Pepper (the dog) [Sorta OT]

Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste of
protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have the
audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she has
missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings' (that bit
is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the other two cats.
Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper. Pickle is Not Amused
by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper across the nose if she gets
out of hand, but will at least engage in a round of the
lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've taken
up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have lost 10kg -
22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper just for
company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular collar 'around
the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I used that collar
to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the faithful Fluffy who
would come back, and come back most contrite, if we yelled for her to come,
Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling my damn fool head off,
smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction. (She's the same with a ball.
She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a rolling ball, but instead of
catching in and coming back, she just keeps going and going as fast as her
little legs will take her. We think she must have greyhound in her
somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and escaping, I use one of the cat's
multi-point harnesses that just about fits her (the chest strap is quite
snug, and the neck strap loose, but she can't - easily - escape). And as
soon as I put the harness on,s he immediately sinks to the ground, and
skulks around, just like a cat.

However, just like a cat, as soon as I open the fron't door, she darts out
like there's no tomorrow. I just run after her to keep up - and thats how I
take the dog for a walk!

Yowie

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste
of protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have
the audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she
has missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings' (that
bit is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the other two
cats. Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper. Pickle is
Not Amused by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper across the nose
if she gets out of hand, but will at least engage in a round of the
lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've
taken up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have
lost 10kg - 22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper
just for company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular
collar 'around the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I
used that collar to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the
faithful Fluffy who would come back, and come back most contrite, if we
yelled for her to come, Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling
my damn fool head off, smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction.
(She's the same with a ball. She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a
rolling ball, but instead of catching in and coming back, she just keeps
going and going as fast as her little legs will take her. We think she
must have greyhound in her somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and
escaping, I use one of the cat's multi-point harnesses that just about
fits her (the chest strap is quite snug, and the neck strap loose, but she
can't - easily - escape). And as soon as I put the harness on,s he
immediately sinks to the ground, and skulks around, just like a cat.

However, just like a cat, as soon as I open the fron't door, she darts out
like there's no tomorrow. I just run after her to keep up - and thats how
I take the dog for a walk!

Yowie

LOL! She sounds like quite a character/

Joy

On 8/15/2011 7:01 PM, Yowie wrote:
Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste of
protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have the
audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she has
missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings' (that bit
is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the other two cats.
Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper. Pickle is Not Amused
by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper across the nose if she gets
out of hand, but will at least engage in a round of the
lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've taken
up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have lost 10kg -
22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper just for
company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular collar 'around
the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I used that collar
to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the faithful Fluffy who
would come back, and come back most contrite, if we yelled for her to come,
Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling my damn fool head off,
smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction. (She's the same with a ball.
She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a rolling ball, but instead of
catching in and coming back, she just keeps going and going as fast as her
little legs will take her. We think she must have greyhound in her
somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and escaping, I use one of the cat's
multi-point harnesses that just about fits her (the chest strap is quite
snug, and the neck strap loose, but she can't - easily - escape). And as
soon as I put the harness on,s he immediately sinks to the ground, and
skulks around, just like a cat.

However, just like a cat, as soon as I open the fron't door, she darts out
like there's no tomorrow. I just run after her to keep up - and thats how I
take the dog for a walk!

Yowie



First, thanks for the laugh, it was badly needed and much appreciated.
Second *CONGRATULATIONS* on the weight loss and exercise routine. I
know how very, very difficult it is to try to change your lifestyle to a
healthy one whilst the whole world seems to be pushing sugar and
couch-potato activities down your throat! It's very good of you to do
so for the Yowlet, not only to set a good example, but so he'll have his
mum around to love him for a long, long time.

Third, have you ever seen the program "It's Me Or The Dog"? It
originated in England, but I think Victoria moved it to the US a year or
two ago. It's weird, I haven't owned a d*g since I was a child, but I
was/am absolutely addicted to that program. I love it when a totally
out-of-control pooch will *instantly* calm down and obey her to the
stunned surprise of his/her owners. I also like the fact that she is a
proponent of positive reinforcement. I've trained *cats* that way! For
instance...

