my animal crossing character, heelying into the museum wearing sunglasses and holding a pina colada in one hand and an enormous bug in the other: blathers, you’re not gonna fucking believe this,
Reminder that puppies are babies. They are learning. The human world is VERY confusing for human kids, let alone infants of an entirely different species. They aren’t “assholes” and they don’t do anything to spite you or make you mad. They interact with the world with their mouth because they don’t have hands.
When playing, they’ll bite you harder than you like because they just don’t know it hurts! And yes, they’re going to chew on things.
If you aren’t watching a puppy and they chew something you don’t want chewed… that is not a choice they made. They aren’t being naughty. That is the puppy being a baby, exploring the world with the only tool they have.
Plus… teething is hella uncomfortable. Their mouths hurt! Chewing helps. That’s why you buy them all kinds of chewies, and keep anything else they can fit in their mouths out of reach. That’s your responsibility.
Confinement areas are so important. Playpens, not just crates. If you aren’t watching your puppy and they chew on a shoe or poop somewhere, that’s on you. Again: that is not a choice they made. If you can’t watch your puppy, put them somewhere safe. Personally, I use x-pens with a crate, a pee pad, a water bowl, and tons of things to satisfy their teething instinct on.
I’ve raised four puppies now and I’ve learned a lot. The most important thing I’ve learned is patience and compassion. Try looking at things from their point of view before you get angry at them.
look. i don’t think my stretch marks are beautiful. i don’t think they’re tiger stripes or natural tattooos. i don’t think my acne is beautiful. i don’t think the bags under my eyes are beautiful. i just think they’re human. and i don’t think i have to be beautiful all of the time in order to be accepted and loved and sucessful. i don’t think every small detail of my outer appearence needs to be translated into prettiness.
I’ve held the same opinion for so long. This is beautifully put
My cats understand and will obey a number of verbal commands, one of which is “go away”. I don’t use it often, but if they’re bugging me and I’m trying to work or doing something that could be dangerous for cats, I can tell them to go away, and off they go - they’ll only keep pestering me if there’s a serious problem they need me to look at.
That said, their idea of a serious problem that requires my attention is somewhat eccentric. Previous instances have included:
There was an unfamiliar car parked across the street
Their water bowl was four inches to the left of its usual position
One of them had puked on the stairs and they didn’t want to walk past it
It was raining
One of them saw a weird bug
These are all very important things that required your attention. They’re doing a good job.
Dogs really aren’t much better. I teach all my dogs the command “show me”. How it works is if the dog needs something but I’m having trouble understanding what exactly they’re trying to tell me, I say “show me” and they lead me to whatever the problem is. Usually they lead me to a real problem (like a toy that got stuck under the couch, their water bowl is empty, etc). But sometimes they want me to fix things like this-
They pulled the covers off my bed and now they want me to put the covers back
They put their ball on top of the ottoman but the ottoman won’t throw it for them
The cat is sleeping and won’t chase them
A flower fell off the potted plant
The cat is sitting in a box and they don’t like it
One of them lost their bandana
The cat won’t take the toy they’re trying to give her
The cat DID take the toy they gave her and now they want it back
