The Swat Heard 'Round the World

The relationship between Pepper the Cat and Daisy the Dog has gone a bit south. Now, they are not drawing blood and I'm not sure Daisy realizes it, but Pepper has had just about Enough! from this silly little dog.

Pepper has always been a fairly solitary cat. She was Alan's only pet for years and enjoyed a mostly quiet, cat-friendly existence. When Al started the renovation on the beach house he intended to leave Pepper at the site. I thought, seeing that Al was spending all his leisure time at my house in the evening, that it would be better to move Pepper to my place. Pepper was not too happy about this arrangement as I still had Buster and Buffy as well as Lopey the Bulldog. We kept the dogs in the yard and house all day with Pepper confined to the bedroom for the most part. She had free reign of the house all night but mostly stayed on the bed with us. Since out return to the beach house, she has once again been on her own in the house. We have a heated "garage" that is really an office, gym, woodworking shop and dog kennel. It's as big as some folks' houses so it is ideal for the dogs to crate up in at night (During the day they had outdoor kennels and the yard to exercise).

Then came Daisy.

Now, Daisy is an indoor dog to the Nth power. She is small, delicate and gets chilled fairly easily. There is no way she could ever be a "kennel dog." I may eventually turn her out to Buffy's pen (equipped with a Warning: Police Work Dog sign attached) but that will be only in really nice weather. And probably for only a few minutes. Thus, Daisy is thoroughly an Indoor Dog.

When I brought her home, I told everyone, "The dog does not go upstairs until she is potty trained." I also thought to myself that this would give Pepper some dog-free space and time to adjust before Little Miss Daisy would rampage through the upstairs. As you know, Faithful Reader, Daisy was brought up into bed and under the covers on her first night by yours truly, Hardcore Dog Trainer. We now let her run about upstairs too as it is carpeted and her little Grinchy feet are so tiny and delicate we worry that they are sore from playing on the tile and hardwood on the main level of the house. (Could we be any more sissy-fied?)

Pepper, while patient, is becoming less and less keen on this arrangement. Daisy is now pouncing at and on Pepper both up and downstairs. The dog is officially chasing the cat. While Pepper has not yet made contact she has made it very clear (to us at least) that she can and will scratch the crap outta that dog if it continues to push her. Daisy certainly means no harm and just wants to play, but there is a communication breakdown that is typically normal between cats and dogs.

Dogs and cats mainly use posturing and body language to communicate (I personally think cats also use extrasensory abilities to manipulate their human keeper/slaves, but that is for another posting). Again, I must reference Stanly Coren's How to Speak Dog as an indispensable "translation" resource from Dogese to Human language (I'm not entering the "do animals have language debate" here; just trying to keep it simple with use of the contentious word "language"). However, Catese is completely converse to Dogese.

Let's start simply: with a bit of noise. Consider this, what does it mean when dog growls? A growl expresses anger, fear and rage. Mainly negative and aggressive feelings. What does a cat do that sounds like a growl (besides a growl, which they do do)? That's right, Faithful Reader! They purr. Typically cats purr when they are contented and comfortable (note: there is evidence that cats may purr during times of stress in an effort to comfort themselves, but again, let's keep this simple). Imagine your dear, sweet cat having a lovely nap on the couch, purring away and your dog walks by. The purr may well be interpreted as an aggressive, offensive act and BAM! It's on and dogs and cats no longer live in harmony.

My favorite aspect of the contrary qualities of Dogese and Catese is the Play Bow posture. When a dog commits a Play Bow it serves to indicate to another dog that any following behaviors are not to be taken seriously. Wrestling, biting and general rough-housing usually follows and typically does not end in a full on battle royale because the Play Bow serves as a disclaimer for any too rough actions. Cat's will do a Fear Arc when stressed. This is the typical Halloween cat position, back arched and fur bristled. Unfortunately, dogs interpret this as an invitation to play. Misunderstanding ensue and I am reminded of the story my Russian Language professor told us about the missionary at the Russian border who mis-spoke the word sumka (suitcase) as suka (THE C-word) to a lovely, zoftig Russian matron who proceeded to detain the Reverend as well as his sumka.

Pawing too is a contention for dogs and cats. Dogs will paw enthusiastically as an indication of play and as an attention getting behavior. Cats, being far more delicate in the initiative stages of play and tend to be more subtle in their demands for attention. So pawing, too, results in misunderstandings and bitch-slapping (pardon the pun; I couldn't help myself).

A final discrepancy discussed here is Tail Wagging. Tail Wagging for dogs should always be considered a reflection on the dog's heart rate and level of excitement. The carriage of the tail indicates the level of confidence. A low carriage shows a lack of confidence; a tail held high is high confidence. Just to be sure, dogs will wag their tail when threatened and it is my experience that most protection trained dogs will wag furiously when taking the (bite) sleeve. Joe and I stressed this in our Mail Carrier Safety Seminars. Cats wave their tails high and quickly as a warning. It usually means, "I'm pretty pissed off. Back up, M-F'er, before I scratch your eyes out." Dogs sometimes think this is an invitation to play.

As much as I love dogs, they can be a bit dense when it comes to cat relations. The cat, as a creature, is fairly self-assured and contained. As solitary animals, they really don't need any interference from us bumbling humans and it is, in my opinion, that they will condescend to our Renquist-like (spelling? it is early after all) servitude if we human so choose to serve them and share their homes which we provide. Dogs, on the other hand, need a solid hierarchy to exist successfully. The solitary dog is not safe and they must lead or be led. Specific jobs are allotted to specific roles in the dog pack and everydog must work at his or her position. Collective success (and thus, indiviual survival) is dependant on good leadership and contribution from all pack members.

Cats could care less about the collective success of the community. I've read unfortunate stories about cat owners who have died while alone in the house with cats and have had bites taken out of their remains. Gross but true. (I wouldn't put it past as dog to do the same but he or she would have to be really, really hungry!). Cats are true believers, no, advocates of survival of the fittest. And they couldn't give a flying squirrel about any other critter, feline or non-feline.

Thus, it is not only language difficulties that plague the communications between these two creatures but cultural differences as well. Unfortunately, there is little us humans can do to mediate the above differences. Our best bet is ride out the storm and let the dog take its hits. Which will happen often as, again, they can be quite dense. As for our Daisy, she is just not getting that Pepper DOES NOT want to play. Pepper has growled, Fear Arc-ed, pawed without contact and Tailwagged to no avail. In my opinion, she has been fairly patient, but Daisy will be getting a whack sooner than later.

I'm just hoping it won't be The Swat Heard 'Round the World. I'll keep you all posted!