Archer is a love bug and adores being petted - he never gets tired of
it. The problem was he wanted to strut back and forth in front of me,
both making me move and reach, which sometimes hurts me, and he would
often block my view of the TV. So I started saying, in a calm, positive
voice, "lay down, lay down, lay down" and, at first, pushing him gently
into a laying position. When he was laying down I used and excited,
high-pitched voice to praise him, "*GOOD BOY*, Archer, he mommy say *LAY
DOWN* and he *LAY DOWN* and he get the good skritchins" - yes, bad
grammar and all, but really stressing the words "lay down", and saying
it over and over and over again. It took a while (most d*gs get the
idea after 5 or 10 minutes, it takes a cat 5 or 10 days! ;). Now, if
he starts to strut I just have to say "lay down" and he immediately lays
down to be petted. I still give him the verbal responses to reinforce
it constantly. But most of the times I don't even have to say "lay
down" for him to lay down for good skritchins.

Bandit was well trained to a *LOT* of words, but she was a really smart
cat. Heck, I even used it on my children when they were growing up. I
found that it works on anybody - human nature being what it is we will
always repeat actions that result in pleasure.

Anyway, now I'm rambling.... sorry! ;

--
Hugs,

CatNipped
See all our masters at: http://www.PossiblePlaces.com/CatNipped

See the RPCA FAQ site, created by "Yowie", maintained by Mark Edwards, at:
http://www.professional-geek.net/rpcablog/

Email: L(dot)T(dot)Crews(at)comcast(dot)net

On Tue, 16 Aug 2011 10:01:59 +1000, "Yowie"
wrote:

Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste of
protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have the
audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she has
missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings' (that bit
is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the other two cats.
Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper. Pickle is Not Amused
by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper across the nose if she gets
out of hand, but will at least engage in a round of the
lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've taken
up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have lost 10kg -
22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper just for
company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular collar 'around
the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I used that collar
to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the faithful Fluffy who
would come back, and come back most contrite, if we yelled for her to come,
Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling my damn fool head off,
smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction. (She's the same with a ball.
She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a rolling ball, but instead of
catching in and coming back, she just keeps going and going as fast as her
little legs will take her. We think she must have greyhound in her
somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and escaping, I use one of the cat's
multi-point harnesses that just about fits her (the chest strap is quite
snug, and the neck strap loose, but she can't - easily - escape). And as
soon as I put the harness on,s he immediately sinks to the ground, and
skulks around, just like a cat.

However, just like a cat, as soon as I open the fron't door, she darts out
like there's no tomorrow. I just run after her to keep up - and thats how I
take the dog for a walk!

Yowie


That is one very strange dog. Maybe it was one of those situations
where she was raised by a mother cat?

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste
of protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have
the audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she
has missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings' (that
bit is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the other two
cats. Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper. Pickle is
Not Amused by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper across the nose
if she gets out of hand, but will at least engage in a round of the
lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've
taken up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have
lost 10kg - 22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper
just for company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular
collar 'around the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I
used that collar to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the
faithful Fluffy who would come back, and come back most contrite, if we
yelled for her to come, Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling
my damn fool head off, smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction.
(She's the same with a ball. She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a
rolling ball, but instead of catching in and coming back, she just keeps
going and going as fast as her little legs will take her. We think she
must have greyhound in her somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and
escaping, I use one of the cat's multi-point harnesses that just about
fits her (the chest strap is quite snug, and the neck strap loose, but she
can't - easily - escape). And as soon as I put the harness on,s he
immediately sinks to the ground, and skulks around, just like a cat.

However, just like a cat, as soon as I open the fron't door, she darts out
like there's no tomorrow. I just run after her to keep up - and thats how
I take the dog for a walk!

I am horrified by this- have you ever tried to train her, or just let her
become a hooligan with no guidance at all?
It is not funny.

Tweed

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Yowie" wrote in message
...
Well, OT in thats its about a dog rather than a cat. Not OT because its
abotu an honourary cat, Pepper.

