I have never seen a cat without a temper. In my experience, even the loviest cat gets pissed off if you do certain things. For some cats it’s touch their tail, for others it’s picking them up. For some it’s looking at them. Whatever it is, almost all cats have times where they put their ears back and take a swipe at you… or maybe they just lay there pissed off, swishing their tail.

But Merlin doesn’t get mad. I have never seen him get angry in any way. He has many moods, including psycho-crazy-kitten - a mood which is coming out far more frequently now that spring is approaching… He gets spazzy and attacks random objects (like shoes). He’s also a cuddle-bug and will spend hours on your chest purring and nuzzling you. But he never gets mad. I’ve seen a couple times where Zeeke has him pinned down and is practically chewing on him, and Merlin’s just laying there like a dead fish. Granted that’s a very smart thing to do with Zeeke - if you don’t react to him he does tend to give up most of the time. But still, what cat just lays there getting chewed on?

There are times when Jo and Merlin are playing, and Jo gets too rough. I don’t know why he does it, but it’s like he gets ramped up into attack-mode and he just starts pulling fur out. Pulling him off doesn’t help, he goes right back at Merlin. And what does Merlin do? “Meeep!” and runs away. And soon as Jo stops (which usually takes a brief time-out), Merlin’s back to his old self again.

Zeeke just started chewing on him again. Merlin actually gave a half-assed swipe at him. (It was more of a “Gee, stooooop!” ) I got Zeeke to stop. And Merlin? Is still purring.

He’s a lot like Zoe, except for the freak-out thing. Zoe only gets mad at Zeeke infrequently, when he gets too rough. That’s the only time I’ve seen her put on her bitch-face. Otherwise she still only has two modes: happy happy lovey-whee! and omg-it’s-going-to-eat-me!! That’s it. It does make training her rather difficult, though. Half the time she’s so ramped up she’s bouncing around practically unable to sit still like a child overdosing on sugar - and therefore not all that receptive to direction. But if you correct her even slightly too “harsh” she shuts off completely. It’s very frustrating.

In the morning Merlin has a little ritual of running in the bedroom and getting in our faces, purring and happy and very obnoxious.

This is a particular problem on days where both hubby and I are not getting up at the same time - one gets up while the other sleeps blissfully. But Merlin doesn’t care. The person up, while doing their morning routine, has to constantly act as goalie every time they enter or leave the bedroom, blocking the cat from running in and waking up the other person.

Merlin does not like this. He is very insistent about performing his morning duties. He sits just outside the door, pawing at it, meowing. I must get in to greet my humans!

This morning I woke up anyways, so I told Den to just let him in. He hurredly runs into the room, jumps on the bed, crawls on top of me and headbutts my face. This lasts for all of twenty seconds or so, before he feels his duties has been completed and wanders off. He is now wrestling Zoe for the championship belt.

:: ::

The two cats have been doing very well lately. Jojo is still coming out of his shell even more, braving the Big Bad Dog to spend more time with me. If I’m not locked in the bedroom I am pretty much guaranteed to have a cat or two laying on or near me. Early early this morning I was on the couch in the living room watching TV and I had both cats curled up against my legs. It was such a cozy feeling.

Merlin is still looking rather fat. I don’t know what to do about that, since I give them food only two times a day. They obviously think it is not enough, because when they get hungry - especially when I sleep in - they trash the kitchen. One morning last week I found the trash bin tipped over and everything pulled out. Most days I find a cupboard door pulled open - the same cupboard where we stash the cat treats - and all those treats pulled down. If they’re especially ticked off at me they’ll rip open the bag of dog treats and knock them onto the floor. It’s become a daily habit now to have to clean up the kitchen in the morning.

I mean I don’t want them to feel starved (and thus peeved with me), especially since Jo is a good weight and I need to make sure he gets to eat enough. Just Merlin is a super-vac, sucking down food. I just hope he doesn’t put on any more weight.

At least Merlin’s fur is looking gorgeous. Jo has super-soft bunny fur, has since we got him. But Merlin’s was very coarse. Now after being on the new food for a couple of months his fur is shiny and nice and soft. Still not as soft as Jo’s, but pretty darn soft of it’s own accord.

