a rift

why-animals-do-the-thing:

science-fiction-is-real:
mizshylock:
itseasytoremember:
my favourite thing about big dogs is when you push ‘em over they’re just like
“oh i’m lying down now! someone might scratch my stomach!!! i might nap!! endless possibilities!!!’
Whereas you push little dogs over and they’re all like “Vengeance! Death before dishonor!”
I think this is because little dogs are used to constantly having their personal space violated and their agency completely and totally disrespected. Little dogs are picked up, shoved aside, played with like dolls, and man handled. They have little control over their own bodies and so they learn to protect themselves through aggression.
Big dogs are touched constantly, but they don’t ever have the experience of having their space and free will completely shat upon because they are too big to man handle So they associate human touch with only positive things.
I’d guess the best thing to to is treat your little dog like a big dog. Don’t pick your dog up unless you know your dog wants to be picked up. Don’t treat it like a doll, don’t shove it around. Use your voice and its training to control it and not your hands and feet, just like you would for a big dog. DOGS LIKE HUMANS HAVE PERSONAL SPACE AND A NEED FOR BODILY INTEGRITY.
@why-animals-do-the-thing, I’m not a behavior expert but you are, what do you think?
You’re spot on, for the most part. Little dogs don’t get bodily autonomy the way big dogs do, and they learn their only option for preventing things they don’t want is their teeth. Big dogs may not have entirely positive associations with touch, but they’re generally much more secure about their ability to control how the world interacts with them and that they can end an interaction they don’t like.

(via moreanimalia)

Source: itseasytoremember