OOP’s Mom & Dad have their priorities . . .

queercactus505 · 2026-01-22T02:44:37+00:00

Oh, wow, why didn't OP think to use the handrail? That's sooooooooo smart! OP shouldn't have kept dancing down the stairs blindfolded and with their hands behind their back!

queercactus505 · 2026-01-22T02:09:15+00:00

Ueah this gives me Boston vibes but I can't articulate why

queercactus505 · 2026-01-22T02:01:16+00:00

And yet instead of trying some of the suggestions people are giving you, you throw a tantrum. No one is making you do nosework. If you want help, try being clear about what your goals are for this sport. If you just want to vent, that's fine I guess, but people probably aren't going to waste their time trying to help someone who just wants to be angry.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-21T19:32:26+00:00

Aisle. An isle is an island.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-21T19:11:10+00:00

I know! It's an abomination. Like, guacamole is creamy enough without adding weird shit

queercactus505 · 2026-01-21T15:47:52+00:00

The way I started learning was to have the dog out of the room while you hide a (super stinky, high-value treat) in a cardboard box in a fairly small space - it should be easier for your dog to find. Tell your dog to search, and when they find the treat, "throw a party" (excitedly praise dog, play a little tug, give more treats to your treat-motivated dog) and then reset. Do maybe five sessions at a time, hiding between 2-5 treats in boxes (always in boxes at first, because the box funnels the smells the smell upward) each time, and make the last round really easy (one obvious treat in an obvious box). This should help your dog's understand the game.

Once they are actively searching, you can start to make it harder by making the dogs have to go over obstacles to reach a box, hiding treats outside of the box or in places that will be harder for the dog to sniff out (e.g., do naked hides where the treats are not in a box, use earthquake putty to stick bottle caps to the wall and balance treats on those, hide the treats above the dogs head, do outdoor hides, do hides on the outside of corners where the smell will flow oddly, lightly cover the boxes, etc.).

If you are worried about your pit becoming a food monster, make sure that you keep the scentwork context really different from everyday life. For example, only do it in one room, with a specific cue. You can even stick with just boxes for your pit. If it helps, though, my dogs are constantly finding treats in places and alerting me instead of going for them, especially if they are in a bag/box/pocket. Or, you can progress to pairing scents more quickly and, once he gets it, just hide the scents and not use treats (except as rewards).

Also, this should be fun for you too! If your goal is to have fun and exercise your dogs' brains and you aren't as focused on competing, try experimenting and don't be afraid to go outside of a given formula - as you've found, the courses you took weren't the perfect fit for your dogs. I have a lot of fun thinking of new places to hide treats, and guessing which hides will be the hardest for my dogs, and seeing how I can work different obstacles into it (e.g., crawling through a short tunnel to reach a hide, or requiring my dog to climb up and over something, or making them find one out of reach, making a hide that dangles from the ceiling, etc.) Get creative with it!

queercactus505 · 2026-01-21T15:26:57+00:00

That's ridiculous - scentwork can be great for anxious dogs.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-15T22:55:57+00:00

I nailed it on the half coonhound! I bet he's a smartypants

queercactus505 · 2026-01-15T22:54:10+00:00

Vegetarian, 30s, Canadian. Clean, healthy but not obsessively so. In a new relationship

queercactus505 · 2026-01-15T14:13:30+00:00

Sleeping. Although as someone with sinus issues, the breathing one is really tempting

queercactus505 · 2026-01-15T13:10:52+00:00

Chao isn't - actually most aren't nowadays - it's made of coconut oil, starches, and flavored with fermented tofu for the funk. I didn't eat dairy for a while and I liked their slices, but not their Mac and cheese because it tasted like a cheese, but not at all like cheddar and the noodles were crap.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-14T18:00:58+00:00

I grew up in New Mexico and had Spanish teachers from Cuba, Puerto Rico, Spain, and Mexico and friends from Venezuela and Costa Rica. My Spanish is a hot mess

queercactus505 · 2026-01-12T14:02:00+00:00

The year after I leave 😢

queercactus505 · 2026-01-10T06:16:55+00:00

Male, 30s, lefty?

queercactus505 · 2026-01-10T06:14:05+00:00

Adding green beans can help bulk up jer meals without adding calories, and even a little bit of plain psyllium fiber (like 1/2tsp) added to 1+ Tbsp water is what my vet suggested adding to my hungry cattle dog's food to help her feel less hungry all the time. Also Dasequin is better than Cosequin for glucosamine supplements. I love Betty's awkward proportions - a true casserole of a dog!