Uh-oh, Merlin just climbed back on my chest. Unfortunately he started attacking the strings to my hoodie that I’m wearing and clawed me in the chin. Ouch. He was removed from my chest.

:: ::

Zoe and Zeeke on the other hand… both are being pains in mommy’s behind.

Zoe is still dealing with potty training issues. She’s nearly 2 years old! There’s NO reason she shouldn’t be able to hold her pee. And in certain situations she can just fine. But it’s like she doesn’t apply that rule to the living room. The last week I have found several pee spots on my new area carpet, and one day she topped off a really bad day for me by peeing a huge puddle in the middle of the living room floor while Den was watching her. I get so frustrated when she backslides like this, because it’s never just once. The most frustrating thing is that when she does this she doesn’t signal anyone. I can be sitting right there at my computer and she’ll just go and pee. Granted she usually signals me easy enough, but sometimes she just… doesn’t. It’s especially a problem if she has access to the living room when I’m not out there - like if I’m in the bedroom and the dogs have free access to the rest of the house. In that situation I am pretty much guaranteed to find a puddle when I go in there. So of course the rule is now that Zoe MUST be confined to the room I’m in. She won’t pee in the bedroom when she’s in there with me. Even if I’m asleep and taking a while to wake up, even if hubby is late doing his morning routine taking the dogs out. She whines and bounces and “talks” to me, but she won’t pee in here. So she is capable of holding it. She won’t pee in her crate, either, no matter how long she’s been in it. So why isn’t she getting it with the living room?? What is it about that room that says, “Sure, go ahead - pee!” The floor is hardwood, we thoroughly clean it with special pet cleaner every time there’s an accident. And the carpet we’ve only had for a month or two! Aie. Just frustrating.

And Zeeke, well, he’s his usual self. Yesterday Den had to work, and then he had this dinner out with the boys. He didn’t get home until 10pm. Well Zeeke apparently didn’t like that. He spent the entire day barking - at me, at dogs he heard, at Zoe, at nothing at all. Just barking. He was driving me bananas. I finally removed all garbage and dishes and edible objects from Den’s office and put him in there by himself. I figured maybe he’d calm down. Ha! Unfortunately Zeeke acted like a crazy dog. Much frantic barking, banging on the door, even trying to turn the doorknob. (Thank god he’s never figured that one out.) So then I couldn’t let him out until he calmed down and stopped having his little temper tantrum. It took about half an hour of listening to it before there was silence. Finally. When I opened the door to let him out he was laying on the futon (his bed in there). At least he does finally give in and settle down. I remember a time when he would bark for 3 hours without giving up.

Plus two days ago he got snippy with hubby. Den had bought him a nice big bone from the pet store when we were in there, and Zeeke sure was happy to get it. But when Den walked too close to him five minutes later Zeeke started growling and protecting his bone. Den tried taking it away and got snapped it. (I told him to be careful. Zeeke never used to do that to him, and he doesn’t have as much experience with dealing with that “side” of Zeeke.) That was a very bad thing to do. Bone got taken away, Zeeke got put in his crate, and hubby fumed for a while. So, no more bones for Zeeke, period. Lovely. We really do need to see a behaviorist, but Den didn’t “like” the responses I got from the ones I contacted. I really need his buy-in on this for it to work.

So, here’s to hoping for a bark-free, pee-free kind of day.

So Zoe, she’s been boundary trained by me from the beginning. She’s learned pretty well where our yard ends all the way around.

So last night I open the door to let Zoe go pee like I do every night, and she bolts straight towards the road, hackling and barking. I think the first thing out of my mouth was actually, “What the hell?” It was dark out, it took me a few seconds to see the neighbor walking her dog down the road in front of our house. (Which I think is pretty stupid - I couldn’t see her, I doubt a car would either. Anyways.) So Zoe goes bolting right for them. There was no car in sight, thank god. I yell her name.

And that little girl goes flying out to the edge of our front yard and SKIDDED to a halt where our front yard ends, where that “boundary” is (about 5-10 feet in from the actual road), and hopped sideways along that boundary, barking like all get-out. I was saying, I think, “What are you DOING? Get back here! Go potty!” She ran towards me, I told her to potty, she ran back out to the road boundary and barked and barked again. Then she turned around, trotted back towards me, peed, and came inside.

