dogs n cats n us

the cats seem to be coming around. for the last several evenings, yellow has been coming downstairs and communing a little bit with the dogs. they sniff each other and if steve or dagmar get too close, yellow hisses and they immediately back off. so it seems to be going well.

and last night eliot, perhaps because he so badly wants to go outside, ventured downstairs too while the dogs were out of their crate. there was a bit of sniffing and hissing. eliot went from me to under a chair and there was some circling, but all in all it was good. eliot gets shaved today (he needs it!) and i think that will make him more comfortable in general.

dagmar is growing fast and soon he might not be able to fit under the front gate (at the moment we have makeshift barricades across gaps in the fence and under the gate). at that point, we might start allowing eliot outside access.

still, though, the dogs are getting kara up between 12 and 2 in the morning for a pee and/or a poo, and again at about 4. sometimes i wake up for the midnight relieving but i always wake up with the 4 o'clock one. so neither of us has gotten a full night's sleep in about 2 weeks, though kara's suffering more.

i think the dogs are learning their names. kara's taught them to sit and to lie down. they respond quickly to no. they're being okay about potty training but not fantastic. there have definitely been accidents. we're going to take them for walks with their leashes over the weekend.

kara wishes they would hang out with us on the bed more while we're watching tv and stuff, but they don't. they come up for a few minutes for a scritch and then they jump down. they flop on the floor near the bed or under the dining table and sack out. i'll say this for them: they're good at sacking out. i do like a tired dog.