailed him to his rooms, where he dropped his pack and sank onto the bed in relief.

It was short lived, however, as Wei Wuxian took up where Madam Yu had left off in admonishing him for being gone so long. He added being so horrible to Lan Xichen to his list which hadn’t been a concern of hers, but was just as fluent in his censure.

Wei Wuxian didn’t have access to the discipline whip, or Zidian, though, and Jiang Cheng knew how to wrap Wei Wuxian around his little finger.

He got up and moved to his brother, sliding under his arm and into a hug; he rubbed his cheek against Wei Wuxian’s, scenting him as family. It was as effective as he had expected, and Wei Wuxian wrapped him up tightly in a reciprocal embrace.

“We’ve been worried about you, you little shit” he accused, “If Nie Huaisang and Shijie hadn’t written we’d have had no idea where you even were for the past few years. You’re lucky I can’t use Zidian, or your mother would be the least of your worries” he accused, rubbing Jiang Cheng’s back which took a lot of the sting out of his threats.

And Jiang Cheng hadn’t realised how much he’d missed his adopted sibling; the strong purr that rumbled in his chest in response to the contact surprised him. He rubbed his cheek once more against Wei Wuxian’s then gave in to his animal form and allowed it to take over.

Jiang Cheng was a sleek black cat weaving around Wei Wuxian’s ankles before the other could blink.

He was scooped up and set on Wei Wuxian’s lap as the other sat on his bed.

He continued to stroke Jiang Cheng’s back and Jiang Cheng continued to purr as Wei Wuxian kept up his stream of scolding for a long while.

***

A week later, as he sat over dinner with his family, he wondered whether his father or he had done worse in the arranged marriage stakes.

Yes, Madam Yu was a fiery, tempestuous woman, much like Jiang Cheng in temperament, but was her rough tongue really worse than the faultless politeness Lan Xichen treated him with when they were forced to interact? At least with his mother her venom made it clear exactly where you stood.

To make matters worse Wei Wuxian’s relationship with Lan Wangji seemed to have progressed some too. Of itself that wasn’t a problem; he was happy for his brother, the problem was his brother-in-law, who took the faultless politeness of Lan Xichen and added a severe coating of ice to it. Politeness could impale when Lan Wangji wielded it.

He was not a popular in-law, it seemed.

It was nothing he didn’t deserve, however, and he didn’t feel it was an unfair reaction. He very much thought if the tables had been reversed and it was Wei Wuxian who was in the same situation as Lan Xichen he would hiss and spit in defence of his brother, as Lan Wangji did in his own way.

Jiang Cheng was also happy to bear the censure when he saw the look in Wei Wuxian’s eyes, that soft, dawning love every time he looked at Lan Wangji. Perhaps he had finally begun to realise that the “friendship” between he and Lan Wangji had the potential to be much more, especially if the new Lan sect heir had his way.

He paused briefly as the implications sank in. Lan Wangji would no doubt ask Wei Wuxian to marry him when the time was right, and it appeared Wei Wuxian would agree. Then Wei Wuxian would follow the other back to Gusu, marry into the Lan clan, and live happily ever after.

And Jiang Cheng would be left in Yunmeng, without his siblings.

He would be alone. He would have no one left to mark, to curl into the lap of when he wanted to be a pampered cat, no one to tease and be teased by.

All that was in front of him was years at the mercy of his mother’s disappointment and his father’s indifference.

The thought made him feel ill.

It was no reason to wish his siblings anything but their happiness, however; his life was his to bear, alone if need be.

His stomach roiled at the thought of eating another bite, and he placed his chopsticks down on the table, excusing himself.

***

Jiang Cheng woke up in the night. It was still pitch dark outside and there was barely any light as it was the last sliver of a waning moon that hung in the sky.

Had his feeling of illness at dinner been an omen of an onset of fever? His body felt unusually warm, and there was a tingling painfulness at the nape of his neck. He felt restless, with a vague sense of wrongness. Jiang Cheng sat up in bed, brushing the heaviness of sweat soaked hair away from his nape, trying not to think too much on how his body just didn’t seem to move like he was used to.

And now he looked around, the window wasn’t in the correct position in relation to his bed, and the carafe of water he normally kept on a table by his bedhead was nowhere to be seen.

This must be a dream. He had a fever, and he was undergoing one of those strange dreams where his body didn’t seem to belong to him and he imagined things were different to what they were.

It must be.

He lay back down and tried to go back to sleep but his brain wouldn’t stop working, turning over and over how wrong everything was.

Eventually he gave up, sat up and sent a small amount of qi out to light the nearby lamp. It nearly exploded; he was pretty sure he had made the same gesture a hundred times before without that happening.

Soft flame-light illuminated a room that was very definitely not his, and as he stubbed a toe on the bed frame as he moved to pick up the lamp he cursed in a voice that was absolutely not his.

Something was very definitely wrong and this was not a dream.

He moved quickly over to the mirror and found out why everything had felt so wrong as Lan Xichen’s face looked back at him, Jiang Cheng’s intense shock and surprise forming the jade-like features into a stronger emotion than Jiang Cheng had ever seen grace them before.

He dashed out of the doorway and after a brief moment of confusion, while he recalibrated his mind to the fact it wasn’t his rooms he had just left, set off to Wei Wuxian’s accommodations.

He barged in with the most perfunctory knock, which had Wei Wuxian waking in surprise. He sat up and shook his head as if to clear the sleep from it, “Xichen-ge?” he questioned in confusion.

“Wei Wuxian!” Jiang Cheng dashed over to his bed, sitting on the side and grabbing Wei Wuxian’s forearms, “Something’s wrong. I don’t know how this happened”

“Is it Lan Zhan? Is he alright?” he threw the blankets back and got up, searching for his boots.

“What? Why would it be Lan Wangji?”

“You said something was wrong, are you feeling well, Xichen-ge?”

“Of course I’m not feeling well, you stupid weasel…”

“Jiang Cheng?” Wei Wuxian frowned in confusion, but there was only one person in the world who mocked him with the term weasel, meant to be derogatory to his sable animal form. Even if there was a second person, Lan Xichen would not be he.

“Yes! I don’t know what happened, Wei Wuxian, I woke up a while ago and I was in Lan Xichen’s body. What do I do?”

Although the room was lowly lit Jiang Cheng saw Wei Wuxian blanch; a guilty look crossed his face, and Jiang Cheng would have felt his temper flare normally. He was merely a little cross.

“What did you do Wei Wuxian?” he asked getting up too, taking hold of Wei Wuxian’s shoulders.

“Xiongzhang!” Lan Wangji’s voice sounded from the doorway, and they both looked across to see the Second Jade of Lan stood just inside Wei Wuxian’s room with a look quite close to actual surprise.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Wuxian called, “This isn’t what it looks like”

And it really wasn’t.

“Wangji” An odd thrill passed through Jiang Cheng’s current body at the sound of that tone; he put it down to the oddness of hearing his own voice speak words he hadn’t formed.

“I think you had better explain what you’ve done, Wei Wuxian” Jiang Cheng said calmly, and Lan Xichen, in Jiang Cheng’s body, marched over to stand close by too.

“Yes, what have you done, Wei Wuxian?” it sounded tight and angry, and Lan Xichen’s face pulled up into an expression of shock, a hand flying up to cover his mouth.

Jiang Cheng met his wide-eyed gaze with amusement.

“Do you always feel like this?” there was disbelief in Lan Xichen’s tone.

“Fun, isn’t it?” Jiang Cheng asked facetiously.

“Not in any way. Explain, please Wei-gongzi” Lan Xichen pushed Wei Wuxian for an answer again.

“Alright, so this is probably my fault” Wei Wuxian began.

“How probably?” Jiang Cheng asked, moving away to stand at the window.

“Likely mostly” Wei Wuxian admitted, and held his hands out helplessly, “It’s like this, and really it could have happened to anyone, I designed a talisman that I used tonight”

Jiang Cheng felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Wei Wuxian”

“It was meant to swap mine and Lan Zhan’s animal forms for a while”

“Wei Ying!” Lan Wangji exclaimed in surprise.

“What, Lan Zhan? I wanted to be a cute and soft bunji, you’re always saying I don’t understand how unsettling being around one of your natural predators is, so I thought if we swapped for a while it would help me, and you could be a handsome sleek sable with a beautiful coat, as an added bonus. So really, if you look at it that way, it’s actually your fault, Lan Zhan”

Jiang Cheng raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose in exasperation, except it wasn’t his nose, and it was the oddest feeling to have something that intuitive feel wrong.

“So you can just design the reversing talisman?” Jiang Cheng asked him, “and we’ll be back to normal tomorrow?”

“I could try” Wei Wuxian said tentatively, “But it’s probably safer just to let it wear off naturally at this stage” he said, “It should only last a week or two”

“I don’t think I’d last two weeks, Wei Wuxian” Jiang Cheng complained.

Lan Xichen added a soft “Quite” to the argument.

Wei Wuxian shrugged, “I might end up swapping your animal forms but leaving you both in the wrong body, I think it safer to not interfere. Look at it like an adventure. A chance to see how the other half live, quite literally” he clapped his hands together and rubbed them together, “Now that’s settled, I’m tired, could you all please go and entertain yourselves somewhere else?” he made a shooing motion.

