Mon Chien et Mon Cat

My dog and my cat love each other. They are both girls, and we get confused around here and refer to the dog as a "he" constantly. Our previous dog and cat were a "he" and "she" and, to compound the problem, our current female dog is identical in looks to our previous male dog. To further cause problems, our female dog, named Tinker, is bossy and rambunctious, even at a ripe age of 8 years. Our previous dog was a sweet, submissive male, somewhat fearful, which did not work well once we had our dominant toddler. But that's a whole other posting.

Back to the current dog and cat, Tinker and Paris. They do not cuddle but theyskdu - sorry, hand nudge from the bossy dog - are fascinated with each other. The dog was about 2 when we got Paris as a kitten. Of course, we were concerned that the dog might chew up the kitten so when even we put the kitten on the floor, we hovered closely. I have photos of the dog sniffing the cat. The dog was fascinated, constantly following the cat around. You could just see the little comic strip cloud above the dog's head, saying, "You got this thing for me? So cool." And the fascination has continued. The dog is allowed outside in the backyard or, somewhat supervised, in the front year. She does not get to be outside very much. She is a people-dog, not interested in the other dogs at the dog park. If you let her out in the cold, she is soon back at the door, saying, "You guys still in there?" She throws a fit if we happen to leave her outside when we leave home. We've somewhat spoiled her in that area. The cat, on the other hand, gets to go outside and in frequently. The dog usually has to sniff the cat to find out where the cat has visited.

Tonight, the cat was sitting in the window and started crying. The dog, who had been lounging on the floor, immediately understood the cat was saying, "Strange cat in the yard! Strange cat in the yard!" The dog ran to the front door, the cat moaned in the window. If I had let them out, there would have been a whippin' in the front yard. This is not the first time this little scenario has played out. They've done the moaning and barking before. But this was the first time that I realized that the dog reacts, not to sounds she hears outside, but to the cat's talking. During one of these episodes, if the cat and dog are close together, the cat will direct her anger at the invading cat on the dog. Yeow! And you think my life is boring....