Young Love

Moose has a girlfriend. It started out pretty one-sided, but I think he’s finally won her over…it must have been the staring and the chasing that did it. I guess some girls like to be stalked – not that she’ll ever admit it. She’s much too prissy to acknowledge her love of an overgrown beagle mutt, but I’m onto her. Her name is Tigerlilly - Tigs for short. And she’s a kitten. Yes, that’s right, my dog is in love with a kitten.

He’s absolutely fascinated by Tigs; he just can’t seem to get enough of her. Wherever she is, well, that’s where he wants to be. And it’s not enough to simply be in the same room with her…no he has to be near her. And he can’t take his eyes off her. It’s understandable that my mother-in-law was a bit concerned about it at first. After all, he does drool quite a bit while he stares, and he usually only drools around food. Fortunately, he hasn’t tried to eat Tigs just yet, though he does seem to have an unhealthy obsession that up until this point he reserved only for food.

Tigs doesn’t seem to mind though. His staring certainly doesn’t interrupt her slumber. And when she wakes to find his nose in her face she simply bats him away with a tiny paw and hops to the floor, daring him to come any closer. Moose hangs on her every move. Will she dart away at the speed of light (an obvious invitation for him to chase her) or will she slowly saunter into the kitchen for a bit of food (in which case he will surely saunter after her)? Wherever she goes, he’s right behind her. He follows her like, well, for lack of a better term – a love sick puppy!

I must say, that for such a young little thing, Tigs sure knows how to play the game. She has him right where she wants him. She plays hard to get 99% of the time, but that tiny bit of encouragement is all he needs to keep him coming back for more. If she’ll just let him close enough for one little sniff, he’ll be content for days.

I’ve never seen Moose this way. After all, he’s always been a bit of a loner. Other dogs…they seemed to annoy him. Birds, squirrels…he was never interested. But now there’s Tigs. Tigerlilly. The center of his universe. While he used to spend his days snoozing, he now he spends his time following a kitten. And when he’s not chasing her, he’s watching her. Even if she’s sleeping, he won’t close his eyes for fear she might just slip away without him knowing. Tonight we’re watching TV and Tigerlilly is asleep on the couch and Moose’s little bed is on the floor just far enough from the couch so that he can see her from where he’s lying. So he’s curled up on his bed, and he’s watching her (of course). He’s exhausted though – he’s been chasing her all day – so his eyes are fluttering closed, but he’s fighting it. He keeps shaking his head in an effort to stay awake…to keep watching her. He just doesn’t want to miss a thing. (If Steven Tyler only knew…)

Okay, I recognize that I could, perhaps, be reading too much into it, but there is definitely something going on. Love is in the air, no doubt, and leave it to Moose to fall in love with a cat. But perhaps that’s just what the world needs…a little more cat/dog love…a little more mixing of the species. Maybe we could learn a thing or two from Tigs and Moose. Especially here in South Africa. After all, this country could definitely do with a bit more integration…then again, I’m not quite sure I’m qualified to dive into that subject just yet. Give me at least another month or two…