#i see gulls divebombing tourists and screaming and fighting over a one french fry in the street and i think

[fjordfolk]

i never really liked the formulation that puppies and young dogs 'push boundaries' because i feel like it suggests a kind of intent i haven't seen in our dogs, and it kinda feeds into that adversarial relationship that some trainers have been shilling for decades where you're always expecting your dog to challenge your authority or whatever.

my nephew has a puppy rn, and they described it as 'throwing out behaviours and seeing what happens' which i liked a lot better?

because at least it doesn't suggest that this semi-sentient bag of bones and slop has a crystal clear picture of the laws of conduct and is hell-bent on testing them, and it doesn't suggest they already know exactly how their behaviour affects the world. they're just behaving. and learning.

#semantics obvsly but framing matters i think #like the time i learned seagulls can live to 30 years old and now #i see gulls divebombing tourists and screaming and fighting over a one french fry in the street and i think #me too buddy. me too.