Mocha & Tiger

Ok - I'm just not an animal person. We didn't have dogs growing up. I viewed them as extra work and never did see how someone could get so attached to an animal! Well, when Chrissy and Tyler moved, they couldn't take their dog with them. They asked us if we wanted her. Randy had wanted a dog for SOOOOOO long. And this dog was an outside dog. So I thought ok, I could handle this. So when we moved into our house, we inherited a dog. I was surprised at how much I quickly came to love this dog! She is so sweet natured and does well with the kids.

She does have one MAJOR flaw. This dog LOVES to escape out of the back yard. It drives me INSANE!!!! At first we saw her wiggle through a tiny opening in the back behind the shed. So Randy propped up some plywood and that helped (momentarily). Then we saw her scale a tree stump that was sort of grown into the fence. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it. Randy found some barbed wire and wrapped it around the top, so that stopped her for awhile. Then she figured out how to move the plywood and escape from the back again. Ugh!!! Randy got some zip ties and finally - finally fixed the problem She hasn't escaped now for about 2 weeks.

The funniest thing about when she escapes is that she won't come to us when we call her. We finally figured out that she loves the car. So all we have to do is drive down the road to where we find her, call her name, and she comes running to hop into the car. One day we found her across the street. Randy had to back the Saturn out of the driveway, get Mocha into the car, and then pull back into the driveway. Crazy dog!!

Well....a few weeks ago, my friend Rachel asked us if we wanted a cat. Randy is allergic to cats so we can't have an indoor one. But this is an outdoor cat. Even Randy agreed that it would be ok to have one. So we chose Tiger. She was so sweet when we first saw her. Last Friday she was finally weaned and old enough to come live with us. The kids were so excited! They played with her for hours and hours. We put her on the back porch to see how she and Mocha would get along. Bad news...Mocha does not like Tiger!! She lunges at her and barks like crazy every time she can see her on the porch. Poor kitty. After several days, they seem to be tolerating each other a little better. But for now, the kitty will live on the back porch. She seems to be happy as can be and has already learned how to use the litter box. I even find myself sneaking out to play with her when the kids are in bed. :)

If you had told me a year ago that we would own a cat AND a dog, I would have told you that you were crazy. I guess we all can change!