"Hey, Hey, He-ey, What About Me ...?"

 

Remember Cabra? Remember I said before that when we decided to get Mochi we forgot to ask her?  I mean we thought it was such a good idea.  We thought having a companion would be such a great thing.  We thought it would be just the ticket for giving her a new lease on life.  That was the trouble.  We thought.  And we forgot to ask what she thought.

Okay, admittedly, when we brought Mochi home, things did not go quite as well as we had hoped.  Sure we thought things might be a bit rocky at first until she got used to him. But there we went thinking again.  I learned a lesson.  Don't just think.  Ask.  Asking is good.  Yes, asking is HUGE. Take my advice.  Don't be a non-asker.

So what was so bad?  Well, we did, after all, expect there to be a few snaps and growls.  I mean this IS a puppy and everyone knows puppies, like children, don't come into this world automatically exhibiting social decorum.  The trouble was, well, Cabra is 14 years old.  Plus, Mochi, being a puppy no longer with his mother or siblings, saw a dog!  Another dog!  Oh, boy!!!!  He would try to play and she just wasn't having any of that.  He couldn't understand.  She wouldn't.

Had we asked, it probably would have gone something like this:

  "Cabra, guess what?  We are going to get a puppy!!"

  "A WHAT?!!  No.  You did NOT just say a puppy. Did you?    I'm too old for this ... Shih Tzu "

  "No, really, Cabra.  You don't have to be lonely for Quinn anymore.  And a puppy will give you a new lease on life!"

  "A puppy will give me Weltschmerz."  (I know...I had to look that up too.)

Anyway, long story short, it has taken two months to get to a point where Cabra deigns to mostly tolerate Mochi.  One decided point of contention has not been oh, say, food, as one might think.  Possessiveness of people or toys comes to mind.  No, the point of contention has been this:

See  that magnificent plume of a tail?

How about now?  

You see, from day one, Mochi saw this tail and the quest was on.  Any time Cabra would jump down from the ottoman (no, not the goat), it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull.  Grab for ze tail!  Step to ze side.  Olé!!!  Finally it got to the point where Cabra gave up and just allowed him to grab her tail and as long as he didn't bite down things went pretty well.  But he would grab her tail and then act as though he were shredding the hair.  I have been amazed at not finding hair lying about everywhere unattended, and I am still not sure exactly how this is so.

After awhile, snaps and snarls began to lessen and eventually Cabra learned that if she just sat down, he simply couldn't get to her tail.  Little by little she actually began to play with him.  We still have moments when things devolve into chaos and Mochi gets reprimanded, usually after the dreaded Zoomies have taken possession of his soul. (Remember the Zoomies?)  Yet, ever so slowly, day by day,  we are gaining ground toward a place of complacency.  A place where conflict arises only on occasion and peace abides. Is there such a place?  I don't know about you, but considering the last few years I'm not sure it exists.  Still, it is our holy grail. 

Okay, initially we forgot to ask.   But Cabra has risen to the occasion like the trooper she is.  And when she's not?  Well, she just thumbs her nose at Mochi and says, “I don’t want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough water! I fart in your general direction!” – French Soldier, Monty Python and The Holy Grail.