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Sidka Meets the Queen

Not too much to report on the dog front, I called my wife when I got off the train last night so they walked down to meet me halfway. What a happy girl she was to meet me — she being the dog 😉

Sidka met the cats again last night while I held her and they mostly milled about at close and not-so-close range. The big difference from the night before is that the Queen came down to greet her new subject, I told Sidka that if she won Scout over the others would soon follow. All three are still in the curious-but-cautious stage, when treats were brought out all three came up pretty close to the dog.

Sidka is still in her curious-and-let’s-go-meet-them stage so I’ve been keeping her close at hand on her leash. No one is showing any signs of aggression, not even a hiss from the cats, so things are looking good on that front. Even the introduction of Sam and Emma to Scout brought some hisses. Not to mention the how-could-you-betray-me-like-this withering looks from Scout that make me shudder to this day.

I fell asleep early last night and then woke up at 2 a.m. and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I turned on the light to read. I was shocked to see Scout separated from Sam by a few inches, she remedied this immediately by snuggling up to him, he draped one arm across her face and another around her body and soon they were asleep again. It took me a lot longer to follow them this time.

Oh To Be a Cat

So how traumatized are the cats by meeting the dog for the first time?

Scout is sleeping upstairs on my side of the bed, one of her favorite spots. Sam is sleeping in the heated bed next to me, one of his favorite spots. Emma is sleeping on my feet like she has been all week.

Oh to be a cat!

Since my wife has been sleeping with the dog in the basement this week, I’ve been reading in bed to help myself fall asleep. Last night while I was reading, Sam jumped into my lap and then Scout followed and curled up tight against him. She lay across him and put her head under his so that he would lick her head and clean her ears.

I don’t think he knows how much it means to her, Templeton started doing this for her when we first brought her home as a little kitten. In the early days she’d look like a drowned rat after he worked her over, less so as she grew older, the ritual continuing up until he died. But maybe Sam does have a sense of it, he started purring in full voice and that started Scout’s motor so I put down my book and listened to the harmony.

Sam wasn’t sleepy and eventually got up and Scout moved down to my feet. Emma then came up and curled up beside her, Scout fell asleep almost instantly and her loud snoring didn’t keep Emma from following her into slumber.

I turned off the light and joined them.

First Contact

Sidka has mostly black fur save for a tiny white stripe on her chest and white around her mouth, I suspect when she was born she must have wiped her mouth on the ground before the paint was dry. Speaking of paint, she also has some white fur that is only temporary thanks to some paint splotches on her head and tail. The reason her previous owners listed for giving her up was “Moving” so they were probably painting the house to get ready to move and a certain someone got a little too close …

We are going to change her name from Sidka but haven’t finalized the name from our pool of candidates. We’ve crossed a few off the list, I had originally suggested Willow but little Sam was horrified and pointed out that Old Man Willow in The Lord of the Rings eats hobbits. I didn’t quite see the problem until he reminded me that he was named after a hobbit. Good point little one!

Today was the first introduction of Sidka to the cats. After taking her for a long walk and run and playing ball with her, I put her leash on and held her close while my wife opened the door to the basement. Scout wanted no part of the proceedings but Sam and Emma did eventually creep down, moving in super-slo-mo as they crept down from the top of the steps to the landing to the bottom of the steps and finally into the den. Sam was first to approach with the fur on his tail spread wide, he rubbed noses with Sidka before backing off again. First contact! He and Emma later approached but were intrigued by Sidka’s bushy tail, when Sam went in for a sniff Sidka turned towards him and both cats bolted under the couch at full speed. They watched from a safe distance until we decided to call it a night.

Not bad for a first introduction!

Passing Grades

One of the good things about adopting Sam and Emma during Christmas break last year was not only being able to spend a lot of time with them to get them properly introduced to the household, but also having lots of free time to take pictures. This isn’t the case with Sidka, I worked from home today to see how she would do when left alone and that didn’t leave time for pictures. This one is another from yesterday, for some reason she looks like a young puppy to me in this picture but she’s definitely not so little.

Sidka had a lot of passing grades today, she had her vet exam bright and early and was not only friendly to the staff but so far seems in good health. She also did quite well being left alone during the day, technically I was here but I worked in my office and only checked on her a few times during the day. She slept peacefully downstairs when no one was there to keep her company and didn’t have any accidents. Scout was whispering words of encouragement down through the heating vents so I’m sure that helped.

There are a few things we’ll need to work with her on, such as obeying commands when she’s excited, tugging a bit on the leash, and thinking that every dog and person will want to meet her. But I am amazed at both how readily she has adapted to life here and how sweet she is, her previous family obviously took good care of her. She was kind of nervous at the shelter but at home we haven’t experienced the adjustment problems we expected. Knock on wood of course, the acid test is the introduction of the cats. Given how well she’s doing I think we may try that this weekend with some limited exposure before then. I don’t know what we’re going to do with feeding the cats, we used to just leave food out for them so we’ll either have to feed them in high places or start feeding them on a schedule too (somewhere little Sam is making a face of sheer horror at the thought).

She’s also warming up to me more although she obviously is still infatuated with my wife. When we were playing ball she started bringing it to me most of the time instead of always taking it to my wife, so she’s a quick study. She also showed a funny little trick today in that instead of always walking the tennis ball back to me and dropping it, she would stop a ways away and toss it to me with her mouth.

Her aim isn’t perfect but I dare say she could play for the Mariners 😉

One Tired Pup

When my wife woke up this morning, during those first few seconds before you’re fully awake, she thought I smelled so bad that she was going to ask me to start showering before coming to bed. Then she remembered that she had slept downstairs with Sidka and I was upstairs with the cats. Now fully awake, she realized that during the night Sidka had climbed into bed and curled up with her.

