For animal lovers

[ScoutMom]

Some dogs are just so smart, it's amazing. We had a German Shepard named Lady. My husband got her as a puppy before I even met him, so when we first started dating, she just kind of tolerated me. When he and I would sit on the sofa, she'd crawl onto the couch and wedge herself between us. If I told her to do something, she'd look at him and as long as he said "okay", she'd do it. Really, how insulting!!

When our son was born, I was concerned about how she'd take it. She immediately became my son's "mother". She would position herself so that she was always able to see what my son was doing. When he was old enough to sit up and start moving around on the floor, she would always be between him and any guests he might have. I remember one time a friend of ours came to visit. My son was sitting in the middle of the living room floor with some toys. Lady knew this friend for years. But she was always between my son and the friend. My friend got up and moved to another part of the living room, and Lady repositioned herself so she was still between the two. It was hilarious.

She used to sleep under my son's crib at night. At first, when he was first born, I'd try to drag her out of his room. Of course, she immediately planted all four and there was no getting her out of there! So that became her sleeping spot - under the crib. If my son started to cry, Lady would come looking for me and look at me like - "My baby is crying - DO SOMETHING!!!"

About 10 years ago (when Lady was 11 years old), she was stung by a bee and died of an allergic reaction before we even knew what was wrong with her. We've had several dogs, cats, birds, fish, hamsters, a snake (a serious moment of weakness - Speedy came home from Scout camp with us one year), but none of them could hold a candle to Lady. To this day, I still miss her.

[remote_goddess]

He also likes to "sit" on the hearth and on curbs when we walk. He backs up to it and plops down sitting there like its natural. I'm telling you, I laugh constantly at him.

Too cute. I have a very large Golden Retiever who also does that. When I first noticed it, he had just started sitting on this very low bench-type thing we have in the back yard. It has a foam cover and he sort of lolls his legs out to the side, which makes him look hilariously comfortable. Now I notice him doing it all the time with just about anything low and large enough for him to get his big behind on!

Question for cat/dog owners - I have a cat who is about 5 and used to ruling the roost. She and my golden get along just fine. But recently, we sort of adopted a mutt who was "dumped" out near my friend's ranch. Mutt and cat do not get along. Mutt thinks cat is a toy and constantly harasses her, chases her, carries her around in his mouth, if he can catch her. He hasn't hurt her, well, nothing other than her pride. She has been declawed, so other than a severe "talking to", there's not much she can do but hide from him. Have any of you ever been successful in getting two grown animals like this to somehow forge a workable relationship? Will the dog ever get over his fascination, and will the cat ever become more tolerant? This has been going on for about 3 or 4 months already, and everything I've tried hasn't worked. The poor cat is no longer speaking to me, as she blames her current situation entirely on my stupidity...

[prhoshay]

Personally, I think you need to stay out of it, but keep an eye out in case the situation becomes more aggressive. They will work it out. You will probably be surprised!

[Gutmutter]

Catching up after being gone a week - I can't believe you got another dog myrosiedog! I had a dog who used to get carsick. We never found any way to break him of it and it was nasty. My mom talked about getting a dog if/when my dad died, so while I was there I took her to a pet store to get her accustomed to the idea. Then I mentioned it to a friend over for dinner and she told us about a program nearby where inmates train dogs who otherwise would probably not be adopted from a shelter because of bad habits or were just never trained. It is a reward program for the prisoners and when they're done you can get one of these dogs - trained, neutered/spayed, and all shots for $150. I put the website for it on her favorites and we looked at the ones available now. I hope she goes for it because she is pretty lonely.

[misskitty]

myrosiedog: I really enjoy your stories of "Where's Waldo and What's He Doing Now?"

ScoutMom: Lady sounds like she was a wonderful dog.

remote goddess: I'm not sure if this will work in your situation, but my vet always recommended Feliway. It comes in a spray and a room diffuser. It helps pets with anxiety. http://www.feliway.com.

There's also a product called Noahs Ark, Animal Whisper which is an essence; you put drops in their water. It might only be available in Canada. (love saying that). intro2. You may check locally for something similar.

[Unklescott]

I hope she goes for it because she is pretty lonely.

