Doors, Dogs and the Staircase
Well, my poor husband, was forced by circumstances beyond his control to brave the local shops this morning. Not the ones in our quiet little village, there he would just have had to wait in line a bit and endure about a dozen folks making cheerful conversation. No, he needed to go to the bank, and that meant a trip into a nearby town. Which I gather was a complete zoo, with everyone trying to get all their shopping down before about 3 in the afternoon. Somehow, he managed to get all his business done, buy animal food and get home in one piece. He proudly displayed some very attractive straw tree ornaments he picked up at the German-owned discount supermarket.
"These are very traditional in Scandinavia and the Germanic countries," he announced, then flipped over the box and exclaimed, "MADE IN CHINA!"
We both have a good laugh. Yes, traditional Scandinavian tree decorations are now being made in some factory in China. That was a real hoot. They are still very lovely and we will enjoy them on the tree. But it is pretty funny in a weird sort of way.
House-mate (aka The Lizard) went home to his family mid-afternoon, which began the "releasing of the animals." He will be gone for several days, so I let the indoor cats out into the staircase and main hallway. There, they can run up and down the stairs and recover from being locked up in our bedroom all the time (or my office, where Hagan the Amazing Back-from- the-Dead Cat is still living). Of course, being cats, all they want to do is get passed another closed door and down the next stair case into the kitchen. I read a book on cat behavior once that said something like,
"Cats do not like doors, because in the wold view of a cat, they should simply not exist..."
My guys know this and also believe that if they just think hard enough, and run at the door as often as possible, sooner or later they will push passed it. These last few months, with my foot not working all that well, very often they are right. Today, it is very important to make sure they do not make it through the last two doors, into the kitchen. Though several times they have made it to the closed kitchen door,why? Because it is freezing outside...What does that have to do with cats in the kitchen? Well, it seems that both our dogs are now in the kitchen. ...
The one who is normally in the kitchen (our female elk hound) washes her cats or ignores them. She has a healthy respect for claws and backs away from growls or other signs of unhappiness. Her brother (and accidental mate, but that is another story) is not nearly so placid. Most of the time he lives out in a run, where the cats know not to go. Though at least one of them showed up one day with a very short tail, and we suspect that the dog had something do to with the shortening. This idea is supported by the time I watched him pick up a clueless small cat that was rubbing against my leg and put it in his mouth. Thankfully he had been taught the words "DROP IT," he looked at me for a second, as if to say "do I have to?" and then let go. If I had not been there I think one orange fur ball would have been toast (or perhaps snack?). I am a bit worried because we are planning to fence off our courtyard so both dogs can be closer to people and come into the kitchen. I just hope all the barn cats survive the experience. But since they have learned to stay out of his current pen, I imagine they will learn to cope. But some of the indoor guys aren't even quite sure what a dog is. Much less have an idea that the giant hairy things, can be dangerous.
But , husband had no choice but to bring the Big Guy in; he found him soaked to the skin and shivering in his pen. It had rained and then frozen. The one sort of weather that can kill even Norwegian Elk Hounds from hypothermia. Since we have no secured outbuildings at the moment (unlike his sister, he won't stay in the yard and a strange, big dog running around the neighborhood is likely to get shot on site). So, he and his sister are denned in the kitchen, where they take up lots of room and lick people a lot. We had a brief discussion during dinner about what was dog food and what was people food. But a few growls from the pack superior (aka my husband, The Wolf) and he settled down in a corner and wagged his tail.
Our main problems now are: my husband figuring out when he needs to go out, since he must go on a leash and I am not strong enough to control 90 pounds of barely leashed trained elk hound and keeping the cats out of the kitchen. The other problem will be keeping the dog from rushing the back door if he sets his mind to it. So far, he hasn't seemed interested and no one has come over unexpectedly. The Big Wolf (husband) promised to put him back in his pen tomorrow if things have dried out. If not, the dog will go out during the day as soon as its safe to do so. We can't enclose the courtyard until house-mate is back and the weather improves. If we have to, we can put him on a long chain in the yard (he's trained to that and likes it). We have a couple of outbuidilngs that he could sleep in and be safe on the chain. But, I'd rather not in this weather. Better to have him either in our house, or a snug dog house.
So, we get to keep trying to keep one step ahead of four curious cats, and spend more time in the kitchen with the pack. I think I've put all perishable food up out of doggies reach, but I'm sure I'll found out in the morning if I'm wrong. Meanwhile, I can listen to the cats go marching up and down the stairs. Staring at all the closed doors, knowing that sooner or later people will open one of them. And then they will be able to really go somewhere....
Disaster Cat...herding little cats at Kilmurry House