Estranged Bedfellows

    One of the big questions we faced ever since we considered getting a new dog was “How will it get along with Lucifer, our haywire cat?”  Luckily, Skye is a very easy-going dog, and in the information we got from the animal shelter, she got along well with cats.  “With cats,” maybe, but what about our she-devil, Lucifer?

    When we brought Skye home we were careful not to just thrust her into the house to confront Lucy.  We tried to create a situation where they would see each other from afar and in a calm situation.  That seems to have worked--so far no battles.  The only time there was any kind of hostility was when Skye was tearing around the yard with me playing around in the snow, and inadvertently got too close to Lucifer, who was watching the wild chaos.  Lucy arched her back and hissed, and Skye immediately skidded to a halt and backed off without even a bark.

    They still haven’t touched noses, but they a keep out of each others personal space.  We have a counter that juts out into the area between the kitchen and the rest of the house.  Skye was lying right in the middle of the walkway watching Joan and I working in the kitchen.  The cat was on the kitchen floor wanting to go to the living room, but seeing Skye laying there, she decided “better safe, than sorry,” so he just jumped up on the counter, walked to the other side, and jumped down, thus avoiding getting close to the dog.

    On Skye’s first night with us, we weren’t sure where she was going to sleep, but she was.  Joan climbed into bed, and Skye did too, like she had been sleeping there all her life.  The cat often comes onto the bed in the morning, and when she leaped there up this morning, she got quite a surprise to see Skye’s big face right in front of her.  She immediately jumped back down and left the room.  

    With a little coaxing, we got her to eventually return and join us.  As you can see in the photo she  did get back onto the bed, despite the big hairy beast still being there.  They just kept an uneasy eye on each other, but it looks like they are slowly adjusting to each others presence.

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