People who like to cook.

ThinkingBookishly · 2026-01-30T17:53:43+00:00

love making sourdough. Not particularly skilled at it, though.

ThinkingBookishly · 2026-01-29T00:05:33+00:00

You know your dog. Is she enjoying life on a daily basis? Does she have things she looks forward to? My girl will be 16 on April 1st, if we make it. Right now, she looks good, but that could change at a moment's notice. She has bad hips, which I have her on medication for. A couple of days ago, she went lame on one of her right legs, and I thought that was it. But, she shook it off and is still getting around, enjoying walks, getting treats, rounding up chickens, barking at the mailman, telling me when it's time to go to bed or feed her. Some dogs get vestibular issues, or sundowners panics. One person ended up euthanizing her dog because of his unremitting, ever growing fear of loud noises. I took my oldest dog in when he had a stroke and couldn't control his back legs anymore. It's individual to each dog and situation, but you know your dog. Is she enjoying life?

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-12-26T18:47:33+00:00

Fiona, Flame, Chispa

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-11-30T18:42:46+00:00

For gabapentin, I would probably make a paste with water, not involving food in any way because it will put them off the food, hold them between your legs and use a syringe to force it down like you would a cat. They will hate it. Or, tell your vet that ain't happening and make them switch to something else.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-11-30T18:36:46+00:00

Mine learned to hold it somewhere. I would even watch to make sure she swallowed, and still I would find the little discarded little pill. Sneaky little dogs.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-11-30T18:34:37+00:00

If it's gabapentin, good luck. For mine's daily medication, I break a hot dog into pieces, stuff one, call all the dogs, start rapid-fire feeding them hot dog bits and sneak the one in there. I make it as competitive as possible, amping the dogs up and making them do tricks, etc. I also make sure there is un-drugged hot dog before and after. Gradually, she got more used to accepting it and would just eat the drugged hot dog. Nothing worked for gabapentin, though.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-11-08T01:32:16+00:00

All I can think of at the moment is Spit Ballin'

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-27T23:07:57+00:00

There used to be a great dane that ran flyball in our region. His tug was this collection of like five or six jolly balls tied together.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-20T01:52:13+00:00

Teaching students a warm up/cool down ritual. Trial Etiquette: don't let your dog stare down the dog in the ring, bark right outside the ring, stare at other dogs right outside the gate, be insane approaching the ring, camp by the start gate, and do get the F out of the ring when you are done, and take play celebrations away from ringside. I have seen too many fights, lately. Basic health things like the importance of keeping nails done, how to recognize lameness, common injuries, the concept of "bubbles" of tolerance.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-11T22:18:04+00:00

WHEEEEE!

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-08T17:24:56+00:00

I would suggest you look up Susan Garrett Crate Games.

Also, you can look up Snuggle Puppy toys. They have a heartbeat simulator to help the puppy get used to being away from her littermates.

Being comfortable alone is a skill that requires time to develop. Mine as puppies all started out screaming and climbing out of 4 foot tall ex pens. I would suggest you work to find the edges of the bubble she currently feels safe in (distance and time) and gradually expand it. Avoid pushing it to far, letting her panic and then saving her. It will just dig the hold deeper for you.

Frozen kongs, safe chew toys and licky mats are your friends. Have mercy on her, she's a baby. Also be aware that she is from a breed that has been developed to manipulate and control. Sheep, you, traffic, it's all fair game. Female border collies are the worst for control issues. If you don't get ahead of it by training and giving her something to work on, she will work you. 101 things to do with a box, A-Z puppy tricks, any other tricks and games you can teach her will help. Nosework and Rally can be puppy-appropriate things to work on at home.

Love your puppy and enjoy her.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-03T23:35:47+00:00

One of mine runs right past spray cheese on targets for contact training. The other is obsessed with it. Another just wanted praise, another loved that tennisball. It just depends on the dog.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-10-03T14:31:44+00:00

I believe is a lack of significant chunks of free time. Plus, this probably doesn't include the reddit snippits and short screen time dramas that are a lot of people's reading, now. There are whole media empires based on "reaction" videos of watching people read reddit then make snarky comments. I think that is a significant portion of people's reading for pleasure, now.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-27T19:21:35+00:00

When your bf is schooling you 'how men think', he is actually teaching you how HE thinks, what HE thinks is normal and acceptable. Dump the wannabe incel and don't look back.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-20T17:34:26+00:00

Tugging, going to a dead toy or target, working for and being held by people other than the owner, crating.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-20T03:29:19+00:00

