Keisha and the cats next door

There are two cats next door. I'm sure I mentioned them in earlier posts. Before I got Keisha they would come onto our patio and watch us through our windows, and one of them even came inside and wandered into the living room. Sophie just watched them with curiousity from afar and they would look at her wondering what she was.

Then Keisha moved in. A rambunctious little ball of fur, that barked at them and tried to run after them, even at nine weeks old. Boy, were they surprised!

Of course a guide or service dog can't walk down the street eating every cat it sees. It just wouldn't work out. I took advantage of our neighbours cats right from the start. Whenever they came around I would show them to Keisha and sit in the doorway with her on a very short leash. She knew she shouldn't hurt them, although I'm sure her instinct said different, being a husky.

I'd sit there, with her leash in my hand letting her watch the cats, and letting her get closer as they got use to each other. At this point she wasn't much bigger than the cats. She kept watching them, and they would move closer. Eventually one of the cats would come within a foot of her, and they would just stare at each other.

Now, one of the cats won't come near, but the other one comes to the end of the railing that seperates our patio from the one next door. The cat lays down and Keisha goes to the end of her leash and they just watch each other. If either of them makes a sudden move, the other one runs away. Have you ever seen a husky run away form a cat?! It's funny, because Keisha is a lot bigger now.

They also play a game sometimes where the cat will lay by the railing, and they will watch each other for awhile. Then the cat will get up and move around the other patio, looking under the railing. Keisha jumps around, looking under the railing to find it. They play their litte game of hide and go seek for awhile until the cat gets hungry, or Keisha gets bored and they go inside again.

It's great that these cats live next door. They really come in handy for training Keisha.