animal_quills | Round 'em up, Cowdog.

Well, I haven't written in a while, and I've kind of been preoccupied, but I decided to write one for you guys, because I'm a lazy, lazy, bad corgi *hits self with newspaper*

This one's going to be on my relationship with other animals, and I'm kind of writing as I'm going, so it's rough, to say the least.

I've always been a real animal person - not in the therian sense (being a recent enlightenment), but I've always had an affinity for animals. Most everything, from dogs to horses, from hamsters all the way on up to big things. It's just been part of who I am.

But this time, I wanna write from the therian sense on what all the different animals in my life mean to me, why I work with animals, and how I interact with animals that makes me different. Here's hoping that this is all making sense to ya'll.

Being a dog-person myself, it's kind of obvious to say that I live with another dog. A golden, actually (I always begged my parents for a corgi when I was a teen, but alas, I was disregarded) and I love my dog to bits. I play kind of roughly with him - he's around nine, and I figure my dog-age to be somewhere from two to three, roughly. I'm always pouncing on him and pushing him around - something that, as a corgi, I probably shouldn't be able to do - but being 'big' has it's advantages, I guess. We're still the same 'species', I suppose, even if my mental 'self' is a lot different size and shape than him.

But me and my dog get along on a primal level: we're packmates, after all, same as me and the rest of my family. In fact, I just let him back in because he's been asking for it - behavior and all. I can tell what my dog's thinking, and he usually seems to understand what I'm thinking, too: but some of that's just the 'magic' of Goldens: they always seem to understand. My parents say my dog understands more English than most kids do, and it's true, too. But this isn't about him, huh? It's about me.

Corgi, and all herding dogs, are special in a way that they are bred to interact and work intimately with other species: In my case cattle and horses... sheep to a degree, but Corgwyn are drovers. For seven years, I've owned and raised horses, and I've always had a special thing with them, too. I've never cut cattle or herded all that often, but when I used to, I always thought it was fun - sometimes I wouldn't know when to stop and I'd end up getting 'scolded' by the animals in question.

But I have a thing with those big things, almost as intimate as my connection with other dogs. I understand how they move and how they act, but more importantly how I can make them move the way I want them to. It's just the way it's supposed to be. When I tried that with sheep, once, I did alright, but the flocking instinct is so much more different than it is in horses and cows, and I didn't really understand them. However, actual dogs, in trials, work sheep, cows, and even ducks - which I'm not sure I could do. Chasing birds is one thing (I've done it on occasion. Those gulls were taunting me, I swear it) but I don't think I could herd birds.

But there are some animals around me that I can't really read at all. My rabbits, for one. I've learned over time how they work, but they're so quiet in their ways and so hard for me to figure out what they're going to do. In fact, rabbits are probably one of the animals that I don't prefer to work with as a corgi. It's just too hard. It was only recently I learned that rabbits don't like the undersides of their chins scratched, and with anything else, I probably could have figured out what they do or don't like on my own, but the rabbits? Eeeeh. I'm still figuring them out. Them and their strange thumping and teeth-grinding.

Cats are kind of that way, too. I don't get the solidarity thing, personally. It's just not how I work. For a dog, I'm pretty aloof, but I'm still a people person, at my core. I just prefer to be a little less attached than some other breeds might. And then you take in the fact that I'm also 'cross-species' in the way I work, with cattle and horses. Cows are dumb, but I still prefer their company than being alone - even if it is just to push 'em around. Cats, especially big cats, are different, and it's just somewhat confusing to me. Nonetheless, I enjoy watching them, and I really appreciate them. I'm just mentally a different species, you know? It's not so much dislike as it is that I just don't get them.

But that's just a brief thing on how I act/think about other animals. Just if you'd like to know.