Hikuro-93

“I leave all my stuff to… uhh…” BOOM

Despite the internal issues Canada is facing, sadly, there are worse external problems to worry about at the moment.

European here, proud of Canada for standing up to those echoing totalitarian rethoric. We all need unison, and given that even the so-called ‘freest nation on earth’ is at the precipice of fascism, no one should underestimate that possibility from happening to any other free nation if given the chance to fester.

For a safer world for all of us, Europe has your back.

Well, for me it was gradual, and luckily I did it while they were still young (<2 years old), which made it much easier.

It ranged from presenting them certain challenges like, say, having them follow me over a small-but-intimidating hole they couldn’t easily jump over, or were afraid to. I’d first let them clearly communicate what they wanted (to reach me), then trying to encourage them to jump on their own (knowing they wouldn’t, because they were afraid). Then I’d help them once or twice, then back to start. They’d expect me to help them again, but I’d just get closer and encourage them again, providing less and less help until no help was needed. Usually at that part they tended to whine more, but I’d only catch them if I saw they weren’t gonna make. And with each step, with each improvement, make a big deal out of it - a big achievement, because it encourages them to aim higher to hear your praise.

In the case of one of them, which I got when he was a puppy retriever, he couldn’t even return inside the house because of a step by the door, as his tiny legs made it difficult. He whined, and whined, I helped at the beginning, and when I saw he could do it on his own I let him be until he made it on his own. He whined so much, so loud, and 5 minutes later I see him enter the living room all proud, looking for me. So I praised him a lot, then put him outside again to cement it - again, he whined a bit, but this time he made it faster to us. Repeat again, and this time he didn’t even whine, he just did it on his own and never got stuck there again.

Eventually I even got them to trust me to jump into my shoulders from a balcony about 2 meters high, to the point they love it and ask for it - this of course means extra wariness, since if I’m not entirely focused on them, and fail them when they trust me, they lose that trust much faster than they earn it - even if they don’t get hurt. My closest dog now even goes on his own to the rooftop whenever one of his toys ends up there, and retrieves it on his own, and jumps around like it’s not anybody’s business. You don’t need to go that far, but that’s to say the sentiment is what counts.

Basically any exercise where your dog needs you to help her overcome any sort of mental barrier, since even though you trust she can do it, she does not trust herself. And showing her that you trust her, and that she can indeed make it, and that even if she doesn’t you’ll be there for her, which will gradually make her trust you even more.

It’s a tough situation. But in my experience, specially with small dogs who get easily intimidated by this world of giant, often noisy stuff, your best hope is consistency. And that takes time, and a whole lot of patience.

Try to let her know she always has an absolutely safe space in you, and that if she feels uncomfortable she can always seek you no matter the situation. Take time to let her calm down by herself, for her to see there’s nothing wrong and she isn’t in danger.

You can also try some trust exercises, though maybe at a time when she’s more consistently relaxed and trustful. I did that with 3 of my dogs, 1 small and 2 retrievers, and it did wonders in terms of strenghtening mutual trust and knowing in case of an actual emergency they’re less likely to panic and run off aimlessly.

Another thing is anticipating stressful situations, and preventing them as much as possible. For example, say you expect to receive visitors, and children among them. Some children tend to overstep the boundaries of pets, which can lead to the pet’s panic or worse, self-defense. In this example try to pay special attention to the dog and make sure even if she’s a bit nervous about the guests she’s safe with you nearby. Goof around with her for a few seconds, speak in a playful tone to her, so long as you signal that everything’s ok.

So, consistency. It’s hardwork, and it takes a long time, but usually the best bet especially with pets who are sinking more and more into the anxiety hole. Even then it’s not a guarantee, as the main disruptors will still be there pushing the other way, but still better than nothing.

Hope this helped in any way, and that you are able to counter this! Cheers.

Of course experiences differ from person to person, culture to culture, and between different circumstances. But in my experience…

• Have a brother-in-law who married my SO’s older sister many years before we even met. Had 3 children together. Out of nowhere he decided to run away and live with another woman, then got back, decided “people felt different” and left again, only to again try to return and be denied by my sister-in-law. They were the favorites of my mother-in-law until the separation.

• Have another BIL, married my SO’s younger sister. 2 kids together, just months ago he threatened to leave to a younger woman (a friend of his younger sister). He was the only one to sympathize and side with the first BIL, guess why. Might still run away, because he clearly is only there for convenience.

• Me and my SO, not married, 13 years together through thick and thin, we never saw any real point to it since we always built our relationship based in trust and mutual understanding. Still going strong and any time we have issues we face them together. Now my MIL tends to favor us over the other ‘couples’, now “marriage doesn’t guarantee anything after all”, not that I personally care about that.

The point being. Marry if you want, but never feel forced to do it. If you need a fancy piece of paper by the government or religion to stay together then it’s nothing more than a self-imposed cage, and it’s far from a guarantee against infidelity.

You only have this one single life. Live happily, don’t try to please everyone against your own happiness. Everyone will still be unpleased, and you’ll only get increasingly miserable.

At the moment the portuguese defense minister won’t rule out a cyber attack, and the task force created to investigate it says it seems like the problem originated outside Portugal.

Portugal here. Specifically the Azores islands.

We also have that holiday, and it’s tradition for some people to craft dolls to display in front of their houses, often depicting social criticism in a relatively fun way.

