THE sun was making a rare appearance when I sat down to enjoy an afternoon cup of Java.
Its rays splattered my living room, warming the leather of my sofa, and just as I plunked my tush on the cushions I looked up to notice the artwork on the windows. When the sun is not shining I don't get to see the wonderful streaks, smears and snort marks on the window from my four-legged Picassos. But thanks to mother nature and some free time I was blessed with my dogs inherent budding creative talents.
"What," I thought to myself, "would cause my dogs to spend so much time with their noses pressed so close to the glass?" No sooner did I ask myself that question when it was answered in the form of a very large, black and white cat. This rotund feline perched on the railing on my deck and began sunbathing as if it not only owned my deck but the sun itself!
My dogs were not oblivious to this invasion. They seemed to know this creature was making its way to this venue long before I noticed its presence as they awoke from their slumber with ears perked.
As soon as said feline looked at my dogs looking back at it, it simply rolled over on its back to bath its tummy. This of course sent my dogs into a barking frenzy, and that is when I noticed their artistic talents emerge.
As I sat there with eyes squinting as a sign of displeasure at my dogs' outburst, I thought of my options. I so desperately wanted to let my dogs out the back door to chase this freeloader off of my deck, but this would only reinforce the barking and frantic behaviour at the sight of the cat.
I also had very valid concerns for the cat's safety.
Both Piper and Zumi have this teamwork system worked out between them that I have witnessed with unsuspecting squirrels. Piper makes a headon approach at full speed. This scares the bejeezuz out of the critter, sending it frantically running in any direction.
Zumi instinctively knows which direction the prey will run and begins herding it in the direction of the farthest corner of the yard.
This gives Piper enough time to gather up his enormous speed and cut the critter off at the pass. At this point the prey is so scattered it makes a drastically incorrect decision to turn around and bingo.Zumi is waiting.
Funny thing about squirrels though, is they can jump a good six feet straight up in the air, often confounding Zumi's attack. I wasn't so sure this very fat cat could run, never mind jump to save its life.
My next option was to go and "Shoo!" the cat away Well, when I went out onto the deck it rolled over once again and began to purr upon my approach. "Darn it,' I thought 'it's a nice cat too!"
Looking over my shoulder into the living room window I can see both Piper and Zumi with their noses pressed against the glass looking at me in total disbelief as if they were saying. . "It's right there! Aren't you going to eat it?"
I gathered up the barrel of a cat (there's no way this thing could have outrun my dogs) and plunked him on the other side of the fence into the neighbours yard.
When I came back into the house I swear I heard my dogs voices whispering, "Traitor, traitor." But they both went back to their job of keeping the sun - pouring through the French doors - company. I did my job as pack leader and chased the intruder away and the dogs' bad behaviour went unrewarded.