The neighbors must think we have an electric fence or something. She was seriously only 10 or 15 feet away from the neighbor and their dog. But she stayed right there to bark. Of course, this is a dog who, if you look at her crosswise, will run and hide. So I’m not really sure what she was thinking in the first place.

But it’s really nice to know that, even in tough, unforseen situations like that, her training holds up.

That clicker makes me enjoy training them more. Or at least gets me motivated. I see it sitting there - along with the treat apron - and it’s easy to just start. Only using kibble, though - I need to find some better treats to train with. Zoe isn’t too keen on the kibble (and she’s the chow-hound!).

Zeeke is doing flatly excellent with the clicker. It’s great to work with him because he learns so quickly - the clicker is just speeding it up even more. Although, we never used a marker word with him, so I don’t know if the clicker itself is helping or the marker. Either way, he really really likes that clicker.

Zoe however isn’t paying it much attention. Neither the treats. She just seems kind of out in la-la land. She really doesn’t have that drive that Zeeke does - heck, she doesn’t have the drive that Oreo does (when it comes to treats). I’ve continued to use the “Yes” marker with her, it seems to work well since she knows it. And I’m worried about confusing the two dogs using the clicker for both of them.

First of all, Zoe’s already showing tons of improvement in her crate. I get home, I deal with the cat, I make a phone call, I bring in groceries… and not a peep from her. I walk in the bedroom and nothing. When I step up to her crate she starts wiggling and moaning in anticipation, but I think that’s not so much an attempt at attention-getting, but rather she just can’t hold it in. But I am making her sit before I open the door, and trying to stem the excessive freaking out as I open the door.

And after dinner - well the last two days, I fed the dogs, closed their crates, then sat with my laptop. Previously she’d finish and then start barking and whining incessantly to be let out. And the last two days? She layed down. Silently. Awesome. I quickly jumped up and praised her to high heaven and let her out. I think it’s sinking in. Yay! A faster learner than Zeeke was… (Took him a year to learn. At the very least several MONTHS. Though that was due to his Seperation Anxiety.)

Today late at night (when it’s nice and cool and comfortable out) after I took Zoe for her last potty of the day we went for a very quick, very short jaunt up and down the road. And it’s really amazing to watch her: remember when she was so nervous she’d slink behind me and against my legs? Tail tucked, flinching, not wanting to move? Today she trotted down the street ahead of me, tail high and curled over her back. I’m not kidding! And Zeeke wasn’t even with us. I’m so proud of her. I think she’s slowly expanding the area she feels comfortable in. Unfortunately that’s also led to her wandering off if let off-leash (at least in this area), and yeah, she’s no longer allowed off-leash. Not until she learns her recall much better than it is.

I’m really disappointed though - I got the registration letter for intermediate class, and it starts next weekend while we’re away. So we’re going to have to wait until August or September to start it. I’m really looking forward to it, though. I doubt Zoe is. Hopefully her mind will change somewhere along the way. I really do think her going to class had a big effect on her, and I want to continue that forward motion.

I never did write about Zoe’s last class, did I. Den came with us, along with the camera, so I got some photos of her big day.

The class was spent playing a game: the room was split into two teams, and we competed against each other. the instructor had a stack of cards, each with a task on it. For instance, the dog must hold a sit-stay for 30 seconds while the owner is 10 feet away. We got to choose if we wanted a Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced task. After hearing the task, the team would nominate one owner/dog to attempt it. Each completed one got points.

So the first task Zoe was nominated for (actually I volunteered) was the one mentioned above - I put her in a sit-stay, walked 10 feet away, and tried to keep her in place with my voice alone. She felt nervous in the center of the room like that, and she kept trying to inch away. I’d “oops” her and she’d abort her attempt to get up. But, she only lasted 25 seconds. We tried three times, but that was about her breaking point. The instructor gave us the points anyways, since she knows Zoe’s anxiety issues - that was actually pretty good for her.

While the others were doing tasks Zoe was happily splayed out on the floor beside me. She looked very relaxed, and she seemed to appreciate having Den there with us, she seemed a little more confident than usual. He gave her treats and tried to coax her into doing “tricks” like climbing up onto his lap (she made it halfway).

