The pets all have pretty consistent personalities. Zeeke is the dominant, possessive male. Zoe is the submissive, over-reactive, anxious little girl. Merlin is a happy-go-lucky, playful, cuddly cat. But there are some situations where things are totally unexpected.

Take, for instance, the vacuum cleaner. Zeeke HATES the vacuum cleaner. In fact, he’s rather terrified of it. He totally freaks out every time it gets turned on (or at this point, when we even pull it out). If given half the chance he will bark insanely at it, then attack the hose… and he’s very very jumpy. He hates that thing and he thinks it’s going to come eat him in his sleep. I vacuumed the bedroom the other day while he was crated, and Zeeke was flinging himself at the crate sides, digging frantically at the crate floor, and trying desperately to rip into the thing.

We have a shop vac, by the way… that’s what we use. It’s noisy. So Zoe runs and hides right? WRONG! Zoe isn’t very affected by it, which is the weirdest damn thing. She freaks out at new boxes in the house, but she’s okay with a shop vac?? Well I mean she’s not “okay” with it - she doesn’t want it to get too close to her. Yet it doesn’t send her diving for cover, either. She just cautiously moves to the other side of the room. And the weirdest thing yet is that she gets totally ticked off with Zeeke when he flips out… SHE attacks HIM whenever he goes for the vacuum cleaner. Explain that one?! She’ll grab him by the cheek, growling. I don’t understand it one little bit, but she definitely does NOT like it when he flips out at it.

The cats don’t really seem bothered by the vacuum. They’ll jump out of the way, but that’s about it. They don’t flee the room either. Pretty easy-going cats.

::

Merlin’s oddness came out when he got sick. He’s Merlin, the easy-going, tote-me-around huggable dude. So I figured pilling him would be easy, right? HA. Apparently he HATES to be held down. He squirmed and scratched and drove me insane. This also translates to cutting his nails, I’ve discovered. He HATES having his paw held like that. He’s suspicious when you first touch his paw, he gives a little tug, and when he can’t get free he starts doing that cat-fish thing where they flop around in three directions at once. But with claws. Sharp claws, since I can’t seem to cut them. I finally got tired of the show and wrapped him in a towel like a burrito. He sure didn’t like that, but at least his claws got clipped.

And Jo, who was once my total punk, picking fights with cats and people and just being obstinate? Cutting his nails is no problem.

Well at least I’m learning.

Zeeke’s a GSD, and he’s 100% devoted to his daddy. He and I have been in this power struggle since the day Den brought him home. I’ve learned how to deal with him, how to manage him, but I never felt like I got any respect from him. He is constantly trying to push my buttons and push his limits with me.

I am pregnant. I am 21 weeks (5 months) now.

And, I swear to you, that dog has started looking at me differently. I came home from work late yesterday, and instead of him barking and jumping all over the place and frustrating me, he… sat. And looked at me with big brown eyes. It was the eyes that really got me, because they were SOFT. I think I can count on one hand the number of times he has looked at me without some sort of spark or challenge in his eyes. He always has had this attitude of, “Yeah? You’re not my daddy. Make me.” But yesterday he looked at me with soft eyes… with RESPECT. He sat calmly for me. I rubbed his chest and scratched his ears and told him he was a good boy. And he followed me down the hall when I went to greet my husband, and repeated the sitting quietly.

I’ve been noticing this more and more lately. He has been listening to me better. Even when he has a tissue (his ultimate prize that he will throw a fit if you try to take from him) and I tell him calmly to drop it and move away, he does, without a fight. He has been letting the cat in the bedroom and NOT CHASING HIM. (He still chases the cat down the hall, but the stupid cat runs. We’re still working on that.) The cat has been sleeping curled up next to me during the daytime, without ANY harassment from the dog. If he tries it I tell him to “leave it” - and he does.

I really don’t know what caused this change. I don’t know if he’s finally growing up (he’s 4 and a half now!!), if he realizes that I’m pregnant and that somehow has changed things, or maybe I’m just acting different because I’m pregnant, more like a mother…. or maybe I’m just acting different towards him and it has nothing to do with the pregnancy. I don’t know. But boy am I glad to see it.

He still has issues… he still barks at every sound he hears (will be a problem when the baby’s here), and he still cannot be in any room unsupervised. But honestly those are annoyances, not major issues.