Pepper is a cat. She's a really ugly cat, but she is behaves in many ways
more like a cat than say, Suki, who is mostly a very pretty looking waste
of protoplasm.

Pepper gets the zoomies Every. Single. Night. Pepper insists on sleeping
behind my knees. Under the blankets. And gently nipping at me if I have
the audacity to try to move. Pepper likes using the litterbox. Alas, she
has missed the fact that its for 'outgoings' rather than 'incomings'
(that bit is gross, sorry). And she desperately wants to play with the
other two cats. Suki has no idea what she's supposed to do with Pepper.
Pickle is Not Amused by the cat-imitator and is happy to bop Pepper
across the nose if she gets out of hand, but will at least engage in a
round of the lounge-room-floor-is-lava zoomies before doing so.

But the funniest thing is trying to take Pepper for a walk. Since I've
taken up walking as the exercise I do in my non-cycling days (and have
lost 10kg - 22lb so far) and no-one else wants to join me, I take Pepper
just for company. Except that she's a cat. Whilst she wears a regular
collar 'around the house' its quickly obvious she can out-do Houdini if I
used that collar to put a leash on. She's gone in a snap, and unlike the
faithful Fluffy who would come back, and come back most contrite, if we
yelled for her to come, Pepper will happily look at me whilst I'm yelling
my damn fool head off, smirk, and trot off in the opposite direction.
(She's the same with a ball. She'll go like a bat-out-of-hell after a
rolling ball, but instead of catching in and coming back, she just keeps
going and going as fast as her little legs will take her. We think she
must have greyhound in her somewhere!). So, to stop her squirming and
escaping, I use one of the cat's multi-point harnesses that just about
fits her (the chest strap is quite snug, and the neck strap loose, but
she can't - easily - escape). And as soon as I put the harness on,s he
immediately sinks to the ground, and skulks around, just like a cat.

This reminds me of an OT story about my grandmother's dog, sort of.

Fluffy was a little ball of fire, except when you put a harness on her.
Immediately she would droop - ears, tail and legs. She would walk with the
harness on, but she became very subdued.

My Dad liked to play games with words. He said that if "did" is the past
tense of "do", then the past tense of "subdue" must be "subdid". The whole
family picked up on that, and it became an in-joke in our family. We also
thought Fluffy's behavior was funny, so we told a lot of people about it.

One day a friend who was an English teacher came to visit. During the
conversation, my mother started telling her about Fluffy and the harness. I
watched interestedly, wondering if she would say "subdid". No fear. She
obviously remembered she was speaking to an English teacher, so she
corrected the grammar as she said, "Whenever we put the harness on her, she
is very subdone."

Joy

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
watched interestedly, wondering if she would say "subdid". No fear. She
obviously remembered she was speaking to an English teacher, so she
corrected the grammar as she said, "Whenever we put the harness on her,
she is very subdone."

there is no such word.

Joy

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
watched interestedly, wondering if she would say "subdid". No fear.
She
obviously remembered she was speaking to an English teacher, so she
corrected the grammar as she said, "Whenever we put the harness on her,
she is very subdone."

there is no such word.

Joy

That's the joke. Mama thought she was correcting the grammar of the
sentence, but she actually substituted one nonexistent word for another.
Most people find that funny. I had to work to keep from laughing, and the
English teacher probably did too, although she didn't know the reason for
Mama's word choice.

Joy

"Joy" wrote in message
...
"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Joy" wrote in message
. ..
watched interestedly, wondering if she would say "subdid". No fear.
She
obviously remembered she was speaking to an English teacher, so she
corrected the grammar as she said, "Whenever we put the harness on her,
she is very subdone."

there is no such word.

Joy

That's the joke. Mama thought she was correcting the grammar of the
sentence, but she actually substituted one nonexistent word for another.
Most people find that funny. I had to work to keep from laughing, and the
English teacher probably did too, although she didn't know the reason for
Mama's word choice.

Sorry, I sometimes take things very literally.

Tweed