I would certainly be lost without the boys, that's for sure. Having them both here with me during my recovery has been wonderful. It's like they can sense I'm in a funky mood and say "Okay, it's show time. Time to entertain the old man."
Here's an example. Every morning as I'm getting ready for work Hardy runs and jumps on the bed as I'm getting dressed. Part of our daily ritual consists of my playing with my socks with him as I'm sitting on the bed getting dressed. I dangle one in his face, he boxes it and chases it all over the bed. Heaven forbid I'm running late and don't take the time to play. Now I've been known to leave said dirty socks in floor from time to time when I change clothes at night after coming home from work. I've noticed lately that I seem to be missing socks. I looked under the bed and he had dragged several pair under the bed playing with them. My daughter caught up all my laundry for me last weekend as I'm not to be doing any heavy lifting. She left the clothes baskets on my bedroom floor for me to put away since I know where everything goes. I've found a couple of pairs of my work socks in the cat's water dish where they've been throwing them around playing with them. Stupid cats.

[MRD]

Unk, I just caught Waldo with one of my dirty socks, carrying it around.

That's so funny about your boys. My mom used to put catnip in old socks for our cats when I was a child. They loved it.
I can just see the boys under your bed with a horde of socks.

We gave all the dogs chew bones last night. Rosie went around and gathered them all up and put them all in her bed and then sat there all night guarding them from the other 2. The two boys just sat there looking longingly at them until we distracted her, so they could move in and reclaim theirs. Bogie immediately went and hid his in the covers in our bed. Yum, nothing like soggy dog slobber chew bones in your bedsheets. I got in bed and went WTH? fished around and found the bone and threw it on the floor. He got down and got it and laid at the foot of the bed with it until I fell asleep.

[Gutmutter]

Great story Unk! Now I know what to get you *coughtheboyscough* for Christmas and birthdays. While I was gone this week I didn't worry about the 15 year old daughter home alone, but I worried every day about my dog. You can't tell a dog you're going away. When I got home I lied down on the bed and he furiously wiggled and licked my face from every angle. (I got a quick hug from the daughter).

[prhoshay]

I would certainly be lost without the boys, that's for sure. Having them both here with me during my recovery has been wonderful. It's like they can sense I'm in a funky mood and say "Okay, it's show time. Time to entertain the old man."
Here's an example. Every morning as I'm getting ready for work Hardy runs and jumps on the bed as I'm getting dressed. Part of our daily ritual consists of my playing with my socks with him as I'm sitting on the bed getting dressed. I dangle one in his face, he boxes it and chases it all over the bed. Heaven forbid I'm running late and don't take the time to play. Now I've been known to leave said dirty socks in floor from time to time when I change clothes at night after coming home from work. I've noticed lately that I seem to be missing socks. I looked under the bed and he had dragged several pair under the bed playing with them. My daughter caught up all my laundry for me last weekend as I'm not to be doing any heavy lifting. She left the clothes baskets on my bedroom floor for me to put away since I know where everything goes. I've found a couple of pairs of my work socks in the cat's water dish where they've been throwing them around playing with them. Stupid cats.

Glad to hear you relate that story, Unk! One of my gurls has always had a thing for black nylon socks! She will dig through clean or dirty clothes in the laundry basket, bypassing everything, until she comes to the black socks...then she carries them all over the house, like she's caught some prey. Many is the morning that I have awakened to find one of the nasty socks in the water dish. She did go through a period when she would drape them across me in the middle of the night. It was like, if I didn't play with the one she had brought me, she'd go get another..and another..and another! 5-6 socks was not uncommon. If I was awake, she would bring me the sock and wait for me to throw it so that she could run to get it and bring it back for another toss. Now that she is older (my eldest, now) she has slowed down, but I still find socks all over the house!

My baby gurl has taken to positing up in the sink, in nap fashion, that my middle gurl uses to get her trickle of water. Anything to harass, I guess. Middle gurl just looks at me with the "can't you do something about her"
look, but she won't chase her out of the sink.

Reminder to self: Get a water pistol! I've tried blowing in her face, but she seems to enjoy it! Even if I've had garlic! I don't get it!

[Uncle David]

I would certainly be lost without the boys, that's for sure.

I feel your pain Unk. The day when I'm going to lose the girls seems to be getting close, and I know it's going to devastate me.

For those who may not know, my 82 year old mother has a lovely little Siamese cat named Kimby. She's had Kimby for many years, and Kimby's now closing in on the end of her life. In fact my mother cries daily as Kimby seems to struggle more and more each day.

I’ve long known that my mother would outlive Kimby, and that when Kimby died I would have to replace her immediately with another companion. My mother is quite delicate, and near the end herself. She wouldn’t last long without another being there with her. Obviously, if I get her an animal companion at this point in her life the animal will out live her, resulting in my adopting the animal she leaves behind. With this knowledge, I decided to get proactive and adopt an animal I could imprint on early so we would have an easy transition later. That’s how I wound up with Ella and Greta.

Anyone who’s read this board knows how I love my girls, and can easily imagine what it’s going to do to me when I have to give them up.