Jiang Cheng called after Lan Xichen, “If you do end up in cat form just don’t lick...things, honestly if I find out you did, I’ll break your legs” he meant to make it sarcastic and cutting, but it was more like a suggestion when it was passed through Lan Xichen’s vocal chords and emotional centre.

“Think yourself lucky if they’re all still attached when you get this body back” was the cutting response, followed by another hand over mouth look of shock.

The Lans left, but Jiang Cheng paused as the hot tingling pain made itself known again. He could ask Lan Xichen about it directly, but he was loath to talk to him about it.

He pulled the hair off of his nape, and asked Wei Wuxian, “What is that? It burns and tingles constantly”

He heard the swift intake of breath, then Wei Wuxian’s voice, unusually sharp when talking to him.

“Are you being facetious, Jiang Cheng? It’s not very funny”

Jiang Cheng was surprised, “What? No, of course not, Wei Wuxian, tell me what it is”

“It’s a bond bite, please don’t tell me you’re stupid enough to have bitten Xichen-ge and forgotten. I won’t for a second believe it was from anyone else, Xichen wouldn’t be unfaithful”

But at the initial identification of the source of his discomfort Jiang Cheng had gone cold, had he?

“Did you let him bite you back? Please tell me that you weren’t that much of a shit to mark him and not let him reciprocate, and then leave him for two years”

“I didn’t mark him!” Jiang Cheng denied helplessly.

“It’s an impossibility that you didn’t because I can see the damn thing, Jiang Cheng”

Jiang Cheng thought back to that single night they had shared. Lan Xichen had claimed virginity and an unwillingness to be the one to do the taking lest he hurt the other, therefore Jiang Cheng had done so.

He cursed as it all became clear on carefully considering their wedding night, although he hadn’t intended to mark Lan Xichen the base instincts of his cat had made him bite the other at the scruff of the neck to hold him down while they mated.

“Fuck” he dropped his face into his hands; he really had been that much of a shit, although it had been unintentionally.

“Jiang Cheng”

“I know. I actually do have a conscience Wei Wuxian. I’ll make him mark me tomorrow” he promised; a reciprocated bond mark would stop the burning itching tingle. “Wait, I’ll mark him…me…” this was so confusing, honestly, sometimes Wei Wuxian’s insane shenanigans got so old. “Do you think you can avoid making any more stupid talismans before tomorrow?” he asked, finally managing to get a little sarcasm out of Lan Xichen’s mouth.

“Not sure, do you think you can avoid biting anyone else until tomorrow?” Wei Wuxian demanded in response, and it neatly shut him up.

He wanted to stalk out, but the First Jade moved far too gracefully to enable a good stalk, and he merely glided out of Wei Wuxian’s rooms instead.

***

They sat across from each other in Jiang Cheng’s rooms the next morning, a tea set between them. It was probably the longest they had spent in each other’s company when it had been just the two of them since...well, since their wedding night.

Lan Xichen had done his best over the past week or so of Jiang Cheng’s return to avoid being alone with him, and Jiang Cheng hadn’t wanted to push him into something that he obviously wanted to avoid.

No wonder, when he thought Jiang Cheng was such a cad that he would bond bite him then walk away for two years. The latter was bad enough on it’s own. Whatever Lan Xichen’s feelings were towards Jiang Cheng at this stage of their relationship he more than deserved them.

“Wei Wuxian wants us to wait until the talisman wears off, how do you feel about that?”

“Amazing, you worry about how I feel now, when it affects your body!” came the retort, again accompanied by a surprised look as Jiang Cheng’s emotional centre made his response for him.

“Honestly Xichen, you’ll have to stop wearing that expression every time you’re mouthy, it’s going to happen a lot over the next few weeks”

Really, being the one sat on the receiving end, Jiang Cheng could only wonder at how more people hadn’t punched him in the mouth in the past.

“How do you even live like this? How can you be so angry all the time and not just feel so weary of it” Lan Xichen wondered, reaching for his cup.

“I’m a hardy soul” Jiang Cheng shrugged. Really he was occasionally weary of it. But he had gotten better over the years at holding his temper, Lan Xichen, with his much calmer personality, didn’t have Jiang Cheng’s years of practice at binding that quicksilver response.

“We’ll have to bear it” Lan Xichen returned to Jiang Cheng’s original question.

“Do you want to be honest with everyone, or do we try to hide it?”

“Will Wei Wuxian get in trouble?”

“Probably a little. My mother isn’t particularly tolerant of him”

“Your mother isn’t tolerant of anyone” Lan Xichen did cover his mouth with his hand then; and he bowed to Jiang Cheng, “I’m deeply sorry that I disrespected your mother”

Jiang Cheng nodded his head in acceptance of the apology, although he hadn’t said anything that was untrue it was of course deeply disrespectful to comment on his mother-in-law’s short comings.

“We should probably try to hide it then, to save Wei-gongzi from possible punishment”

Jiang Cheng was glad the other agreed with the choice he had wanted to make; but he wouldn’t have forced the issue if Lan Xichen had decided against it. He nodded his agreement. That was issue number one dealt with.

Issue number two was going to be much harder for him to discuss, but he was an adult, and he would deal with things, even if they made him uncomfortable. He had grown up over the past years.

“Xichen, I want you to know I didn’t mark you on purpose, then leave” Jiang Cheng decided the best way to apologise would be directly, “I’m not making excuses, what I did was a horrible thing. But it was instinct, and not malice. I’m truly sorry”

“Nice, you merely emasculated me accidentally, good to know, Wanyin, thank you”

He hadn’t expected to get away with it too easily, especially not when the other was armed with Jiang Cheng’s naturally smart mouth.

“We should make a reciprocal mark”

Lan Xichen, in Jiang Cheng’s body, looked at him in surprise, “Oh”

Jiang Cheng, in Lan Xichen’s body, looked back at him in confusion, “I didn’t do it maliciously, of course I’m going to make it right”

“But aren’t you…” he made an elegant but vague gesture with his hand that was pure Lan, “...with Nie Huaisang?”

It took exactly thirty seconds for his meaning to permeate through Jiang Cheng’s borrowed brain.

“What? No!” had Lan Xichen really thought he had been off sleeping with another man for the last two years? “How could I do that? We’re married. I haven’t...not since before the betrothal”

“Oh” that noise again.

Honestly, there was no wonder Lan Xichen hated him; he’d feel exactly the same if he thought the man he had been joined in marriage to had put a bond mark on him, effectively marking him as belonging to the other, then gone on a two year jaunt of debauchery and sexual excess.

“I spent some time at Qinghe as Nie Huaisang’s friend, but I went to Lanling too, and I spent a year night hunting with a pair of rogue cultivators I met while travelling. A snowy owl and a great grey owl. They were good people. A little odd, like most bird shifters, but good”

Honestly there was a long-held-true notion in the shifter world that people with bird forms were the most likely to just forsake the human world and give in entirely to their animals. There were many anecdotal tales of bird shifters just vanishing forever. Sometimes Jiang Cheng wondered if it wasn’t because they had the ability to just fly away if their lives weren’t what they wanted, and maybe start again many hundreds of miles away, but some said the pleasure and freedom of being a bird was too seductive, that when their human life was hard, it was too easy a decision to just forsake it.

He noticed the unnatural amount of iron in the other’s spine then, and rethought what he’d said.

A comment about bird shifters.

Damn.

Did he even know what animal Lan Xichen was? It would have all been part of the betrothal documents and wedding licences, but he had been in such a snit at the time he had paid no attention to any of their wedding preparations.

“I like birds” he tried, and as damage control, it was absolutely stupid. But for some reason Lan Xichen found it amusing, and he started to laugh. He seemed as much surprised by that response as Jiang Cheng was, but didn’t seem to be able to stop.

Eventually, holding his stomach, his amusement was spent, and Jiang Cheng wondered if his husband had ever laughed so much before. The Two Jades had always seemed too stately, statue-like, and disconnected from the world for that kind of response. They both had untouchable auras, surrounding melancholy, saturnine dispositions.

Although Lan Xichen had always seemed mildly amused at the world, in that detached Lan way, and Lan Wangji had always seemed disgusted with it.

He felt that soft stirring of compassion for his husband, one he had buried under layers of anger and hurt and childish reprisals many years ago.

He doubted either of the Lans had spent an afternoon yelling and laughing and wrestling in water with their peers, just because it was hot outside and there was nothing more soothing than a dip in the lotus lake to be had.

“I know, Wanyin, but you like to eat them, I can feel your cat’s interest stirring when I look at you, in my body. I fear my bird might be a little too much for your cat to take on though”

Jiang Cheng had never yet found a bird his cat didn’t think he was equal to; false pride was also a failing of cats. His cat was more cunning than most, thanks to his human intelligence, but really anything from a crow and up would leave him pecked to pieces for his hubris, that was something the human Jiang Cheng understood, even if it made his cat sit and swish his tail in irritation.

