messy-scandinoodle:

xshiromorix:

amarriageoftrueminds:

I’ve noticed that a lot of the time when people talk about Will and his dogs, it’s always in terms of loneliness and adorability. 

But what always strikes me about Will and his dogs is how much fucking patience he must have. 

Have you ever actually tried sleeping in the same room as one dog, let alone several? It’s a bloody nightmare! 

They fidget and fart, if they’ve got jowls (which a couple of Will’s dogs do) they do that weird flappy-clappy-saliva thing with their mouths, they dream/growl/whine and scratch (which usually involves the sound of a leg banging repeatedly against the nearest bit of furniture), and if one of them shifts suddenly or accidentally bumps something you can fucking guarantee one of the others will be startled by it and bark. 

To sleep in the same room as seven(?) dogs you’d either have to A) sleep like the dead or B) have the patience of a saint.

And that’s just the sleeping arrangements. 

When I think about how difficult it must be to train several different dogs, all of them different breeds, temperaments, and ages (and more than a couple of which probably have behavioural problems, given their runaway/stray status), it beggars belief. Some of them might be bad with people, or other animals. If there were farms with livestock nearby he’d have to watch them like a hawk whenever they go out, even if they’re good as gold, because you never see him using leads. 

To be the pack-boss in that scenario you can’t just be nice with them, you’ve got be stern as well, you’ve got to be authoritative.

And then you’ve got the pack dynamic he’s got to keep control of, too, making sure the big ones don’t take against any of the little ones because if seven dogs decide to fight in an enclosed space it’s going to be a fucking bloodbath in there. 

And dogs are so bloody jealous! Even if they’re naturally easy-going or pick up on Will’s chilled vibe, (which- pff, he’s got terrier mixes), if he had just one dog up on his lap or gave just one dog a treat, at least one of the others would take offence and kick off. 

Will would have to be actively shutting that down; his dogs can’t be lap-dogs because it would just cause too much drama since he can’t be pampering them all, all the time and all at once. When you’ve got that many dogs, they can’t be for cuddling: they’re a pack, not a collection of soft toys. 

And all the different sizes mean each dog has a different daily-exercise need so some of them are going to be knackered long before the other ones drop for the night. There’ll probably be one or two that just never get quite enough work in a day and so prowl round and round the house every night, still wired; the house wouldn’t be still or empty feeling, it’d be full of movement and noise, all the time. 

Which can be its own head-ache… but maybe Will likes that false sense of being in a crowd or a unit without any of the unwelcome scrutiny he gets from humans. 

Dogs are so attuned to the boss, when there’s no one else around to latch onto; they’d be leaping up on a hair-trigger whenever Will made a move, thinking ‘oh is He going out? is He giving us food?’ It drives me mad when mine do it, and I wonder how Will Graham would feel about it, if he’s not annoyed. Would there be a little bit of ego in there, liking the fact that he’s the boss and all the animals defer to him? Or do the dogs feel like satellites moving in his orbit and he doesn’t even notice?

I’m surprised Will keeps his rods and tackle in the same room as the dogs too, because I know from experience that bored cooped-up pooches and nice interesting-smelling fishing hooks which snag so easily on questing noses are a recipe for disaster. 

*my god, I’ll never forget the night my terrier (the ironically-named Rip) got his nose caught on a fishing hook from a rod left in the bathroom, panicked, and basically plastered the ceiling and four walls with his own blood… jesus that was messy…*

And I haven’t even started on the toilet arrangements or the dirt or the doghair or the problem of bitches coming into season with dogs in the house (he’d just have to get them spayed, no two ways about it), or the fact that Will would constantly be watching the clock thinking ‘right, how many hours have they been in, I’ve got to be back by such-and-such a time to feed them and give them a good run.’ It’s an unremitting responsibility. 

So, to me, Will’s pack doesn’t say sad or cuddly or lonely; to me, it says self-discipline and efficiency. It’s as impressive as all Hannibal’s magic ridiculous ‘cooked a five course meal composed a piece for Harpsichord killed a few people and kept a psychiatric practise running without missing any sleep or getting a hair out of place’ delivry.

The fact that Will holds down a gruelling life-saving job (which makes him unwell), and keeps that many dogs who’re all healthy and happy, and fishes and fixes engines? 

Its not sweet, goddamnit, it’s fucking manly as hell.

#will graham#meta: hannibal#hannibal nbc#DOGES#GODDAMNIT#I guess I’m just saying I’d like to see more of ‘pack-alpha will being a boss with his dogs’ in fic#instead of the sad lonely animal-cuddler#a pack is SUCH a different animal to a lapdog#give me manly Will wading in with his sleeves rolled up to physically separate two massive dogs while they’re fighting#give me Will at a crime-scene silencing a hostile growling Alsation by giving it The Look#give me Will saving his dogs by holding them up at head-height when a crazy stray appears out of nowhere during a walk#or defending them from angry momma cows when they accidentally get too close to a calf#MANLY DOG-WHISPERER WILL#NOT CUDDLY#I NEED IT

Thank you for every word of this.

Okay so I really like this. A lot. But. I do want to weigh in a little bit. The amount of dogs wouldn’t necessarily make it so he couldn’t be affectionate with them. I mean. If we take Winston for example. There wasn’t any need to blow dry the dog, but he did it.

Another thing to note is that Will has an amazing control over the dogs. They are obviously all specially trained. Just a small noise and one of his largest dogs stopped growling.

The fact is Will would have to take in dogs that were easy going enough to be in such a large dynamic. From my experience, even when dogs do fight, if they aren’t inherently aggressive it’s not likely they’re going to draw blood.

As a lonely person, nothing feels better than how attentive my dog is to me. “Can I go with you? Are you taking me outside?” It gives a great sense of belonging and important. When I’m gone too long he’s visibly more clingy when I get back. It feels good to feel so needed.

So I think if Buster barks sometimes in the night because something gets too close to the house, Will feels better. He works with serial killers. He’d rather know when the winds blowing than have someone sneak up on him. He could easily shut them down once he knows there isn’t danger. (If only my dog would too)

Its possible to own a pack, and be affectionate to each. Dogs can get jealous but I don’t think it’d start a brawl. Just nosing and panting and tail wagging.

They can’t be very aggressive. Hannibal gave them raw meat and no one even snapped at each other.

Will is lonely and he replaces family with dogs. That’s a cannon fact that he’s stated.

And it’s possible to be snuggly, and cute. While also being manly as fuck.

Please let Will Love his dogs.