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.

Interesting tidbit of information: Zoe gets snappy and possessive about her food with Zeeke, but not with the cats. And, obviously, not with us. The last few days Merlin has been very much in her face, sticking his head in her food bowl (in her crate!), and just now licking peanut butter out of the kong she is chewing. I watched carefully, and she either just continues eating around him or sits back and watches him. Weird. I wonder why she gets so snarky with Zeeke but not with anyone else?

Zoe was SO hyper last night when we got home late after a new year’s party. We just wanted to go to sleep, but she was spazzing hyper - and Merlin was her unwilling victim. She pinned him to the bed on his back and was growling, mock-biting (bitey face), licking him, pushing him with her paws, etc. She was very loud, and very physical - sometimes laying on him. He kicked her a little, bit her neck and just generally wrestled with her. It was so funny! Finally though I called Zoe off, since Merlin couldn’t get up even if he wanted to, lol. But they’ve been playing more and more often. It’s great!

Merlin is turning into a prize-winning sleeper. He sleeps on Den’s computer chair, on the futon, on the TV table, on the floor, and especially on our bed. He’ll sleep anywhere. He even ignores Zeeke harassing him. Doesn’t care.

Zoe is so sweet. She’s gotten used to the new kitty and now is completely fine. As she’s chewing on stuff on the bed she tends to roll over frequently, and she keeps rolling into/on top of the cat. she rests her head right next to his and they just stay there for a few seconds before she continues chewing on her toy. It’s so cute!

Somehow tonight Zeeke - who was on the living room side of the baby gate - and Merlin, who was on the kitchen counter, managed to knock over a pan of freshly baked cookies. While I was cleaning that up Zeeke immediately ran into the living room - where I had been, reading - and started scarfing down my snacks. Sigh. That damn dog.

So this evening I am reading in bed. After the cookie incident (which was only the last of many tonight) Zeeke has been locked in Den’s office with Den to give me some peace. But while the dog’s away…. the cats will play. And play they do, whole-heartedly. It really is quite amusing.

It started when Jo wandered in here to say hi. It was unexpected; it’s usually Merlin up on the bed for attention. But as he explored the rest of the room Merlin started egging him on, batting at him, trying to bite his paw. (It’s really quite funny to watch.) Then Merlin jumped on him a few times and Jo managed to get away. He walked off down the hall looking quite haughty and dismissive. But then he stopped, looked back, and came running back in here, only to land on top of Merlin. Snort!

So they have been running in and out. I see the tops of tails run past the bed. Every once in a while I see a head or two as someone leaps into the air. Sometimes there’s a paw. They look like WWE wrestlers - all show and exaggerated motions. And really just as entertaining.

Zoe is being the fretting mama. She’s on the bed watching intently. Before they really started playing she was trying to start something. She had been following Merlin around, and flattened Jo on the bed at least once. So now she’s just supervising their play, whining a little. I can’t tell if it’s whining because she’s upset that they’re being rough, or whining because she wants to join in. She seems so very torn. She runs over to them, then stops and runs away to watch from a safe distance. I need to get photos of her when she’s in this ultra-intent mode.

Oh, and when I got up this afternoon the tree was pretty hard done by. There were large gaps from where branches had been bent downward, and the garland was hanging off the tree haphazardly. Apparently our youngest has taken to climbing trees - but only at night when I can’t catch him. Lovely.

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.

Once upon a time I used to be worried about my little Zoe-monster being hurt by the big mean Zeeke. He was so much bigger than her, and she was so shy and dainty! When they started playing I would watch carefully, hovering like the nervous mama that I was. I’d frequently tell Zeeke to cut it out.

Well Zoe isn’t much bigger, and she’s still a shy, dainty little girl. But she sure tells Zeeke where to go when he gets too rough. Usually if there’s the sound of a fight during a particularily rough play session, it’s her kicking his butt. She snarls and yips in a really high-pitched voice, jumps up and bites him on the cheek multiple times. Then there’s silence. Then the sound of Zeeke trying to pick on her again… then the sound of another bitch-fest coming from Zoe.

And of course, not 60 seconds later they are both happily playing together again, tails wagging. But I don’t bother worrying about my little girl anymore. She can hold her own!

This morning the dogs wake me up by barking crazily. “BARK BARK BARK BARK!!” I sigh, get up and get dressed, and we all leave the bedroom to start our day.

And immediately both dogs jump on the couch and fall asleep. Thanks, guys!

I think we are finally getting somewhere with Zeeke in regards to appropriate behavior around the cat. Den just let him out of his office, and when Zeeke saw the cat on the bed he was predictably a little ramped up about it. But he’ll leave the room and come back in - and he hasn’t put even a paw on the bed. He’s slowly (slowly) learning the rules, the limits. We’ve really been strict with him about the bed, he is simply not allowed on it, period. He has a dog bed on the floor right beside the bed that is all his. He has the old futon in Den’s office. We do let him sleep on the couch sometimes. But he does not get on the bed. The fact that he is respecting that rule, even when the cat is laying in the middle of the bed, tempting him… well that is a big step for him. I’m impressed.