Jiang Cheng suddenly realised that the feeling he had of being trapped, of being bound, wasn’t him being uncomfortable in Lan Xichen’s body, it was Lan Xichen’s animal that wanted to be on the wing.

“How much is too much?” he asked out of interest, as he ran the fingers of one hand up and down the opposite arm in a soothing stroke.

“Around two and a third chi of raptor, perhaps?”

Jiang Cheng gulped on behalf of his cat, who was definitely outmatched. Lan Xichen was talking in the realms of the biggest birds of prey. He held a silent memorial for his cat’s self-respect.

“I’m a mountain hawk-eagle. Once we’ve exchanged the bite, perhaps we should try and get comfortable with each other’s animal forms? I don’t think my eagle will like being denied for so long as two weeks without being allowed to fly”

The suggestion was a good one, honestly his cat wouldn’t want to spend two weeks without a warm lap to nap on either, now he had returned to the bosom of his family.

He scooted around the table unthinkingly, before pulling the collars of his robes out of the way, at Lan Xichen’s nonplussed look he realised he’d become confused again.

“Oh, of course, it’s the other way around isn’t it?” this was so stupidly confusing. Wei Wuxian had a lot to answer for. Although he had managed to bring about Lan Xichen being willing to be in Jiang Cheng’s company for longer than it took to offer a polite greeting and move on, so there was something.

“It does seem rather unfair that I’m the one getting bitten again, doesn’t it?” Lan Xichen asked with a touch of sarcasm in his voice, and Jiang Cheng pulled away again.

“We don’t have to, we can leave it until after the talisman has worn off if you’d like; then you can be the biter. I promise this isn’t just because it’s inconvenient to me, I’ll still let you bite me when I’m back in my body” he swore.

“I know, Wanyin, I was just being a brat, as you may be familiar with. Please continue” he bared the long line of Jiang Cheng’s neck to him, “I don’t know where you’d like the mark to be”

It was a little disconcerting to actually be biting his own throat; honestly it was a blessing they didn’t have a sexual relationship, or Jiang Cheng would be putting that firmly on hold until after the talisman wore off; surely only the biggest narcissist in the world would find the thought of sleeping with themselves anything but an utter turn-off.

It was only when the First Jade snorted in amusement (actually snorted! Please tell him that wasn’t something he did!) that he realised he’d mused on the subject out loud.

“You’re quite correct” Lan Xichen agreed with a small smile.

To cover his sudden embarrassment he leaned in, and with a, “I’m sorry if this stings” sank his teeth into the bare skin at the join of shoulder and neck, until he tasted the metallic tang of blood on his tongue.

***

Later, after the reciprocal bond bite had been made, and cleaned up, they made their way out of Lotus Pier to safely let the other’s animal have free reign.

The burning, scraping feeling at the nape of Jiang Cheng’s neck had faded almost as soon as the bite had been made, and Jiang Cheng was glad it was something less Lan Xichen would have to bear when they returned to their own bodies.

They found a clearing in the woods.

“I would think much of the process of flying would be natural, same for your cat, perhaps we’ll be fine if we don’t overthink it too much” Lan Xichen murmured, and it made sense.

“Would you like to go first?” Jiang Cheng invited, and Lan Xichen looked at him in confusion.

“Can’t we try at the same time? Do you think my eagle will attack your cat?”

“No” Jiang Cheng chuckled, “Honestly, you wild animals have no idea what it’s like to be a domestic shifter. Do you know how much attention a domestic cat requires?”

“Very little? I thought cats were self-sufficient, and standoffish”

“Yes, but also very needy and with a want to be babied”

“Cats make no sense” Lan Xichen complained, then eyed the other as realisation struck. “So basically, that’s the riddle of Wanyin, you literally encapsulate every trait of a cat”

Jiang Cheng couldn’t even be annoyed at the parallel Lan Xichen had drawn, because he literally was a cat in his human form too.

He shrugged, “It is what it is” he stepped back to give the other space, and he switched forms, that triumphant look still on his face until he changed into a sleek, black cat.

His first action was to lower his head and groom nervously at his left shoulder, right over where the mating mark had gone, then he stretched luxuriously, each claw on his front paws fully extended. And then he went to explore the undergrowth.

Jiang Cheng did a quick visual check to ensure there wasn’t anything poisonous to cats that Lan Xichen might not realise was dangerous, before he sat down in the shade of a tree and waited for Lan Xichen to return.

That feeling of restlessness still plagued him with freedom in sight, but he would make sure Lan Xichen was fine before he gave in to the need.

He was dozing in the warmth of the day when he felt the tentative touch of paws against his thigh.

“Come here” he murmured groggily, knowing what Lan Xichen, or rather the cat Lan Xichen was currently inhabiting, needed.

Invited, the other climbed into his lap and formed a cat loaf, while Jiang Cheng found all the secret spots that he loved to be fussed in, causing the black-furred predator in his lap to rumble in contentment.

Once he had received his full allotment of attention, Lan Xichen got up, stretched again, and went hunting a butterfly he saw fluttering through the grasses. There was no way with that clumsy hunting technique he would offer it any serious concern though, Jiang Cheng realised, grinning.

He took the opportunity to stretch himself, then shimmered into Lan Xichen’s animal form.

It was odd. Their animal’s were both predators, but they couldn’t be more different from each other.

“Wanyin” his head tilted to show he heard the other, who had changed back into Jiang Cheng’s human form. “Be careful, I don’t think you’ll understand how addictive flying can be until you experience it, but don’t go too far, not just yet. Make sure you stay in sight of the clearing, and test your stamina. Having tested your cat form I’d say a lot of the instincts are there, but they’re not necessarily as intuitive as I’d expected. A lot of flying, especially for raptors, is using the air currents, and none of your own actual energy, try that out. And please be careful, Wanyin, there wasn’t too much damage I could do from the ground, but if you make a mistake at that height you won’t be walking away from it” he reached out a hand towards Jiang Cheng, who nipped gently at his fingers with his sharp, hooked beak, to show he understood, and that seemed to settle Lan Xichen a little.

With several strong flaps of his wings he pulled off the ground and up into the air.

It was very intense activity, no wonder birds had to find a way to make it less energetic to avoid becoming exhausted quickly, at this rate he’d not make it above the treetops. He made it to the canopy, and found a perch high up. He wanted to try a glide, which he could do across the clearing from here; it went better than expected, and he thought he might be beginning to understand what Lan Xichen meant by using the air currents rather than his own energy.

Next he flew out of the clearing, and higher into the air. He new raptors hung at ridiculous heights to hunt their prey with their sharp vision and as he gained more of that height, then settled into the air currents he genuinely understood what Lan Xichen had meant about becoming addicted.

This feeling of freedom, the world stretched out beneath his wings, endless, yet small and unimportant, it was amazing.

He understood fully about those bird shifters who gave up on the world; how could you give this feeling up if what waited for you on the ground was nothing but pain and disappointment?

Unfortunately, he was awaited by a worried husband, and he didn’t want to worry Lan Xichen any more than he had to, so after a short while he folded his wings and practised losing altitude via deep swoops. There was one moment of instinct almost taking over, when he caught the movement of a small hare in a meadow, but he managed to redirect his own attention, and eventually rejoined Lan Xichen in the clearing.

He changed back and dropped out of the low branch, and the feeling of disappointment was a tangible thing.

He now understood why bird shifters were often thought odd, or melancholy, how could they be anything else in human form when they knew the feeling of flight?

He had flown on swords for most of his life and it didn’t even come near to the experience of the wind beneath stretched, powerful wings.

He wanted to ask Lan Xichen how he could ever bear to be in human form, but knew the question would spark pain. How could it not?

“How did you do?” Lan Xichen asked him tentatively, and Jiang Cheng nodded.

“I think I was starting to get the idea. A poor hare almost became dinner, though” he admitted.

***

The next several days were tiring. They spent much of them in each other’s company, they escaped to allow their animal’s freedom as often as they could, and avoided company other than Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian when possible. When it wasn’t, they pretended to be each other. They both had quite a good grasp of the other’s personality by now, and it wasn’t too hard to replicate it, there were only one or two moments where it was a close call; they came mostly when Madam Yu began to berate Lan Xichen, in Jiang Cheng’s body, where he often felt the need to leap to Jiang Cheng’s defence, whereas Jiang Cheng would never have dared talk back to his mother on his own behalf.

They spent most night’s sleeping in the same room, with Lan Xichen taking cat form to take advantage of the opportunity for fusses; and after all, there wasn’t anything scandalous in husbands sleeping in the same room.

As the time for the talisman to wear off came closer Jiang Cheng, whilst looking forward to things physically going back to normal, was sad at the thought of what he would lose.

There was the amazing, soul-altering feeling of flying in Xichen’s animal form. He would never get to experience that again.

Then there was the surprising closeness he felt to Lan Xichen; they had spent almost every minute of the time they’d been body-swapped in each other’s company. He wondered, with a tinge of sadness, if things would go back to how they had been before, once things returned to normal. He felt like they understood each other much better than they had before, so hopefully not. But what if Lan Xichen wanted nothing to do with him, when they didn’t have to pretend to be each other anymore?

He stroked the soft black fur of the cat asleep on his chest as he turned the problem over.

