The Joy of being a Dog-Owner

So I am a tried and true animal lover, have been since as long as I can remember. If I am at a party at someone’s house and there is an animal, you can bet I will find that said animal and make friends. Animals are just easier than people.

As a little girl I used to leave very specific notes for my Dad when I left for school. Basically they were along the lines of “Daddy, can we please get a dog? It has to be a husky or a collie.” Yes, I knew what I wanted.  I went out and made my mom buy puppy food and a dog bowl before we even had a dog. I suppose I was into that whole manifestation believe process, before I knew what it was.

Then one day Dad took my brother and I for a “car ride” this was infuriating as a 6 year old. Where we going? A drive in the country? Boring.  – Until we pulled up to a house where two huskies were sitting in the back of a truck. Dad pulled over and said “Let’s go pet these dogs” I was horrified. “You can’t just go pet people’s dogs Dad!” That had been drilled into me as a child, you ask people before petting their dogs. Well my horror was amplified when a man exited the front door, and all I could think was SHIT we’ve been caught red handed. Well then a herd of puppies came running around from the back yard.

And thus we began my life as a card carrying pet-owner. (We won’t count the turtle or the fish, because the turtle freaked me out, and the fish just died. ALL THE TIME) It began with a husky named Simba. 

Over time the size and shape of my animal family has changed – members were added to the family and members were lost.  Being a responsible pet owner means something a little different to everyone, but this brings me to the point of this.

I will start this off by saying that my dog is nowhere near being anything that could be described as “well-trained” I blame this on inconsistency. It’s hard to train a dog when members of your household just blatantly ignore whatever rules or training plans you’ve set out. Yes - you people know who you are. 

That being said I really do consider my dog as being well behaved, and in the end I would rather have a dog that has basic manners, than one who can play dead. 

Owning a dog is a huge and sometimes very expensive responsibility. I’ve had it both ways, a dog who was very low maintenance for his entire life – and one who has had vet bills since day one. Let me tell you, pet insurance will be happening with my next dog. 

I could go on about food – two years at a pet food store turned me into a freak about dog nutrition.  Or vaccinating your dog – unless your dog is never going to come into contact with other dogs ever please just do the world a favour and vaccinate your dog. But really when it comes down to it being a responsible pet owner really comes down to in my opinion one thing:

Be smart and know your dog. This isn’t always easy and there will always be grey areas. 

I know what frightens my dog (sudden loud noises, thunder, fireworks, the scale at the vet, small children, and men she doesn’t know), I know what my dog loves (carrying around her toys, greenies, and sleeping in the same room as her favourite people).

I know my dog has a high prey drive and doesn’t respond well to dominance from other dogs. As a result I will never take her to the off leash park.

Actually in general that is my biggest annoyance with dog owners – and in general what I needed to rant about.

Off leash dogs belong either on your own property or at the off leash park. Nothing annoys me more than having my dog out for a walk and coming across someone whose dog isn’t on a leash. Unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that your dog will not leave your side – Please, leash your dog. 

I can’t count the times an off-leash dog has run up to me, with a trailing owner yelling “Don’t worry they’re friendly!” That’s great, and if I were alone I would be happy to give your friendly dog a head rub. But guess what my dog might NOT be friendly.  I keep my dog on a leash for her safety and the safety of your dog.  I know if Briar were to see a rabbit and be off leash there would be nothing on this green earth I could do to keep her from chasing it. It also kills me to have to be that person who tells the little kids they can’t actually pet the fluffy white dog, but as a responsible dog-owner I would never put the safety of your child at risk.

When I exit my yard with my dog on her leash, with her properly-fitted prong collar on I leave that yard being confident that no matter what situation arises I will be able to control my dog (well with the exception of when she decides to lay down because she’s decided she’s done walking. At that point I basically just have to wait until she decides it’s time to walk again) 

When I see another owner with a leashed dog (or two or three) I automatically assume they have the same control over their pack - I realize this trust is sometimes misplaced but I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. Yes I’ve had people pick up their tiny dogs and cross the street when they see me and Briar approaching. I’m okay with this, because seriously your dog looks like a lot of the toys she has, and sounds like them too, and it saves me hassle from having to convince my dog that your fluffy dog is indeed not actually something she’s allowed to try and play with. 

I could really go on about this forever; the bottom line is I love dogs, and I LOVE seeing people loving their dogs.  There is nothing quite the same as the relationship between a dog and it's human. There is no rulebook for being a dog owner, but a little bit of common sense can go a long way.

