If you've been following me on Twitter, this might come as a surprise to you! I was never a huge dog person, but I feel like my attitude towards dogs will change very soon. We've owned these two for less than a week and I can already tell we're going to be good friends. This is how the story went:
My older brother's fiancée has a family living pretty close to our home town. They have at least 4 dogs (that I know about) and one of them gave birth to 5 puppies recently - quite a lot for a single family! They began searching for new owners for the pups and asked us for a signal boost. The search has proven to be quite fruitless, so after a couple of days my mom suddenly asked: "How about we adopt one of them?" I was in absolute shock! For the better part of my life, my parents have been against all pets, big and small. It took me 6 long months to convince them to get my first cat, Marcel. So when mom suggested we bring one of the puppies to our home, I didn't hesitate to say yes! She told us she used to have dogs throughout her whole childhood and how much she missed them. Sadly, she works 10 to 12 hours a day, so there's no way she could take care of any pet in this situation... I agreed to do it for her, it honestly isn't a big deal because I have some experience already. I took care of various animals, from hamsters to horses!
We couldn't decide on just one puppy, haha. My mom's favourite was the black, fluffy one, while I liked the brownish one the most. So we got both! They may not look alike, but they're brothers from the same litter. They're also mutts and won't grow up very big, I expect them to reach the size comparable to my Siberian cats. We didn't come up with proper names for them yet, but I'll try to describe what I've learned about them so far. The brownish doggy is intelligent, brave and independent. He has longer legs than his brother, so he's considerably faster and more agile - he was the first one to learn how to climb up the stairs. He's also very protective! The black puppy is sweet, cuddly and affectionate. He seemed very timid at first but he's gaining confidence each day - whenever his brother "protects" our house against strangers, he eagerly joins him. He loves being held and scratched on the tummy. They enjoy wrestling and chasing each other around. From what I've seen, I expect the brownish dog to become the alpha male. Who knows, though, life is full of surprises!
They met the cats on their first day here. That didn't go well at all, ugh! Marston mistook them for cats and ran up to them to chase them away - it didn't take long until he ended up being chased, haha. Dima, on the other hand, approached them in a very friendly way. She looks so grumpy on this photo, but in reality she's nowhere near to being a grump. She actually had a dog friend back in the cattery, so she generally isn't afraid of them. Unfortunately, these dogs started barking at her and she got spooked. As of yet, they aren't getting along but my cats are genuinely curious about the dogs, so there's still hope! I want them to at least tolerate each another and I'll be working towards this goal.
I'll use the opportunity to say something more about Marston and Dima; it's high time! The reason why I avoided talking about them in the past is quite saddening: I simply couldn't bring myself to accept them after Marcel's passing... Their bad behaviour kept making me miserable and the good memories of Marcel were strongly contrasting with what I had to deal with. But when I left Cracow, many things changed for the better. I swear that cursed city had a bad effect not only on me, but my cats too. Their behaviour has improved tremendously since I brought them back home. We share a different kind of bond than I had with Marcel, but I'm beginning to appreciate it for its unique reasons. Their personalities are gradually settling down (Siberians take a lot of time to reach full maturity - about 5 years), which helps me to get used to them. Besides... these cats have shown SO much loyalty and affection towards me, they absolutely deserve to be rewarded with the same!
Marston is the most docile pet I've had in my whole life. He's fantastic with kids and never shows any signs of aggression! My younger brother adores Mars for that and they were able to form a great friendship together; this is rather unusual for my pets because they generally just stick with me. Marston expresses love in very subtle and gentle ways too, which is something I like a lot as I'm not a big fan of lap cats. He's incredibly muscular and can do quite some damage when he plays - thankfully he's lazy and doesn't want to play too often, haha. He's also a MASSIVE glutton! It's not unusual for him to beg for food all day long; raw chicken meat is his favourite and when he eats it, he devours it. I can't believe he was able to stay in shape thus far; he inhales anything he finds. It was a big problem at first since he used to steal human food straight from the pots, pff. I've managed to reduce this type of behaviour and now he has to perform tricks in order to obtain treats. He has learned do the "spin" and "handshake" very easily. It always amazes me because he isn't a very bright kitty otherwise! But he has such a pure heart and good nature. I couldn't imagine my life without him at this point.
Dima is, hands down, the most temperamental pet I've ever owned! She can be absolutely sweet at one moment and then completely fierce just a few minutes later, but you have to make her angry in order to see that transition. She's insanely talkative, stubborn and attention-seeking; she changes her mind all of the time. She's skittish but very curious. Unlike Marston, she isn't gluttonous and shows almost no interest in human food at this point. Ironically, she's the one that is severely overweight! Her round shape is very deceptive, though: she's energetic and playful, just like a kitten in an adult's body. She's also more clever than her older friend, but less skillful (and also less eager to perform tricks). While she may have some personality traits I dislike, she makes up for them with her amazing, strong and unconditional love. To put it simply, Dimka ADORES me with her whole heart. She follows me around the house, jumps in the bed with me, sits on my lap several times a day, cuddles with me... the list goes on! She'd never do any of these things with somebody else. And even though I'm not particularly affectionate, I appreciate her love and accept her ways of showing it. Especially because all of those activities are accompanied by loud, soothing purring (whereas Marston almost never purrs)!