We found out we’re having a boy, by the way… a baby boy. I said to Den, “Oh that’ll be great, when our son grows up, Zeeke will LOVE to play with him! His very own boy!” Den got sad and said, “Honey… Zeeke will be old or gone by then.” I forgot. GSDs have a lifespan of only about 12 years, if you’re lucky. He’ll be 5 when the kiddo is born. Sigh. As much as the big lug annoys and frustrates me… that’s a sad thought.

We’ve noticed lately that Zeeke and Zoe really don’t seem to play together much anymore. I also noticed that what “playing” they do involves Zeeke fitting Zoe’s entire head in his mouth. I don’t think she severely dislikes it… but I’m not so certain that she enjoys it, either. On the other hand, she does play with Merlin the cat…. and they beat each other up. I’ve never seen anything like it before…. I’ve seen Merlin licking her ear very cutely, grooming her…. right before he climbs on top of her and then starts biting her neck like he’s a big cat taking down gizelle. Of course this gizelle is quite large and really enjoys this game. They’re just strange.

Just now they (Merlin and Zoe) finished a wrestle match and she came over to snuggle with me for a few seconds. (Seconds is all she has for me!) Then she went and got a rawhide chew and layed down RIGHT next to the cat - facing him, in fact. The rawhide was inches from his head. I really don’t think she was trying to share it - she doesn’t share very well with others - but it was like she wanted to spend that time with him or something. Very odd indeed.

Zoe is adjusting very well to my pregnancy. She’s pretty low-maintainance, her playing with the cat on the bed beside me and then settling down to chew on a treat or a toy. Now that I have more energy I like to play with her a little bit every day, give her attention, tell her what a pretty girl she is. It doesn’t seem to matter how much I do or even what I do, as long as I’m focussed on her she’s the happiest girl ever. (Although that charactarizes much of her personality.)

The cats don’t seem to notice any difference - or don’t care if they have. They just want to be fed, and get attention. Jo solves this by standing in front of my monitor and refusing to move, and Merlin… well Merlin’s way of getting attention is by climbing on top of you and never giving up no matter how many times you shoo him off. Den can get quite annoyed by this constant yo-yo cat, which can go on for an excess of 10 minutes.

Zeeke… Zeeke doesn’t care as long as daddy is around to spend time with him. If daddy isn’t, however, he spends his time letting me know just how ticked off he is at my energy level and commitment to keeping him constantly occupied. OMG he drives me crazy barking at me. And there’s not much I could really do before, between the puking and the exhaustion and the work I still needed to get done in between, he was SOL until daddy got home. I really don’t know how Zeeke is possibly going to handle a new baby in a good way. He’s simply going to be ticked that we’re not paying enough attention to him.

So that’s my quick recap! We’re going to visit my parents over christmas, and we have booked the kennel and arranged with my work to watch the cats. I’m relieved. The kennel is expensive, but so worth it. The dogs come back to us SO happy and tired. They get such great attention there, time out with other dogs in the yard, they get to spend the entire time together. It’s perfect. It’s really really good that we have this kennel…. I don’t know how I’d leave Zoe otherwise!!

Reminder to self: NEVER buy the fish-flavored dog food again. Results in some stanky-ass dog breath (yes, worse than usual). Gag.

Some things that are perfectly acceptable and understandable from wee puppies are not nearly as acceptable and understandable when coming from an adult dog.

Like puddles on the floor. If it’s a little puppy you really do expect that sort of thing and you know it’s not the pup’s fault. You just try harder to be a better mom, take them out more often. When Zoe was a pup I never complained about having to take her outside all the time. When Oreo was a pup I got up middle of the night every night, sometimes twice a night, to take her out. I could barely see through my droopy sleepy eyes, but I did it without complaint.

However when it’s a 2 year old dog that leaves a puddle on the floor that’s a different thing altogether. I’m really not so amused anymore by Zoe waking me up at 5am to take her out - she’s 2 years old, she ought to be able to hold it for an entire night.

Right now both dogs are being whiny. We got a major snowfall last night which means people are shovelling, snowplows are going by. Zeeke is barking a lot, and then subsiding into whiny whimpers when he realizes no one is going to let him out there. Then Zoe joins in. It’s a cacophony of twitch-worthy high-pitched whines. They’re driving me nuts! I know that there are exciting things going on outside… but Zeeke needs to learn that not everything is worthy of a 3-siren alarm. The snowplow does not need to be heralded with an intruder alert every single time it goes by. (Light forbid he stop in front of his house to scrape his windsheild, like he did last night.)

