Lessons from Sadie

Meet Sadie. She was the orneriest feline this side of the Mississippi. Six pounds soaking wet and independent as a hog on ice. She came to live with us as a birthday gift to me from my husband and she was around to celebrate 16 more birthdays.

She was a give-away, only a year old, spayed and declawed. But what she lacked in size and weapons, she made up for in attitude. She single-handedly cowed all of our greyhounds and many foster dogs besides.

When greyhounds first arrive into our adoption group we need to “cat test” them. This is a very controlled process that doesn’t put the cat in any danger but it tells us whether or not a dog can be safely placed in a home with a kitty. With a lead held tight, one person allows the muzzled dog to slowly approach a kitty, which is being held by a second person (note: you’d rather be the dog holder than the kitty holder). Usually, as the dog approached, Sadie would hiss, and throw a succession of punches at the dog’s nose that would seriously rattle the basket muzzle and, consequently, the dog’s brain. Usually, that’s all it took to cure them of kitty curiosity but there were a few hounds who proved by their persistence that they were unsafe for kitty households.

Sadie got so good at her role as “tester” that she could give us the results even without the test. We could usually tell, just by walking into the house with a new dog what the verdict would be. If she jumped up on a chair (putting herself eye level with the dog) and watched, chances were there was nothing to fear. If she ran under the chair where she was somewhat protected but still visible, we likely had a “cat correctable" hound on our hands, i.e. one who could be taught that cats are not, in fact, fast food. If she disappeared into the narrow space between the wall and the back of the couch, there was no need to do further testing. This would be a dog who needed to live in a kitty-free zone.

The only hound who ever buffaloed all of us was our own Frosty. During the cat test, Frosty backed off a respectable distance and refused to approach Sadie again. But a couple of days later, Sadie went racing across the deck and Frosty had her before I could open my mouth. Fortunately, Frosty was interested only in the chase, not in a meal. She pinned Sadie to the deck for only a moment and immediately released her when I hollered. Sadie stood up, hissed, slapped Frosty across the nose and disappeared around the corner. I know how lucky we were. I had set the dog up to fail by forgetting the cardinal rule: a cat lounging around the house is not the same as a cat racing across the yard.

We watched Frosty and Sadie together very closely thereafter, but that was the only incident. I think Frosty just wanted to prove she could do it. It was a lesson for all of us. Frosty learned that was a forbidden behavior, we humans learned how lightning fast Frosty is and Sadie learned to move slowly in the presence of greyhounds.

Over time, tolerance turned to curiosity and perhaps even friendship.