Blue Ridge is a fictional town located deep in the heart of Kentucky. It is home to one of the most well known equestrian academies in the United States. Students and staff from all over the world join the academy for what it has to offer. Do you have what it takes to join us and learn from the Academy?
Smilys were made by Sapphire Heaven of LiveJournal.
The mini-profile hover follows a tutorial by Kagney of Adoxography.
Photos in the skin used under CC from Flickr.
Post by Sina Aleardi on May 1, 2018 10:17:49 GMT -8
Sina watched carefully and frowned at the other dog's signals - He didn't look too happy, with what appeared to be a stiff tail wag. She disagreed with Mikhail's assessment, but kept quiet, watching the two dogs - Derecho had halted in his approach and was sniffing at the ground, curving back away from the other dog.
Post by Mikhail Thatcher on May 2, 2018 1:41:40 GMT -8
Mick caught the girl's frown, and arched an eyebrow as Der even stopped moving. "Ok, maybe not so much." He said as he looked toward Sina. "Any idea what they're saying to each other? Or more importantly, what my boy is telling yours?" His dog training came from making sure that the dog's read the cues children were giving them, and wasn't that versed on the cues that canines gave each other. He just took this encounter as a good thing because Basco hadn't run away or started growling.
Post by Sina Aleardi on May 2, 2018 13:20:35 GMT -8
Sina smiled slightly as Mick caught on to her facial expression - Hey, all she had to do was teach him to read dogs just as well as he did humans. "So there's some stiffness in Basco's body language - The tail wag wasn't loose and he's not very relaxed, so he's just saying he's a bit concerned about Derecho's approach." She gestured at the merle dog, "Der's showing what's called a displacement behavior, sniffing and curving away, in an attempt to get across that he's not interested in being a threat." She paused, watching the two, "And Basco's appreciating it, can you see how he's loosened up a bit? He's showing more interest now than concern, head up, ears forward but not tense. Der is keeping an ear on him," she gestured at the ear that Derecho had swiveled towards the other dog, "but still keeping the displacement behaviors."
Last Edit: May 2, 2018 13:21:22 GMT -8 by Sina Aleardi
Post by Mikhail Thatcher on May 3, 2018 19:41:38 GMT -8
Mick looked back at Basco as Sina spoke. Now he could actually see what she was talking about and nodded. He looked at her dog, once again thankful that the Service Dog knew what to so to put the other at ease.
"Do you think we should call it a day then?" He asked. "End on a good note as we would with a horse?" At least he saw it as being a good place to stop, Derecho has showed Basco that he wasn't going to intrude on his bubble and Basco had relaxed, even if only a little. Maybe he needed to do a little more looking into animal behaviour too? It seemed they were as interesting to read as humans were, and it would help him get to know his own dog more if he could read the canine's body language as well as he did the human's around campus.
Post by Sina Aleardi on May 13, 2018 18:21:21 GMT -8
Sina nodded at the teacher's suggestion, "Sounds good to me." She whistled, and Der broke off, returning to her side, "If you're interested, maybe a parallel walk would be a good idea for Basco? Both leashed, walking near each other but not interacting." She paused, "That's a good way to introduce dogs because they can observe each other without being face-to-face, and aren't forced to interact." Speaking to any other teacher and teaching them things might have been awkward, but Sina felt no such reservations around Dr. Thatcher - Since she'd met him and Bella, she'd spoken to him regularly, and felt more comfortable around him than most other teachers.
Post by Mikhail Thatcher on May 15, 2018 22:37:07 GMT -8
Mick smiled. "Basco, up." He said and rubbed the dog behind his ears as he rose to his feet so that the man could attach the lead to the collar.
He nodded as he pursed his lips in thought. "Sounds like a jolly good idea." He replied, as the girl once again spoke sense. He respected Sina for what she knew about the animals she worked with, and knew that when she spoke he could learn a lot more than he could from picking up a book, and he'd love to pick her mother's mind too. "Thanks to you and Der for your assistance today, and we'll get out of your hair so that he can have the fun he knows this field means." It was unfair of him to interrupt the canine's down-time. With another smile and a wave he make a clicked his tongue and walked off the field with Basco at his heel.