"Oh, my aunt's cousin twice removed has an Arabian"

Hey guys,

So as a person who has been active in the horse world for the past sixteen years, there’s something that has always made me laugh. Well made me laugh and also semi-annoyed me. It all starts with a well-intentioned non-horse-person.

“Oh ___[insert random person you don’t know at all]___ is coming to ___[insert some sort of gathering]___. You guys can talk horses.”

This statement is always meant to bring two people together with the power of a shared interest. However in my personal experience that once you get past a certain age (let’s say about 14) and actually get into the world of horses this isn’t something that is easily done.

Back in the day -  I’m about to drop a rather embarrassing personal anecdote on you guys – when I first ventured out onto the world wide web, back in the days of dial-up and a one hour time limit on the internet (all it took was a month of free-rein and an astronomical phone bill to have my fledgling wings clipped) I spent most of my time on the internet on the TY message boards. Yep, TY as in Beanie Babies – those things you had hundreds of because they were going to be worth a fortune one day, the same ones you gave to the less-fortunate 8 years later except for the ones that had sentimental value – Keep in mind this was circa 1999/2000 so I was in Grade 6. The TY message boards were the perfect dip into the shallow end of the internet if you will.

It was on those said message boards that I met a young girl about my age (in hindsight I was very lucky that she turned out to be exactly who she said she was) who was also into horses. Her and I bonded and chatted almost every day on these boards. Due to the nature of the message boards and their extreme moderation we were unable to exchange e-mails and lost touch once the world of Beanie Babies lost it’s appeal, and a person can only take so much Comic Sans in their life. Well maybe almost a year later (maybe less, who really knows) I managed to stumble across her horse RPG website (judge me all you want I was a 12 year old introvert who had no clue what an introvert was) and we reconnected. Fast forward to today when 15 years later we live about 20 minutes away from each other (a major difference from when she lived in Oklaholma and I lived in Alberta) and are still close.

Anyways the point of that story is that the whole “bonding over horses” is really easy to do when you’re young and really just love horses of any shape or size.

As you get older it gets harder, what many people don’t realize is that saying you’re into horses is like saying you’re into sports. That could mean anything. There are so many different sports within the umbrella topic of “horses”. For some reason it is really complicated for people to understand. Being a horse owner must mean that I jump right? No? Oh then you are into rodeo? No? That horse dancing thing?

You mean Dressage? Yeah close enough. 

As someone who shows on the Arabian horse circuit, if you don’t run into someone who knows the breed or the circuit, you’re better off just being vague. More often then not when you try and explain something such as “Hunter Pleasure” to a NHP as I will now refer to them, eventually this is said “So you basically just ride your horse in a bunch of circles,” 

At that point I do my best to refrain from punching the person in the nose, I didn’t sit here making fun of your sport did I? And just answer with a clipped “Pretty much,” and then spend the rest of the encounter being annoyed. Most people don’t understand how frustrating this is, and I do my best to be fairly understanding, if it is a person who I genuinely like and seems genuinely interested I will go into detail and explain, usually along with pictures and video even. 

One of the worst dates in my life I’ve ever been on, I got into an argument with the guy because he thought it was stupid that I wouldn’t take my horses out on trail rides, even though I detest trail rides and don’t find them relaxing or fun.  

I’ve clearly gone off topic and gotten on a tangent, and now I’m pissed off thinking about that horrible date and what an asshole that guy was. Pro dating tip: Try not insulting each other’s passions on the first date. In fact don’t do this ever. 

Back to the topic at hand – here-in lies the problem with the whole you can talk horses conversation.

Person #1 – “Oh so you ride? That’s cool I do Hunter/Jumper,”

Person #2 – “That sounds like fun, I show Arabians” (let me point out that that’s a lie, I do not think Hunter/Jumper sounds like fun, I think that sounds terrifying. The only time I want all four of my horse’s feet off the ground are during the canter. I’ll leave the jumping to the people who enjoy it, and until then I will just watch – and laugh silently to myself when your horse refuses and you go flying – this is horrible to admit but it’s the truth and this is my blog so I do what I want)

P#1 – “Nice,”

--- END OF CONVERSATION ---

On occasion one person might be feeling a little bit generous and this might be an alternate ending:

P#1 – “Nice, a friend of mine owns an arab” (Friend being interchangeable with: Family member, person at my barn, this lady I once met in a Starbucks – who wouldn’t shut up once she noticed I was wearing jods)

P#2 – “Oh, that’s cool”

--- END OF CONVERSATION ---

Maybe it’s just me and it’s because I genuinely hate small talk, and meeting new people. But I’m just going to go out on a limb and say that THIS IS NOT FUN. This is no one’s idea of fun. Unless you magically wind up talking to someone who does the same thing as you, you will likely have zero to talk about. And if you are in the same discipline in the same breed then odds are you already know this person, and at that point you have to just pray it’s someone you like.