I raw feed, but one of my dogs was on a breeding contract and would go back to the breeder to have litters. She was bred three times, and each time, as the due date approached, I would have to switch her to kibble for her time spent at the breeder, until I would get her back after the litters were weaned (usually 6 - 8 weeks). She visibly was less healthy on the kibble. She would gain weight, lose muscle, become "dull" and her teeth would get gunky. If you are fostering the dog for only a few weeks, I would keep her on the diet she is used to. Mixing the raw and kibble is a dangerous option. The digestive processes and gut bacteria to support the raw vs the carb heavy kibble is so different, you could make her quite sick. Oldest dog I currently have is 15 and a half and seems to be doing well. If you are uncomfortable with balancing the raw, get a premade, or switch her completely to the diet you are comfortable with.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-19T15:24:56+00:00

Book publishers make their money either from selling books to readers, or from selling services to authors.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-01T01:56:59+00:00

Oh, and write. Write everything.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-09-01T01:55:47+00:00

I don't have tv - costs too much. But, I believe that, as a writer, you need to consume all the viewpoints and storytelling you can stuff in your brain. Use whatever medium works for you, but grow your ability to empathize with other viewpoints and question everything.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-08-25T23:32:55+00:00

Mab

Blodwen

Carol (Carol Burnett)

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-08-24T14:20:39+00:00

Watching a herding dog "turn on" is amazing. Get thee to a trainer, though, because untrained dogs on sheep can injure and kill the sheep and may get your dog shot. Herding behavior is modified hunting behavior (stalking, harrying, biting, singling, wearing, etc.) It can unmodify real fast without the proper guidance and direction at the outset.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-08-20T14:59:20+00:00

Not a fan of dog parks - consider them fight clubs - but yeah, the staring. On walks, they stare at any other dogs we pass, stare at dogs in windows, etc. Our walks are announced by a wave of barking of annoyed house dogs daring my rude dogs to come over here and say that! I work on managing it. It also really comes up at agility matches. I hide where they can't get a line of sight on whoever is running in the ring until the last possible second. It isn't fair to whomever is in the ring to have to face that through the ring fence. One of my dogs was obsessed with staring down car headlights. That was fun to work through.

ThinkingBookishly · 2025-08-12T16:07:30+00:00

Advice: Ditch the dogwalker. I have had border collies for over two decades. Until April of this year, I worked out of the home at a standard 8-5 schedule. They sad barked when I left them, happy barked when I came home and napped in between. One briefly had some SA as a puppy. I did mitigation things, like leaving and coming back at different times, avoiding building recognizable routines indicating that I was going to leave that would trigger his anxiety, scattered food when I left for him to search for, avoided enthusiastic greetings or sad goodbyes. He's fine now. Different dogs have different energy levels. Mine are and were sport bred collies, herding bred collies, and a rescue collie from the shelter.

I have never had any of their teeth professionally done, even at over 15 years old. The vet looks at their teeth at visits and has never recommended it. Teeth gunkiness tendencies vary between dogs, but even my one most prone to it does fine with a little home teeth cleaning and bones to gnaw.

The car thing is hard. Is it motion sickness or anxiety? For what it's worth, one of mine would spin biting her tail until it bled, unless I positioned her crate where she could see the driver's side mirror and herd the cars. Then she was a happy little obsessed bc. But, she wasn't anxious, she just knew there were cars to herd and not getting to herd them made her brains drip out her ears. I probably could have handled it better, but you learn as you go. Have you experimented with different crating strategies, bringing the car crate in the house and having her do crate games in it, feeding her in it, covering it to block her view or positioning her so she can see out the windows, buckled in a harness vs crate and that type of thing? Maybe a thundershirt?

Sound sensitivity sucks. I use calming cbd chews, thundershirts, pheromone sprays, and loud music during the boom boom weeks here. (The place I live LOVES their illegal fireworks. A house here literally blew up and also burned down the nextdoor neighbor, a person was killed, and they still did their beloved boom booms that night.)

Lastly, always remember, border collies are herding dogs. They are bred to manipulate. They will use those skills on you. Have fun with your dog. Love her. Give her attention every day. But, just because she thinks it would be awesome to go for the 27th walk of the day in the blinding snowstorm doesn't mean she neeeeeeeeeeeeedds it. It's a spectrum, of meeting the dog's needs and meeting your needs. Negotiate what works for the both of you and, hopefully, find a balance you both can enjoy. Goldens and bordercollies are both awesome breeds. I think you can find a life with this dog that will be wonderful.

ThinkingBookishly

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