He really didn’t want to lose this...friendship?...relationship?...with Lan Xichen. The more he had gotten to know the other, the more he’d learned about Lan Xichen’s personality, and what made him tick, the more in love he had fallen with his husband.

His fingers stilled as he realised where his thoughts had drifted.

Yes, he was in love with Lan Xichen. What a cruel irony to fall in love with your political match of a husband. After you had spent several years avoiding him, humiliated him and left him alone and adrift in a life he had never expected for himself.

Then to come back and just fall in love like nothing of the other actions had gone before.

He was fucked.

He couldn’t even claim it was merely hormones, because as the other was currently residing in Jiang Cheng’s own body, he could confirm with certainty sexual attraction did not enter into it in the slightest. He was more likely to grow hard while looking in the mirror at the body he currently inhabited, (no need for Lan Xichen to find out about that little embarrassment though).

It was genuinely love.

He fell asleep that night with a frown of worry on his brow.

***

The gentle fusses at the magical nape of his neck where delightful, and always guaranteed to coax his purr from him.

He came awake slowly, stretching his long, agile body out to it’s full length, claws flashing as each individual toe was unfurled to it’s full extent.

This was luxurious. The hand moved to stroke the full length of his back from neck to tail base, and it was only as he began a rigorous grooming of his paw that he realised what was wrong.

He paused, his paw held up and tongue out as shock froze him in place.

That caused a soft chuckle to rumble in the chest below him.

He rather ill-advisedly decided to swap his cat for his human form, reasoning he could do with the ability to think clearly. Without allowing for the fact that his human form would still be sprawled out on top of the other. Which helped his ability to think not at all.

“Uh, Xichen, I’m so sorry, I didn’t think” he tried to scramble away, but a gentle yet strong arm around his waist, and a hand in his hair, held him in place.

“Thinking is overrated sometimes, Wanyin. Thinking didn’t get us anywhere before. May I kindly request for you stop thinking for a while?”

That wouldn’t be difficult at all, stretched out against the full length of the man he loved, Jiang Cheng realised as he went instead with instinct, and bent in to capture Lan Xichen’s soft, sweetly parted lips beneath his own.

[everchange-evergrow]

Puppy Love

4~2~20

Growing up dogs have always been apart of my life. There literally has never been a point where I didn’t own a dog, in fact the least amount I have had at once was three. I consider myself to be incredibly fortunate to be raised this way, some people crave the thought of a dog for forever before they finally get one while others don’t want to be dog owners. If you are not a dog owner and/or never intend to be, then maybe this post isn’t for you. If you have a dog or are interested in getting a dog let me help! I will be going through the difference between getting a dog from a breeder and getting a dog from the humane society. I will also name a few dogs tendencies based on the natural instinct of breeds. In addition, I’ll give you some facts and personally experience as to why dogs have been labeled as “mans best friend”.

 Now there are a lot of different breeds of dogs and especially now a days there are many types of mix breeds or mutts. If you have been thinking to get a dog, research and consider your options. Many people prefer to go to a breeder and many others prefer to adopt at a humane society. It truly does not matter to me your preference, but let me give you some food for thought. I was always raised to pick puppies from a dog breeder, and here is why. Dogs that are bred properly will have what is called a pedigree. This is the dogs family tree or ancestry, it is convenient to know the bloodline of your pup. You’ll be able to see if there is a champion dog in the ancestry, and it will allow you to know if your dog may have specific health issues that run in the bloodline. Just as humans, dogs can have hereditary complications. They can be prone to heart issues, hip dysplasia, eye lid deformities, epilepsy, degenerative bone disease, or cancer are among the most common. Unfortunately when you go to a humane society, you won’t be able to go home and look up ancestry.com for dogs. At the end of the day, all dogs need a good home and to be loved. Make sure you are able to provide this care for your new friend. If/when they succumb to an ailment or illness, make sure to do the right thing. Be there for them and get the opinions of 2-3 veterinarians, sometimes the first opinion may not actually be the best option.

No matter where you get your puppy or dog from, you need to be able to analyze if that animal fits for you. There are lots of cute dogs to love, but what kind of pup do you want to own that fits your lifestyle? If you live with an active lifestyle then you’ll want a super energetic dog that wants to be athletic often. Recommended by the American Kennel Club (AKC) you’re looking into Australian Shepherd, Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Shetland Sheepdog, Dalmatian,Russell Terrier, Siberian Husky, Retriever, Border Collie, German Shepherd, Irish Setter, Beagle, Poodle, Miniature Pinscher, English Springer Spaniel to name a few. Although each dog looks completely different, these dogs all have agility in common naturally in their bloodline and instincts. Maybe you’re a home body and just need a dog that helps you relax. The AKC recommends the following as calm dog breeds. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Boerboel, Bergamasco Sheepdog, Tibetan Spaniel, Irish Wolfhound, Bassett Hound, French Bulldog, Clumber Spaniel, Pekingese, and the Saint Bernard. Now dogs are incredibly smart, some breeds are known to be more intelligent but ultimately any of these breeds can be trained to to be amazing dogs. Sometimes you get lucky with a dog that has the temperament that you’re looking for and sometimes you picked the dog with the opposite temperament that you wish to have. I have been there on both ends of the spectrum. I once picked a puppy from a litter that was the calmest of all it’s siblings and she turned out to be a fireball, little did I know that this breed was known for high energy.  For more information on finding the dog for you clink on this link https://www.akc.org/ 

Now to my FAVORITE part, why are dogs and humans so good for each other? For us,  dogs can reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, ease loneliness, encourage exercise and playfulness, and even improve your cardiovascular health. Learning to care for an animal at a young age can promote children to grow up more secure and active. Dogs also provide valuable companionship for older adults. Basically this animal make our lives BETTER! What is it that humans do for dogs? Well obviously we take care of them. We provide not only the basics of food, water, and a home, but love and affection. Animals of all kind have emotions and feelings that need to be addressed properly. Some want more petting, others want more fetch. Every dog is really going to somewhat different from the next.  If we fail in fulfilling our doggies needs, it is possible for them to become violent, untrusting, anxious, or fearful. If you see this, it is more than likely that some time in it’s life it was not given the basic needs of care and may have felt neglected. 

When human and dog have a healthy bond, in which you both are essentially taking care of each other, there is an uplifting effect in your biochemistry. Oxytocin, aka the love hormone, is released. It is a naturally occurring chemical in the body that makes skin-to-skin contact feel good and  can also act as a natural painkiller, lower stress levels and blood pressure. I can personally say that I have come across this feeling many times throughout my lifetime before becoming educated on it. Currently I own a dog named Lucky, and she is a Labradoodle. I have had her since the day she was born, and everyday day we have had a strong connection together. She knows when I am happy, she knows when I have had a bad day, and it is  stunning the way she is able to adjust to it. The same goes from me, I can tell if she is extra excited, I can tell if she needs a little more love than usual, and I can tell if she is sad! It sounds bizarre but its true. THIS is where the term Mans Best Friend comes from, because if you allow yourself to give that love to a dog, then you’ll get the puppy love in return. 

[douxreviews]

True Detective - ‘The Hour and the Day’ Review

“I wanna know the whole story.”

The fourth True Detective episode usually features a big action scene that solidifies the halfway point in the story. The harrowing one-shot sequence in season one. The relentless shooting spree in season two. This is more of a prelude to this season's intense powder-keg separating the first half of the story from the second. It's another way that this new story toys with paying lip service to what came before while contenting itself with being its own thing.

What this does instead is take its sweet time in fleshing out what exactly is going on in each of the three timelines and the states of the characters as they exist within each of those eras. It sets the stage for what comes next in the season, while also being character and dialogue heavy. It also takes more time to explore the themes of the season, which I especially enjoyed.

Racial Divide

The issue of race is finally examined, which I feel the show has been dancing around until now.

I felt it was always in the background, noticeable in the lingering, guarded or just suspicious looks that are directed at Wayne Hays, the black detective in rural Arkansas. I've noticed it from the very first episode. Some people don't realize that prejudice is not always overt. In fact, I'd say a majority of it goes understated or unspoken, in that Travis Bickle sort of way.

The thing is most of the people who regard Hays in this way probably aren't even malicious about it, or would even consider themselves racist; I know people like this. You've got ones like state prosecutor turned Attorney General Daryl Kent who clearly looks down on Hays with this smug, dismissive superiority. Then you've got people like Mrs. Faber who will maintain politeness but always see him as an other, holding that look of thinly veiled fear and suspicion. Then there's guys like Tom Purcell, who'll drop racial slurs in moments of anger or frustration and then quickly feel ashamed; that reaction exists somewhere in their upbringing, but they know it's wrong.

No matter the shade in which it presents itself, there's no doubt it sticks in the craw of men as dignified as Hays.

Or men who aren't, as displayed when Hays and West pay a visit to Sam Whitehead, a possible lead on the one-eyed black man who bought the ominous dolls. Was his immediate rabble-rousing and accusations of racial profiling and witch-hunts just a natural reaction from an old black man who has experienced decades of injustice from white cops, or was it an easy way of avoiding direct answers to the questions he was asked? It's not entirely clear.

