2 steps forward 1 step back

We were making progress.  I'm sure we still are, but it sometimes feels like we're going backwards.  This morning I found "presents".  And through the day I found a few more.  And Marley brought a couple of missed turds.  He peed & pooped on leash.  And he just stopped and peed where he was in the house ... I have to remind myself he's still just a little puppy, just old enough to leave his mama.

He does ask to go out sometimes, but it's just by going into the laundry room.  All too often we misinterpret or miss seeing it.  Other times he gives a small whine.  If he needs to poop and we don't respond immediately, he cries more and more.  Or, if we sleep through it, he just does what he needs to do.

I think he IS beginning to get the idea we don't want him to pee or poop in the house - he looks for a place less in the open, more in a corner or behind a piece of furniture.

I keep reminding myself this is a short period in his life.  In the meantime, it feels so very slow.

Then he goes to sleep and he's just so cute, and so obedient ... until he wakes up and it all starts again.

Play with me!

Today Charlotte requested some one-on-one play time.  I'm so glad I got her the special feather-boa-on-a-string toy.  I keep it in a drawer in the bedroom.  Marley has never even known it exits.  It is hers and hers alone.  (He's appropriated every toy he came across and made it his.) 

I was in the kitchen doing a few things and she kept rubbing on me and meowing.  I gave her a few crunchies.  That didn't really satisfy her.  When I asked her if she wanted to play and headed for the bedroom she was on my heels.  We play with the feather boa on the bed.  Marley can't even dream of getting up there yet (the mattress-top is waist high for me), so it's the one place we can play without him getting her toy.  And we try to do it when Marley is napping so he won't even try to join in.

About 10-15 minutes and she was happy.  She chased the feathers.  She captured the feathers.  She rubbed the feathers on her face.  She purred like a motorboat.  The bed looked like a stripper had had an outstanding performance - hot pink feathers all over. 

I managed to trim most of her nails in between hunting the pink feathers.  I had left them long for the initial period with Marley in case she needed to seriously defend herself.  Now we need to trim his.

Right now, both of them are sleeping in the dining room.  Marley on the cool floor, Charlotte on the topmost section of her kitty tree.

Escape is becoming a habit?

Well, Charlotte got out again.  Early this morning (but not as early as some mornings) as I was coming back in from Marley's first of the day (not middle of the night but near dawn) outing, Charlotte suddenly appeared on the porch!  Where the bleep did she come from?  How did she get out? How long was she out?

Well, it didn't take but a few seconds to answer the second question - she'd pushed out the bottom corner of the sliding screen patio door.  She even decided to show off a bit.  After running onto (or just around) the porch and coming right to the door to come in with us, she ran right back out onto the porch and back to the door to come in again.  Just to prove she can.

She is determined to be an indoor/outdoor cat at some point.  And, since she's learned she can push out screens ... I have no doubt she'll have an easy time of learning the doggy door once we pull the solid panel.  But, that's in the future, after Marley reliably asks to go out to relieve himself and we're sure he can't escape and that he won't eat the wrong plants.  So, it's quite a ways in the future.  If it was just her, maybe it would be time for her to learn it, but it's way too early for Marley.

In the meantime, Tom is going to put some screws in the screens so Charlotte can't push them out yet we can open the windows to cool the place.

They play tag

Sometimes it's at a time of day we don't appreciate, but the two young critters have been playing tag.  Often Charlotte initiates a session by running right up to him, skidding to a stop or turning and running away, or even going "Halloween cat".  Sometimes she gets on top of something and "flaps" a bag or box flap to taunt him. 

This morning I was taking care of an essential task and Marley was sitting nearby waiting for me to take him outside when Charlotte raced into the room, jumped up on the tub edge, skidding to a stop as she turned before hitting the wall.  When she was sure she'd gotten Marley's attention she raced out to the living room and on out to the kitchen, with him on her heels.

Other times, he'll stalk her and touch her to start a play session.  Even if she slaps at him she keeps her claws in and he is unfazed by the "attack".  With the size of the house they can get a pretty good amount of exercise just running back & forth.

