Letters to the animals

Dear Bronx,

Please stop leaving me dead mice presents. I know you love to give gifts but these ones (just like the random turd that one time) really gross me out, especially when you chew them up a bit. You are more than welcome to continue to catch the mice (we all know Jackson's not going to do it...) and leave them for your dad, but let's just make sure he finds them first. Sound good? Good.

Love,
Cara

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Dear Jackson,

It'd be really wonderful if you could figure out a way to cut or file your own nails. We all know that you and hardwoods are an interesting combination since you never have any footing. Buuuut when I'm sleeping and you decide to tap dance around the house just because you're not tired anymore...that's not awesome. Night time is quite time, okay?

Love,
Cara

My dog is disgusting

Let's be real here - animals can be gross.

The other day I received a text while I was at work that read: "So Jackson keeps taking my used, dirty tissues out of the bedroom garbage and shredding them all over the floor. I kept telling him no but he didn't listen so I had to put him in his crate. I feel bad but he just I wasn't listening." Whoopsie. I forgot to mention that Jackson is gross and attracted to snotty tissues. He loves to steal them out of the garbage and then shred the bejeezus out of them around the house. While we're on the subject, he also likes to pull dirty underwear out of the laundry piles and distribute them around the house. I laughed a little (or a lot) after reading the text. It's totally gross but still kind of funny in an I-don't-have-to-deal-with-it kind of way.

But know what's not funny? Dogs snacking on kitty poo.  I'm pretty confident that what I found Jackson trying to eat the other day was indeed a cat turd. Yes, you heard me... A. CAT. TURD. I found him nibbling on something or at least trying to. I immediately grabbed a handful of tissues and threw it away. Here's the thing, Jackson can't get into the room with the litter box because it has a gate in front of it. Which means Bronx must have left a little turdly present somewhere in the house, Jackson probably found it and decided it must be snack time. Barf. 

Like I said before, animals can be gross. Especially mine. 

It's too quiet..

Bronx is so funny sometimes. There are times when all he wants to do is sleep on the couch or in the spare bedroom as far away from any other person or animal in the house. Then there are other times when he stands near you (not too close, let's be serious..) and just cries and meows and cries until you (or I) finally realize that he actually wants some attention (i.e. wants to be pet). 

I'm learning that Bronx's unending cries and meows usually means "I want food" or "I'm allowing you to come near me for a moment". On the other side of that, when I don't hear sounds from Bronx I usually have no idea where he is nor can I normally find him in the house. Many times he blends into the couch or is sleeping under the bed or in the closet - I freak out every time I can't find him. Every time. Even when I know he has to be in the house. When I don't hear sounds from Jackson I usually get concerned that he's gotten into something (like the garbage or the dirty laundry) or up to something in another room but I always know where he is or can find him. 

Jackson and Bronx are managing to live together. Or let me rephrase, Bronx is managing to live with Jackson. On the other hand, I think Jackson sometimes forgets Bronx exists - except for scenarios like this morning when he catches Bronx slurping out of his water bowl and just suspiciously watched Bronx's every move.  

At least they're BOTH weird, right?

Jackson, being a lazy, toy-loving fool.

Bronx, being his creepy self.

Furry kids, showing off their cute and weird.

Man-up, kid!

Just kidding, I would never say that to a kid. My dog? Yes. A kid? No. So why should Jackson "man-up"? He's being bullied by a cat.

You must be thinking? How is a dog (who is bigger in size) being bullied by a cat? Bronx likes to chase after Jackson and karate chop Jackson's backside with his little kitty ninja paws. And what does Jackson do? He runs away...well maybe "runs" isn't the best word. Jackson skids away while trying to get his bearings together and a hold on his footing (dog + hardwoods = scooby doo exits).

It's funny because it seems as if Bronx is trying to live up to his name, trying to pretend that he's this rough-and-tumble kitty from NYC. Except, newsflash - he's not. He's an adorable, snuggly, house kitty from Rochester.

xoxo

Things I've learned about cats... (so far)

Like I said before, I've never owed or taken care of a cat before so I have no real reference point for what life with a cat is like. I'm learning as we go! Here's what I've learned so far (these are all based on Bronx):

1. Cats like to "play" on their own time. And by "play", they mean "grace you with their presence".
2. Dogs play fetch. Cats do not.
3. Dogs make sounds (barking, crying, etc.) to alert you of something. Cats meow for the fun of it. If it means something, I definitely haven't caught onto the pattern yet.
4. Dogs chew on toys (ropes, kongs, bones) for fun. Cats lick plastic bags and attack your feet under the covers for fun.

