HI James,
On Sun 2038-Dec-12 15:15, James Bradley (1:342/77) wrote to Richard Webb:
RW> NOt being a cat person I'm not that familiar with their
RW> behavior patterns, but two things have to happen. Get rid
RW> of the smelll which is the trigger, then deny them the area
RW> when you're not there. removing the trigger should
RW> suffice, but just in case, deny them the area when one's
RW> not home as well.
JB> Not being a cat person either - it still didn't prevent me from
JB> adopting one from dad's estate.
I'm glad I"ve never really had to do that. Cats and
blindness are in some ways incompatible, unless you wish to
deny the cat traits which are hard wired into it for its
survival, which I'm not willing to do. HEnce I don't have a cat. I've lived
places where a housemate had a cat, and the feline and I coexisted a bit
uneasily, but for my own part
I've not had a cat for those reasons. I'm unwilling to
declaw one, those claws are a natural survival tool, as its
ability to move silently. The second is anatehma to a blind man.
RW> I have to laugh at people that say "... doesn't get up on
RW> the couch." YEah right, soon as you're not around fido's
RW> on the couch snoozing away. HE hears your car pull up, off
RW> the couch he comes, because the unpleasant part is you
RW> catching
RW> him on the couch. OTherwise the couch is just as comfy as
RW> it ever was. One reason I don't deny my dogs the
RW> furniture. IT's an exercise in pointless #1, and I have
JB> Well trained/conditioned. If the pet misses the sound of the engine
JB> pulling up, the familiar jingle of the keys in the lock give them
JB> the definitive clue to get off the furniture. All is well in
JB> Fido-land.
YEp, and the unpleasant part becomes your arrival if caught, which isn't what
you're going for.
RW> dogs. IF you
RW> choose to enter my home you know i have a dog at the
RW> moment. IF that offends the nondog person then he/she doesn't need
RW> to enter. My mother complains about the fact I have a dog,
RW> because she's allergic. When I saw this little bit in
RW> funny I posted it to her in email.
JB> I told a new mom that every parent should be required to own a dog
JB> first. Her defensive nature was to dismiss anything that came out
JB> of my mouth, but I stand by it. If you can't provide the
JB> necessities of life to an animal, and learn how to coexist with any
JB> modicum of harmony and decorum, a "baby license" should not be
JB> issued.
YOu sound like me bro. I've maintained that there ought to
be parent licenses issued before you can breed for years.
By my own standards I wouldn't have received one .
At the time I was parenting the music was #1, and all other
numbers in single or double digits.
JB> I could buy a new pillow-top for about $200 Canadian, but that
JB> ...
JB> I think somebody gave us one after Katrina. Before
RW> that I inherited a king size, preacher and his wife got a
RW> new water bed setup and we got their old king. That was
RW> fun getting up and down a flight of stairs.
JB> Tossed my $75 King into the BR window. (The hall is filled with
JB> boxed hardwood flooring for at least another year by the looks of
JB> things.) Good thing I didn't need a box spring of the same size, or
JB> I would have needed to use a saw to *make* it fit. I've seen a lot
JB> of king mattresses rest on two smaller box-springs, so that would
JB> have been the way to go.
THat's the way this one was set up, two queen size box
springs under it. Eventually to make it easier for Kathy to get in and out of
it I went to home depot, got some cement
blocks Iirc 12 of them so that both sets of box springs were well supported,
gave her enough height on the bed to get in
and out of it easier. NOw we've a queen size, and it rests
on cement blocks as well.
RW> I'd also suggest that Matt get some books on canine behavior from his
RW> friendly local library. From some of the questions he's
JB> Oh, I would even encourage him to entertain the grumpy librarian,
JB> and travel some distance if need be.
.
RW> asked in this echo over the last year or so I'm
RW> gathering that he's not acquired a lifelong familiarity
JB> It takes time, edumucation, instincts, flexibility, understanding...
INdeed it does, especially the latter part. ONe has to
remember that canines are indeed social animals, they're
pack animals by nature, it's hardwired in. ONe has to
assert pack leadership status or the canine will assert it.
After all, somebody *must* lead the pack.
JB> My first and only dog was a Spaniel-Terrier (suspected... His dad
JB> was a fence jumper.) As such, he was greedy with food, and *loved*
JB> his independence. Since his passing, I learned a new trick to
JB> abscond his food without him batting an eyelash, but I was
JB> marginally successful with getting him to come when called. What a
JB> *load* of work that was! The Barbara Woodhouse method was little
JB> use, but it was the only readily available resource to me at the
JB> time.
YEah can be an adventure. Schotze comes when I call her.
FOr the most part she's rather well behaved.
JB> It must have been a PBS special that taught me to play a hide and
JB> seek trick on him when he was too busy chasing cow-patties. That
JB> turned his attitude after only a few episodes, but I had to remind
JB> him often and adapt to his stubborn nature.
INdeed, I can see that in those. Rotties are a bit stubborn too .
JB> When you mentioned Ceasar, my notion went towards Rome.
JB> What little I've seen his TV show, was intriguing! What a great
JB> source to understand a dog's behavior. A pet owner should not
JB> however ignore other sources.
INdeed, I wish I could recall some of the other good ones
I've seen over the years, I'd offer Matt title author and
isbn, but I can't at the moment.
Regards,
Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+
* Origin: (1:116/901)
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