Trump the coward. The definition of ‘getting peace’ is to just make the smaller side capitulate to the bigger one. And then act surprised when said peace doesn’t hold long.

No surprises that Russia is volunteering to mediate the Iran-US conflict either. Friends always watch each other’s backs.

A mediator doesn’t take sides. It’s the most basic principle. If you’re gonna do that - taking the easiest and cowardly way - just step aside and let more competent people handle it before you make an even bigger mess. Some ‘help’ simply isn’t worth the hassle.

And Russia did not take more land for a simple reason - not because of concessions or kindness, but because the small David held their ground against the Goliath invading them. It’s that simple, nepo crybaby.

Just saw another reporting on MSNBC’s YouTube that according to Trump internal sources “they expected China to be one of the first to come begging, given the size of their exports to the US”.

1. Anyone who knows China, as a millenia-old civilization, knows they are too proud to grovel and give in to bullying. Regardless of them being right or wrong. They know suffering, they have ancient history.

2. There it is. The obvious statement some seem to miss. This is what Trump wants. He wants others to grovel at his feet, simple. Refuse to grovel, show some backbone and tell him to take a hike, and he’ll quickly backtrack in cowardice. As he did with China, with the tariffs, and everything else.

And the funniest part? They don’t even have an actual goalpost set, as they just demonstrated with Japan when they visited the US to make a deal. They want to trick those afraid into overcomprimising themselves as much as they can out of despair. “How much are you willing to give us for our blessing?”.

Bullies only attack when they think they might succeed. Show them you’re not afraid, and they shrink into their shells. Acknowledge their fake power, and they’ll only get worse with time. We might hurt in the short term, but he’s gonna endure the consequences of his stupidity in the long run.

Stand strong. Stand united. Don’t give in. And this mainly to Europe, Canada, Mexico, and all of the British Commonwealth.

This european feels exactly the same way. Let us support each other even more than before, and if the dictators want deals they’ll have to accept our terms.

We all are already suffering the consequences of being majorly dependent to an economic world power. Not excited to depend on them ever again.

Business relations? Yes, if needed and to our benefit. Dependency? Nope.

Looking forward to where this goes if Europe sticks to its guns when things get ugly. Let them belittle us, let them antagonize, misdirect and make fun.

We haven’t even started pressing where it really hurts the US and its oligarchs. Which is precisely their precious digital exports we all consume and barely tax.

Never give in to bullies. Absolutely never, no matter how enticing or harmless they make it seem. Watch them repeat a Trump-China by poking the bear then sheepishly back down and say “Europe needs to make a deal with us” when it bites their behind.

Thank you for the input. Given the current US admin’s way of doing things, I have to wonder if they really see the problem in its entirety, or a crudely simplified version of it.

I mean, these are the same people who started a global trade war to get manufacturing over to the US, as if that would magically happen overnight or even with the high amount of uncertainty for business investments. It really seems to them the simplest solutions are the best ones - flip the tariff switch and done, problem solved, the US is great again after “a brief period of hurt” (whatever that specifically means), as if there weren’t a million nuances to the current workings of world global societies.

Anyways, regardless of the how’s and why’s, we can only guess what goes on on the heads of these people…

Wasn’t it always the case, though? Wasn’t he always implying that “Ukraine better be ready to lose some land” - aka we don’t know how to force Russia out of the lands it already invaded? Or how to balance the clear conflict of interests between aiding Ukraine stop an invasion and Trump’s agenda of getting the US closer to Russia as an economic ally?

Funny. The only difference I see is that he is now fully committed to make Ukraine capitulate by any means he can, perhaps in a last ditch effort to get that mineral deal since he needs it more now due to China stopping the mineral supply. Notice how he only began this ultimatum right after China stopped the minerals. Not suspicious timing at all.

In any case, better for incompetents to step away than fumbling the game even worse than they already did since taking office. Some “help” simply isn’t worth the cost. Europe and any other allies of freedom will see this through, one way or another.

Just don’t come begging for rewards or reparations once Russia’s imperialist ambitions are stopped. The US is only owed what it contributed until Biden left (and the real value, not the overinflated one), plus a nice good discount for the Trump admin’s interference and undermining Ukraine. And that’s being generous.

Trump rant about the EU existing just to screw with the US incoming. As if the fact that we don’t even properly tax the US on its digital services exports wasn’t enough.

Sure didn’t see this one coming, ironically. Before the pope had passed away I commented this on another post.

Bet the poor Pope couldn’t even attend because in addition to his health issues he must have felt the evil pressure oozing from Vance.

Welp, poor Francis. He was a good one, and difficult to replace especially in these uncertain times.

The silver lining is that he really made his last big act in life to admonish Vance, and by extension the Trump admin, about their wrongdoing. He has my gratitude for that.

Oh no, Vance got Vance’d… Lucky it wasn’t televised for the whole world to see.

Anyways, can’t wait for the snarky tantrum and projection condemning the Pope once he’s far away.

Bet the poor Pope couldn’t even attend because in addition to his health issues he must have felt the evil pressure oozing from Vance.

I get to be the favorite of pretty much all the family pets. Always been.

Some family and friends joke that I probably could go to an African safari and the lions wouldn’t harm me. Not really rushing to find out if it’s true tho.