Plus right now Denis is outside shovelling the driveway. Zeeke does not like that. He hates it anytime Den goes outside without him, but for some reason shovelling snow is the worst. Zeeke goes freaking nuts if he’s allowed to see him through the window. So this is why we’re all locked in the bedroom for a while. Hopefully the dogs will get used to the sounds outside and just give it up for a while.

Well the change in daylight savings time seems to have solved Zoe’s waking up early. Maybe she was just trying to transition me?

I just had (minor) surgery, but it’s making it hard for me to deal with, well, anything. I have incisions on my stomach so it’s hard to get up, move around, and even hard to yell. Den has been home for most of the past two days to help me with the dogs. They’ve been pretty good, considering… Zeeke has been barky, which is annoying when I’m drifting in and out of sleep (the anesthesia really makes you drowsy for a day, then the pain meds do a number on you!). But other than that things are going pretty well.

Zoe has spent most of the two days on the bed beside me, whether napping or playing with Merlin or chewing on a toy. She’s good company, if a little pushy at times - whenever Den comes in to spend time with me she’s all over him with licks and wiggles and just won’t leave us alone! Den still needs to work on being more firm with her in not letting her get pushy. It’s funny because he definitely doesn’t let Zeeke get away with the same things, but when I tell him to push her away he gives me a sad look and says, “But she’s so small and cute!” Oy! He’s a softy sometimes.

The cats are doing really well still. Still into everything they can get into, of course. I set up Merlin’s water fountain again, and twice he’s already dis-assembled it. He’s not content just drinking the water from the fountain, he must find out where the water is coming from… which involves him popping off the top, sticking his paw into the bubbling part, and in the end pushing the fountain around the room so much it comes unplugged from the wall. :sigh: It’s cute that he loves it so much and all, but it’s annoying to have to put it all back together nearly every day!

Spring seems to be here - or at least a precursor to spring. The snow has almost all melted, finally… though what hasn’t melted is still in that dangerous icy mass stage. I think Zoe is excited to see grass again. When all there was on the ground was snow she’d spend half her time outside digging, I’m guessing to catch some scents from the ground itself. Now she wanders from grassy patch to grassy patch, sniffing before she squats to pee. It’s just really nice to not get numb fingers and toes when I take the dogs out. Hopefully we’ll get to spend a little more time out there letting them run around a bit on their long leads and burning off some of that energy.

We’ve been playing fetch with them indoors. Zeeke loves to chase, but he’s not so great at the bringing it back. He got as far as spitting the toy at Den’s feet - which, trust me, is better than he was doing. Den enjoys playing fetch with him, he just doesn’t like having to wrestle him for the toy every time. We do need a better space for it though… our hallway is narrow and not very long, plus it’s all hardwood and I worry about Zeeke’s hips (and my walls!). Too bad it’ll be a long while before we get the basement all done.

Hubby takes the dogs out every morning at 7am on those mornings when he’s working and I’m not, so I can stay in bed. (I return the favor in the evening.) So WHY does Zoe always wake me up at 6:30? Zeeke just lays down and waits. He knows when daddy’s coming. Zoe either still hasn’t figured it out, or is too impatient to care. She will whine and bark for half an hour. And yes, she always gets taken out before bed. She’s nearly 2 years old! She can’t possibly not be able to hold it.

Well anyways this morning she woke me up at 6. I got up to take her because there was no way I was going to listen to her for an hour - and since it’s rather unusual for her to wake me up that early I figured it was somewhat important. But when we got out there she didn’t even seem all that insistent in going. She did, finally, but she didn’t race off into the woods or anything - she actually was more interested in sniffing around. Gah. I swear.

Merlin has been a complete psycho of late. I don’t know if it’s his age, the weather, or a combo of the two - but he’s a little tazmanian devil. He runs around pushing things off tables, he tries to eat my food, he uses my carpet as a scratching post, he attacks any remotely string-like object (he attacks my pants as I’m pulling them on!). He’s still a major cuddler, he’s just… hyper. Sometimes I can’t wait for him to grow up!

