Backing Down a Giant - The Lion King

I know you probably get tired of my pet stories. What can I say?? Just a taste of what it will be like when (and if) I ever have grandchildren. Please just grin and bear with me. The latest addition to our family is Morph the Cat... All 5 lbs and 7 oz. of him. Due to the size, and sometimes the excitability of my dogs, introducing Morph the Cat to Riley (Bulldog) and Sailor (175lb Mastiff) has been a very slow process. My dogs aren't mean, well, Riley could probably have a mean streak if I allowed her to, but mainly she is just a wild child. They are just very large and when Sailor steps on your foot by mistake, the pain is quite... Painful.  Morph has been getting used to his new environment. I have kept the dogs separated from him when they are in the house. The last few days I've been slowly introducing them, mainly while they are in their kennels. When Sailor first met Morph, she just wanted a little sniff but every little hair on Morphs 5 pound body stood straight up and he gave her a quick hiss and spit in her face. Sailor has

The Lion King

no concept of her weight or size and she believes that Morph could really rip her to shreds. Sailor has now decided, if the cat is running around the house, she will just stay in the safety of her kennel. She also seems to believe that if she doesn't look at Morph, he won't attack her. She is such a silly dog. Riley's first meeting with Morph happened when Morph wondered into the dining room where Riley's kennel is and startled her out of a sound sleep. She came awake in full Bulldog attack mode (but really that's more bluff than anything). This weekend I opened Riley's kennel doors and invited her out to meet Morph in a more civilized way. The first thing she wanted to do is lick, but she just couldn't bring herself to get close enough. She slowly took a couple of steps out of the kennel. Morph stared at her for a few seconds then shot her a stern warning, hiss, spit. Riley slowly put it in reverse, turned her back and went and laid on her pillow with her face to the wall. Whatever Morph said to the dogs in "cat speak" certainly got the message across to them that you don't mess with the cat. Morph is feeling pretty saucy with himself and has taken his place at the top of the food chain in the Patterson household....  At least for Now.