The DOOM Spaniels

"no spam liking" stfu that's how i know my mutuals are alive smh

#PLEASE DO embark upon a frenzied liking-spree be you friend or extraordinarily lost traveler of the web#i like using deductive reasoning to backwards engineer the convoluted chain of tags you're following through the annals of my blog#or watch you systematically like every single photo i've ever posted of wwi soldiers posing with animal companions

I was thinking about the mat training post and shaping vs luring, and how funny training can be.

When we moved here, we had a pretty good texture on the hard-surface floor so Yvaine and Merlin didn't slip, but I still set up some rubber-backed rugs where they often took turns at a run. When I asked them to practice sitting, they preferred to do it on the rug instead of the bare floor.

The kitchen has the best light, so when I started taking a lot of pictures of them sitting together, I started going there. The mat used to be facing the island, but it was easier to sit on than the floor, so it quickly became The Spot The Spaniels Sat.

When Baby Tristan learned to sit still, he sat on the kitchen mat because Yvaine did. It was automatic, enter the kitchen, go to the mat. If we practiced other tricks, we started from and returned to the mat.

And Gwyn... learned from Tristan.

I never specifically told them to sit there, but they seem to find it a comfortable, comforting routine.

@kangals Boone & Stellina, Stellina & Kepler pics were making me think of this series of pics, because I apparently needed Extra Maudlin today. I share with you, so you may smile at all the beautiful happy faces, and wonder at learning methods with me.

Until two years ago, Merlin was a starvation/heartworms backyard neglect case. He likes being a housepet now, but he’s always watching Yvaine to see what he’s supposed to be doing. She’s a social cues helper dog ;)

By watching what Yvaine is doing, Merlin can work out when he’s just going outside to potty, or going out on Sniff Patrol, or going to the car, or going to feed the Big Doggies. He can tell when I want their attention to do tricks. He can tell when we’re all settling down in one spot for a while. He can’t figure this out from watching me; it seems he just doesn’t have the context. But whatever we’re doing, I see him look at Yvaine, check for cues, then participate.

He’s iffy on words–starting to learn verbal commands at age 8 or so did not help at all. He does better with hand gestures. But sometimes he gets so fatigued, or excited, or agitated that he just can’t process them. Even then, he can still check to see what Yvaine is doing, and go from there.

She helps him be more secure, just by being there.

Oh goodness.

Tonight after we all went to bed, Merlin got up and started pacing around the house. When I sat up to figure out what he was up to, I realized that Yvaine had curled herself all the way under the blanket, and wasn’t visible.

I convinced Merlin to come to bed, pulled the blanket back so he could see her, and this happened.

I was looking for something else and this popped up. I'm going to go sob for a while. Have a nice weekend 😭

~Memories, Good Memories~

I recorded this video the week before Merlin died in August. We loved seeing this. After nearly three years, Merlin had not only become comfortable with twice-daily meals, he was confident enough to demand them every time, and even complain that I was taking too long to prepare them. He’d been doing it regularly for about a month, at that point.

We called it “cannoning,” the way he bounced up of his forefeet to give the bark more emphasis.

Everything about this was wonderful.

Tristan was cannoning today and I am in tears. The good boys, the boys, the very best boys

Merlin has taken up wrestling and it is very hazardous to me personally

Right after we adopted Merlin in 2015, I took this picture. I looked at the two hypno-spaniel faces, and thought, “Oh, we are DOOMed.” We’ve been calling them “the DOOM Spaniels” ever since.

@hazelhound 's Hazel and Evelyn pic yesterday made me think of this day, way way back when I first realized how devastating two sets of Spaniel Eyes working in tandem can be.

Different eyes now, but same effect. Why am I in the kitchen and why am I holding an empty carrot bag?

I would like to start doing art commissions to raise funds for my service dog and I need practice on dogs, mostly!

My drawing speed, however, is extremely slow due to multiple reasons, as in a drawing a year. So I will mostly likely not be able to draw them all. (I would love to draw them all, but it wouldn't be realistic.)

If you're comfortable with me drawing your dog or cat or other pet, please reblog with either pictures or the tags where I can find them!

Thank you very much! 💜

Right after we adopted Merlin in 2015, I took this picture. I looked at the two hypno-spaniel faces, and thought, “Oh, we are DOOMed.” We’ve been calling them “the DOOM Spaniels” ever since.

Missing them something awful today.

Anyway rb this with your silliest dog photo

I took this like two months ago and I still have no idea what she was trying to achieve

camera gifts

Merlin has a ball. It’s a horrible old tennis ball. He found it himself, out there on our farm, which was vacant for several years before we bought it. Who knows how long that horrible ball was out there. Yuck.

He’s very proud of his grody ball. It makes him so happy.

Good morning to you too.

Gwyn's wispy headfloof is coming in. It's like undercoat, but long. If it's like other cockers with similarly textured headfloof, it will eventually be long enough to cover her eyes, but very soft.

Moby is getting a very noticeable middle part now. I dream of the day I can tie them up into lil buns.

Henry has the wispy head floof but it never changes. Never grows, never thickens... it’s just a wispy lil tuft of floof. He’s a mess

Yessss, I am watching Moby getting a Merlin 'do! Lots of head fur, but not quite as outrageously voluminous as the American cocker poof. Marvelous!

If Gwyn's turns out the same as Galahad's (there are no pics that show it 😔 too long ago), she'll have a thin lil mad scientist tuft like Henry.

The world is a glorious place to be a dog.

[Image Description: Yvaine, a white and red cocker spaniel, lays in a kitchen. Merlin, a buff cocker spaniel, sits in the kitchen. They are panting with heat, exertion, and delight.]

Yvaine--and Merlin--and Galahad, and Saedy, and Tessa--all gave us a full lifetime of sharing their joy, from the time they joined us until the time they could no longer stay. They gave freely and wholeheartedly of their overflowing fountain of enthusiasm.

I don't feel we could possibly have returned even half the value of what they shared with us. We're only human. We can but strive to be the people they think we are.

The intelligent cockers I think belong to @doomspaniels and unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) Yvaine and Tristan are Very Smart and like to lovingly cause mischief by stealing your spot and giving you the Look™ when you try to ask them to please move

The Mischief Demons must be hoarding the brains as well as the toys. Yvaine opens latches and gates and climbs what she can't open, Tristan opens doors and views every obstacle as a puzzle (he will eventually solve).

Merlin used the ice cube dispenser, opened jars, and got through Rube Goldberg levels of complexity to get at stacked boxed bottles (which he opened and drank), Galahad used to run an entire American Gladiator course of his own devising to reach the kitchen counters (not to mention the fence climbing and expert cat burglary).

Yvaine is one of two domesticated animals I've ever known who can recognize consequences more than a few seconds after an action (she goes to the kitchen and looks at the meds box when she wants an anti-nausea pill).

Where exactly do you find the dumb cockers? Because I am DUE.