My wife and I just concluded two weeks of dog-sitting for my parents yesterday and I have to say it really made us miss having a dog. We’re both “dog people” at heart, with little time for cats. I’m not knocking cats or cat owners, it’s just that I’ve never really been able to get attached to cats in the same way as dogs. Maybe it’s cats’ indifferent demeanors, or it could have something to do with the fact that I’m incredibly allergic to them. Hmmm.
My wife and I took care of Molly (pictured to the left) while my parents were off in North Carolina with my extended family. We couldn’t go this year because we’re saving up my vacation days for when the baby is born, so we volunteered to take Molly for the duration of their stay.
She’s a three year old Welsh Terrier and, if you can’t tell by the picture, incredibly cute to boot. She’s well-behaved and easy to please when it comes to interacting with humans and all-in-all a wonderful family dog.
It was nice having a dog to wake up for and come home to, something that was so overjoyed to see you that they could barely contain themselves. It was great settling down to read the Sunday paper and have her curl up at the foot of the bed, as content as could be.
So now we’ve got a wee one on the way and we’ve rekindled our desire for a dog. I have absolutely no idea how I’m going to work this one…
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Dude, Earl Grey would whoop on Molly in a steel-cage match! He’s a street cat baby, straight gully!
on’t day ention may ogs day oo tay auren Lay. It is getting really bad when she sees those purina puppy ccommercials. “oooooh look at the little puppies!!” I’m in trouble
I hope I’m lucky enough to have time to train a new dog when I (finally) leave college and start working.
Vin-dawg:
My parents actually have a cat of their own as well. She’s been front-declawed but still takes on Molly on a regular basis, so I have no doubt that E.G. could take her. The cat was purchased by my mother as a “lap cat”, but she’s having none of that. She’s gotten fairly feral and tends to roam the neighborhood with impunity, occasionally stopping by my parents’ house for food and water.
She actually even eats Molly’s food expressly to taunt the poor dog. Molly has been chastised for chasing the cat, so she generally stands there while the cat eats her food and tosses you “Can’t you do something about this?” looks.
They do have their team-up moments, though. For instance, when we took her back to my parents on Sunday, the cat (Gracie) apparently had captured and knocked out a smallish rabbit and brought it into the house. (She’s apparently quite good at this sort of thing, having brought in numerous field mice and birds previously, leaving them unconscious but largely unharmed). The rabbit woke up and began hiding in the upstairs without any humans realizing it was there. Molly, being of a breed expressly bred to hunt ground-dwelling rodents, caught the rabbit’s scent and apparently tracked it down. My wife, brother and I were all sitting in the den talking when we heard a fearsome scrabbling on the floor upstairs accompanied by several squeals/yelps (from the rabbit, apparently). I sprinted upstairs to find Molly triumphantly clutching the now-dead rabbit in her jaws and Gracie looking on in envy.
It took my brother and I roughly 5 minutes to pry that poor rabbit out of Molly’s jaws, after which she and her co-conspirator stood rapt at the back porch door watching me seek a spot to bury the rabbit.
So the lesson is: cats shouldn’t fear her but look out if you’re in order rodentia.