Scaredy cat

Both of my dogs have issues with cats. There are several strays in our neighborhood and when they wander by our fence, there's the loudest commotion in the back yard. Cassie is barking and running circles around the yard. Is she trying to herd the cats? Perhaps. I definitely think her reaction to them is more excitement than anything else.

Greta on the other hand is frightened. She's barking a high-pitched bark. (She never barks period, so you know something's bothering her). She's also peering through the slats of our wooden fence at the cat, while her body is shaking.

There are outside domestic cats that we're now accustomed to passing on our walks. The scene used to be like this: Cassie would thrust forward at the cat, like she wanted to get at it. And Greta would start walking on her tip-toes, shaking, and hiding behind me. We worked for about a week on being able to walk by those houses without Greta and Cassie freaking out, and now they're ok.

Greta has a history of being scared of things; she's pretty sensitive, which you wouldn't guess by looking at her. She had an encounter with a tiny frog in our back yard once. She was barking at it, but wouldn't go anywhere near it. My husband had to get it out of the yard so she would calm down.

She's also afraid of storms and wind. When a storm is coming through and the sky starts to get dark, she barks at the sky, then hides in the crate. Cassie, meanwhile is laying in the yard as the rain pours down.

And when we yell at Greta about something, she jumps and runs the other way, sometimes into her crate to hide. And Cassie challenges us, like she's saying "I'm gonna do what I want!"
I like that Greta is sensitive and Cassie isn't scared of anything. It makes things more interesting around our house with their two very different personalities.

Name game

I was talking to my sister this weekend about how difficult it was to name our dogs. When we adopted Greta there were two days between signing the papers and bringing her home. So we had time to think about it, but it was a really difficult decision. We Googled "German female names" because boxers originated in Germany. I don't remember what other choices we had, but Greta felt good to us.

Cassie was a little more difficult to name. Border Collies have an English or Scottish origin, so we Googled Scottish and English names. I remember liking the name Casey, but my husband didn't. He felt like it could be a boy or girl name. So we altered it to make Cassie.

Nicknames have been fun to come up with for the two of them though. Cassie has several, the most common one is "Frassie." One day one of us called her "Cassafras," and somehow that translated into Frassie. We call her that just as often as her real name and she answers to it.

For the longest time while Cassie was still a puppy she was lovingly called "little dog" and Greta was "big dog." We've had to alter that now that Cassie's not so little anywhere; she's now "fat dog." And when she's in trouble we call her "Cassandra."

And my husband comes up with great nicknames for the pair of them: Siskel and Ebert, Abbot and Costello, Hansel and Gretel.

Staying warm and dry

I've never been a fan of dressing up my dogs. One time I took Greta to a groomer for a bath and she came back to me with a purple bandana around her neck. The second we got home, the bandana came off. We don't have fancy collars either.

Last winter we were at Old Navy and they had a lot of dog products for sale. Bowls, collars, and coats. The coats caught my eye and we decided Greta could probably use something to keep her warm in the winter since her natural coat is so thin. So Greta has a stylin' coat she can wear when we take walks on really cold or rainy days.

We didn't bother with one for Cassie since she has so much hair to start off with. It keeps her nice and toasty during the colder months. But on rainy walking days, she is soaked while Greta is dry as a bone. So I ordered Cassie a raincoat last week. A nice red, thin coat just to keep her from looking like a wet mop.

The raincoat came in the mail on Friday and we tried it on her. She didn't like it too much, but I think it'll do the trick.

Mmmmm....green beans

Cassie is fat. We've known it for about a year now. Last winter when her winter coat came in, she also gained quite a few pounds. Then when she shed her coat in the spring, it was very noticeable that she was chubby.

We weren't too concerned until recently when she was weighed at the vet and weighed 58 pounds, two less than Greta. She's a border collie and female border collie's, I've read, should weigh around 40 pounds.

So she's on a green bean diet: we substitute green beans for some of the regular dog food. And our exercise has increased: we're running instead of walking.

But her heftiness makes us wonder what other breed of dog she is mixed with. It has to be something with a larger and thicker body than a border collie. In my Google searches, my best guess is maybe an Australian Shepherd, but who knows.

Who's Walking Who?

I've never blogged before, but this topic has been on my mind for quite some time. My husband and I have had Greta for almost two years now and Cassie for about a year and a half. When we first adopted Greta she was a terrible walker. I walked every day with her and she pulled me around our neighborhood like I was the dog. Understand that she's 60 pounds of pure muscle.

After a few months of that I decided I'd had enough and really started to work with her. I used a shorter leash and we got a choke chain so that when she did pull, I'd give her a quick tug and she actually responded and slowed down. And the miracle of all miracles, it all worked. I think that once I started to take control of the situation she understood her role.

We adopted Cassie six months after Greta and Cassie fell right in line. She's a fantastic walker. We've never had problems with her.

So understand my frustration when I'm walking my two girls in my neighborhood, right by my side, and people walk by and say with a chuckle, "Are you walking them or are they walking you?"

Now if these kind folks would actually pay attention, they would note that I'M walking my dogs. I suppose they are just trying to be cute, or funny, or whatever. But it insults me and the hard work I've put into the walk.

So here are my suggestions for more appropriate things to say to people walking their dogs:
- "You have some lovely dogs."
- "What breed are your dogs?"
- "Are they male or female?"
- If you're a dog owner yourself and you see someone doing well on the walk, compliment them. I love it when someone tells me how well my girls walk.
- And I'll steal this from a little boy down the road: "I like your dogs!"