The hectic encounter with Whitehead and the other residents of that local ghetto did highlight the nuanced dynamic between Hays and West, which I've enjoyed throughout this season. While clearly a bit of a good ole' boy, West does not seem prejudiced. He even seems rather progressive for a man of his era, region and occupation, given his deep respect for his partner and stony admonition of Tom for his aforementioned drunken insult toward Hays. And Hays, while constantly on his toes about the racial divide between them, seems to recognize West's empathic quality, even enjoys it when West jokingly needles him about this sensitivity. It's another reason I dig this partnership, that understanding between two no-nonsense individuals.

Another character who appears not to be clouded by the resident race elephant is the priest at the Catholic church attended by the Purcells. Although West distrusts him on account of being a priest -- which would make even more sense today than in 1980 -- the man is very helpful in organizing his congregation to aid the detectives. He seems sincere in his assessment of Will and Julie and he hopes Hays, a former altar boy, would be open to confession. Nice guy, but there were certain things about his scenes that made me wonder if he might be involved in what happened to the kids.

Couples Counseling

More personal than societal, but equally important are the various relationships we are faced with in this story. It's heavily suggested that they have quite a bit of bearing on what's going on.

The big one is Wayne and Amelia's relationship. The contrast between their blossoming romance in 1980 and their rocky marriage in 1990 is very striking. We first see that the later stage is marred by feelings of resentment from Wayne and accusations of inadequacy from Amelia, despite the love they still share. After ten years, they've become worn down by the flaws and neurotic tendencies they seemed so excited about discovering at the start of their romance.

The first dinner date between Hays and Amelia was certainly the best scene in the episode. It was very cute, even sexy in a surprisingly subtle way. And their dialogue back and forth was just wonderful. Despite being so different in terms of background, occupation, politics and temperament, there was an instant chemistry that both recognized. Almost like these two people who each claim to have never wanted marriage or kids saw in each other the possibility of a future together in this first foray into intimacy.

Initially, though, there's Tom and Lucy Purcell. A couple whose furiously tumultuous marriage bred an unhappy family life, which may have played a factor in their children's secretive meetings with mysterious strangers and their eventual abduction.

Amelia gains an insight into this as she tries to comfort the distraught Lucy, and ends up getting the feeling that Lucy might be hiding something and ends up getting cursed out by the latter thanks addressing it. Not a very good first attempt at junior detective work, but she may have just unearthed a clue without realizing it. Lucy claimed that "Children should laugh", the same phrase included in the cryptic letter sent by Julie's abductor. Either Lucy was just wistfully acknowledging the logic of that message or it could be that she had something to do with what befell her children. It's still ambiguous.

As for Tom, we get to see the beginning of his and West's odd friendship as West gives the heartbroken Tom a place to stay away from his sad home. It's another indication that West is a naturally empathetic person, despite occasionally coming off as a hardass. Though it might be that his empathy has dampened somewhat in the years since.

It's a shame that the 1980 dynamic between Hays and West doesn't return when Hays is brought on board the task force of the second Purcell case ten years later. A shame, but realistic. No way the dynamic is the same after Hays got the shaft and West became the successful, award-winning career lawman who shook hands with young, pre-controversy Bill Clinton. And the fact that Hays, lead detective on the original case, is now expected to follow West's lead doesn't help. No-nonsense or not, old friends or not, pride asserts itself. To put it bluntly, dicks will inevitably be measured and pissing contested.

Haunted Houses

Now let's get more cerebral. The first season's tagline was "Touch darkness, and darkness touches you back", vey Nietzsche-like. That seems to be a constant theme throughout this series. The ways in which human horror and trauma can have dramatic effects on a person's sense of self and their reality. How they might serve as some explanation of what we see as the spiritual, supernatural and even paranormal.

It's introduced well-enough. Tom and Lucy Purcell feel trapped in their house, the place where the kids, the only thing that united them, were raised. Tom can't stay there, broken by their absence. And Lucy seems to stay in it as self-imposed prison for her failings as a mother. A disturbing situation where the place that is meant to be home feels more like hell.

The Hays household experiences a similar phenomena later, which Old Hays admits. He came to believe his unending obsession with the case infected Amelia and their children, sullying their chances at a stable, happy family. That he ended up cursing them with his own restless demons.

This takes on what could be a more literal meaning as Old Hays finds himself reminiscing on the past at the same time he struggles to beat back the ghosts in his mind. It's an incredibly haunting scene, watching him struggle to grasp the memories of his life as men he killed in Vietnam (and one caucasian man in a suit) close in and hover over him like phantoms, whispering, accusing. And the show has played so fast and loose with the line between psychologically unhinged experiences and what might be darker forces that exist on the fringes of existence. Rustin Cohle had his drug-induced visions which at times appeared to grant him insights into hidden otherworldly realms. Ray Velcoro's near death experience offered a bizarre yet prophetic glimpse into a possible afterlife. Now Wayne Hays' years of multi-faceted PTSD compounded by dementia conjure menacing ghosts from the past.

"Purple" Hays, indeed.

Escalating Confusion

But themes aside, the more concrete plot points are there as well.

In 2015, a dogged Old Hays enlists his son -- revealed to be an Arkansas State Police detective like his father once was -- in finding West to help him remember the details of the two Purcell cases. To my surprise, he tells Elisa Montgomery in their private meeting that the 1990 case haunts him most of all. Elisa informs him that she and her team of investigators discovered that the skeletal remains of Dan O'Brian, Lucy Purcell's cousin and suspect in both cases, were recently found in a drained quarry after he went missing around the time of the second case.

Which is interesting, because Dan O'Brian was already missing prior to 1990.

But Hays makes a possibly huge development in the second case when he spots a mysterious young woman who could very well be a grown up Julie Purcell on the security footage of the store where her prints were found.

Meanwhile, in 1980, Hays and West end up traumatizing Freddy Burns when his prints are discovered on Will's abandoned bike; I'd totally forgotten him drunkenly riding it at Devil's Den in the first episode.

The detectives and feds are drawn away from this obvious red herring when they catch wind of the redneck lynch mob advancing on Brett Woodard's home, who has prepared for this event with a military arsenal that's sure to deliver on the action spectacle we've all been waiting for.

Bits and Pieces:

* “The Hour and the Day” was co-written by David Milch, creator of Deadwood. This explains why the characters, dialogue and themes felt even richer than usual in this episode. Milch is almost as acerbic and literary as Nic Pizzolato, if not more.

* There's a framed picture of a brunette woman on West's desk in 1990. I'm betting that's Lori, the girl he was putting the moves on at the church.

* Hays sarcastically raising his hand during a briefing was another fun little callback to the first season.

* Not sure if it was explicitly stated before, but Kent, the state prosecutor in 1980, appears to have blatantly used the Purcell case to snag himself the Attorney General office. What a guy.

* Black Sabbath has been around since the late ‘60s. Seems kind of strange that a bunch of men in their 30s act as if it’s some strange new thing in the early '80s. Perhaps its mainstream recognition in my generation is simply coloring my perspective.

* During his ghostly encounter, Old Hays makes note of a dark sedan that is staking out his house.

Quotes:

Amelia (1990): Let go of me, Wayne. Hays (1990): Stop talking shit about me! Amelia (1990): Or what? Hays (1990): … Or I’m gonna start crying. Wasn’t expecting that.

Sam Whitehead: And you. How’re you gonna wear that badge? Hays: It’s got a little clip on it. Ha!

Hays: Can we say this was anonymous vandals? West: We’re not going with irate negroes?

Hays (1990): We ain’t doing any of that shit they just said, right? West (1990): Wasn’t planning on it.

Priest: Would you like to confess now? Hays: I reckon I’ll let it pile up a little more.

Hays: Thing of it is, Father, we’re about ninety percent sure that whoever took Julie or Will are one of yours. Priest: I find it difficult to believe that anyone here could something like that. Hays: They don’t exactly wear a signboard says “psycho killer.”

Four out of five Claymore mines.

Logan Cox

[jed-thomas]

Why do you hate Betty Draper?

                                                     --SPOILERS--

In my opinion, Betty is as essential to Mad Men’s narrative mission as Don. Although it is unfortunate that her screen-time decreases as the show progresses, I do not think that her character’s journey was, in any way, inadequately depicted. She is, to me, one of the show’s most terribly real characters, and it was her fraught relationship with her daughter, Sally, that, as the show progressed, gave rise to some of the show’s most emotional scenes. There are no words in Betty’s final moment in Mad Men - in fact, it is a very simple panning shot, reminiscent of those we have seen in the final moments of many previous episodes - but it is so piercing that little else in the show is as achieved. 

You will therefore understand my surprise when, reading through all the opinions online after I finished the show, Betty was constantly referred to as one of the least-liked main characters. Constantly, I would see positive opinions on Betty prefaced with an assertion that they could not forgive her treatment of Sally or some reference to her emotional unavailability, hypocrisy or immaturity. In a community where praise for characters like Don, Joan, Roger, Pete or Peggy is rife, why is Betty thus criticised?