We couldn't decide on just one puppy, haha. My mom's favourite was the black, fluffy one, while I liked the brownish one the most. So we got both! They may not look alike, but they're brothers from the same litter. They're also mutts and won't grow up very big, I expect them to reach the size comparable to my Siberian cats. We didn't come up with proper names for them yet, but I'll try to describe what I've learned about them so far. The brownish doggy is intelligent, brave and independent. He has longer legs than his brother, so he's considerably faster and more agile - he was the first one to learn how to climb up the stairs. He's also very protective! The black puppy is sweet, cuddly and affectionate. He seemed very timid at first but he's gaining confidence each day - whenever his brother "protects" our house against strangers, he eagerly joins him. He loves being held and scratched on the tummy. They enjoy wrestling and chasing each other around. From what I've seen, I expect the brownish dog to become the alpha male. Who knows, though, life is full of surprises!
They met the cats on their first day here. That didn't go well at all, ugh! Marston mistook them for cats and ran up to them to chase them away - it didn't take long until he ended up being chased, haha. Dima, on the other hand, approached them in a very friendly way. She looks so grumpy on this photo, but in reality she's nowhere near to being a grump. She actually had a dog friend back in the cattery, so she generally isn't afraid of them. Unfortunately, these dogs started barking at her and she got spooked. As of yet, they aren't getting along but my cats are genuinely curious about the dogs, so there's still hope! I want them to at least tolerate each another and I'll be working towards this goal.
*
I'll use the opportunity to say something more about Marston and Dima; it's high time! The reason why I avoided talking about them in the past is quite saddening: I simply couldn't bring myself to accept them after Marcel's passing... Their bad behaviour kept making me miserable and the good memories of Marcel were strongly contrasting with what I had to deal with. But when I left Cracow, many things changed for the better. I swear that cursed city had a bad effect not only on me, but my cats too. Their behaviour has improved tremendously since I brought them back home. We share a different kind of bond than I had with Marcel, but I'm beginning to appreciate it for its unique reasons. Their personalities are gradually settling down (Siberians take a lot of time to reach full maturity - about 5 years), which helps me to get used to them. Besides... these cats have shown SO much loyalty and affection towards me, they absolutely deserve to be rewarded with the same!
Marston is the most docile pet I've had in my whole life. He's fantastic with kids and never shows any signs of aggression! My younger brother adores Mars for that and they were able to form a great friendship together; this is rather unusual for my pets because they generally just stick with me. Marston expresses love in very subtle and gentle ways too, which is something I like a lot as I'm not a big fan of lap cats. He's incredibly muscular and can do quite some damage when he plays - thankfully he's lazy and doesn't want to play too often, haha. He's also a MASSIVE glutton! It's not unusual for him to beg for food all day long; raw chicken meat is his favourite and when he eats it, he devours it. I can't believe he was able to stay in shape thus far; he inhales anything he finds. It was a big problem at first since he used to steal human food straight from the pots, pff. I've managed to reduce this type of behaviour and now he has to perform tricks in order to obtain treats. He has learned do the "spin" and "handshake" very easily. It always amazes me because he isn't a very bright kitty otherwise! But he has such a pure heart and good nature. I couldn't imagine my life without him at this point.
Dima is, hands down, the most temperamental pet I've ever owned! She can be absolutely sweet at one moment and then completely fierce just a few minutes later, but you have to make her angry in order to see that transition. She's insanely talkative, stubborn and attention-seeking; she changes her mind all of the time. She's skittish but very curious. Unlike Marston, she isn't gluttonous and shows almost no interest in human food at this point. Ironically, she's the one that is severely overweight! Her round shape is very deceptive, though: she's energetic and playful, just like a kitten in an adult's body. She's also more clever than her older friend, but less skillful (and also less eager to perform tricks). While she may have some personality traits I dislike, she makes up for them with her amazing, strong and unconditional love. To put it simply, Dimka ADORES me with her whole heart. She follows me around the house, jumps in the bed with me, sits on my lap several times a day, cuddles with me... the list goes on! She'd never do any of these things with somebody else. And even though I'm not particularly affectionate, I appreciate her love and accept her ways of showing it. Especially because all of those activities are accompanied by loud, soothing purring (whereas Marston almost never purrs)!
