How To Make Friends 0
I have two dogs. Oddy enough, neither one was my pick. One I inherited from my ex-wife. The other I took in when my ex-girlfriend was facing moving and expected that she would end up in a place where she could not have pets.
One is a Yorkie, though I suspect there have been interlopers in the bloodline–he’s twice as big as a Yorkie is supposed to get (15 pounds). And he is all dog–he digs, he barks, he chases. One morning, I watched him take on a deer that had come into the back yard. He had no fear, and he chased that deer away. And I would bet that yearling buck outweighed him 20 times.
The other is an I-don’t-know. Best guess is she is half Lab and half Cocker Spaniel. She looks like a six-month-old Lab when her fur is cut back; but, when the fur comes in, she’s as curly as a Cocker. She’s also a diva–she pretty much wants to be waited on. Indeed, the only doggy treats she will tolerate are Beggin’ Strips and Meaty Bones. If she is offered any other treat, she will look at it, sniff it, and walk away.
I recently inherited a cat from my father. Now, this was a farm cat, an outdoor cat.
I was worried about taking her in and making her an indoor suburban cat, but she took to the litter box right away. For a couple of weeks, she has major problems with the dogs–major fear on her part. But the fear did not keep her from standing up to them. They quickly learned that this little orange and white creature was packing five knives on each paw. The first couple of days, the most common sound in the house were a series of cat hisses followed by doggy yelps of pain.
At this point, some two months later, Diva Dog and the cat get along fine. She doesn’t bother the cat and the cat doesn’t bother her. In fact, the cat has actually been observed trying to rub against the dogs legs while the dog licks her head.
Yorkie boy, on the other hand, being a Yorkie and excitable, keeps barking and jumping. Now, I know this behavior well. It’s the same behavior he shows when he’s trying to play with another dog.
It doesn’t work with cats.
Moral: Jumping around and making a lot of noise is not the always the best way to make friends. Sometimes, it’s best to be quiet and listen.
