Hazel and the Cat

After two weeks of team training at Bergin University of Canine Studies, we brought Hazel home. She seemed very happy to discover that her new people live in a house, and not in a boring hotel room. Houses are interesting. She sniffed through the rooms. She sniffed the backyard. And she sniffed the cat.

Hazel likes little animals. During team training, we had field trips to Petsmart, and Hazel was enthusiastic about the parakeets, box turtles, and kittens. The trainers joked that Hazel wanted me to buy her a pet of her own.

So Hazel was pleased to discover that there is a CAT in her new family. I've never seen a dog be so kind and gentle while trying to make friends with a cat. They looked at each other. Tricolor wasn't so sure. She has had experiences being barked at and chased by dogs.  But this gentle Golden Retriever is a different kind of dog.

Hazel wants so badly to be friends, and she is courting the cat. Hazel  moves slowly, trying not to frighten Tricolor. Hazel lays down on the floor in front of Tricolor, her eyes pleading, clearly wanting to play, but controlling her exuberant dog energy, letting the cat get to know her. Hazel offers the cat her most precious offering.....Hazel places her treasured blue and orange ball before Tricolor, a gesture of friendship, and an invitation to play.

Tricolor inches closer and closer. Often now, the cat sits fluffed out and regally upright, near to Hazel, watching her, bemused. I don't think it will take long for these two to become friends.

We were gone for two weeks, and the cat was upset.  Our first night home with Hazel, Tricolor was sleeping at the foot of Ray's bed. In the middle of the night he awoke to the sound of the cat retching up a hairball. With his feet under the covers, Ray pushed her towards the floor, and moved quickly to get her outside.

What he saw was the cat clinging to the side of the bed, her claws caught in the fuzzy white blanket, with the dog sniffing her butt.
"Help me," she said with her eyes.
So Ray unsnagged the cat, carried her outside, supervised the cat and dog in the backyard, and then came in to clean up the hairball mess. At 3am he went back to bed. The cat, the dog, and their humans curled up and slept til morning.