I honestly do not think that these criticisms have anything to do with misogyny, because anyone who watches Mad Men is coaxed into unravelling the fallacies which support sexist attitudes. Instead, I think it has something to do with the general tendency within the Mad Men fan-base to afford the social conventions of the time far too much importance in determining characters’ actions. It is, to my mind, part of the genius of the show that it refuses its audience the opportunity to wholly absolve any of the characters with any assertion of such things as ‘X was only adhering to social expectations’ or ‘X was influenced by societal convention to act such a way.’ Unfortunately for us, it seems to me that many of the characters, by virtue of their personalities and personal histories, would have a tough time operating even in today’s vastly less oppressive world. (I understand that there is nothing perfect about our current state, but we might agree that much has been improved upon since the 1960s.) It is not simply the social conventions that effect the development of characters but the relationship between these conventions and a character’s emotional drives. 

For example, would the barriers to Peggy’s ambition have mattered to her if she was not ambitious? And is she, like Joan, not uniquely ambitious, even by male standards? Would Don’s impulsive promiscuity be considered much less of a destructive habit in today’s post-marriage world? Is the confusion that consumes all the characters regarding their priorities in life not simply a perennial problem? Sometimes, we genuinely do not know what we want, and it is not social conventions which confuse us but ourselves. 

This focus on the influence of social conventions appears to me to lie at the heart of the criticism surrounding Betty Draper. She is not simply, as some would have you think, the subversion of the “perfect housewife myth,” frustrated by the limited opportunities afforded to her and driven to the point of insanity by boredom. Of course, she is those things and, I will admit, she was raised to value the life that she came to hate but, much like Don and Peggy, she is consumed by an innate yearning for completeness that leads her on an endless search for that mythical something-else and, whilst this feeling may be particularly American, it is not alien to the emotional world of any person. It might therefore be instructive to view Betty’s dissatisfaction with married life as being partly the product of a jealous, perennially-dissatisfied temperament, complexly formed by her upbringing, subjective experience and the social conventions of the time, rather than the sole cause being the external realities of marriage and the specific realities of being married to Don Draper. Betty Draper is as sympathetic as someone struggling to realise themselves can be - which is to say, not often all that much, given the mistakes one often makes. 

 As the show progresses, Betty becomes so deeply entangled in a web of a sad confusion that she is not emotionally-mobile enough to navigate her increasingly complex circumstances. Self-hatred, betrayal and grief all conspire to ensnare Betty Draper and therefore, in attempting to escape or rectify, her actions need not be allowed but they can easily be understood. She mistreats Sally and, much like the fans that this post is criticising, I do not forgive her for that, but what she sees in Sally is the person she was before she was blunted by her own confused sadness. Sally still has the ferocity that Betty sacrificed on the altar of her own beauty. To her, it is a hateful sight and she becomes resentful, treating her daughter with alienating contempt. 

Betty loves Sally. There is no question of that. She just does not know how to communicate that love. Partly it is because she, like Don, was not given parents from which such a lesson could be derived. At a loss, she upholds their values, despite her own understanding of the ways in which they left her so sad and confused. Partly it is because, at that time, a mother was required to raise a daughter to be a certain way, namely physically beautiful and feminine. Sally, prematurely perceptive of the hell that results from an extreme observation of these rules which bred secrecy and alienation in the marriage of her parents, rages against these conventions until such time as they become important to her. Partly it is because Betty cannot love herself in any sustainable way for she has little access to the areas of herself that would enable such an ability. Her self-worth revolved around her beauty, and despite being successful in other areas - amongst others, we learn of her degree in anthropology -, it was first and foremost for her outstanding beauty that she was admired. As sexual creatures, we cannot help but respond to beauty and thus men act as differently towards Betty as women towards Don. That is not a malleable convention but a fixture of human society. She cannot be blamed for wanting to preserve that which sets her apart from the crowd. But what happens when that isn’t enough to keep her husband faithful? What crippling self-doubts so deep beneath the surface are confirmed? What hell does betrayal release on poor Betty Draper?

She is no innocent victim, no one in Mad Men can be viewed this way, all are complicit in the horrid game, but Betty Draper is no malicious monster. It is a horrific experience to see her fade from a life that brought her such misery and despair, but it is even more of a terrible marvel to see her finally reconcile with her own pain, to see her eschew her dependence on her sexual attractiveness and to find contentment in the striving for, not the achievement of completeness. And as the final light drew closer, finally she could see her poor daughter for all she was and not reject her. In her final moments, she found herself at peace with her loved ones and at peace with her life, miserable as her experience of it was, knowing finally her own blindness and feeling, at last, that no one so dangerous or spiteful was out to get Betty Draper as herself. 

[ask-magala]

@dragonkingteo‘s 1000-followers Event

Contest Entry - Cats! 

Disclaimer: I don’t actually own any pets at the moment. However I have done research into pets (mostly because I want to be a good pet parent once I have a pet (つ﹏<)･ﾟ｡) I am NOT an expert by any means. Do NOT interpret the stuff in this entry as fact.

This entry is a “what if Magala Mod was a dorky YouTube (or should it be HunterTube?) blogger who owns several monsters as pets and two of them happen to be ‘Stras”. This assumes that we live in the Monster Hunter world but we somehow managed to domesticate monster (Monsties?) and keep them as pets. Its a slightly unconventional entry. 

mini cameo by @stygian-zinogre-zero

My entry stands at 9,084 characters or 1,675 words.

[Teostra sitting in a box. He turns to look at the camera.]

“Ok just a bit closer… closer… closer… yes Haru… just don’t move…. ARGH!”

BOOM!

(Insert quirky intro that involves only pictures of Teostras, Lunastras and random monsters. Cut to dorky looking mod)

“Hey there Monster Hunters! Magala mod here and today I’m gonna talk to you about…”

[picks up adorable looking Teostra. He’s doing a blep and sheds all over mod’s shirt.]

“My pet ‘Stras! This here is Haru.”

[Puts him down. Picks up a Lunastra. She wiggles.]

“And this here is Diana. Aren’t they cuties?~”

[Magala mod tries to cuddle Diana. The Lunastra just puts her paw on Magala mod’s face and pushes. Magala mod just goes (￣ ￣|||) Cut scene. They are now on the floor.]

“After I posted a picture of Haru and Diana, a lot of you guys have been asking me stuff like… Where did you get a ‘Stra? Aren’t they really hard to take care of? And aren’t they dangerous? Well I’m here to say yes. [BOOM in the background] Yes they are dangerous.”

[Magala mod runs to get a fire extinguisher.]

*Technical Difficulties - Please Stand By*

[Cuts back to floor. There are now new scorch marks. Haru is curled up on Magala mod’s lap. Diana is sitting in a box with a “I really don’t care” look on her face.]

“But they are worth it, if you can take care of them. Just like any other pet they have their needs and if you can’t give them their needs, then you should really reconsider getting one as a pet. Isn’t that right Haru?~”

[Haru stretches and goes back to sleep. Magala mod starts squishing his toebeans.]

“Ok now first things first. How did I get these two. For those of you who don’t know, all domestic ‘Stras are descended from a group of wild ‘Stras back in the 20’s. Those ‘Stras lived in a monster sanctuary in the Volcanic Hollow. They were raised as orphaned cubs, not taken from their parents like some people believe. For a while, people were breeding them to help with the wild population. Those cubs were bred for their fur and parts, instead of hunting the wild population. Remember things were different back then. Monster rights aren’t what they are now and there are seriously no health benefits to ‘Stra horns or claws.”

[Haru gets up and starts playing with Diana. She looks uninterested, but he insists.]

“They started testing for temperament and they bred calmer ‘Stras with other calmer ‘Stras. Soon they became popular pets for people. Because of this, all family lines of ‘Stras are documented. I have the family tree for these two in my files. It's pretty neat because I know who the parents are and how likely they are for certain diseases. The National ‘Stra Club and good breeders do their best to not inbreed any litters.”

[Diana smacks Haru on the face. He looks offended.]

“Ok so if you remember a few months back I was on hiatus. That was because I was picking up these two! My family and I drove all the way to Volcanic Hollow and checked out the original breeding sanctuary for ‘Stras. If you want to know more, click on the link to my video blog in the description below... And here is where this video gets serious. If you want to adopt a ‘Stra please get it from a reputable breeder.”

[Magala mod picks up Diana. She does a cute royal yawn before licking her paws.]

“The process to get these two took FOREVER. Ok. And I mean it! I was on a waiting list. A waiting list for a year. The sanctuary went to my house. They checked everything. And by the way, if you want to get a ‘Stra or any monster from the Volcanic area, check out Volcanic Lions. You can find them on Hunterbook. They take care of everything: Diana and Haru’s vaccines, spay and neuter, and microchip. They also insisted that if I could not take care of them, they would take them back. I had to sign a waiver and everything. Total these two cost me 1 million zenny.  But you two are worth it right?”

[Haru does a blep and rolls. Diana just stares with cute eyes. Magala mod cuddles her head.]

“Yeah so if you want one look out for those things = reputation, reviews, waivers, documentation. All that. Remember a reputable breeder doesn’t do this for money. Most of that money was to cover vaccine costs and the rest went to their non profit. Because ‘Stras are an exotic breed, they have to have certain vaccines and have specific things the vet needs to watch out for. I picked them up when they were 6 weeks old. They were never taken from their mom or anything. They are also well socialized.”

