Animals And Behaviors

This post is solely about animals, specifically dogs and cats, and how amazing they really are.  They never cease to amaze me on their behaviors and how they can learn and adapt.

The week at work, we have had two extra dogs visiting.  My boss brings her Australian Shepard, Joey, with her each week.  This week, we had Joey, Cody, a Catahoula/shepard mix, and Luna, just a plain old mutt.  Their dynamics were a treat to watch.  Joey usually comes and stays under the desk.  He is pretty laid back but has a tendency to want to herd his brothers and sisters (a mixed group) at home.  Some of the brothers and sisters don’t take too nicely to being herded and fights ensue.  So, Joey comes to work where he is usually the only dog.

Cody and Luna added to the mix this week.  Cody is highly excitable and has tons of energy.  He is also very protective and does not like men.  So, whenever anyone came into the office, we had to be acutely aware of where Cody was and how he would react to the visitor.  He is also deathly afraid of thunder storms.  And, he wants to be the Alpha dog in the office because he is the Alpha dog at home.  This did not sit well with Joey.  He did not tolerate Cody’s exuberance well and tried to herd him by nipping at his flanks which caused and argument between the two to ensue. 

In the middle is Luna.  She is a cute little female weighing about 30lbs.  She stands about knee high.  She likes to be in the middle of everything.  She follows what Cody does because to her, he is the Alpha.  He tolerates her well because she puts her nose everywhere he has his.  She has separation anxiety whenever he and she are separated.  And, she is a chewer…She will chew through anything she can get her mouth on.

Yesterday, we had a full day of antics.  Luna was left with me and Joey while Karen took Cody with her to run an errand.  She took Cody because he is the most volatile.  While they were gone, Luna entertained me with a chorus of “I miss my brother”.  She would run around and then stop and let out the most mournful howl.  No amount of consoling could help her anxiety.  So, I started howling with her.  That was an amusing site.  She would look at me and get that confused expression….and continue to sing the duet with me.

The most amazing animal thing that I have going on at home is Lump and his new talent.  It seems over the past few weeks, Lump has been watching his brother, Orange One, (yes that is his name) and has been trying some of the same things that Orange One seems to enjoy.  But, the most exciting thing he has learned is how to catch.   Yes catch.

Why this amazes me, I don’t know.  All cats have the ability to snatch birds right out of the air.  So, why I am amazed that Lump can do this with various toys, is beyond me.  It truly is amazing if you ask me though.

Lump will position himself on the bed.  Then, I, who has collected a number of different toys to throw, will toss said toys towards him.  He watches, and guages where the object is going and jumps in the air either to catch it and bring it to the ground.  Or in the case of the balls I throw, bat them back to me.  It is wild to see.  He never tires of the game, wanting to play at all hours f the day and night.  He does not mind waking me in the middle of the night for a few tosses if I am agreeable to the prospect.

He sometimes will bring me the objects he wants thrown so that he can practice his fielding.  I have seen such tricks on TV on the Amazing Video show.  But, never did I think I would have a talented animal.

The issue is that Lump is like that singing frog on the Buggs Bunny cartoons.  Whenever anyone comes to the house, he usually hides under the covers and is not seen.  He does not show any of his talents to anyone but me.  So, I cannot prove that he can do these wonderful things.  However, he will not meet the same fate as same frog.  I will not bury him in the cornerstone of some building to be found at a later date.  He is mine and he is amazing.

French Onion Dip

I had Community Group coming over last night.  For those of you who do not know what a Community Group is…Well, it is a group of people who get together once or twice monthly for socializing and Bible study.  I am part of the Empty Nesters.  We have a lively group of, dear I say this, middle aged people who enjoy each other’s company.  We have refreshments and discuss our favorit verse from a particular book of the Bible.  Last night it wasa 1st Peter. 

Well, in order to have the group over, I had to do some house cleaning and snack preparing.  The cleaning wasn’t too bad.  How dirty can a 600 square foot apartment get?  I guess if you are not inherently neat like me, it could get pretty messy.  However, since I know who usually is responsible for moving and putting up things, I am on top of putting things in thing in their place to keep the place relatively neat.  Run the vacuum and clean the sinks and move the pillow and blankie off the couch and I was pretty much done with cleaning.

I made the world famous Chocolate Cobbler.  It had the whole place smelling like I hope heaven smells.  (You know all warm and chocolately and nice) I chopped veggies.  We had celery, radishes, carrots and bell pepper.  I have been craving radishes for a while and took this opportunity to buy them to share with the other members of the group.  I am not really a celery fan but I found myself craving that too.

I also had some chips and dip.  You now the story, sweet, salty and fresh.  Then, you have the bases covered.  I had two Helava Good Dips, french onion and white cheddar bacon.  (They had a special…two for $3.00 that I could not pass up.)  Usually, I am not a dip person either but others like it with chips and we needed something for the veggies too.

About 6:00, I started setting everything out.  I placed the veggies on a platter.  I put the chips in a bowl.  I pulled the cobbler out of the oven.  I brewed some coffee.  I set out bowls for dessert and plates for veggies and chips.  I opened the dips and set them out.

I sat down at my desk to check emails and cruise for a little while before the guests started coming.  I heard a lapping noise behind me an figured the cats had decided to drink some water.  The, I realized that I had moved their bowls for the evening to keep someone from stepping into them while I had the group.  So, I turned around just in time to see MoJoe lapping like crazy at the french onion dip.

Now, I am in a delimma.  I do not know what to do.  I scat the cat off of the counter.  I check out the dip.  Sure enough, there is a spot where he had been licking.  My delimma?  Throw out the dip?  (Nope it only had a little spot where the kitty had licked)  Close the dip up and put it back in the fridge? (Could have but didn’t.)  So, what did I do?  I picked up a spoon and scooped out a section in and around where the cat had been licking.

Everyone got here.  We had snacks and settled down for the meeting.  As everyone was leaving, I got to feeling guilty about not filling in the others about the issue with the dip.  So, I shared with them that the cat liked french onion dip.  I hope I did not upset anyone or offend anyone by allowing them to eat the dip.  (A little too late to stop them now.)

I live around these guys all the time.  They are constantly sticking their heads in my glass to drink water.  At first I was alarmed by this until the vet I work with shared with me that this would not hurt me in any way.  All my other cats had never bothered any of my human food.  These guys are pretty good about not doing so either.  I guess the dip was just too hard to resist. 

I also grew up around animals.  We have pictures of me sharing my beloved bottle with my beloved pet dog.  He protected me with a vengence.  My brother who is the doctor used to eat out of the cat’s dish.  That cat was not as fond of my brother as the dog was of me.  The cat would lay in wait for my brother and jump on his back while he was crawling on the floor.  Evidently, cats don’t like to share unless they are the one benefiting from the sharing. (My mother used to have a “fit” when my brother would eat out the cat dish.  I think by the time I came along, as long as the dog did not bit the end off the nipple of the bottle, she was okay with it.  Of course, I was number three.  So, she had been through two others before me and knew we were more healthy and indistructible than she originally thought.)