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I'll conclude this post by saying that I'm very glad I got the chance to write it. It made me realise how much I love and appreciate my pets. Owning animals gives me a chance of redemption - I did so many horrible things in the past, atrocities you wouldn't even believe! I can't erase them from my life nor reverse the consequences, but I can shield other living beings from similar fate. And this is what I want to do for the rest of my days.
Yesss! Not to be creepy, but I've been refreshing your blog hoping to see this post, haha. Blogger shows a thumbnail of a photo from the entry on my reading list and as soon as I saw those adorable puppies my heart rate skyrocketed <3 I wasn't expecting puppies, but dang am I thrilled to see them!
ReplyDeleteWOW, you're right - it's hard to believe these two are from the same litter! The one with black fur has the sweetest, most soulful eyes, and the brown one's unique markings are so charming, ahhh! My mom always told me mutts make the best pets and that (in her experience, anyway!) they tend to be slightly more intelligent than purebreds. You may have your hands full with these puppies for a while, but I bet they'll grow up to be obedient and loyal companions under your care :D The fact that they're siblings makes it even better - hopefully that means they're already bonded you won't have any problem with them fighting!
Eeee, I can't even deal with how heart-meltingly cute this pair is. That last photo of them is sweet enough to rot teeth. Your cats' reactions to them is about what I expected, and reminds me of something funny that happened the night we brought Cooper home. My parents left him in my care while they went to the store to get some last-minute supplies. At that time, I didn't have much experience with dogs, and didn't realise how often they need to use the bathroom... Cooper went to the bathroom on the living room rug. I carried Coop with me to get the cleaning stuff and when I returned, Gizmo (who hadn't met the dog yet) was sniffing the mess. He then projectile vomited everywhere :D It's disgusting, but it's a story that still makes me laugh to this day!
I hope your cats gradually come around!!
Marston's coat is lovely, wow. His tail almost looks like a fox's ;___; I'm pretty sure I've never seen this breed in person, but each time you share photos, I'm blown away by their beauty. Marston shares his love of raw chicken with Littlemin! And his lack of manners, haha. Once when I was chopping up raw chicken Littlemin reached out and stole a piece right off the cutting board. It's good to hear Marston and Dimka's behaviour has improved somewhat since leaving the Krakow. Maybe they didn't like living in the city either, haha.
In my opinion, female cats usually tend to be much moodier than males! More unpredictable, too. There are exceptions of course, but I've always noticed a big difference between my boys and girls. Dimka sounds like a sweet heart, though :) And good gosh, she's so cute and chubby! I just wanna to bury my face in her tummy <3 Very interesting that Marston doesn't purr very often! Thank goodness Dimka picks up the slack for him.
One of my favourite things about animals is their ability to love us unconditionally. They don't care about our pasts. They don't judge. They cuddle us on both our best days and our worst days and encourage us to be better people without even saying a word. Thank you for sharing your pets with us! It makes me happy you've opened up your home to these new little lives and I wish you many years of happiness together <3
I never expected we'd have a dog either! Or, in this case, two dogs :D
DeleteI've heard similar things about mutts, I'm glad that another person backs them up! I know for sure that they usually live longer and have less health risks than purebred dogs. We had a German Shepherd years ago and he had a TON of health problems when he got older; I hope these two will enjoy a happy life with us. They aren't potty-trained yet, but other than that they're both behaving well :) If they get into fights, we'll definitely consider neutering them!
Hahaha, oh my gosh, I can totally picture these events in my head :D Thank you for sharing this story with me, it made me laugh out loud and didn't even come close to disgusting me because I deal with poop and vomit a lot (the second thing being closely related to Dimka's adventures)! Although I won't lie, I can't blame Gizmo for his reaction while he was directly affected. I forgot how bad the smell of dog droppings is, but since I'm responsible for cleaning after the puppies... I'd better get used to it again!
Thank you, Marston is a magnificent cat indeed <3 Siberians are very popular in Poland, but not enough time has passed for them to conquer the rest of the world (as most of them didn't leave Russia until 1990's). I'll most likely stick with this breed for the rest of my life, Sibs make excellent companions! I'd love to have a British Shorthair as well, but definitely not now. Haha, then I guess you're never bored with Littlemin - at least whenever I prepare a chicken, Marston acts as if he was starved for a week!
Yes, definitely! The case is somewhat similar with guinea pigs; I had more girls than boys but the latter ones were always much more laid-back. Dimka is a very good kitty at this point :) She was a challenging pet at first and pushed the boundaries of my patience more than once, but ultimately I don't regret getting her! I can't imagine giving her away and I'll admit it, I'm starting to like her hardcore affection, haha.
That's absolutely true. One of the many things I've always appreciated about animals is the fact they won't ditch you for somebody who is more popular, more wealthy, or has a pretty face. You can't say the same thing about people! Thank you so, SO much for this incredibly thoughtful and kind comment <3 Knowing that you read and enjoy my entries lifts my spirits every time - getting feedback from you feels like opening a vault full of chocolate!