Five Things You Learn With Having a Dog Inside the House

My niece got herself a little dog recently. I’m not really that fond of dogs; they’re high maintenance creatures and take quite a bit of patience to train. Unlike cats, who you don’t really train. You just adapt to them, and everybody’s happy.

Cats Master Race. All Your Gigs are Belong to Me.

But this dog – a (currently) three-month old Jack Russell terrier – is something else. She’s a really friendly dog, and aside from all the pooping and the barking and the yapping and the peeing, she’s quite the charmer. Now if only we could find a way to get past the chewing.

But here are some of the things I’ve learned about having a cat and a dog in the same house:

1. Cats master race—the dog is scared to death of the cat. I thought for a short while there that we were going for a friendly cat and dog relationship. Nope. The dog did something (I have no idea what), and the cat found it annoying. All it took was one swift bat with the left paw, and the dog now cowers in fear of Zardos.

2. Dogs in the teething stage suck—the little dog is obviously in the teething stage of its development. It goes around to chew on everything—legs, pantlegs, slippers, plants, name it and it’s probably sunk its teeth into it. The funny thing is that being three months old, it can’t really do that much damage. So basically, the little girl’s just practicing her snout. And my batting hand.

3. I remember now why I dislike dogs so much—Land mines. Keep the dog inside the house at night, and you’ve got land mines all over the place. Keep the dog outside, and the plants suffer, along with land mines. Keep her caged, and you’re going to feel like a terrible human being. Either way, you just can’t win.

4. Dogs rubbing their heads against you—is nothing like a cat rubbing its head against you. Dogs drool a lot, and they’re clumsy! Cats, on the other hand, have mastered the art of head-butting and head-rubbing, and do so with plenty of style.

5. Despite everything written here, I find that I am slowly falling in love with the dog—I tried to stay distant, but once you run around with a dog, you’re up for a lot of fun. Everybody’s fallen for her clumsy, slack-jawed charm, and she’s a funny respite from the (mostly asleep) countenance of Zardos.

And there you have it. The five things I’ve learned with having dogs inside the house. I probably will learn more as I go along (including the best way to keep her from depositing gifts all over the house), and I will probably eventually end up loving her despite her shortcomings. Which I will slowly come to accept much like a cat does its owner’s doting.