abadideaI think I need to stop hashtagging Odin’s photos because like three times in a week I’ve gotten nonfollower reply guys who go over the post with a magnifying glass to find something they imagine is going on that isn’t going on and let me know that my dog is poorly behaved and/or I’m an abusive owner
strangers IRL comment CONSTANTLY on how calm, well behaved, and safe Odin is; his only sin is assuming everyone else wants cuddles and hugs as much as he does! guys online however have cracked the case after seeing one photo and hallucinating the scenario like an LLM
you might be able to tell that yes, I, lady with a debilitating anxiety disorder about things like crossing streets, who had a massive roly poly fluffball made of pure love suddenly dropped into her life, and who moved heaven and earth to push herself to make sure his life would be as safe and healthy as possible, really take it kind of personally when a complete stranger who hasn’t even seen my dog outside of a candid photo decides to tell me I’m doing it wrong
there’s been a lot of learning as we go. there’s been a lot of taking advice from people who actually met Odin and observed him. we switched to the gentle leader on the recommendation of an old lady in a power chair who hangs out at the public drug-doing benches and calls herself “the mafia mother”, and it was a miraculous improvement in our ability to communicate clearly to Odin. on our way home tonight, I spotted glass on the sidewalk and had him stopped still in under a second.
number of people he’s hurt: 0, other than accidentally bruising me as a puppy.
number of animals he’s hurt: 0.
number of angry old guys he’s slimed on the tram: okay yes 1 sorry dude
number of other dogs who have attacked mine unprovoked: idk probably like 5
number of people who have been REALLY weird at me purely because he’s big: way too many
Ben Rosengart@0xabad1dea I doubt you know me among your many followers, but we go back to Twitter days, and by osmosis, I know a lot about you and your situation.
I’m as positive as I could be, without having seen Odin in situ, that you and your guy are great dog parents. I can see how thoughtful you are about his needs, and how you respect him as a living creature in his own right, not a mere extension of yourself (as so many people think of their pets and children). If I had a dog, I would be quite confident leaving it in your care.