Charlotte is beginning to return to her former habits.  She's come onto our laps a few times, she's napping on the foot of the bed (on Tom's side).  That tells me she's accepting that Marley is here to stay and she'll develop a new normal.

Marley & Charlotte a week in

Today it's a week since we brought Marley home.  Charlotte is no longer frantic to leave.  In fact, she sometimes instigates a session of "tag".  She'll either run into the room, right up to his face, then go "Halloween cat" or run to get a game going.  She's only made him yelp once, the first time she touched him.  Her extreme concentration when she's watching the birds at the feeders (sunflower for the wrens, nuthatches, etc. and hummingbird) allowed him to sneak up on her and make the first intentional physical contact.

This made him so bold he really touched her

She decided this was a bit too personal and backed him off with flying paw, but no claws.

Sometimes she'll get on the coffee table and paw at one of the boxes (we're still unpacking) to "threaten" him or get his attention.  She's never hurt him and he hasn't hurt her.   It's fun to watch them take turns chasing each other, knowing neither one wants to hurt the other.

Charlotte and Marley!

We have added another member to the family!  We are fostering-to-adopt a yellow Labrador retriever - English springer spaniel mix.  He's not fully ready for adoption, partly for his age, partly because he isn't yet neutered or microchipped.   We're in almost daily contact with the shelter.  He caught coccidia right before we got him and was started on antibiotics.  Then the next day they called to tell us there was an outbreak of kennel cough, but the Clavamox he was on should help. 

Charlotte has had some issues adjusting to him.  Now, she's having to share our attention.  The first night she really scared us.  We're in a pretty warm spell and we had lots of windows (with screens) open for air circulation.  After fleeing from him for a while, she disappeared.  We figured she was just hiding - hiding very well.  It wasn't until Tom got up and it was chilling down from the rain storm that Tom went to close the bedroom window and found the screen had been popped most of the way out.  We figured she either tried hard or the screen wasn't in all that tight and got out somewhere around 10pm.  We went out calling and looking for her several times.   We were at the point of wondering how much longer to wait to call the local shelter, vets and animal return service (HomeAgain - she's chipped).  Tom went out to the garage one more time and she finally came to him.

It was another day before I found her collar snagged in the bottom of the fence.  I had already ordered her a replacement.  A spare's not a bad thing.

She's beginning to make advances toward playing with him.  She'll tear into a room, go right up to him, then run away or jump up onto the furniture to tease him.  He chases her, too.  And they've touched noses from time to time.  Each day brings a bit more progress.

Since he's appropriated every toy of hers he's come across, we bought her a special toy that is only brought out when Marley is otherwise occupied.  We play on the bed to make sure he can't get up and grab it (the top of the mattress is nearly waist high for me).  Her special toy is a feather "boa" on a string on a stick.  She grabs it and rubs it on her face.  As soon as it's clear Marley is headed that way, I put it in a drawer to make sure he doesn't get a chance to get at it.  I want her to know, without doubt, it's her toy.

We also introduced Marley to the crate today.  It was something I didn't think I wanted to do, but we were going out to dinner.  We're not yet ready to leave him alone in the house, can't close him in the bathroom since it's Charlotte's bathroom, too.  We put a big folded blanket in the crate, tossed in many of his toys and a couple of smal biscuits.  The TV was on, so we left it on for "company".  He was calm as we left and calm when we got back.  After a short walk in the yard (in case he needed to pee) we fed him, waited a few and took him back out to poop.  He even went back inside the crate after he'd been released!  So far, so good.

Her First Real Summer Storm

Today we had a real summer thunderstorm.  First the lightning & thunder, then the wind and rain.  The rain drops were big enough we expected to see white (hail or graupel) but there was just water.  At first, she was pretty calm.  Later, as the storm continued to be noisy, she started to run around the house like a crazy cat. 

It was a pretty strong storm.  We had to close the windows on the front and garage side of the house to keep the rain from blowing in.  After a bit, some of the "raindrops" started splattering on the windows, especially the awning windows (windows that are hinged at the top and open out at the bottom).  After a bit the rain settled into a steady, moderate rain, then finished.

She found her way to Tom's lap and settled in for the long haul.  Looks like she'll deal OK with the summer thunderstorms.