 

Presents

So we went out of town for the weekend - packed up the car and headed to Brooklyn for a wedding. People with pets know that you can never just "up and leave", accommodations have to be made for the pets - who's watching the dog/cat, who's feeding the fish, etc.

I made arrangements for Jackson to sleepover a friends house (Yes, I do realize we're talking about dogs here..) - a.k.a. stay at one of my bests house with her adorable pooch Ava (Jackson's girlfriend). He got dropped off on our way out of town Friday morning - crate, bowls, dog food, and all. I'm sure he forgot about us as soon as we closed the door. Ava is pretty awesome and they love each other so much that I'm confident he had tons of fun playing and snuggling all weekend.

Bronx on the other hand can stay home by himself so long as someone checks on him. Our landlord lives upstairs and her daughters lo-o-ove him so they don't mind popping in to make sure he has enough food and water and sneak in some playtime.

We got home pretty late Sunday night because we decided to spend the day at the Bronx Zoo. We unloaded the car and came inside to crash. Jackson wasn't getting picked up until Monday so Bronx was the only one inside. He seemed pretty happy to have us back home...I think. He is hard to read. We went through the house turning lights back on and opening windows and just as I was about to put my bag down in the middle room I looked down to see it...a dead mouse. I'm pretty sure my words were "oh good, a dead mouse!" lol. Yes, I am aware that cats bring the mice they catch and leave them as presents. But ya know what? I think I can live without cat presents. Thanks but no thanks, Bronx.


xoxo

dog + cat = ?

This is my dog. His name is Jackson. Things to know about him - he loves to snuggle, he's friendly, he likes other dogs (of all sizes!), he likes to go for walks, hates being in the car, loves vegetables (huh?), is a complete attention whore, is afraid of inanimate objects (i.e. curtains), and he will be your best friend forever if you pet him (no kidding).

 

Jackson is a rescue dog; I got him from a local animal shelter when he was about a year old. Being a rescue dog means that there are a lot of question marks around Jackson - where did he come from? what happened to him? was he abused/neglected/etc.? how did he get to the pound? Sometimes the shelter has answers and sometimes they don't. In Jackson's case - they didn't. All I know is that he was "trapped" somewhere and then brought to the shelter covered in fleas (gross, right?). Don't worry, he's been flea-free for quite some time now and he's been living the high life ever since his cute little snuggleface hopped into my car. Seriously, this kid has it go-o-o-od.

Now some information about me and what the heck I'm going to write about! My name is Cara and I live in western New York (Rochester to be exact!). I work at a nonprofit providing professional development to families and educators using resources from public media (PBS and more!). I am an elementary/reading teacher by training, I love running, beer, random facts, science that makes my head hurt, my family, my friends and obviously, my dog. 

Like I said, I'm a teacher and just like many of the teachers I know, I process things best by reflecting on scenarios, experience, thoughts, etc. (Here's where you get to find out why I'm starting this blog!) I'm currently in the process of merging households (a.k.a. moving in!) with my boyfriend - we're going through everything deciding which furniture will fit, who's this-and-that we're keeping or goodwill-ing, etc. Lots of decision-making! So far, it's been great (knock-on-wood) - very easy and no disasters. However, in addition to merging all of our "stuff", we're also introducing our animals - dog meet cat, cat meet dog. Jackson had never met a cat before this one and Bronx (the cat) had only briefly met another dog - so this is brand new territory for them both. Needless to say there are LOTS of stories about their current interactions and I'm sure there will be many more. Hence, the blog :)

I'm a dog person through and through. My boyfriend is a cat person. I'm actually allergic to cats (thankfully and oddly not this one! Weird?) and he's never had a dog. So the stories that I write about will be our adventure in figuring out life with a cat AND a dog. Should be fun!

Here's hoping you enjoy my dog versus cat ramblings. Some of them are guaranteed to be quite funny! And others? Well, I might need some help sorting through. 

xoxo