Gray's antinomy
gray had a rough week, and it's only wednesday.
he usually knows when he's doing something wrong (like climb on the counter, or on the window), and runs away shamefully when we say "NO!" or "DOWN!". but he's also a pig, and apparently for some things he doesnt mind the punishment... as long as he gets what he wants.
for some reason, only since we came back to chicago, he's been coveting Black's food. he would finish his own dinner at the speed of light, and then start eating from Black's plate. Black, on the other hand, is truly his grandma's grandpet, he enjoys every bite, eating slowly (first he licks all the gravy off the plate, and then eats the chunks of wet food one by one). he normally takes 4 times as long to eat his dinner than Gray.
anyway, Gray's piracy is unacceptable, and since Black (for some reason) isn't being assertive (he used to hiss at him, now he doesn't anymore), we take the law into our own hands and smack Gray on the head when he's being bad like that.
he got smacked on the head so many times this week... (he must be thinking, "damn, this food gives me headache"). we know he associates it with dinner, but not sure that he understands the boundaries that well. we know he understands he's being bad. he only forgets.
last night, poor Gray was buzzing around the house pretending to be Michael Schumacher (one of his favorite time passing -- playing Nascar), and jumped all the way from the floor to the window, momentum and everything, and slipped, fell back, and while struggling to catch himself in the air his poor foot got stuck in the window frame. i ran to the rescues, but in the 2.5 seconds it took me to release him, he yelled in pain/hysteria, shooting arms and legs and claws everywhere. my heart was pounding like crazy for a long time afterwards. this is just what we were afraid of, with his eagerness to climb up those windows all the time. well, we are more afraid of what would happen if he falls to the OTHER side of the window.
it doesn't seem like he hurt his toe too bad (he lets me touch it now, nothing's broken), he limped for a while, and wanted to be left alone, but today he's back to his normal behavior.
we had already planed to build him a special shelf that he can sit on, over the opened window, and enjoy the fresh air, and not scare us to death. detailed plans will follow!
3 comments:
An essential truth about animals: You can teach a dog that he should not do something. It's just "wrong." By contrast, the only thing you can teach a cat is "don't get caught doing this." It still isn't wrong--just don't get caught doing it. Grey sounds as if he understands the distinction perfectly. He probably also suspects that the thing he shouldn't get caught doing right now will not be so dangerous if he keeps it up long enough for you guys to give up. I suggest you feed Black in the bathroom or bedroom with the door closed.
The window seat sounds like a good idea.
hmm. that's interesting... it sure explains a lot. on the other hand, gray scrooge is sort of a dog... and he's dumb enough to get caught (black never gives us a reason to think he's bad, but he probably just doesn't get caught, as you said)
for now we watch them while they eat, and make sure nothing bad happens. we also give treats for good behavior.
(if we feed black in the bathroom, he'll just take advantage of the situation and poop in the tub)
Gray has actually learned pretty well the last few days. When he finishes his dinner, he walks/runs out to the hallway or the bedroom. He knows that he gets a headache if he hangs around his dish after he eats, he just could never put together exactly why that happens.
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