[Mod tries to pick up Diana again. She just stares at mod before wiggling out.]

“Ok now on to danger. Like all the exotic monster breeds. These ‘Stras are dangerous. Their explosion powder gets everywhere so get one of these.”

[picks up a Roomba vacuum. It's already filled with explosion dust.]

“I empty this thing. Every. Single. Day. Oh my Gog. Its insane. So get one of those Furminator combs too. You will need it. ‘Stras are long haired monsters so they need ALOT of grooming.”

[Puts the Roomba down. Haru and Diana hiss at it.]

“And get the fireproof model. It's worth the extra 100 zenny. Now ‘Stras are a high energy monster. They need lots of toys and entertainment… Unless your ‘Stras are like these two. Seriously. I buy them many toys.”

[Shows a whole room of toys and pet beds. Haru and Diana are loafs in cardboard boxes labeled “Konchu Express”.]

“They prefer the boxes.”

[cuts to old footage. Magala mod offers them a new expensive toy. Haru and Diana climb into the box it came in. Magala mod goes: (ლ‸－) *facepalm*]

“Make sure you trim their claws often. One of the benefits of getting ‘Stras from reputable breeders is that they are well socialized. The breeders touch their paws often so they are used to getting their claws trimmed.”

[Cuts to footage of Mod trying to trim Haru’s claws. He fusses a bit. Mod tries to trim Diana’s claws. She just daintily puts her paws in Mod’s hands.]

“Diana here is the diva. She just likes getting her way. Haru is more reckless but he’s the cuddle bug. Make sure you play with them often. Like most monsters, they have their own personalities. But since they are from a good breeder, they have good temperaments. Watch this.”

[Magala mod plays with Haru’s muzzle. He doesn’t bite. When Mod lets go, he licks her hand.]

“I highly recommend getting two. They play with each other while I’m out at work. But I know that costs more. And trust me…”

[Glances at them. Haru is tearing a box to shreds. Diana is daintily licking her paws.]

“They go through a ton of litter and food. And that goes to the last question. Are they hard to take care of? Well yes. I would not consider them a beginner pet. They are very high energy. A walk is not enough exercise for them. They love to pounce and play hunt. Lately I’ve been taking them to agility courses.”

[Cuts to footage from agility. Magala mod is showing Haru how to jump through hurdles. He runs and then sort of chews on the hurdle. Laughter in the background. Haru rolls over onto his belly and claws playfully at Magala mod.]

“I know most people see agility as something for Nargacuga. But ‘Stras can do the same. These monsters are usually bred to for show. Haru and Diana love showing off. I dunno if you can tell but Diana’s been trying to get in the camera this whole time.”

[Diana glances at the camera, before looking cute and showing off her mane.]

“So overall, ‘Stras are a really cool high energy pet. They are very loyal and they love showing off. Train them well and you won’t regret it.”

[Mod picks up Haru. He does a cute blep and shows his toebeans.]

“Remember that this is from my experience with these pets. Before going out to adopt one, make sure you do your research! If you have any questions about taking care of one I recommend asking a vet.  Before adopting, please be sure to check out your local shelter or rescue and see if you can adopt one before buying. I know I paid 1 million zenny for these two, but half of that money goes to the Volcanic Lions Rescue Foundation, a non profit rescue that rehabs and rescues wild ‘Stras.”

[Haru wiggles out of Mod’s arms. Diana gracefully walks in the shot and sits down.]

“Ok thanks for watching! Next video I’m gonna talk about one of my other pets. This has been a long time request. I’m gonna be talking about…”

[Picks up a cute Gore Magala. She realizes she’s on screen and wiggles away.]

“Maggie, my Gore Magala. I’m gonna be talking about how I got her, how I take care of her scales, and most importantly why you should adopt not purchase a Gore Magala. But specifically for ‘Stras I recommend a good breeder or a ‘Stra specific rescue. Well all that and more on the next video! Please leave a like, comment, or subscribe! I’ll do my best to answer any questions but remember if there’s a pet emergency. Please call your vet. Oh and...Happy Hunting!”

[Credits roll… Really its just the two ‘Stras playing with each other. - Cut to candid scene of Magala mod playing with the ‘Stras.]

Styg Mod (behind the camera): “Hey you do realize that between Diana, Haru, and Maggie, you have the monsters that shed the most?”

[Magala mod gives a “you don’t even know” look. Holds up the Roomba.]

Magala Mod: “And that’s why you get three of these.”

[susannespiritmusicaldogs-blog]

More Pictures of:

Our Little Mr. Red Buttons . . . .One sweet sweet loving puppy dog. Almost ten weeks old, just adorable. And Gorgeous!

Fill out our application at www.greenlandhollerpets.org, then text us you are interested at 909-208-6889, and lets get you an appointment to see this most precious baby boy. Hes extraordinarily intelligent too.  

Cairnoodle Cairnoodle The Cairnoodle is a mix of the Cairn Terrier and the Poodle. This cross is also called a Poocan, CairnPoo, Cairnpoodle and Cairn Doodle, or just a Cairn Terrier/Poodle Mix. He has a life span of 12 to 16 years and is a small dog with skills in agility, competitive obedience, tricks and watchdog. He is an independent dog but still very social and affectionate.

Here is the Cairnoodle at a Glance Average height 10 to 15 inches Average weight 13 to 20 pounds Coat type Short, wispy, curly Hypoallergenic? Can be – Poodle is Grooming Needs Moderate Shedding Low Brushing Three or more times a week Touchiness Fairly sensitive Tolerant to Solitude? Low Barking Rare to occasional Tolerance to Heat Very good Tolerance to Cold Good to very good Good Family Pet? Excellent Good with Children? Excellent with socialization Good with other Dogs? Very good to excellent with socialization Good with other Pets? Good to very good with socialization A roamer or Wanderer? Average A Good Apartment Dweller? Excellent due to size Good Pet for new Owner? Very good to excellent Trainability Easy to train Exercise Needs Slightly active Tendency to get Fat Above average Major Health Concerns Addison's, Bloat, Cushings, Epilepsy, Hypothyroidism, Legg-Perthes, Patellar Luxation, Eye problems, Von Willebrand's, Other Health Concerns Hip Dysplasia, Skin Problems, Life Span 12 to 16 years Average new Puppy Price $600 to $900 Average Annual Medical Expense $460 to $560 Average Annual Non-Medical Expense $680 to $780 Advertisement

Where does the Cairnoodle come from?

The Cairnoodle is mixed or cross breed that has been deliberately bred and as such is now referred to more commonly as a Designer dog. Most of these dogs have two different purebred parents and a lot have Poodle in the mix because of their low shedding coats, intelligence and temperament. Many have a name that puts together parts of the parents names. A lot of breeders have joined the trend but not all of them are people you should be buying from. There are a lot of puppy mills and bad breeders who are deliberately cruel or just ignorant and really know nothing about careful breeding practices. Take care who you buy from. Without much known about the Cairnoodle's origins we look at the parent purebreeds to understand them better.

The Poodle

A very old breed is the Poodle. You can find pictures of Poodle like dogs on old Roman and Egyptian artifacts and in tombs from as far back as the 1st century. Despite most regular people thinking the Poodle is a French dog, in fact he comes from Germany and was used for hunting ducks and other waterfowl. But he became a more distinct breed when he made it to France. There have been three sizes of Poodles for centuries, the Standard, the Miniature and the Toy. French aristocracy adopted the toy Poodles as companions to carry around with them. When the Poodle was adopted into traveling circuses to perform they clipped them into interesting shapes and the aristocracy copied. He was registered in the Kennel Club in England in 1874, and the American Kennel Club in 1886.

Today he is known for being super intelligent, eager to please and easy to train. He is very devoted and loving and while energetic, can be calmed with training, socialization and enough exercise. He may seem to be aloof but in fact when you talk to Poodle owners you discover he has a great sense of humor and loves to clown around and play.

The Cairn Terrier

Scottish terrier breeds were originally classed as Scotch Terriers but in 1873 a new system came in to play and there were now two classes, Skye Terriers and Dandie Dinmont Terriers. Cairns were included in the Skye terrier classification. They were developed 200 years ago on the Isle of Skye by a Captain Martin MacLeod. Eventually in 1912 the Cairn-terrier had its own designation and was so named after Scottish burial sites. He came to America in 1913 and was granted membership of the AKC that same year.

Today he is a friendly lovely dog, always happy and eager to meet new people. As a terrier he is independent though and very alert. He likes to dig, chase things and he is a barker. He is a devoted family dog, good with the kids but can be sensitive and does not do well if you scold him. Early socialization and training are important to help keep him more stable.

Temperament

The Cairnoodle is an affectionate and loving dog who while enjoys being around people is also quite independent also. He is very loyal and protective and enjoys moments of cuddling as well as moments of playfulness and energy. He loves to get attention and be at the center of anything going on. He is an interesting mix of being sensitive like a Poodle but still able to be bold like a Terrier. He likes to have company and prefers not to be left alone for long periods. If he gets bored or is left alone for too long he can become destructive. He likes to entertain people, is eager to please, alert and confident. With strangers he is wary.

