jumpingjacktrash: pantlessvantas: jumpingjacktrash: webofgoodnews: Anxious bride shares special mome
jumpingjacktrash:pantlessvantas:jumpingjacktrash:webofgoodnews:Anxious bride shares special moment with service dogValerie Parrott was searching for a service dog when a fluffy wide-eyed puppy caught her eye.Before she could take a closer look, an older yellow lab picked the pup up by the scruff of his neck, put him back in the corralled area and sat on the woman’s feet.It was like the dog was saying, “Hey, I’m going home with you today.”The dog named Bella hasn’t left Parrott’s side since.Read moreWebofgoodnews.com - Facebookawww :3yeah sometimes service animals choose you, not the other way around!my cat hermes, i didn’t get him to be a service animal – i didn’t get him at all, technically, he belonged to my roommate but she couldn’t take him with her when she went away to art school. and for a while he just existed near me, a pleasant but aloof presence.but when my chronic pain got bad enough that, in conjunction with my sensory processing disorder, it caused me to have frequent shutdowns and terrible executive dysfunction, he started taking care of me.i got to watch him train himself as a service animal before my very eyes, on the job as it were, entirely voluntarily. he figured out how to tell the difference between me being still because i’m thinking (and should be left alone), because i’m frozen in pain (and could use a warm cuddle), and because i’m having a sensory shutdown – in which instance he gently bites my hands until i move. nobody told him that small pain stimuli are often helpful in overcoming sensory shutdown – i doubt he learned it from watching me snap a rubber band on my wrist or pull out one of my chin whiskers for the same purpose, cats are not really that intelligent. maybe he did it once out of annoyance and it worked? maybe i vagued out while i was petting him once and ended up pulling his tail hairs or something, and he nipped me to make me move, and suddenly Weird Frozen Dad became Normal Petting Dad again? i don’t know, but i know i don’t lose hours to shutdown anymore.i could go on; this cat does so many things for me. but my point, i think, is that cats and dogs domesticated themselves – they discovered, as species, thousands of years ago, that hanging around humans is a good survival tactic, and selected for wanting to be with us. and that means they are true companions, true friends, and they have the instinct to be kind to us just like we have the instinct to be kind to them.symbiosis. beautiful. :3when i would get really sad in high school and cry, my cat would come and sit and purr on me. which is something that I’ve heard that cats do when they are hurt themselves. i can’t tell if my cat actually gives a fuck about me or anyone, but it does seem that way sometimes!she probably does! cats aren’t pack animals like dogs – or tribal like primates – but they are social animals! in the ‘wild’, feral cats form loose groups, more like a circle of friends than like a pack, and hang out near each other by choice. they usually hunt alone, but will bring excess food to a sick or pregnant friend. and they do cuddle and groom each other! so when a cat snuggles you, purrs for you, or grooms you, it means you’re part of their social circle and they like you. -- source link
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