R.I.P. Calvin. His shaved body never quite grew back the fur, his face was always covered in food and he had no teeth left, but he was happy and comfortable right up until the end.

Zeeke has used a prong collar since two years ago when we took him to obedience class. There was an immediate difference in his behavior, and for once I could actually handle him when on walks, even when he was misbehaving.

Since then we still always put the prong collar on him and hook his leash to it, but we rarely need to actually rely on it for anything - he knows where the end is, and only once in a while mistakenly hits the end. He heels well. He saunters along like a charm when on walks, doesn’t pull at all.

So why do we still use the prong?

Well tonight I took Zeeke out after I fed them. It was getting pretty dark. He ranged ahead of me like the dogs always do. Out of nowhere he bolts and hits the end of the leash, wrenching my hand and arm. It was a cat - someone’s cat was in our back yard and took off running when he saw Zeeke. Without a doubt, without that prong collar he’d be still chasing that cat through neighbor’s yards. With any normal dog - like, say, Zoe - getting loose would not be the end of the world. Zoe comes back. Zeeke… doesn’t so much.

Today Zoe went with me on some errands. The first stop was the vet, to get her weighed: 29.6lbs. Perfect. The second stop was the feed store, to buy some more dog food since we were out. It’s one of the few retail places around here where I can take her with me. She did pretty well at first, following me down the aisles - but then some people were tossing bags of kitty litter onto a shelf and she got nervous. I got someone to grab the food and litter I wanted to buy and we went to the cash register. She really wasn’t happy about that. I paid, we went to the truck, she jumped in. Then the guy put the food in the back of the truck.

When I started driving away I caught a smell. “Oh no, Zoe, no. Don’t tell me.” After a few more seconds it was a sure thing: she’d pooped. I took a quick glance in the back during a red light, and saw smears on the fabric of the cargo hold. Uggg.

I held my breath and opened the windows for the ride home, then grabbed the disinfectent and sprayed and scrubbed the cargo hold. Gross. Even worse was Zoe herself. She had been scared at the time, so her tail was tucked. And… yeah, she pooped on her tail. Smeared, in fact, since she had then proceeded to move around and sit as much as possible.

So miss Zoe got her first bath. She didn’t like being put into the tub, but when I turned on the water… holy moly, you’d've thought I lit a fire under her. She wanted out of that tub and out of that bathroom. I ended up washing her rear by clamping her head between my thighs as she tried climbing out of the tub, trapping her rear end in the tub. I sprayed her down, lathered her up, and sprayed her down again. She was ever so relieved to be let out of that tub.

And that was my fun for the day. My, can we do that again?

:: ::

Two days ago Jojo had his annual vet appointment. I realized it with only 5 minutes to go, for some reason it had slipped my mind, so I was racing around the house grabbing things. First I grabbed the kitty kennel carrier. He hates carriers. He went nuts last time he was put in it. So I tossed that idea and grabbed his harness and leash.

He did well enough in the truck, though he was obviously unhappy with the whole situation. He apparently does NOT like vehicles. He yowled and pawed at the window. But once we were there he was great! I walked in holding a cat under my arm and announced his arrival. I took a seat down from a large boxer, who was panting in delight at being there (oh he was just so excited!). Now most people would worry about having a harnessed cat within sight of a large dog. But Jo was a star. I put him down on the seat beside me and he proceeded to look around. The dog didn’t merit any kind of special attention - it was out of reach and not too interesting looking, apparently.

In the exam room Jo flopped out on the exam table and let the vet do what needed to be done. Even the shots he got didn’t warrant any kind of reaction. Now Jo wasn’t happy to be there - a few times he crawled under the bench and layed down. But he was no hysterical kitty either.

I paid my bill with my cat standing on the floor, attached by leash to my wrist like any dog would be. He sniffed and tried pulling me towards the door.

And this is why we say he is more like a cat than a dog. I think he’s a bit confused. But that’s okay - we like him just the way he is.

Hubby is away for two weeks on business, so I am in charge of the zoo - good and bad, it’s all me.

The first day was rough. Normally I really look forward to that time of day when Den comes home and I can pass responsibility of Zeeke off to him and get him out of my hair. Right now I get two options during the day: he can either bark and chase the cat around, driving me crazy, or I can put him in his crate and I spend the day feeling guilty about it. And no matter what, he can’t stay in his crate all day.

