In Tuesday’s post, I shared an adventure Sampson, Delilah and I had on one of our walks. It was a frustrating experience when someone let their two dogs out into their e-fence. The resulting chaos was not exactly the way I like to start my day.
Besides the dog incident there were a couple of other interesting things that happened on that very walk.
The first happened before the dog encounter and the second after.
The first one was okay because Sampson and Delilah were too busy sniffing to be looking ahead on the road. I on the other hand, am always looking, which is how I spotted it. At first I was unsure. Is that a small dog? Did someone put something in the road? But then it turned and as I watched it run off into the rising sun I realized it was a fox!
The dogs were oblivious until we got to the spot where the fox was standing and then they picked up his scent, but he was long gone by then.
The second incident was not okay. Mostly because I was already pissed off about having lost the wrestling match and having to man handle my dogs away from the area and it could have turned out very badly.
So we get past the two crazy dogs and I can see there’s something up in the road, just lying there. I can tell right away it’s a cat.
Yes, sometimes there will be cats on walks.
So from a safe distance of about three houses away I say, “Hey cat, you might want to move.”
The cat who was lying with its back to me, turned its head, looking over its right shoulder and then turned away. I’m getting the cat equivalent of the finger.
I slow the dogs down and try again, “Hey cat, I have two big dogs here, you may want to move.”
Obviously he lives with dogs because he is confident that his 12 pound self can easily take on two 70+ pound dogs. He again looks over his should and again looks away.
“Hey CAT! Go! GET!”
By now both dogs are interested. “There’s a cat Mama, I see a cat, let go of the leash, I Must. Chase. The. Cat.”
“Leave it!” I say.
I’ve heard they taste like chicken.
Delilah is now at the end of the leash straining to get away. I can’t turn around because we are only five minutes from home and turning around will be too much for Sampson who is also now straining to get to the cat.
Then it dawns on me. This cat is fucking with me.
“Hey Garfield” I say, “I’ve got my hands full here trying to keep these two BIG dogs from making you their breakfast. You can do me a solid if you just get up and walk away.”
That fucking cat is enjoying this. He (I’m calling it a ‘he’ because he’s acting like a dick at this point) turns and once again gives me the cat equivalent of the finger and turns away.
I say, “Enough!” and “Leave it” and “Dirty old cat, probably has fleas anyway.” Okay, I didn’t really say that last bit.
I ask Sampson to sit and he does. Yay for me! Delilah though, Delilah is still thinking this cat will be a tasty appetizer to hold her over until breakfast.
I gently grab her by the back of the neck and tell her again, “Leave it.” Nothing.
I’m frustrated now and I do something very dumb. I lift her face up to mine and tell her, “That’s enough.” I’m well aware how lucky I am that she didn’t bite my face off.
I finally pull out the big guns, the JNC Lamb Lungs and shove one in front of her face.
That worked. And so we made our way home, where I promptly made some coffee and laced it with a healthy dose of whiskey.
How do your dogs do with cats on the walk? How do you handle it?
Word count, I’ve added almost 400 words to my book between Tuesday and yesterday. My total count is now 45, 149 words.
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Mr. N will “leave it” when I tell him to… but it can be hard for him sometimes. Especially now after he got attacked by a cat on our walk several weeks ago. He’ll occasionally pounce at a bush/car/object and cats will come flying out.
You so should have said “Dirty old cat, probably has fleas anyway” out loud. Last night BD walked past a cat without any incident at all, he pulled on the lead a little and showed some interest but no noise and as soon as we had past it he was onto something new and more interesting, I was so proud of him! Mity on the other hand loves all animals and whenever he sees a cat strains on his lead, not because he wants to chase them, but because he wants to say hello. Usually the cats run away, which breaks his little heart, but one day he got luck and this cat got a massive lick on the nose. The look on that cat’s face was priceless!
We stopped going down pussy cat alley which is at the back of us and I kind of like my shoulders in their sockets but then again Mr Stinky made up for it. So know how frustrating it can be. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
We don’t see many cats when walking and usually they hit the road when they see us coming, but even if they don’t, we are pretty good about ignoring them. They love to give people with dogs “the paw”, but we are used to that from home. Cats are just downright dumb and rude in my dog opinion! We have more trouble with squirrels and wabbits not moving over until we are real close. I bet with Bailie and I walking together a lot this summer, Mom’s arms are at least an inch longer! She may need new clothes with longer arms this winter! She gets so pissed just like you do too but treats don’t work with us.
Lmao you had me rolling at why you call the cat a he!!!! My gang will leave cat/cats alone that live in my house. If they are out side they go after them and I have all I can do to stop them. Have a great day.
My three vs cats? Well, since we don’t walk on our road, I don’t have to worry about that aspect; but there are two cats next door…one that basically lives outside in all kinds of weather (like his female predecessor), and one that lives inside. The one inside doesn’t bother the dogs at all. In fact, I doubt they even know it exists. The orange tabby on the other hand…well, let’s just say they like to bark at it, in varying degrees, as it it suns itself in the grass or the little deck at the back door.
