Sadie, now renamed
Taylor, came into my life in August 2009 when she was about two years
old. Her start in life is somewhat of a mystery, but it’s safe
to assume it wasn’t a good one. I am happy to say that the rest
of her life now seems much brighter and I thank you folks for bringing
us together.
Taylor
joined a household that includes Bill the Cat, a 17-year-old Maine
Coon and his buddy Zacharias, a 4-year-old Rough Collie whom I had
adopted the year before from the Adirondack Humane Society in
Plattsburgh,
NY.
Taylor
is a tactician and deep thinker. Aside from joining Zack in
challenging the mailman every day, she delights in sitting quietly,
tracking the movements of squirrels through the tall trees of
Wychwood. When one comes close, she pads as quietly and
deliberately as a stalking cat toward the prey, putting on a big rush
of speed only at the very end of the pursuit. (So far she has
thankfully not managed to catch one, so I’m not sure how deep her prey
drive actually runs.)
Likewise, inside the house
Taylor has evaluated my behaviour to such an extent that after about
six months she began to anticipate where I was likely to be next.
So, on my way into the office to check my email I would call to her
and Zack to come join me, with only one dog appearing in reply ...
then I would look around everywhere ... no Taylor. Whereupon I
would find her already lying relaxed under my desk, waiting for me.
Even more amusing is that
Taylor watches my patterns in keeping Zack’s behaviour in check.
Often, as she senses that I am about to bring Zack down a notch on the
adrenaline scale, she jumps in and does it for me with a neck grab and
a heavy push. Her other tactic is sliding her head under Zack’s
belly and actually lifting him off the ground. That is a
sure-fire way of snapping Zack out of just about anything he’s up to.
She is a very, very strong lady – she’s given me a few amazing shoves
on the couch.
The last thing I want to say about
Taylor is that she is a great talker in the mornings. On some
days she does an awesome Scooby-Doo routine. Her best so far was
something like: “Walla-walla-woo-walla-walla-waaa ... woooooof”!
On behalf of Bill, Zack and me, thanks to
everyone at the SPCA of West Quebec for caring about Sadie/Taylor, and
for letting us include her in our household. Keep up your great
work.
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