First of all I’ll mention that since our labor day weekend vacation - we were both gone for 4 days and I had my boss come over to feed Jo once a day - Jo has been somewhat like sticky tape. He has definitely overcome his distaste for - and distrust of - Zeeke in order to be where we are, all the time. We are very happy to see Jo reach this point, we’ve been working on it for a year and a half, but unfortunately, Zeeke’s attitude has not evolved quite as much as Jo’s. He is still obsessed - and very, very obnoxious about it. So basically we spend all day with Zeeke following the cat around, growling and barking when Jo is in a spot he can’t get to. Plus they tend to knock a lot of things over, pull things off shelves, etc etc. I’m trying to keep this place clean and organized, and they’re like a little whirlwind of destruction.

So I’m trying to find some balance between me having some peaceful quiet hours, and Zeeke getting out to play and have fun. I think it’s going well - I am getting lots of things done and feeling sane, but Zeeke isn’t suffering too much. But with Jo out all the time, it’s time to face this problem head-on - or Zeeke will never spend any time out here. So we’re practicing down-stays - a lot. When he starts getting rough and pushy with the cat, I put him in a down. It usually takes 3 or 4 times of me getting up and putting him back before he “gets it” and gives up trying, but once he reaches that conclusion he’s doing really well. 15+ minutes I leave him there, with the cat walking around. The true measure, to me, is that Zeeke actually relaxes and puts his head down - still watches the cat - but isn’t on a hair-trigger. Currently I have released him from his stay, but he decided he was happy where he was and is asleep on his side. lol

Zoe has stopped blowing her coat, it’s back to normal with her - though she feels a lot thinner (no wonder, right?). And she has a lot of slobber on her from Zeeke. I used the rake to give her a light brushing today in the house (barely got out a handful of undercoat), but I’m going to have to use more tools tomorrow to get the sheen back in her coat and the slobber out of it. Yuck.

I took her to one of my meetings this week. The temperture has dropped to Fall levels, so it was nice and cool in the truck, where I left her - I didn’t want to waltz into the building with her. The ladies did come out with me afterwards to meet her. Zoe was far from impressed. She barely sniffed a hand or two, but she just wanted back in the truck, please and thank you - where she then hid. But I expected that. I hate seeing her like that, but if I don’t take her out to be around people, she’s never going to get over this. I was invited by the person who owns the building (my boss) that I could bring her in the room for the meeting - I’m debating whether that’s a good idea or not. I could easily set up a blanket in the corner or at my feet for her to lay on, and there’s only four of us in the meetings. But on the other hand I’m worried that it would be too much for her and that she might lose control of her bowels if she was freaked out enough. So I’m on the fence. There’s really no way to take her in before the other people. It might just be too much for her at this time. But I think I am going to continue bringing her with me and leaving her in the truck - quiet time in the truck is good for her to get used to being in a strange surrounding with nothing *active* happening, she can just chill and take it all in. (And she’s fine in the truck, she just lays down and/or naps. No chewing on things like Zeeke did/does.)

One thing I am thankful for: Zeeke and Zoe are both past the shoe-eating stage. Yay! I have left my shoes in the living room by the front door for I’d say over 6 months now, with only one or two small incidents (Zoe carrying one off, and looking puzzled when I take it away from her and give her her own toy - but no chewing has occurred). Zoe does have issues with my bedroom items - just earlier today I found she had gotten ahold of one of my small post-it note pads and chewn it. She also likes things like pens, ack (a few of mine have some dents in them from teeth). But honestly, unless she finds something on the tv tray or nighstand that she wouldn’t normally have access to (like post-it notes!) she’s very good. And Zeeke, at 3, is thankfully past that stage… though he will eat anything and everything food-like. Unfortunately the combination of Zeeke’s previous seperation anxiety issues and his propensity for pushing his way through barriers to get to things he really shouldn’t have, leaving him loose in the house when we’re gone is still something that makes hubby and I very nervous. Zoe, on the other hand… I’m considering that she might be at a stage that I can do that for short periods. Although I wonder if it’s even worth bothering - if given the choice, she would much rather be with Zeeke, wherever he is. So if he’s in his crate, she wants to be in her crate. I guess it doesn’t really matter one way or the other. It’s really too bad that the bedroom is her worst room, in terms of trustworthiness, or I’d start some trial runs.

In any case, our crew is doing well. All are currently sleeping, as I should be. Mom’s surviving. Let’s home I get through one and a half more weeks by myself.