Spoiled rotten corgi?

Rogue is apparently used to living in the lap of luxury – well, at least as luxurious as you can get for a corgi living in my house.  Even though she’s always had her own dog bed, and will still camp out on her dog bed if necessary to keep the cats from using it, she quickly found that there are other, equally as comfortable places to sleep around the house. 

For example:

The Sofa

The Bed

Then last weekend, Rogue and I were out at my mother’s house.  At first, I didn’t think I’d have to worry about where Rogue would want to curl up and sleep, because she was so busying bouncing around the house that it seemed doubtful she would ever sleep.  Then the inexplicable happened – as my mother was sitting in her recliner, Rogue jumped up in her lap, curled up, and started snoozing.  Rogue could have flopped out on the floor or jumped up on the sofa where we had put a blanket for her, but no, she decided to go for the lap.
So here are the only theories I’ve been able to come up with to explain this behavior:

1. Rogue thinks she’s a cat.
2. Rogue really liked the warmth and feel of the fleece blanket, even if it was a bit lumpy underneath.
3. The dog really is a genius, because she figured the human would grow so tired of having a 25 lb. dog sprawled on her lap that she would get up, leaving the pre-warmed spot on the recliner all to Rogue!

Cats & Corgis

Back on November 3, Rogue turned 6 years old.  I can still hardly believe this fuzzball has been in my life for 6 years – why, 6 years means 4,380 feedings, at least 7,000 walks, upwards of 10,000 treats, at least $2,000 of vet bills, and I don’t even want to estimate the grooming bills!

But one constant over the 6 years has been the on-going dog/cat war in my house.  When I first brought Rogue home, Sophie growled and hissed, but I thought that within a few months, they’d be curled up together like best buddies.  Oh, was I wrong!  First, you need to understand that Sophie was a stray kitten found on the streets of Newark, NJ – in other words, she’s a tough little kitty.  And a bit psychotic.  Ok, well, more than psychotic…she is so insistent on being the center of attention that to this day (and I’ve had her 10 years) she will fling herself at a closed door just to get into the room I’m in. 

But I digress from the main point, which is that the combination of a psychotic cat who has a severe attachment disorder with a playful corgi who’s insistent on trying to herd said psychotic cat can make for one frazzled cat & corgi mom!  Rogue will try to move in on Sophie for the herd, little nub wagging away, and Sophie will commence the growling.  When Rogue crosses the invisible line, Sophie lets out a hiss and a swipe, and streaks toward some other part of the house.  Rogue, now thinking this is a game of “catch me if you can!”, takes off after Sophie (butt still wagging, which is hilarious looking if it happens to be poked out from underneath the bed!).  This is the point where the barking starts…

…and so my daily routine for the past 6 years has also included upwards of 5,000 exclamations of “Rogue!  Sophie!  Stop the fighting!!!” 




See…this is not a cat you want to mess with!