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| Shakir invites play |
In recent blog posts, Dave and I have discussed Tajji’s
progress in dealing with other dogs. Tajji is our newly (5 months) adopted
retired seeing eye dog, a 10 year old German Shepherd female who had major
reactivity issues, especially with small dogs. The extraction of a fractured
tooth has resolved her chronic pain, and enrollment in a reactive dog class
(“Reactive Rover” taught by Sandi Pensinger of Living With Dogs, using only
positive techniques, never punishment) has given us all tools to continue
progress.
It’s time for an update on Tajji’s adventures in Living With
Cats. For the 8 years of her working life, she did not live with cats, although
we assume she was exposed to them as part of her early socialization and
training. We introduced her to our two dog-savvy cats in stages, beginning with
barriers and progressing to escape-places for the cats and lots of human
supervision. After some initial confusion on the part of the dog, because cats
and dogs interprets many body-language signals in different ways, communication
was established and détente soon followed.
The next phase was entirely the doing of Shakir, our black
male cat who has a history of being extremely fond of large dogs. He adored our
previous German Shepherd Dog, who was too intimidated to let Shakir cuddle with
him. Tajji is of a much more phlegmatic temperament than our previous dog, and
it wasn’t too long before she would curl up at our feet at the dining table and
Shakir would come over, approaching her politely (no direct eye contact, curved
path, looking away, soft eyes). A sniff became a rub, and soon he was polishing
her feet, her muzzle, and the sides of her head with his jaw. Purring loudly,
he’d pass under her head, turn and repeat, and I’m sure the banquet of
kitty-butt smells was delightful to the dog.
