Last summer I told you all what a remarkable cat Footsie is. It's still true. Footsie has now decided that he's our self-appointed dog trainer. He has spent most of this summer training Wookie in proper inter-species interaction, teaching him exactly how much play is too much play and when a rapid retreat is in his best interest. Having Wookie fairly well trained, Footsie has now turned his attention to Tasha.
Tasha's had a very tough summer. You may remember that Tasha has spent all summer trying to recover from a torn cruciate ligament. My extremely alpha, hyperactive, herder girl has been on-leash since early summer. She made it through surgery #1, then a non-recuperative recuperation period of about 3 weeks before surgery #2, then another marginally-recuperative recuperation period of almost 3 months before surgery #3 which was performed two weeks ago yesterday. There were periods of time between each surgery when Tasha was put on a therapeutic walking schedule, and the orthopedic surgeon who performed this latest surgery cleared her to start walking again day before yesterday.
On and off throughout these periods of walking therapy this summer, Footsie has been accompanying Tasha and me. Unfortunately, he seems to think it is both his prerogative and duty to set the pace of these walks. That, however, is in opposition to the way Tasha and I have structured our walks. Because I have necessarily spent all summer trying to suppress Tasha's high-powered nature to try to keep her quiet enough to heal, I decided to let her regain a bit of control during walkies by allowing her to walk ahead of me on the retractable leash and set the pace as long as she maintains a flat-footed walk. Tasha also doesn't walk quietly at heel. She bounces, wanting to surge ahead, so allowing her to lead is the easiest way to get her to maintain an even walking pace.
But that strategy apparently doesn't come close to satisfying Footsie's need for canine compliance. When he decides to accompany us, he insists on setting the pace by constantly blocking Tasha's path. Tasha walks; Footsie runs directly in front of her and lies down. Tasha walks around him; Footsie runs to Tasha's head and snakes back and forth across her chest, wrapping his tail around her face. Tasha walks around him again; Footsie runs up and headbonks her muzzle. Tasha crosses to the other side of the driveway: Footsie bounces over and blocks again. Tasha comes back to me and walks behind me; Footsie waits for her to surge ahead again and blocks her when she does. The only way we can make any progress is when I pick Footsie up and carry him for as long as he'll allow.
Yesterday, though, Footsie took his training to a whole new level. After several marginally successful dodges on Tasha's part, Footsie got fed up with her rebellion and lunged at her throat, grabbing it firmly with his fangs! He must not have broken the skin, because if he had I expect Tasha would have dealt with the situation herself (not being a big fan of cats, anyway). As it was, Tasha just stood there with Footsie attached while I yelled at him to release her! Once free, Tasha returned immediately to my side and walked the rest of the way home quietly at heel on a loose leash! She NEVER does that! Footsie was waaaay too pleased with himself after that.
Anybody need a good dog-training cat? He works for tuna, but I take a commission of $10,000/hr. LOL!
Laurie
This message was edited Oct 25, 2006 11:56 AM
