The Plot Thickens: In Which The Inevitable Turns Out Differently From Expected

As a dogsitter, it was inevitable that someone was going to ask me to watch their cat.

Last week, a friend got in touch. She would be away for a few days, she said, and could I do a couple of house visits for Oliver, the 5 year old ragdoll?

But... he's a cat, I protested.

Hello human.

(Don't get me wrong, I like cats. They're pretty and they're clean. But do they want to go walkies? Do they need me to throw the ball endlessly? No? Then what do they need me for?)

Oliver's human assured me that cats are low-maintenance and that I would be up to the task.
I agreed, and listened to instructions about how to feed the cat and clean the litter box.

As it turned out, Oliver did have other uses for me.

Isn't he a total ham?

When I arrived he would come right up to me and rub against me, headbutt me and jump up practically into my lap when I sat on the couch.

He actually wanted to cuddle!

I was touched that this animal trusted me so implicitly -- it reminded me of Avapup. I guess animals are kind of amazing like that, whether canine, feline or otherwise.

Now -- a question for my readers who are cat people. Is sweet Oliver unusually friendly for a cat, or is the 'aloof' thing just a stereotype? Is your cat this physically affectionate?

And what is the universe trying to tell me by giving me a cat... that acts like a dog?

Flashback Friday: To That Time Ava Met A Cat

No, really. Even Ava’s humans don’t know about this, because it happened when Ava stayed with me when she was 16-20 weeks old.

Nobody told me this was gonna happen either.

See, last night in class we were talking about my instructor’s favourite subject, puppy socialisation and environmental conditioning. We talked about all the things we should safely introduce puppies to in their critical phases of development (~3-16 weeks), when they are particularly sensitive to new experiences. Having calm, happy experiences hearing different sounds, touching different surfaces, and meeting different people and animals during this period helps a puppy to be happy and comfortable in the big wide world.

Introducing puppies to new things really is one of my favourite things to do. It’s fun, and particularly rewarding is the knowledge that your little friend will face the world with a sense of adventure rather than fear. And you get to spend time with puppy without doing repetitive obedience exercises!

So last April, when a friend heard what I was doing and mentioned that she has a cat...

What is that?

It's Oliver, the ragdoll cat.

Whoa whoa whoa.

Huh.

It went decently. The great thing about Ava being so small was that Oliver could simply stay on the couch, out of the puppy's reach, if he wished. Ava and her 'puppy manners' (or lack thereof) got too close at one point, which caused Oliver to hiss and run. That could have been a disaster (for both), but I got lucky.

Next time I do this, I’ll just let the puppy watch from a distance, unless the cat shows signs of wanting to cuddle.

I'm thinking NOPE.

Never mind, Ava found ways to entertain herself.

Melon's Animal Adventures: an eventful walk

So I hadn't walked Katie the Lab for over a week and I've missed it - I'm finding walking her quite therapeutic, which is great since I struggle with anxiety.

The walk was very eventful, making me realise I really had missed a lot.

First, there was this:

Do you see the hazard in that photo? Yup, the black cat sitting calmly on the stairs. (Hi Xeti, is that you?) Luckily, Katie, who is reactive to dogs and cats, passed calmly and without incident. So I guess it's not all dogs and cats she is aggressive to, just some.

The next thing was that I managed to get Katie to Leave it and Come away from two potential foodables she'd picked up in her mouth. I was feeling really good about that! And there's more...

As I entered a park we normally walk through, a little dog suddenly appeared, running straight for us. Uh-oh! I thought. Katie does not like small dogs. It was a pug x French bulldog and it ran at us, daring us to pass, and continued circling and following us when we tried to leave. It stuck its nose into Katie's behind as we tried to leave the park, and as we left I realised it was still with us and had no apparent intention of leaving. I walked Katie, small dog in tow, back to the playground slide where two people were dozing with sunnies over their eyes. Who in the world dozes while their dog is harassing other people? Excuse me, excuse me! Is this your dog? Heads were shaken. Oh. Then where in the world had this doggy come from? Katie was so good, she did a Sit for me while the dog was still harassing her. I rewarded Katie and sat down to try to check the tag on the pug's pink collar. It jumped right into my lap, clearly being used to attention. As I reached for the tag a blond guy in shorts appeared to collect the dog. Apparently the pug'd escaped from his garage. So that's a non-reactive Katie and a loose dog back home, so this story has a happy ending. (I wish I had a photo from the incident, but as you can imagine, I didn't get a chance to snap any!)

And THEN Katie decided that she doesn't want anyone to think she's a well-behaved dog, so she found two bones/skulls on the walk and with the second one, completely abandoned the walk to lie down under a tree and enjoy it!

She's really getting into it

But look how happy she looks afterward, so what can I say?

Melon

Melon's Animal Adventures: Cats and dogs

This is Billie. 

He lives next to a courtyard that many people pass through every day. At the same time each day, or so I've been told, he comes out to wait for his owners to come home from work. That's how I came across him one day.

And now to a certain Labrador named Katie...
 

Today as I was working with her I was beginning to wonder if I'd ever make any progress on this 10 year old dog that I only see for an hour twice a week ... but then I think I made a little progress on Stay! I ask her to Sit, and then hold my hand (with the treat) out in front of me and take a few steps back. She can manage to stay seated while I step back, but as soon as I step back towards her she'll get up. But she managed to stay seated through the whole routine once or twice today, and boy do I feel much better now that I think I've seen a little progress! I've always had aspirations to be a teacher, and it seems like if it is in my future, it will be a rewarding job.

I'm realising that while Katie is very much active and excitable despite her age, she's actually pretty good on walks, no pulling or lagging, she hops on and off the kerb when I need her to and waits to cross the road.
It's just other dogs on the street I need to be careful of: she is totally reactive to the other dogs on-leash on the street. I see other people walk their dogs past each other in small enclosed spaces like at the market - no way that could be done with Katie! I have to cross to the other side of the road when I see another dog. A few people have seen me hesitant to approach them and their dog and assure me that their dog is friendly - I always have to tell them that my dog is not. It's a pity.
I'm not thinking of working on that with Katie but I am curious: what makes some dogs reactive to other dogs on the street and others not? Can it be trained? Is it a matter of socialisation? 

Lastly, Jackson, the sweet old Golden Retriever belonging to a friend of a friend, is likely to be out of a home by the end of the year. I have tentatively put it out there that I'd consider taking him, but I'm trying to keep a cool head and not run away with the idea, because my boyfriend and family don't think it's a wise idea. I must say I saw him the other day and he was definitely not as alert as he was last I saw him, but hopefully it was an off day.