The corgi in the class was sitting next to us, and Zoe spent a while laying there with her chin on the ground, staring at the corgi. She even tried creeping her way over there. Can you imagine! Zoe trying to go see another dog. We did end up letting them sniff and meet at one point. Zoe had her tail down and was a little nervous, but she did good.

Our team got a difficult task: with the dog in a sit-stay, the owner was to walk away dropping a treat every foot for 10 feet, then call the dog - and the dog had to come without eating any treats! The instructor looked at Zoe and said, “I think there’s one dog who can do that.” So we tried it. Zoe held her stay, though she sniffed the closest treat from where she was sitting. I purposely positioned her in the middle of the room, and me in our corner. I called her with great enthusiasm and opened my arms wide. And she came flying! Didn’t even look at any of those silly treats. Zoe just wanted to go back to where it’s safe. LOL

In the end of the class Zoe was given the prize for Most Improved Dog! Yeah Zoe!

After class I made sure our name was down for the Intermediate class starting in July. I’d like to start sooner, but with me going on vacation for two weeks in June we have to wait. I’m looking forward to it! I’m not so sure Zoe is.

In class we’ve been working on “come” in a progressive manner, calling the dog with much enthusiasm and running backwards patting our thighs and praising the dog. At the training center Zoe’s “come” is much less enthusiastic than I’d like - actually I tend to lose her attention before she gets to me, because a car backfires, or one of the other dogs move around, or the breeze blows. She’s so concerned about everything else that she isn’t focussed on me - that’s just the way it’s been at class. So a lot of things I wait until we’re home to teach, and almost always that works.

But with “come” when I’d try the same thing in our yard, where she felt comfortable, she came flying all right - right past me. Then she’d zoom in circles around me in unadulterated glee. Which is funny, but not what I wanted. And no matter how much I encouraged her, and how many times I turned to face her, or how much I ran backwards, she wouldn’t come to me. I think the whole exercise was far too much like the chase game we’ve played since she’s a puppy. She wasn’t doing it out of stubbornness or anything, she just thought it was a fun game I was playing and didn’t get the point.

So earlier today before I took her out to pee I went in the cupboard and opened up a new package of cat treats - soft, smelly ones. I figured they were guaranteed to make her quiver with anticipation. I didn’t show her I had them. I let her pee and sniff around the yard, waited until she was occupied, then called her. I didn’t jump up and down and run backwards and pat my legs and praise her. I simply said, “Zoe come!” in a happy voice. When she was coming towards me I took out the treat, held it in front of me, and drew her in to me. She came straight to me, and was given the treat with much happy happy praise!

Wouldn’t you know it, every time after that when I called out “Zoe come!” she’d come straight to me. It was like a lightbulb went off in her head. The third or fourth time I did it I said “Front!” as she was heading towards me, and she came right to me and sat. Just like that, with very little guiding with the treat. I went from a dog who would run circles around me to a dog whose come was in perfect form, in literally 2 minutes.

Well I just put on my treat-apron and put Zoe through her paces in the living room. It’s a good time to do it, middle of the night: Zeeke is in the bedroom asleep, and there are no distractions outside either. She is much more attentive here at home than she is at training class - with no scary things going on!

She still has problems holding a stay. But when we started she couldn’t sit still at all, so this is definite improvement. Usually with an “oops” or two she’ll sit back down. The first few times I tried to walk around back of her she turned to face me, but she seemed to get the picture that I wanted her to stay facing that direction - she just nearly twisted her neck all the way around trying to watch me the entire time, lol! After that she did manage to hold a stay the entire time, which was excellent. I do have to keep my reactions sharp though. Down-stays are harder for her, for some reason… she has this habit of popping back up again. But again, she did hold a stay through an entire 360 walk-around, and with me jumping back and forth 6′ in front of her. I also practiced her “front” - which at home she actually does quickly. At class she did come… slowly, while looking nervously around the entire time.

I’ve asked Den to help me out this weekend, using him and Zeeke as distractions outside. Because that’s REALLY what she needs help with. When she sees Zeeke, her brain seems to fly right out of her body.

