Joey Met a Cat

I don’t care much for cats, and honestly, I wouldn’t care too much if my dogs chased cats out of our yard. But there are 4 red cats that my dogs MUST be sweet to, right Mom and Dad?

So. There is this grey and white cat in our neighborhood. We have seen him a few times, Joey usually gets very excited and sometimes pulls at her leash and barks. This grey cat then usually taunts her by crossing the street in an arch and rolling around on the sidewalk just on the other side of our fence.

Well this morning, I saw the cat first. I took Joey out of our yard and onto the aforementioned sidewalk and we watched the cat together. Joey sat (as instructed) and watched with GREAT intensity. I sat with her, my hand on her collar, telling her that she was very good and she had to be “sweet to the kitty” all the while thinking to myself “this dog will never be able to be around cats”. She was that intense.

The grey and white cat crossed the street and came closer. I swear I heard something in Joey’s head go “Pop!” and I am shocked she didn't combust right there. The cat came up and marched around as cats do. I petted him and told Joey "Good Kitty". I let Joey sniff the cat and praised her for being so good (i.e. she didn't eat it.) The cat hopped around, rolled on it's back, whacked Joey on the nose, whacked Joey on the cheek, all the while allowing Joey to sniff each and every strand of hair on his person. I am so thankful for this cat!

The cat jumped up on the fence, interaction over, so I told Joey she was the bestest puppy in the whole world and returned her to our back yard. I was trying to tell Roy the story, but in my excitement I was having trouble explaining which cat and where this all took place. So the cat helped by coming into our yard. These photos showed what happened. I'm pretty sure Joey is hoping the cat will move in.

Click on any photo to see a larger version.

The Other Place

We visited The Other Place for my birthday (2008). We enjoyed the comfort of The Oaks and the labras enjoyed the pond and all the smells that don't even register to you or me. Though our first day was a bit cold due to a strong wind, our second day was truly unbelievable. We spend most of the day on the Coast (Mendocino and Elk) and I have never in my life seen such weather on the Northern California shore. There was no wind, not even a breeze. There were no clouds, not even one. The ocean was like glass and you could see straight to the ocean floor. I have only ever seen water like this in Hawaii - though I am certain this water was MUCH colder.

Sophie is just the coolest soul. She immediately remembered The Oaks, and you could see the exact moment when she remembered where the pond was. She picked up the pace - got all of us trotting. Joey has taken a firm stance on vacation - she loves vacation. She enjoyed the freedom of two fenced in acres and the road to the pond.