Cats 'n Dogs 'n Combat

The other morning, I opened the door into the garage so we could round up the harnesses and leashes for the morning walk. Both dogs took off into the garage, growling, barking, and attacking the shelving. There was no stopping them, but I had no idea what had set them off until I heard the loud growl from behind the stored items.

I usually leave the garage door open a few inches so the heat doesn't build up and keep the air conditioning running when it's not that hot in the house. Evidently, one of the many cats that has taken up residence in our front yard decided to check out the garage and became trapped inside when I came home late from work and forgot to leave the garage door open a bit. There was cat poop on the floor and evidence that the cat had clawed at a bag of dog food I store in the garage, so it had been trapped in the garage for a while.

Daisy climbed the shelves, running from one end to the other, determined to get the cat before it could escape. Mia pawed smaller items out of her way and her bark was enough to deafen. The brawl ensued until I was finally able to get a handle on Mia's collar and drag her back into the house, and then trapped Daisy as she crawled under the car after the cat that was headed for the garage door. I couldn't open the garage door to let the cat out without sending Mia and Daisy after it, so had to corral my dogs before I did anything else.

Believe it: after refffing this mess and saving the cat's life, there was no walk.

Today, it was a dog fight: I put down the plastic package from a pre-cooked chicken that I cut apart for this week's lunch, and Mia got to it first. Both dogs love the chicken skin and the "juice" that pools at the bottom of the plastic, so I let them share it. When Daisy came over for a taste, Mia pounced on her as if she was the most dreaded enemy within 100 miles!! Talk about a fight! Mia tipped the chicken grease over and then slammed Daisy into it, both of them locked in combat and sliding around on the greasy tiles, so when I tried to peel Daisy out of the combat zone, I couldn't hang onto her.

Daisy finally got herself away from Mia, but she's covered in chicken grease, which actually is allowing her to bathe herself pretty much from head to toe. Mia got sick from trying to inhale the chicken skin and grease, and threw up on the patio, but maybe that's just payback for not being very nice and sharing with Daisy.

I've had enough of the Pet Wars for one week, so gave both dogs a chew stick and sent them to neutral corners to chill while I eat my lunch.