If you don't already know, my nana and grandpa were the first to really teach me about dogs and how to interact with them. I really credit them and their dog Mickey with inspiring my love of animals so it means a lot that she gave me her little stuffed dogs. I have no qualms about a respectful display of stuffed animals in an adult apartment. There are also Andy Warhol cat prints and a full bar.
After setting up a new headboard to make reading in bed a little more comfortable, I placed a few of the stuffed dogs there. That night I woke up to all but one of them being dropped onto me by a stretching Toby. Since then, Toby has been spending the majority of his time up there, curled up with the little brown and white stuffed dog. I tried to snap the photo while he was napping with his head resting on the dog, but Toby of course woke up at the sound of my approach.
It's still a cute shot all the same, I think. I'll be visiting my nana and grandpa in two weeks and am looking forward to telling them that Toby has adopted one of the dogs. He hasn't rough played with the dog at all, just curled up with it and purred.
I wonder if he'll be so sanguine about it the first time he meets a real dog...
6 comments:
What a lovey cat! (swoons) I'm a cat person myself. Although...with you being a "crazy cat woman", I'm surprised you don't have a cat named "Ignatz" (even though he was a mouse).
Loved the picture :)
Love the toy doggie how sweet!
Now help me PLEASE. I have dog drama.
My mom got a poodle 2.5 years ago (he's 3 yo). When I got married she gave him to me b/c her husband hates dogs.
Beau is very attached to us and my husband. He is antisocial with others, either cowering timidly or barking a lot. We tried (and failed) obedience school.
My mom got a puppy yesterday. Beau cannot be in the same room with this dog unless someone holds the puppy out of his reach and he's on a leash. Growling, lunging, the whole aggressive package. What can I do? (Other than, I don't know, turn back time and teach him to behave)
Wisdom? PLEASE, Bethany!
lora96@hotmail.com
What a gorgeous kitty! Two of my 5 are that same gray color, although they have white on their faces and paws.
Thanks for the comments :) I consider Toby incredibly handsome. Keen had little spots his chest and two of his paws--also utterly adorable.
With the poodle situation... When is he seeing the puppy? Is the puppy living with your mom or with you? Has he only seen the puppy on his territory? Sometimes what we think of as aggression, is motivated by fear. If you talk with a positive trainer, he/she can watch Beau's reactions to tell if Beau needs his confidence built or if he really is feeling aggressive and needs to be taught not to act so aggressive. My first guess is that he needs confidence, but I haven't seen him so I can't say.
Is Beau fixed? That can help a tremendous amount with social issues. It helps erase the whole "another dog I must compete with in order to breed!" feeling and while it doesn't eliminate the need for socialization training, I have seen it do amazing things. Hormones can do some crazy things.
Sight unseen (and I do encourage checking with a local trainer who can observe your dog), I would suggest making sure that, until there are no reactions, the dogs only meet on neutral territory, that they start off with being in the same area but not near each other and with Beau being occupied with tricks that occupy his brain so he can't focus on the other dog, and removing them from each other as soon as either does anything threatening (stares, lunges, etc) so that things can't escalate.
http://positively.com/dog-training/find-a-trainer/ has a trainer search for positive trainers who use the methods Victoria Stillwell uses. I'm a huge fan of her methods. There's a ton of research to back up positive training.
Toby's all, "Why'd ya wake me from an awesome nap??"
Awwwww!!! Cats are soooo cute. How can anyone not love cats??
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