The baby gate hasn’t gone back up in the kitchen, either. The dogs aren’t great with that and have to be constantly reminded, but all it takes is a “Eh, OUT.” I will find them both standing in the doorway, staring into the kitchen, ostensibly to figure out how they can sneak in. Zoe is actually worse than Zeeke, she just doesn’t seem to be as aware of the rule (typical of her, she’s a little bit naive). Zeeke is perfectly clear on the fact that the rule exists, he just decides he doesn’t need to listen to it - as evidenced by the fact that he goes running in there about .2 seconds after Den walks into the bathroom. “Woo hoo, here’s my chance!” Unfortunately, I was sitting right there.

And Zoe is doing a very strange thing just now. She’s on the bed, laying there. And every time he sticks his head over the bed to try to get to the cat she lunges at him and snaps at his face. At first I thought she was just trying to play with him, but just now she started her high-pitched yip-bark as she lunged - her “MINE, don’t touch!” bark that she makes when she’s protecting a bone. She appears to be protecting the cat?? I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself.

Zeeke is doing very well in the aftermath. I think Den and I have basically agreed that we don’t want to do any surgery yet - Zeeke just doesn’t seem to be at the point that he needs it. He acts the same, he does all the same things he always has, he’s still happy and confident. We just watch him more carefully when it comes to running and jumping, to make sure he doesn’t cause himself pain afterwards. But we still let him play indoors with Zoe, chase a ball across the living room, etc. We just watch for anything that is overly stressful on his hips, like wildly running after Zoe in the backyard. Which is really unfortunate, because not only did both dogs love that game, but it tired them both out too.

Today we had someone from the cable company come out to run a cable line to our bedroom and install a new DVR. This involved the guy being in our house for an extended length of time, and working in the bedroom where the crates are. I quickly realized that was not going to work, since I couldn’t hear the guy’s questions over Zeeke’s barking. The poor cable guy gave a little twitchy jump every time Zeeke barked. So while he waited in the other room I transferred Zeeke from his crate to Den’s office. Zoe followed, of course. So Zeeke barked the entire time, but it was slightly more muffled. And the funniest thing is that the guy only seemed to realize we had one dog - he never saw Zoe, even though she was right there. LOL

Today I cleaned the kitchen and I didn’t bother putting the gate back up when I was done mopping. Zoe was out the rest of the day with me and barely ventured into the kitchen. I tried to get her to come down into the basement with me for a quick trip, but she wanted nothing to do with that scary stairs. She crept into the kitchen and stuck her head through the doorway to peer downwards, then scurried back to safe ground. Whatever is down that dark stairway she doesn’t like and wants no part of. LOL

As soon as Den got home and let Zeeke out Zoe went running into the kitchen and started gobbling up the cat food. She went hours without touching it, but as soon as Zeeke is nearby, giving her confidence… straight for it. Brat.

Though that wasn’t the worst of it. I had let Zeeke out of his crate when I was done mopping, and he went straight for the kitchen. I figured that was fine - there was no cat food on the floor at that point, no kitty litter box to get into, the garbage was even in a corner. I figured it was safe. Not 10 seconds after that thought he comes streaking past me with a croissant in his mouth, which he had snitched off the counter. Oi oi that dog. I hate to sound unfair, but I worry much less about Zoe in the kitchen - she is simply too short to get into the garbage or the counters. With Zeeke’s height it becomes much more of an issue! (Especially since he is well willing to use his height to every sneaky advantage.)

So we haven’t put the gate back up today, we just have to keep verbally reminding the dogs to stay out of the kitchen. It’s tempting - with the cat food, and the cat himself… plus the fact that the kitchen is Off Limits, therefore Very Interesting. But they have done pretty well. Even when the cat was walking around, Zeeke would take a couple of steps in, I’d shoo him out, he’d stand there and watch intently for the next while. I think it’s definitely possible that we could transition from a physical gate to a mental barrier.

I just love my doggie. I got home a little early from work today so I had time to shower before going to pick hubby up from work. And I decided that since she was out of her crate I’d take her with me.

She really doesn’t like the truck. She wouldn’t get in on her own, I had to leash her and coax her in. She still is very nervous when she gets out of the truck at Den’s work, but she followed me inside as usual and dragged me to his office. I think it’s really cool that they let me bring the dogs into the office building.

Then on the way home we stopped at Den’s gram’s house to pick up some chairs (Zoe didn’t like it there AT ALL, too noisy with traffic, she went straight back into the truck). And our second stop was the feed store to buy some dog treats and dog food. She did pretty well inside! Skittish, as usual, but she handled it. No major freak-outs. And I learned from last time - this time I put her in the front seat while they loaded the stuff into the cargo area. She actually really likes riding by my feet under the dashboard. I think it’s pretty safe for her - it’s a confined space, and she’s away from the airbags. She just likes to hide.

Just now she had to go out to pee. So I just let her run off-leash as I walked with her to the backyard. She behaves SO well! She trots along ahead of me, went and did her business in the brush, then came out and we played tag for a few minutes. Back and forth, me chasing her then her chasing me. I love playing with my dog. I must look silly, out there in a turtleneck and skirt and winter boots, running around with my dog like a kid would do. But it’s just so much fun. We both had huge grins on our faces. Then she trots along with me back around to the front door and inside.

I just love that dog, what can I say.