I suppose a few Soldiers started their Christmas Day emails and calls to their loved ones with the words, “You never believe what happened while I was on CQ last night.”
I don’t think anyone who starts CQ on Christmas Eve imagined they’d get pulled down the hallway in an office chair by a hard-tugging German Shepherd that night. I bet it really broke up the routine and made for a story they’ll be telling their friends for years to come, though.
I will always be the first to admit that I don’t care very much about the holidays. I don’t subscribe to any particular religion and therefore don’t care much about the religious aspects of the holidays, whether Christmas or Channukah or Kwanzaa or Yule. And since we don’t have children, I don’t really care a whole lot about the secular aspects of the holidays, although I do like looking at the light displays on peoples’ homes and I do exchange cards with friends and loved ones.
Although we don’t celebrate Christmas ourselves, we’ve created our own holiday tradition – bringing a little bit of holiday joy to others. Since 2007, we’ve piled into our car each Christmas Eve with the dogs, dressed for the occasion, as well as an assortment of Christmas gift bags containing cookies and candies, and driven to the military base where we’ve been stationed at the time to bring a little bit of the holiday spirit to those unlucky soldiers who spent their holidays on CQ (charge of quarters) duty.
Ollie and Ronja helped make the gift bags.
Last year, Brian was deployed, so I enlisted the help of my friends Sandra and Jess, with their dogs, German Shepherd Indra and Shiloh Shepherd Max. This year, Brian was home but Sandra’s husband is deployed, so we once again met up with Sandra and, this time, her Shepherd Nala, before heading out to visit the CQ’s.
As always, the dogs and gift bags were a hit. We made our rounds through various brigade headquarters, stopped in to some of the barracks, and even visited the division headquarters and the Provost Marshal’s office. The Soldiers had a blast playing tug with Nala and getting hugs and cuddles from Ronja.
Hugs - Ronja's favorite thing.
Nala enjoyed her game of tug.
More cuddles for Ronja, who climbed right up into his lap.
And more tuggies for Nala, who never tires of this game.
It’s no secret that I have both cats and dogs. I currently have three cats – Finnegan, Ollie, and Ratchet – and one dog, but have had varying numbers of cats and dogs over the years. I’ve even had foster dogs while having cats. Yet people often say and very often genuinely believe that having both cats and dogs in the same household is just not possible.
Very often, dog owners tell me that they would never be able to have a cat in the home because they believe their dog will kill it, and most of those dog owners feel this way because their dogs will lunge after or chase cats outdoors. But that doesn’t necessarily mean their dog would not be fine with a cat inside the home – it just means that dog is acting on his instinct by chasing a small, furry animal that acts like prey outdoors. Cats outdoors – especially stray cats – will bolt at the sight of a dog, which really eggs on a dog’s prey drive. Remember, even though our dogs are domesticated, they have that drive to chase. That’s why so many dogs chase after joggers, bicyclists, cats, squirrels, etc. It’s in their nature. The trait may be more pronounced in some breeds than others – and more in some individuals than others – but they all have it.
However, just because a dog chases cats outside the home doesn’t mean the same dog wouldn’t be fine with cats inside the home if they’re given a chance to acclimatize (under the appropriate supervision) and learn about one another. My cats, for example, have learned from living with dogs that if they do not run away or bolt away suddenly, the dogs will leave them alone. And my dogs have learned that if they do chase after the cat, the cat is more likely to stop and smack them in the muzzle than they are to keep running and acting like scared prey.
I’ve found that, in general, puppies are harder to acclimatize to cats than kittens are to adult dogs. Puppies are curious and explore with their big paws, their big wet noses, and their pointy little puppy teeth – none of which generally pleases cats when they are on the receiving end. Bringing home kittens when you have adult dogs, on the other hand, tends to go quite well – the kittens aren’t afraid of the adult dogs, and most adult dogs accept them into the home without issues.
Of course, as with anything, there are exceptions. There are some dogs that are so driven and prey-oriented, they would require a fair bit of managing around cats before you’d be able to allow both species loose in the same room – and even then, only under supervision. But it has been my experience that those are the exception rather than the rule.
Yet, it’s a good idea that ensure the safety of both species by introducing them slowly, ensuring that your dogs understand the furry meowing creatures are members of the family and not prey, and giving the cats a safe place to go to get away from the dogs. Cat trees that are taller than what the dogs can reach are a good way of doing this. As is gating off a room or using a cat door so that the room is accessible to the cats but not the dogs. And, of course, when the two are first introduced, it needs to be managed and supervised – don’t just open the door and let the new cat (or dog) in to have them “figure it out.”
Here are some cat and dog moments from my home, just to make you go “aww” and have you feel all warm and fuzzy about having cats and dogs living together.
Finn immediately took to Abby when we brought him home.
Maybe a little too much so ...
Obviously, Finn was not intimidated by Ronja when she joined us.
Ollie never met anyone he didn't like. Pictured with Sandra's Yukon who stayed with me last winter.
Occasionally, I catch them all curled up together.
