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Dog Owner Creates A Comic About How Wrong The ‘It’s Just A Dog’ Attitude Is

Dog Owner Creates A Comic About How Wrong The ‘It’s Just A Dog’ Attitude Is

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Nothing compares to having a dog, to feeling its unconditional love every time it looks at you. That being said, I understand if you aren’t crazy about them. Maybe you have allergies, maybe you just really like cats, I don’t know. What I don’t understand, however, is someone belittling these animals. Nor does French artist Lucille aka Notidee.

Last week, she tweeted a comic titled “It’s just a dog”, addressing everyone who might say that about her pup, Neos. The sincere strip not only describes Notidee’s dog and its personality but also perfectly captures their beautiful bond.

The comic instantly went viral and, as of this article, has over 170K likes and 48K retweets. Let’s hope it reaches those who it’s directed at as well.

More info: Facebook | Twitter | Patreon

Notidee is an independent illustrator from Strasbourg, France. She has worked alongside animals all my life, but her job as a wildlife mediator/illustrator for the French equivalent of Birdlife was the spark that got her into becoming a full-time artist. “I work on many fronts artistically speaking, and am currently putting most of my energy into an upcoming visual novel called [Kernel],” she told Bored Panda.

“Neos is a five years old Japanese Spitz who single-handedly shattered my world when he got here,” Notidee said. “He came to me at three months old [with health and reactivity issues], forcing me to relearn everything I thought I knew about dogs from the ground up.”

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According to the American Kennel Club, reactivity is an overreaction to certain stimuli or situations and is commonly confused with aggression. Reactivity is an overreaction to external stimuli. A common display of it is barking and lunging. Dogs may be reactive to people, animals, other dogs, noises, movement, or any combination of the above. Essentially, it is a reaction to something external that is upsetting to the dog. Genetics, lack of socialization, insufficient training to learn self-control, a frightening experience, or a combination of these can cause reactivity, and fear is typically the driving force.

Is there a cure for reactivity? Janet Finlay, the owner, trainer, and coach at Canine Confidence, says this is the wrong question. Reacting to the environment, according to her, is not a disease to be cured but a normal and essential survival mechanism. We all react when we feel under threat. We may fight, flee, freeze or try to bluff our way out of it, but we react. The same is true for our dogs. Reacting to a threat is normal and does not need fixing. What is needed is to teach our dogs that those everyday things are not a threat to them.

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“Reactivity and resource guarding can put both owner and pet in danger if worked on without the help of a professional behaviorist,” Notidee said. „When working on reactivity, we usually focus on applied behavior analysis which, to make it really short and simple, is about giving choice to our dogs while desensitizing them progressively, without ever triggering a reaction (thus never needing any command, we prioritize fun games for the dog that we use to avoid triggers when we meet them outside).”

“I started studying animal behavior (medical training and behavior analysis and modification in particular) to improve his quality of life and give him the ability to make choices whenever possible,” Notidee explained. “He is now a healthy, well-adjusted pup. As for me, I’ve discovered another field I’m deeply passionate in alongside art.”

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Notidee said the attention her comic has received was overwhelming. “I have been flooded with messages from pet owners around the world telling me about the animals they share their lives with and how this comic conveyed the way they felt about their dogs, cats, birds, and other critters.”

Image credits: @Notideeart

Image credits: Notideeart

“Dedicated pet owners, and in particular those tending for the needs of reactive or more fragile animals, will usually puzzle their entourage by the amount of work, money and time they will put into making life a little easier for their pets,” Notidee said. “I had the hope that this comic could help build a bridge between Neos and I, and the people around us who struggle to understand us, but didn’t think the message would resonate with so many.”

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Here’s how people reacted to the heartwarming comic

Image credits: DeerMArtist

Image credits: Robin6892

Image credits: Koaszz

Image credits: suprvixen

Image credits: LittleRedMeg

Image credits: iamthataunt

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Image credits: halfchun

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

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Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

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Rokas Laurinavičius

Rokas Laurinavičius

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Rokas is a writer at Bored Panda with a BA in Communication. After working for a sculptor, he fell in love with visual storytelling and enjoys covering everything from TV shows (any Sopranos fans out there?) to photography. Throughout his years in Bored Panda, over 300 million people have read the posts he's written, which is probably more than he could count to.

Mantas Kačerauskas

Mantas Kačerauskas

Author, BoredPanda staff

Read more »

As a Visual Editor at Bored Panda, I indulge in the joy of curating delightful content, from adorable pet photos to hilarious memes, all while nurturing my wanderlust and continuously seeking new adventures and interests—sometimes thrilling, sometimes daunting, but always exciting!

Read less »

Mantas Kačerauskas

Mantas Kačerauskas

Author, BoredPanda staff

As a Visual Editor at Bored Panda, I indulge in the joy of curating delightful content, from adorable pet photos to hilarious memes, all while nurturing my wanderlust and continuously seeking new adventures and interests—sometimes thrilling, sometimes daunting, but always exciting!

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sill avatar
Sill Marien
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yesterday in Poland a great man has given his life for "just a dog" (Jan Litynski, who fought for freedom from USSR communist regime oppression in his younger days- you can google it but that's not mandatory to understanding the story) when he jumped in icy cold river to save a doggo. A truly good human being will get it. The stupid human will say "just a dog" and it was not worth it

crabcrab avatar
Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"it is just a dog" never applies. "It is just a xzy" isn't right for any sentient being!

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"It is just.... any animal" does not apply." Human arrogance and enormous lack of universal compassion and empathy is destroying our planet and ALL life it supports, including human life. Fight against cruelty to animals, for their sake and our own.

Load More Replies...
isabel312001 avatar
Isa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are not only dogs or cats ot any other kind of animal...they are unonditional love that accept us the way we are(ok sometimes cats don't but...I still love my cats as much as I can)...they only ask love and attention in return and most of the times they are live saviors...I can say that my cats are the love of my life and if I get a dog he too will be the love of my life...and that's it!

Load More Comments
sill avatar
Sill Marien
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yesterday in Poland a great man has given his life for "just a dog" (Jan Litynski, who fought for freedom from USSR communist regime oppression in his younger days- you can google it but that's not mandatory to understanding the story) when he jumped in icy cold river to save a doggo. A truly good human being will get it. The stupid human will say "just a dog" and it was not worth it

crabcrab avatar
Hans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"it is just a dog" never applies. "It is just a xzy" isn't right for any sentient being!

cjucz22 avatar
Christina Uhlir
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"It is just.... any animal" does not apply." Human arrogance and enormous lack of universal compassion and empathy is destroying our planet and ALL life it supports, including human life. Fight against cruelty to animals, for their sake and our own.

Load More Replies...
isabel312001 avatar
Isa
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are not only dogs or cats ot any other kind of animal...they are unonditional love that accept us the way we are(ok sometimes cats don't but...I still love my cats as much as I can)...they only ask love and attention in return and most of the times they are live saviors...I can say that my cats are the love of my life and if I get a dog he too will be the love of my life...and that's it!

Load More Comments
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