This morning I went for a walk with the dogs. Since hunting season is over, we can walk in the fields. I love walking in the fields with a full or almost full moon because I don’t need to use my head lamp. It was especially pretty this morning because the moonlight was glistening off the little bits of ice clinging to the grass. As we head down to the fields, the dogs run on ahead of me. I have three now (yes, three, check out my Border Collie blog for more). Katie (she’s the new dog) who is still dragging a long line, which is an excellent toy for the cats, ran by me with Kessie and Gel. Chasing along after Katie’s line was Ted. Ted has gone for walks with us before out in the fields and this morning was no different. He runs along behind the dogs, as if he were one of them. Sometimes he teases the dogs by running into the tall grass and then up a tree.
Ted, the dominator, he was the cat who terrorized Kessie when she first arrived. Eventually Kessie realized cats were fun and not to be feared and Ted is her second-best friend (Nettie is her best friend). Now Ted is doing the same thing to Katie. How a dog can hold off a herd of 1,000+ pound cattle and be afraid of an eight pound cat is beyond me. This morning I could see that Katie was figuring out cats can be fun. She was dancing around Ted out in the fields. After our walk, she came into the house and through the kitchen without too much fuss. Walking through the kitchen through the hoard of cats seems to be like running the gauntlet for a dog that is afraid of the cats. Couple that with the slippery floor and you’ve got a real mess.
I worry a bit that some of my cats are so dog-friendly, but they seem to be able to recognize “their” dogs vs. strange dogs and act accordingly. This weekend a neighborhood dog, Biscuit, came to visit (my cats know Biscuit) and I saw Ted chasing her around. Ted thinks he’s tough, he’s the man, well, he was the man, now he’s neutered like the rest of the male cats living with me. Wonder if he’ll settle down once the hormones are out of his system?