What does the Cairnoodle look like

He is a small dog weighing 13 to 20 pounds and standing 10 to 15 inches tall. He has a compact but strong body and looks quite tough with his wide head and large dark eyes. His coat can be wavy to curly, wispy and is short on the body. His ears are flappy and common colors are brown, black, grey, cream, white and golden.

Training and Exercise Needs

How active does the Cairnoodle need to be?

The Cairnoodle is just slightly active so is suitable as a pet for most owners, even those who cannot be that active. With a good selection of toys to rotate through he can play indoors and then he should also have one or two short daily walks as well. It is important he gets mental and physical stimulation and has enough interaction. He is well suited to living in an apartment as he is small enough and does not require a yard. A dog who is not walked enough and given enough stimulation can become frustrated, bored and will start to act out with barking, digging and other such behavior.

Does he train quickly?

The Cairnoodle despite being independent is easy to train, he listens and obeys and even needs less repetition than many other dogs. He likes to perform for people so as well as learning basic obedience he would also do well at learning tricks and the like. However he is not as easy when it comes to house training and in most cases it is a good idea to use the crate training method. Early training and socialization are important to see him become the best dog he can be. Use positive methods, reenforcing his successes with rewards, use treats and praise to encourage and motivate. Stay firm making it clear you are pack leader and be consistent and patient.

Living with a Cairnoodle

How much grooming is needed?

There is a moderate amount of maintenance and grooming to be done with the Cairnoodle. It will need regular brushing although it at least does not shed much at all, it does get tangled. It will need to be bathed with a dog shampoo just as it needs one. Too often and it is not good for the coat or his skin. You will also need to brush his teeth two to three times a week, check his ears for infections and wipe them clean once a week and then clip his nails when they get too long. Make sure the nails are not cut too short as this will cause pain and bleeding. Groomers can do it for you if you are not knowledgeable about them.

What is he like with children and other animals?

With socialization this dog is very good with children, he is playful and affectionate with them in fact. He also gets on well with other dogs and even other pets especially when raised with them. He may like to chase smaller animals though.

General information

He can make a good watchdog but otherwise his barking seems to range between rare and often! He will need to be fed ¾ to 1½ cups of good quality dry dog food each day, split into two meals. He can handle most climates and conditions.

Health Concerns

Health issues the Cairnoodle can be prone to include Addison's, Bloat, Cushings, Epilepsy, Hypothyroidism, Legg-Perthes, Patellar Luxation, Eye problems, Von Willebrand's, Craniomandibular Osteopathy, Cryptorchidism, Krabbe's disease, Liver problems, Hip Dysplasia and Skin Problems.

Costs involved in owning a Cairnoodle

The Cairnoodle puppy can cost between $600 to $900. Most Poodle mixes are a bit higher in price than other designer dogs though compared to some this is still one of the cheaper options. Other initial costs will include getting a crate, carrier, collar and leash, having the puppy examined by a vet, blood tests done, vaccinated, micro chipped, dewormed and neutered. These come to between $455 to $500. Annual costs for medical essentials like flea and tick prevention, check ups, further shots, pet insurance and heartworm prevention come to $460 to $560. Annual non-medical costs for basics like food, toys, treats, license, grooming and training come to between $680 to $780.

The Cairnoodle is a sweet and very entertaining dog. He is smart but while obedience training may go very well, house training is going to need more patience. He gets on well with other pets and children and could be a great family dog or companion to a single owner or couple. He is also a good option for those who are less active and could be hypoallergenic though that is something you would need to confirm.

[the-blonde-hurricane]

Here’s Why Being Afraid of American Pitbull Terriers Perpetuates an Unrealistic Fear, Causing Thousands of Deaths to a Suffering Breed.

ASPCA commercials of sad animals in kennels, unadopted and without families is hard for pretty much anyone to watch who is an animal person in one way or another. The majority of the dogs there, however, happen to be the American Pitbull Terrier, the “scary” dog. 

Below are pictures of pitbulls. I did not purposefully put together adorable photo shoots, or baskets of pitbull puppies, or pictures of them specifically with small animals or children. I am not here to further convince you that pitbulls are nice, friendly dogs. The reason why is because if this were about any other dog, it wouldn’t be necessary. I wouldn’t need to pick very specific pictures to show you that a nice dog is actually a nice dog, you would already assume so. I’m making this post to show you, hopefully remind you, that this fear of pitbulls is ridiculous, sad and quite frankly sickening.

Take a look at these statistics. I mean, really look at them. Doesn’t quite resonate with you? Allow me to shed some light. 

The American Temperament Test Society  is a group of people who, can you believe it, test the temperament (or the dog’s natural disposition) of over 30,000 different dogs of all different breeds. The breed, age, sex and amount of training a dog already has is taken into account. The test takes no longer than 12 minutes, with the subject dog being on a loose 6′ leash. The dog is presented with multiple tests to have its anxiety levels, panic without recovery and unprovoked aggression recorded.

The tests include 2 different situations with strangers, one neutral and one friendly. Next is 2 different loud and abrupt noises the dog can’t see or find. The next 3 are visual and tactile tests, including a umbrella popped open unexpectedly and strange floor the dog has to walk on (this is to analyze the dogs recovery from fear/panic to stepping on something unusual. it does not harm them). The last test are 3 different levels of aggressive behavior by a stranger.

This is where you can find the complete details to the test because I summarized them for obvious reasons.

That being said, should we go back to the picture above, pitbulls had an 86.8% pass on this test, being second best out of all the other “scary*” breeds listed.

*not all breeds are listed, but the ones that are tend to be the most common breeds restricted from apartments, homes or have had a history of being the “scary dog of the decade”. yes, golden retrievers included.

“But pitbulls are inherently vicious, it’s in their nature!”

First of all, false. Second of all, take a moment and take the “dog” part out of that. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Defining a whole group by the actions of a few? Don’t we frown on that? We do. And if you don’t, you should ( because what the hell you fuckin racist ).

But here’s the kicker folks. Dogs don’t know anything other than what is shown to them. Unfortunately, the pitiful you’re afraid of gets hit, abused, and or neglected. Whether the poor thing is getting starved or beaten, it’s been taught to fear. Dogs can handle themselves when they need to so when all they know is fear, do you expect them to trust you? Of course not.

Now before you go on your merry way to tell me i shouldn’t be justifying an awful thing these poor dogs have done out of fear, rewind for a moment, and hear me out when i tell you you should not be afraid of the dog. you should be livid at the humans who have made this dog believe that the whole world will hurt them

“But Pitbulls have lockjaws! Once they bite down they won’t let go!”

WRONG. AGAIN. I am literally only going to say this once because if i hear it again I swear on my melting pint of ice cream I’m wrapping myself in a straight jacket and never coming out. 

Pitbulls. Jaws. Do. Not. Lock. 

That is a myth, it has been a myth ever since pitbulls became the scary dog of america and it will remain a myth because it is the stupidest thing I’ve ever fucking heard. Stretch your arm out and lock your elbow in place. Magically, you can still bend your elbow back, because it’s not really locked. There is no part of your body that you can lock to your will without being able to unlock it (if you can, go see a doctor. something is wrong)

If you take the skull of a chihuahua and the skull of a pitbull, besides their size, the mechanisms will be identical. The myth that pitbulls have locking jaws came from being bred to not back down until their goal was met, even despite pain inflicted on them, as they were used to take down larger animals. It is in their nature to be tenacious, but it is not in their nature to be vicious. The same way a foxhound, beagle or greyhound would go after rabbits, foxes and coyotes to tear them to shreds if given the chance and freedom.

“(Pitbulls) work through the years has been control of other animals- never humans.  A correct pit bull is more often than not submissive toward all humans, and adores children.”(x)

Now lets get personal

This is my dog, Kala

She is the cutest, sweetest damn thing this side of the equator. When I adopted her, she was 5, and the people said she was abandoned and found as a stray. Her nipples were sagging and they said she had to have had no less than two litters already, at the age of 5. They told me when she was found, she had a chip but the contact connected to it never responded or answered any calls.

The day I met Kala, she cried when I turned to leave even though she was the quietest dog in the room. The first time I saw her mouth open into a smile was when she got into our car to take her home. She thinks she's the size of a cat (and lays down like one too, with all her paws tucked underneath her) and will always want to be sitting in your lap or touching you in some way to know you're close. She’s is ever protective of my 11 year old niece and 7 year old nephew. My youngest nephew, who just turned 1, is wary of her only because he’s only familiar with cats. But when he begins to panic around a large animal such as Kala, she steps back and lays her entire body down for him.

She’s 8 years old now and gallops around like she’s 3. Her favorite treat is a banana shared with me, and I would rather sit in a cardboard box on the street, with her healthy and happy by my side, than give her up to be euthanized soon after so I can live in an apartment complex that won’t allow pitbulls, rottweilers and huskies because “they don’t do well in communities”

In conclusion:

If you are scared of pitbulls simply because they are pitbulls, you are part of the reason I can’t find a home for me and my best friend. 

Fuck you.