Today’s class went well! It started off outside, with practicing walking on lead with distractions. The owners paired off and then practiced walking our dogs towards each other, past each other, etc. The other dogs were all trying to get TO the other dog; Zoe was trying to get AWAY from them. lol But she did surprizingly well, she took it in stride, sat when I stopped, followed along with me. Then the instructor’s assistant came over to work with me and Zoe alone, acting as the distraction: she crouched down and I walked Zoe past her, a little closer each time. Zoe tended to lag behind me when we passed her, trying to scoot around behind my legs to get to my other side. But with verbal encouragement from me she did good at keeping even with me and passing by. We then practiced just walking around the assistant, with Zoe on the inside. She didn’t like that, but again, did well. We ended on a high note.

Inside we practiced our sit-stays and down-stays with distractions. Zoe didn’t mind me hopping up and down much; she did, however, mind the other owners hopping. She was very jumpy and would break her stay if anyone came within several feet of her. She also wouldn’t let me walk around behind her without getting up and turning to face me - I think that was a reassurance thing, she really didn’t want to let me out of sight. So I’m going to have to work more with her on that. The instructor didn’t seem concerned, said it was probably quite scary for her with all the people hopping and walking around the room.

The forklift-hold went well again, though the instructor didn’t try to pet her or anything again today - she wanted to keep it positive and not stress Zoe out, so she just fed her some treats. Zoe really doesn’t mind being held like that; in fact I think she likes it…. unlike a few of the other dogs, who started a full out wrestling match when their owners tried to immobilize them.

After class was over and most of the others had left the building already, one of the other owners stopped at Zoe on his way out and held a treat out for her, which she ate. He then asked her if she’d let him pet her and reached down and gently stroked her head! She didn’t try to evade the hand at all, didn’t back up. That’s the first time she’s let anyone else touch her! I was so proud of her.

So next week is graduation for the dogs! The instructor said it’s always a really fun class and to bring family members to watch/participate. There’ll be lots of games and such. I’ve asked Den to come (and I’ll get him to bring the camera). I don’t know how well Zoe’s going to do, though - it depends how many strange people show up. I’ll be practicing everything this week in the hopes that she doesn’t forget everything under pressure.

I talked to the instructor about intermediate class, she said she hopes I’ll continue on - I sure intend to! Unfortunately with the brother-in-law’s wedding coming up on a saturday soon, and then with me going away to visit my parents for two weeks in June, it wouldn’t be a good time to sign up right now. So we’re pencilled in for any July classes. There is also a trick class that is taught, they said it’s a lot of fun and would be good for Zoe, but right now I think I’d prefer to work on the basics. I did suggest to Den that he consider taking the trick class with Zeeke, though. Zeeke would really enjoy that, I think.

Today at class I got there first as usual. The trainer’s two dogs (one shepherd and one border collie) ran over to say hi, and Zoe did really well. She had her tail between her legs, but she stayed standing and didn’t look too out of sorts. I told the trainer it was okay, she’s good around dogs. Her 4 year old son also attempted to give her a cookie (following mom’s directions of “hold your hand out and look at me, not the dog” ), but Zoe wasn’t having any of that.

So today in class we worked on our recall with distraction (for Zoe just being there was distraction enough to work with) and our long sit-stays. Zoe did well today. She laid beside my chair all relaxed for most of the class. At the end the trainer put a bucket of smelly yummy food in the middle of the room and we got up one at a time to work on “leave it.” Zoe only needed one correction, and she avoided the bucket. But mainly I was proud of her for walking around in the middle of the room with all the other dogs around, and not panicking. When we were all outside lined up to do our recalls, we were standing pretty close together and Zoe again did really well, just sat beside me.

At the very end we practiced our holds - some dogs get very annoyed when the owner tries to hold them still, but Zoe’s excellent and has never minded me manipulating any part of her… I can pick her up, pin her on her back, clean her eyes and ears, whatever, she’s great. Then the trainer and assistant came around the room to treat each dog while they were in the hold. Zoe took the cookie!! Right from her hand!! I was thrilled! That’s a first for Zoe - she’s never done that in class before, never taken a treat from a stranger. She actually was pretty relaxed about it, too. I think she felt more confident because I was holding her… I just really got the sense that, with me hugging her to my body like that, leaning over her, she felt safe. In any case, it was a huge step for her.

I’m so proud of my baby-girl! But now we’ve got to kick it into high gear to get prepared for graduation in two weeks! I completely intend to move on to intermediate class with her.