She’s long had a variety of stink-based nicknames for me but until now I had always assumed they were in jest …

Sidka had a good first full day with us. She’s definitely fixated on my wife but she’s warming up to me, she even came over and curled up beside me on the couch while I watched the NFL playoffs. I’m not too worried, I had to win over Templeton once upon a time too.

We all took a nice long walk today and Sidka was the perfect lady with the dogs and children she met. She didn’t even try to chase the squirrels in the park so that’s another good sign. Scout and Emma snuck down during the day but were evicted in short order. Sidka and I took another walk tonight in the rain but we didn’t meet anyone interesting this time around.

We also played with her new toys with the rope toy and tennis balls the clear favorites. And as you can see, after all that, she was plumb tuckered. She goes to the vet tomorrow morning for a checkup and then I’m going to work from home to ease her introduction to being left alone while we’re at work.

Sidka Makes Nice with the Alligator

“Look, we didn’t get started off on the right foot. It’s just that I’m new here and I’m so anxious to meet my furry little masters and I thought you were going after my people and … say, you’ve met them, haven’t you? Do you think they’ll like me? The cats I mean? Scout and Emma snuck down here but then they were whisked away before I could even say hello and I was thinking — what’s that? What did you say? Look I said I was sorry about thrashing you around like that!”

I Saved You from the Alligator, Now Can I Have a Treat?

While we generally love our house in Portland, the alligator infestation in the basement has been a constant aggravation. I don’t think we’re going to have to worry anymore!

Dog Dog Dog! We Found Our Dog!

Our dog Ellie on her first day with us

I knew how today was going to go, at least I thought I did, but thankfully life had a surprise in store.

I got up at 6:30 a.m. as planned, despite it being a Saturday, so we could drop off the ailing Subaru at the dealer. I came home and went back to sleep, planning on getting up in time to watch the two NFL playoff games today. I woke up for the second time as planned and heard Sam purring from his usual location in the gap between my knees. I reached down to pet him and felt Scout instead. Putting on my glasses I realized my mistake: Sam and Scout were cuddled up belly-to-belly with their legs wrapped around each other. Cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

As I settled in for football my day took an unexpected turn. I hit the Oregon Humane Society website to check for cat-friendly dogs, a daily ritual the past couple of weeks, and to my surprise there were several good candidates that just got added. I wrote down the list of five dogs I thought might work for us and down to the Humane Society we went.

I have a weakness for black labs and was surprised to see two on the list. I tried not to get my hopes up given our previous experience but today was our day! Lo and behold both labs were still available and we met and loved them both. We could only bring home one, I could have flipped a coin between the two, but my wife had a preference for 5-year old Sidka so ladies and gentlemen we had our dog!

We’re very excited! Maybe I need some more exclamation points!!!!!!!!

We’re not sure about the name, we’ll probably change it to something similar, perhaps Sitka since it ties in well with the Northwest (many of the big trees in the rainforests of Olympic National Park are Sitka spruce, and I think you know how much fun I had on my recent visit there). She seems like a real sweetheart, we have her isolated from the cats for the time being in the basement. She kept me company while I watched football before I traded with my wife who is sleeping down there tonight.

We’re going to take the introduction to the cats as slow as needed, but there are good signs so far. The Emma part of the Emma Liberation Front made a mad dash under our legs and down the steps before I caught her on the landing in the middle of the stairwell. After that she mainly sat by the door and waited, at one point when the door opened, Sidka saw her and didn’t make any motions toward her. To my surprise Emma didn’t seem upset either, I hope she isn’t planning a rescue mission when we’re all asleep.

These are a couple of quick pictures of her, I didn’t try for too many today. It was dark by the time we got home and the batteries in my flash are nearly dead, plus I didn’t want to startle her in her first few hours with us. In the first picture she’s sleeping on a plush alligator that we’ve had for years, the cats have ignored it and she seemed to enjoy sleeping on it, so it’s hers if she wants it.

Our dog Ellie on her first day with us

No Respect

I don’t know if they are upset from their vet visits or the taking down of the Christmas tree or if it is just youthful rebellion, but I sense a little residual hostility from the cats. After I felled her great tree, Emma muttered “Yrch!” under her breath hoping I wouldn’t catch the meaning in her elvish tongue.

Sam was more bold and spoke in the Common Tongue. After I went to check on Scout to see how she was recovering from anesthesia after getting her teeth cleaned, Sam walked in and said “Well if it isn’t the dental patient and the mental patient!”

I would not say such things if I were you!^†

^†Said in your best Prince Humperdinck voice

The Things I Learn When Scout Sleeps On Me

When Scout sleeps on me while I’m sitting in my chair, she likes to stretch out like Superman across my chest so I can’t really get much done. This evening I had my laptop beside her and could surf the Web but not type.

While browsing I came across a site that reports the demographics of the U.S. audience of a web site relative to the average (and as we all know, my site is far above average). I have no idea how they estimate this or if it’s even remotely accurate, but here’s what it reports about my site:

I do really well in the age group of 3-11 year olds, accounting for one out of every five of my visitors. Probably attracted by the frequent poop references in recent days.
I have a higher than normal incidence of visitors with children. Oh no! Babies having babies!
In regards to earning power, the report says I attract a less affluent audience. To my three year old readers: I’m very, very disappointed in you.
For education level, it reports a high index of college graduates. Oh three year olds, I’m so sorry! I take it back! I’m very, very proud of you! But you probably should have majored in something other than art history.