Today's Cloud

The Kid got a Bengal Cat today! I love cats, and Bengals especially. Unfortunately I'm allergic...

I spent an hour in their house today, thinking I might as well find out right away how bad it's going to be since I haven't been around cats in years and years. It's going to be bad. I didn't feel very much at first, just got a little sniffly towards the end of the visit, but I kept getting worse in the car on the way home. Once home I immediately got out of the clothes I'd worn and left them outside, took all my medicines, and got in the shower. No luck. Four hours later, I have trouble breathing, a pounding headache, everything itches, I feel nauseous (I don't remember nausea as a symptom before, have allergies become modernized?), and I can't lie down since it makes the breathing even harder. This sucks. Plus I'm allergic to dogs(!), dust mites, pollen, and lots of other annoying things too, and now I worry that the cat will make me more sensitive to everything else as well.

And The Kid's so proud and just wants to show off his new friend, but to be honest I feel like I never want to set foot in his house again...
(That's just the self pity talking, Kid, I don't mean it. I think.)

I have the perfect solution! Let me talk to the cat, and I can make all your problems go away!

I know these clouds are supposed to be more about Monster, I'm sorry. But my health affects him too (poor him), not to mention how much he loves The Kid. If we can't see him as much from now on it will be a tragedy for Monster too.

I really wish that cat allergy vaccine was on the market already! Who can wait three more years?!

Today's Sunshine

Monster seems to have wound back down again from yesterday. Unfortunately I can't say it's thanks to anything I've done, or even what was wrong in the first place. But hey, take the wins you can find, right!?

Calm... So calm... You just wait until I've rested!

Today's Cloud

Super high stress today! No idea why. On walks it was impossible to stop him from pulling, in the garden it's been impossible to stop him from running like a maniac, and in the house it's been impossible to stop him from guard barking. What's going on!?

She was getting cocky. Can't make things too easy for her, you know.

And while I was talking to a neighbor across the fence (with Monster beside me barking his head off while standing on his hind legs), Boots came walking by. Again with a borrowed leash aggressive dog (he's "fixing" them, you know) as well as his own two. And as usual with his dogs loose. I used to be impressed with him being able to walk his dogs off leash everywhere, but it's becoming increasingly obvious that the reason he can do it isn't because he has such good control over them, it's because he doesn't care what they do. One of them came racing down to my yard, and up on my porch. The other one came running up to the fence to talk to Monster (which doesn't help with his barrier frustration). Then they both trotted over to the neighbor's garden, and even into their garage. As my severely annoyed neighbor called out to Boots to collect his dogs, they started chasing the neighbor's beloved cat... He just smiled and went on his happy way. The neighbors are livid, and when I checked in with them a while later the cat hadn't yet returned.

Can I chase some cats too?

Walking your dogs off leash isn't a right, it's a privilege! And if your dogs chase cats, why would you ever let them off leash in a cat crazed village where there is more than one cat per household? And in what world is it acceptable to let your dogs do their business in someone else's garden?!

Although, now that I think about it, maybe this was a good thing for us...? Monster may not be small, fluffy and cute, but he's also not running around the village loose.

Today's Sunshine

Tomorrow my mom's flying down to visit, and I haven't cleaned the house. That way, she'll have something else to complain about besides Monster, his scary eyes, and why I even bother having a dog.

I like Grandmom! Others I at least have to bark at, but I only have to  look at her!

Today's Cloud

After a nice long walk today, meeting a couple of dogs, not chasing a few hares, and general awesomeness, things went horribly wrong as we got home. We were rounding a car parked on the side of the road, and as we were passing it two men carrying tools and I don't know what turned up on the other side. Monster stared at them, and fool as I am I nodded to the men and said hello, trying to let them know Monster and I were completely harmless. But since they were polite fellows, they helloed back, which made Monster go nuts. Apparently they were allowed to walk towards us, stare at us, and carry strange large things, but he drew the line at them talking...

What? Ever heard of asking for permission first?

I had to drag him away, which wasn't the best way to end the walk.

And after we'd been home for about half an hour, someone started knocking on the door. And would not stop. I frankly find this quite rude, how about knocking a few times and waiting for a response!? The kind of frantic knocking that goes on until someone opens the door should be reserved for emergencies (which I actually thought it was when he just kept at it). But as I opened the door there's a man who wants to sell his drawings...

Monster had been well behaved at first, he barked once at the first sound, and then went and sat down by the hallway. But as the knocking just kept going on, he (understandably) went nuts again, and started really warning off the intruder. When I opened the door Monster was right behind me, still sounding the alarm (I hadn't taken the time to calm him down and wait for him to sit before I opened, since I thought there must have been an accident or something), and I had to just stick my head out to talk to the man. He immediately backed up off the porch, but still tried to run his spiel. I'm frankly amazed at his tenacity, since he was also clearly afraid of Monster. But that doesn't stop me from still feeling annoyed... It's not his fault I have a dog who's prone to overreact to strangers, but some common courtesy shouldn't be too much to ask. Who likes to have their door knocked on like that? Others may not bark like Monster, but I doubt he gets much sold.

Oh, please. Did you see those drawings? Polite or not, his sales are never going to be good.

Today's Sunshine

After learning some new tricks from our trainer last time, we had some nice experiences today out walking. When given the cue to turn around and ignore the dog he was looking at, Monster actually turned away before me! And he really seemed to appreciate this new method.

If you haven't already checked it out, I really recommend BAT. I couldn't get it to work with Monster without the trainer's help, and regardless of the fact that you're all smarter than I am it may be a good idea to get some help at least initially. I frankly haven't quite got it yet (next trainer appointment is already booked), but Monster seems to read faster than I do...

You do not want to go up against me in an IQ-test!

The Dog Ate My Homework

I have no idea what happened yesterday, I completely forgot to post! No excuses, just general unfocused Monstermomness...

Oh, come on, we've rehearsed this!

Right! I mean, err... Monster ate my keyboard! Yep, that's right, couldn't be helped.