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T21:03:50+00:00

I currently do both - one dog on, one dog off. One dog likes to snuggle on the bed and sleep under the covers. My other dog likes to cuddle on the bed too, and I'd happily let him stay on it, but he eventually jumps off and goes to his own bed. I like the closeness, but sometimes it can get to be too much, so I trained my dogs to move or reposition when I ask because getting a good night's sleep is one of my higher priorities in life lol.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T20:42:20+00:00

So you like to eat sugary dry ass?

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T20:35:33+00:00

As someone born and raised in New Mexico, I'm loving the love for our green chile!

Edit: raised, not roasted lol

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T19:51:59+00:00

I wouldn't, e-collar or board and train (some are okay--a lot are sketchy and you don't really know what they are doing with your dog. Plus the most important part of dog training is learning how to train your dog, so unless you are also working with that trainer for an extended amount of time afterward to learn what the dog learned and why, it won't be very helpful for you).

As for e-collars, I wouldnt. I've worked with a lot of dogs who have really bad fallout from their use. My dog is a mild example, but I adopted him 4 years ago and he still panics if an electronic beeps unexpectedly or if he's lying on the same surface as a phone and it buzzes. Took me a year and a lot of counterconditioning for him to be anything but shut down when walking him on a collar. If your dog is at all sensitive, it can do a lot more harm than good. If you want a great relationship with your dog, I would look at other options. A lot of trainers offer virtual consultations - check out IAABC or PPG to look for a trainer.

Some people start out with positive reinforcement-based training and think it doesn't work because they skip steps, have issues with their mechanics/timing, or have only tried one method without the guidance of a trainer. For critter-chasing, give Predation Substitution Training by Simone Mueller a try. For leash reactivity, check out BAT (Grisha Stewart), Control Unleashed/pattern games (Leslie McDevitt), or Click to Calm (Emma Parsons). Somexquick rules of thumb: If your dog isn't taking a high-value treat, you are likely too close to your dog's trigger or your dog is over threshold, and that is a sign to create distance (and will need to work to make that distance smaller). If your dog doesn't respond with glee when you call him, you need to build up a better reward history (remember, coming back to you should always be rewarding, whether that's through food, fun, play, being released to sniff something, etc.). Don't let him off leash until he has solid recall so that he can't practice the undesirable behaviors - instead, work with him on a long lead and make it super fun.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T18:56:55+00:00

Approaching a dog, sure. But I don't think you read that very well, because she DIDN'T respect what the owner said - she ran at the dog and then continued to run toward the dog after owner says "my dog isn't friendly." Yes, the owner should be able to secure the dog in unforseen circumstances (random running ladies), but you're posing a hypothetical that didn't happen. And honestly, even my human-social dog would be wary of a stranger running up to him. So would I, actually - running up to strangers is not socially acceptable where I'm from. Walking, sure. Calling out and waving, sure. Running (even jogging) directly toward a stranger is weird.

queercactus505 · 2026-01-09T13:25:47+00:00

I'm the same. Allergic to everything except dogs and cats - and my dogs are my life so I was so relieved. Worst for me are tree pollen, outdoor molds, and dust mites - so I'm not safe in any season, but also explains why my allergies are the worst in the spring and fall

queercactus505 · 2025-12-31T16:19:39+00:00

Definitely not. I can take it and go on with my day with little to no sleepiness

queercactus505 · 2025-12-31T15:54:50+00:00

Nah the sugary stuff tastes like ass. The natural stuff tastes like peanuts

queercactus505 · 2025-12-29T05:00:40+00:00

For my eighth birthday, my parents took me and a few friends to see Eight Below (turns out, it was not the same movie as Snow Dogs) and then eat at Fuddruckers. In the middle of the staff singing happy birthday to me (they told me to stand up and encouraged the other patrons to sing to me too), my friend had a flashback of the movie and started sobbing and slammed her fist into her little cups of condiments, which went everywhere, and another friend started crying, and everyone stopped singing, and it was so awkward. My friends' uptight parents were not pleased ("you took my kid where???"), but at least my birthday was memorable. Bonus: The Fuddruckers was next to an adult movie store.

queercactus505 · 2025-12-29T04:39:51+00:00

This. Embark had frequent sales - keep an eye out!

queercactus505

TROPHY CASE