Building Capacity

One of Scout's "assignments" if she wants to live here, is to be gentle with our cats.  There are several of them and they each have their own personality.  Jinx and Archie took a day or so to figure her out and decided that she would respect their space, so they have returned to their normal behaviors as if they have known Scout for years. 

Quick is a semi-feral rescue kitty who sometimes wants to spend time with me though often chooses simply to decorate our furniture - and he does that well with his handsome silver tabbiness.  Quickie handles himself just fine.  His few feral habits - hiding, sneaking away, hissing and bolting are all useful in the presence of an unknown dog.  Scout likes to give a bit of chase, though I know that Quick will always prevail.

Little Cat is another story.  Little Cat is the kitten who showed up on our deck last year one week to the day after my beloved car L.C. (Elsie) was totaled.  Little Cat is named for Little Car - a great honor to be sure.  Little Cat has never been afraid of dogs, even when she was a very sick little kitten.  She had no fear of Allie or Allie's friend Bailey (who had very little cat experience.)

Little Cat is afraid of Scout.  Little Cat runs and Scout gleefully chases her.  Not what I want.  I'm pretty sure it's not what Little Cat wants either, though Scout seems fine with the whole deal :)  I just need to know that the chase is playful and not "huntful".  If it's playful, it all works out fine.  This last hurdle has been preventing me from considering that Scout might stay with us.  What about Little Cat?  She needs to feel some security, some sense of her belonging and her place in the household.  What to do?

Last night, I got up in the wee hours of the morning to use the bathroom (get it, the wee hours??)  Little Cat came into the bathroom while I was there as she often does.  I had not seen her much, nor petted her at all since Scout had arrived.  She let me pick her up and snuggle her and fuss over her (which she does not always allow.)  We had a conversation about she and Scout for a few minutes and then I set her down on the spare room bed and returned to my bed for some more sleep.

This evening when we arrived home (all the dogs were with me today to visit the chiropractor) I noticed Little Cat walking around.  Hmmm....  This won't last, I thought to myself.  She strolled around the dining room twirling her tail.  Hmmm....  No running.  Scout saw her and they looked at each other and then went on about their business.  This happened several times over a half hour or so and then Little Cat screwed up her courage and walked RIGHT PAST Scout into the kitchen as Scout lay in the entire doorway.  "Wow," I thought, "what's up with this??"  Then I remembered talking with Little Cat the night before.  I had said to her, "All you have to do Little Cat is not run.  Just don't run, stand your ground a few times and it will all be fine.  I believe in your capacity to learn and grow from this and I believe in Scout's capacity to learn and grow, too."

Whether or not my "words" meant anything to Little Cat, or Scout, I'll never know.  Does it matter though?  Was it my intention?  Was it that I said, "I believe in you?"  Was it just the act of believing?  What if I could believe in my own capacity to learn and grow as easily as I believe in them?

I'll start here, "I believe in my capacity to learn and grow from this."  Let's see what happens...

Taking Risks

Right now, Scout is lying upside down on the end of my bed with all four paws in the air, sleeping.  She is sleeping so thoroughly that she's dreaming upside down.  This is the most vulnerable position for any animal to be in, belly exposed and asleep.  Considering that 5 days ago, no human could get within 5 feet of this dog, this is quite amazing to me.  This is the pose, though taken earlier today.

 

I've relived Tuesday several times and am amazed by Scout's ability to trust and take risks. She had to give up her life to get another life and she did not know what she would get. When Scout chose to jump into the back seat of my car, she chose the unknown over the known. It was very important to me that she get in the car of her own volition. Somehow that confirmed to me that she wanted this change, no matter how scared she was.

My lesson from Scout is that we have to let go of one life to get another. She let go of that "old life" when she screwed up every last bit of courage she had and followed me into the back seat of that strange car.
We have to let go of one life to get another.  No matter how good or bad that "old life" is - we have to let it go if we want something else and that's a risk.  Maybe after we take that risk we get to sleep on our backs with our paws in the air dreaming - for the first time in a long time.

We have to let go of one life to get another.  Scout had total freedom and unlimited Wendy's food all day long - perhaps a dream life for some dogs :)  Scout chose to make a change - I've promised her a good life whether with us or another family.  I will never forget her lesson in bravery and what can happen when we take the risk to trust - and jump into the unknown.

Thanks for the lesson, Scout.  Welcome to the rest of your life...