I’m lucky enough to live in the Horse Capital of Canada, yep a small-ish, rural-ish city full of rich people with oil money. It just screams “buy your kid a horse” which honestly if you can afford it and your kid is passionate about it, you should. Horses teach all sorts of amazing life lessons but that is another blog post for another time. However, this pretty much leads to horse people ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE.

And I don’t know about you but - “Man, the price of hay these days, Am I right?”  - Isn’t my idea of a good time or good conversation for that matter.

In conclusion I just want to point out that world of horses is a wide and wonderful place. Racing, Barrel Racing, Cutting, Roping, Reining, Penning, Dressage, Jumping, Cross Country, Halter, English Pleasure, Saddleseat, Native Costume, 5-Gaited, 3-Gaited, Hunter Pleasure, Western Pleasure, Equitation, Trail, Endurance riding, Pleasure riding, Driving, and ALL THE DISCIPLINES I missed. If you’re into horses there is something in there for you. However having a horse doesn’t give a person endless topic conversations to have with another horse owner.  And even if it does and we start talking about farriers or what we think about natural horsemanship, any NHP bystanders will likely be bored out of their skulls.

So please, just stop. Together we can put an end to the awkward small talk.

Disclaimer: I have MANY friends who own horses of different breeds, or participate in other disciplines, and I love them. But I can guarantee you I love them for who they are as people and not because they have horses.

Oh, Hello.

Hey guys,

So if you’re reading this, odds are you’re a friend, or family, or in some cases maybe a bit of both – you know who you are. I was recently encouraged to start a blog about life, thoughts, rants, etc. And while many of you know that I’ve run a moderately successful nail blog for several years now – by moderately successful I mean it’s a great excuse for my stupidly huge nail polish collection that I have poured a gazillion dollars into by now. *cough* click here to check it out. *cough* - but let’s be honest, that’s not exactly I place I can go and spill all the inner workings of my brain, even though it happens from time to time. 

If for some bizarre reason you’re reading this and don’t know me, allow me to tell you a bit about myself. I’m a twenty-six year old female, with a completely obsessive addictive personality. That right there is the reason I don’t drink anymore, and I’ve never touched a drug in my life (aside from Advil... Advil, you complete me) Anyone who has seen my wall of movies, my nail polish collection, or even just ALL the zebra print stuff I own can attest to the fact that I am easily susceptible to addiction. Harmful addiction runs in my family, however so does being stubborn. So out of sheer stubbornness I flat out refuse to let an addiction ruin my life, and that of my future family’s. There are so many things I am passionate about, animals, family/friends, crafting, nail polish, Disney, alphabetization – the list is unending.

I often catch flak from my family and friends that I don’t ever call, or write, or hang out – whatever. It’s true, I’m awful when it comes to reaching out to people. I absolutely loathe talking on the phone, and skype is my idea of a perfect hell (seriously, now you get to see that giant zit on my chin in all it’s pixilated glory, AND I can’t even multitask and be doing something else while we talk? No thank you.) In all honestly talking on the phone makes me incredibly uncomfortable, and in my head phone calls are pretty much reserved for really bad news only (Jacquie - I’m looking at you, and your awkward small talk prefacing the fact that my horse DIED.) 

So this is the perfect middle ground, I’m going to pour my hopes and dreams – scratch that – thoughts and ramblings - out within the posts of this blog. Some will be really focused and have a definite topic of conversation, some will be scattered and all over the place. Read it if you like, and if you don’t that’s fine too. But NO ONE, not one person is allowed to get pissed that I blogged about something before telling them. That is my disclaimer, get over it.

Right now I feel like there are so many places I could go with this, but for now I’m going to end it there and save the rest for another day. I have no clue how often I will post on here so lets look at it like a surprise. Cause who the eff knows! 

Welcome to the madness,

-Caitlin

Side note: Why The Prickly Hedgehog? Well there are a couple reasons, first reason is I often think of, and describe myself as a hedgehog, I’m adorable and yet prickly (adorable is usually said sarcastically, sarcasm is something I’m really good at.) Then the second reason came from my coach/big sister/mentor/therapist/partner in crime Jacquie. “It’s just like life... so cute and cuddly in theory. Then the bastard pokes you, and suddenly it ain’t so fun anymore.” Yep, pretty accurate if you ask me.