Thank goodness he has both Jo and Zoe to vent his energy on…. between the two of them he does manage to get a complete work-out. The two cats run around during the day and night… up and down the hallway, up on tables, furniture, crashing into things as they roll around. Then with Zoe… it’s mainly on our bed that they have their wrestling matches.

Jo, by contrast, has mellowed out a lot. I think it’s in big part due to all the energy he expends playing with Merlin. He used to be pretty hyper himself, and now he’s almost always sleeping or just sitting around. He just acts much more mature than he did before. It’s kind of cool and sad at the same time. Jo is definitely still the pampered boy though. Hubby says he’s the cuter cat (I think Merlin is) and makes sure he gets his kitty treats and bonding time every morning. Yesterday Jo was in hubby’s office and wanted out, but Zeeke was running around… so hubby picked Jo up, cradled him protectively, and walked him to the kitchen. It was so sweet. (But of course, hubby doesn’t LIKE cats. Oh no. Not at all.)

Zeeke… is still frustrating. The last few weeks he has felt the need to bark from about noon until hubby comes home at 5. And it starts when I’m still in the bedroom with him. I don’t know if it’s boredom or frustration or maybe just a reaction to other dogs or kids he hears in the neighborhood… but it’s really freaking annoying. This is new behavior for him too, which is what makes me think it isn’t just normal boredom or frustration. He knows the routine, he’s generally okay with that.

We took down the babygate to the kitchen on monday. The dogs have been doing pretty well about it. Zeeke better than Zoe - Zeeke knows exactly where that line is and only creeps across if he knows no one is watching. Zoe on the other hand seems to be a bit of a valley girl… I swear sometimes she’s blond. Either she really is a ditz or she plays the innocent really really well. But while I’m sitting there she’ll kind of wander in only to come running back out when I tell her no. With her it all comes down to repetition. But it would be really really nice to not have that baby gate to step over every time.

I bought a couple of new toys for the dogs. One a nylabone. They are the ONLY chewie I will buy for the dogs (other than kongs, which neither of them care to chew on) because Zoe LOVES them and Zeeke ignores them. Anything that Zeeke likes? Gets destroyed in a day. So those nylabones actually stick around for weeks or months, occupying Zoe. I like that.

The other thing I bought her was a hand-puppet. She had a hand-puppet when she was a pup and it was her favorite toy! Plus she would actually play wrestle with “you” when you were using it (and it didn’t hurt when she got rough - well not usually, anyways).

Well unfortunately she is beating the crap out of that thing. Fluff everywhere (from it’s head). Stitches ripped, seams coming apart. I do not think Mr. Hand Puppet will be surviving much longer.

But in the meantime she is having a ball - wiggling around on the bed kicking it with her back legs, growling at it, throwing it around… you name it. She’s so entertaining.

:: ::

I am happy to report all animals are back to their normal (destructive) non-sick selves. Zeeke unfortunately got a touch of whatever Zoe had a couple days later and had a very large “accident” in the bathroom. (It was so BEYOND nasty.) But just the once. After that everyone seems to be chipper and healthy.

Merlin is still aiming to compete in the heavyweight category with the dogs. Jojo still weighs in at a nice 11.2lbs; Merlin clocks in at over 13lbs! The little porker. But he puts all his skills and strength to good use when he “pins” Zoe down and viciously bites her. Of course they both know that she could throw him off whenever she wanted to, but they kind of take turns playinig the helpless victim.

Zeeke however has never really caught on to the whole “moderation” thing and just plays too rough for the cats’ preferences - even ass-whooping Merlin - as my previous post indicated. The cats are unamused. And I’m afraid Zeeke will just never learn to be gentle with the kitties. He’s never mean to them or I wouldn’t let him around them… he’s just too rough. He tries playing with them the same way he plays with Zoe. I guess she’s tougher than I thought. Merlin still refuses to run from Zeeke, but he does give the most evil looks. Zeeke ignores those just as quickly as he ignores the squeaks and smacks.

I could wish for total household harmony. But I guess the best I’m going to get is the three of them peacefully coexisting.

Dear Zeeke:

The cat is not a squeaky toy. When he makes that noise it is not - I repeat NOT - a good thing. Please stop chewing on the cat.

Thanks,
Mom

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.