By varying degrees, I mean Callie might bark at him once or twice before sniffing out a place to do her business. Shadow will bark a few times just to get Ducky more riled up than she already is, and then she, too, will turn and walk away from the fence. Sometimes I have to tell her “enough, Shadow” first. And then there’s Miss Ducky. Ah, the little demon dog! I believe she just barks at that cat for the fun of aggravating me. Personally, I prefer to consider those neighbors — animals included — as not even existing and, therefore, not worth barking at. But our first “walk” of the morning finds Ducky on her leash so I just gently tug on her leash and walk away from the fence. After a minute or so, she’ll stop barking and find a place to pee. Then it’s back inside for a while.
Great job on the book! I’m proud of you! Keep up the good work!
We rarely if ever see cats on our walks, I think only once or twice. Jack is intensely interested, but will come away from them. I don’t know what Maggie would do…probably ignore it as she does most things that are new.
We were attacked by a tiny territorial cat several years ago and we have never gone that way again. It was completely humiliating to have frothing dogs held by leashes away from the smart alec cat who knew just what he was doing.`
Your word count is going great! Well done!
We come across cats all the time on our walk, but we have not experienced one who will just lay there. They always run as fast as they can when they see me and the huskies. My huskies will then be extremely interested, and try and pull my arm off, but as soon as the cat is out of site, it’s over.
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Treats, treats, and more treats. I’m with you on that. And the earlier the interception, the better of course. Cats. Ugh.
We pretty rarely see cats on our walks. We do see lots of squirrels when we go hiking. I swear they have no regard for their life as they dart in front of my two. Then its an all out battle to hold on for dear life. 50 and 70lbs of lab muscle straining to eat the squirrel! Leave it falls on deaf ears, food means nothing. So I resort to just keep walking and pulling. I swear at those stupid little squirrels, as my friend drags her two (who combined weigh less than one of mine) away as well. Insanity!
Hi Y’all!
I used to leap and holler if I saw another dog or person ahead of me on the trail. My Human kept working with me to sit at heel until they past and I got a firm correction if the people and dogs were walking in front. Of course she rewarded me when I returned to heel or sit at heel.
Eventually I learned to sit at heel on the side away from the dog. Cats the same way. They sometimes race through our yard. I used to try to chase, but my Human used check cords to control me until I learned that too is a no, no…along with chasing geese, egrets, herons, rabbits, fox, deer, squirrels or anything else in our yard or on our walk. “Leave it” and “sit” are two much practiced commands that I obey on or off lead.
As I point out in my post today, treats are payment for all good behaviors. I might be a senior now, but treats are almost always in evidence.
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
That stupid cat is laying in the street. Hope he moves for cars at least…lol.
Luckily Freighter is good when he sees cats, birds, squirrels. He is super strong so he it could be big trouble if he decided to chase.
Last time we saw a cat on a walk, luckily I was the only one that saw it. It didn’t have an attitude like the cat you ran into….I spoke to it and it very politely ran away!
I also saw what I thought was a cat in our lower yard. The dogs were staring at it from the fenced in yard, but not barking. When I got closer I figured out it was a baby fox. It was so cute! The dogs didn’t seem to find it threatening. But when we had a real cat in our driveway a few days ago, Luke carried on barking forever!
Cool! A fox!!! That sounds fun. Cats with attitudes, not so much. I walk Maya and Pierson separately because there is no way I can handle both of them if they see another dog or a cat… or a bunny or a squirrel. Pierson has actually gotten better with his leash reactive behavior. I can usually get him to sit. Maya is still a challenge, though.
Woo hoo! Thank goodness for stinky treats and a well-timed bribe.
Honey actually really likes most cats. One stray in the neighborhood used to accompany us on walks. And when she left us to follow someone else, Honey would look around sadly wondering where she went.
There’s one cat who lives two doors away that incites Honey to bark and chase her off every time. It’s the only time I’ve seen her do it.
This cat is a powerful hunter–killing squirrels, birds, rats, etc. I think Honey smells his blood lust and being a gentle pacifist type, she doesn’t appreciate it.
I’ve been thinking of getting a boat kitten to keep Honey company.
Wow! What an adventure. Barley is usually pretty good about cats on walks. Sometimes she gets really interested in them, but she never does more than stare at it while continuing to trot along. Usually, it just takes a remind that “It’s a kitty! You have one of those at home” and she forgets about it. It’s my parents’ cat when we visit that causes problems for her–she growls and hisses and hides and slinks around–and in the words of Jackson Galaxy, Animal Planet’s Cat Daddy, when you act like prey, you get treated like prey. Soth is perfectly content to slap his sister if Barley upsets him, so she’s not used to cats who won’t stand up to her.