2026, animals, Fantasy, home, Mysteries, pets

Detente?

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When YA and I started our search for a dog, the #1 trait that I was worried about was “does this dog have a strong chase instinct”?  For eleven years, Guinevere chased Nimue.  It was just her instinct to chase, especially when startled.  Any time the cat surprised her (like jumping off the bed when Guinevere was snoozing nearby), the dog would lunge out of her sleep.  As soon as she lunged, the cat would run.  The minute the cat ran, Guinevere would chase; she couldn’t help herself.  Unfortunately this ended with the cat getting injured a couple of times early on.  After that YA and I set up a couple of serious gates that allowed escape routes for the cat in the two places where the trouble was happening.  That solved their problem – it was a pain for YA and me.  We did not want to have this problem repeated with a new dog.

While Freya does chase squirrels and rabbits in the yard, she’s not shown any interest in chasing the cat.  In fact, she is afraid of the cat. If Nimue is on the back porch when I open the door to let the dog in, Freya freezes on the back steps until I shoo the kitty back into the kitchen.  If the cat is on the steps to go upstairs, Freya will stay at the bottom of the steps until Nimue has gone all the way up.  And the only way I’ve been able to get Freya on the bed when Nimue is already in residence is with a bunch of treats; as soon as the treats are gone, the dog is gone.

Nimue is loving this.  After all those years, she is definitely enjoying having the upper paw.  She will turn and give the dog the stink eye.  There has been some hissing and I’ve even caught her chasing Freya a couple of times.

It’s been three months and I’m starting to see the very first signs of an eventual détente.  Freya is a little braver about coming in or up when she sees the cat.  The cat is ignoring more.  And a few times it seems clear that Freya would like to play with Nimue.  She follows behind, doing some sniffing and then plopping into that classic “Wanna play?” pose with the butt in the air.  Then yesterday morning, when Freya came into the kitchen, Nimue was sitting on top of the kennel.  Fraya approached slowly, nose stretched out.  Nimue didn’t exactly stretch to meet, but she didn’t back off and for a few moments they were nose to nose.  Then Nimue moved back a bit to lay on the blanket, out of Freya’s reach. 

I didn’t realize how much I was longing for this until I saw it.  All my other dogs and cats have gotten along well until Guinevere came along to rock the boat.  I do miss her but I don’t miss the chaos.  Now I’m eager to see how long it takes for Nimue and Freya to settle into, if not friendship, or even companionship, but détente.

Tell me about someone you’ve had to learn to deal with.

33 thoughts on “Detente?”

  1. This is not about a particular person but about a general category. Once I had gotten in my working life to jobs in large companies, in my case mostly advertising agencies, I discerned there was usually someone, often an executive secretary by position, who had far more influence than their job title would necessarily convey. If, somehow, you got on their bad side, they could sink you or at least make your life hell. I saw that happen with young bucks too full of themselves who deigned to disregard “only a secretary”. In a big company it’s always wise to observe and figure out where the real day-to-day power resides.

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    2. There was a woman like this years back at my company. Luckily for me, I’ve always worked to befriend folks who don’t usually get befriended (is that a word?). The guy in the shipping department, that one guy in the tech department who would actually come to your cube, the woman who delivers the mail, the HR gal in charge of moving/cube assignment. Not only do they turn out to be delightful folks (I”m still friends with the tech guy) but they turn around and take care of you very well. So I treated this gal nicely and she always had my back!

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  3. It has been over a decade dealing with that stupid, lying, bloviating “someone.” It is somewhat comforting to know that literally billions of others around the globe are dealing with the same person.

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  5. It’s possible that I’m the one who is difficult to deal with.

    The person I struggle with on a daily basis is my little Maggie Mae. She is SO reactive. She barks at everyone going by on the sidewalk. She barks at people when we’re out for a walk, as if every person out there is a threat. She’s so scared of people. I really need to get a trainer for us. I hope she’ll calm down as she matures. She can be so sweet sometimes, but that passes quickly. I like her best when she’s completely worn out from playing at doggy daycare.

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    1. Our terriers bark at everyone and everything that passes by. They are hard wired for this. Whenever we have guests, we give the guests two small pieces of cheese and instruct them to tell the dogs to sit, then give the dogs the cheese. The dogs immediately welcome the guests into our pack.

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  6. OT: Mondays have become really busy for me. Maggie goes to daycare at 8:30, and I have a 2-hour knitting class/group at 10 until noon. I have an hour or two to get errands done, then I pick Maggie up by 3:30. I take her for a walk, then I have Spanish class at 4:30 until 6. Then Fiber Friends (fiber crafts) from 6 pm until 8! I didn’t have time to read the blog yesterday, so I’m catching up. I’ve never been a morning person. It takes me forever to come to life. I have been trying to go to bed a bit earlier though.

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  7. On the NICU the interns & residents quickly learned that the nurses really ruled the roost. We could make their lives miserable if they chose to ignore our expertise. The attending physicians recognized this and treated us with the respect we deserved. It was a great place to work (as long as you didn’t antagonize the attendings).

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  8. Oops…. Forgot that I need to log in from my phone. This is K-Two – who is getting ready to move out of assisted living and into an apartment in Roseville. Then need to sell my condo – the final steps in my long medical journey.

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    3. I got it, but immediately deleted it. Jim is the least likely person on the planet, even ahead of you, Bill, who would be sending out an invite using an evite site!!

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  10. It’s not legit. I don’t know if trying to open it is enough for it to achieve its nefarious objective but it has obviously already tapped into Jim’s contact list and maybe yours.

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        2. Can you suggest a particular paragraph from the scriptures that I might write, incorporating those two phrases? Maybe one of the ancestors of Jesus, or one of the lists of kings. Perhaps one of those lists of names from the end of an Epistle…

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        3. Just look for a passage where “evil” is mentioned and substitute “nefarious objectives”. If evil is mentioned twice, insert “noxious actors” for the alternate. Evil can be either the perpetrator or the activity.

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  12. my sales mentor taught me the most important thing in a sales scenario was to find the relationship that the buyerenjoys and plug into it. trying to play chamelion is a death wish

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