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lagilmanAnd so today the CatofSize went to the vet.
No humans or felines were harmed in the process, although a great deal of fur went flying and eardrums may have been stressed (for a large macho cat, Boomer has a wee high piercing voice when he's unhappy).
But overall he is in excellent shape, and has in fact lost 2 pounds since his last checkup, which brings him to exactly 20 pounds. Which is a lot, yeah, but please remember this is the cat that stretches 3 feet long, toes to nose. He's a Big'Un. Or, as we call him around Ch. Felidae: "the puma-wannabe." Also, he was sweet and well-tempered, and other than shedding and protesting did not resist any of the indignities inflicted upon him. Pandora, next week... she's not so sweet (I know, this will SHOCK anyone who has met the Duchess)
While waiting for them to settle up his bill, however, it was driven home to me that should I chose a third career (or would it be 4th by now?), "dog trainer" should be an option. There was delightful if rather over-friendly chocolate Labraoodle in the waiting room who was making like a TSA agent and getting his nose into everyone's junk, much to his owner's dismay (the dog was as tall in the shoulder as a pony, and strongly-muscled, and even the mid-aged male owner was having trouble keeping up with him). The dog came up to me and demanded petting, which I gave him, but when he got too overeager I lifted my hand, palm up, and said "sit down, Sammy."
And he sat. And waited. And when another dog barked at him and he started to get up to respond I pressed my hand palm-down again in the "stay" command, and he did.
His owner was quite astonished (as he had been trying to get Sammy to sit, to no avail, for a while by then). Apparently Sammy had -not- been trained to hand signals. I suspect his owner will pick them up, now. But the use of what I call "author-training" voice is something he's going to have to work on. Pleading with dogs gets nowhere.
But really, Labradoodles? SUCH a good idea. It's almost enough to make you forgive some of the more unfortunate cross-breeds...
No humans or felines were harmed in the process, although a great deal of fur went flying and eardrums may have been stressed (for a large macho cat, Boomer has a wee high piercing voice when he's unhappy).
But overall he is in excellent shape, and has in fact lost 2 pounds since his last checkup, which brings him to exactly 20 pounds. Which is a lot, yeah, but please remember this is the cat that stretches 3 feet long, toes to nose. He's a Big'Un. Or, as we call him around Ch. Felidae: "the puma-wannabe." Also, he was sweet and well-tempered, and other than shedding and protesting did not resist any of the indignities inflicted upon him. Pandora, next week... she's not so sweet (I know, this will SHOCK anyone who has met the Duchess)
While waiting for them to settle up his bill, however, it was driven home to me that should I chose a third career (or would it be 4th by now?), "dog trainer" should be an option. There was delightful if rather over-friendly chocolate Labraoodle in the waiting room who was making like a TSA agent and getting his nose into everyone's junk, much to his owner's dismay (the dog was as tall in the shoulder as a pony, and strongly-muscled, and even the mid-aged male owner was having trouble keeping up with him). The dog came up to me and demanded petting, which I gave him, but when he got too overeager I lifted my hand, palm up, and said "sit down, Sammy."
And he sat. And waited. And when another dog barked at him and he started to get up to respond I pressed my hand palm-down again in the "stay" command, and he did.
His owner was quite astonished (as he had been trying to get Sammy to sit, to no avail, for a while by then). Apparently Sammy had -not- been trained to hand signals. I suspect his owner will pick them up, now. But the use of what I call "author-training" voice is something he's going to have to work on. Pleading with dogs gets nowhere.
But really, Labradoodles? SUCH a good idea. It's almost enough to make you forgive some of the more unfortunate cross-breeds...
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Date: 2010-11-18 08:51 pm (UTC)He was lovely. Such great hair. Looked almost like an irish wolfhound but smaller (dunno if you have ever seen a full grown irish wolfhound in person but they are BIG). Biggest problem I could see was that any dog smart enough to be a guide dog needs A LOT of time, attention and training. I can't give those to a dog right now so I can't have one.
But really, until I met him, I thought the idea of crossing dogs like that was I dunno, kinda off... But those are great dogs.