fighting like cats and dogs...
Jun. 8th, 2010 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarea
So... things have deteriorated on the doggie/kitty front.
Things have gotten worse. I think initially, they were both somewhat in shock and getting used to things. Now, lines have been drawn.
Jaime has learned to be afraid of Talis. Before, he could tolerate a couple of growls and not frighten away; now he's intimidated by the least posturing from Talis. It's gotten so that he's even shyer with me. Before, he used to be braver about coming up to me or me moving around/going up to him; now he's almost always ready to take flight. After a bit of coaxing he'll usually come to me, and he loves being petted, but it doesn't seem like it's with the same abandon as before.
Talis has not relented about the bed one bit. In fact, last night he planted himself next to me from the outset, which he usually never does, and Jaime tried 3 or 4 times to get on the bed without being chased off, to no success. A couple of times Talis was actively barking and threatening; another couple of times he just growled a bit and it was enough to daunt Jaime into jumping off. When I got up in the middle of the night, I found Jaime asleep on the big round pet bed (which was Talis's) on the floor at the foot of the bed. It was such a sad little sight. So for the first time, Jaime didn't sleep with me. :( I kept waking up in the night, hoping to see him on the bed, but I guess he just gave up. :((
If Jaime doesn't make a stand, he's just going to be alienated and I don't want that to happen. A couple of times I tried to put him on the bed myself, but I guess he was too afraid of Talis and jumped off pretty much right away. It was better when he was less anxious about Talis, like in the beginning, because if he just settled down and went to sleep, ignoring Talis, Talis would have no recourse. But nor do I want to make Talis feel like he's being replaced, because the whole point of having gotten Jaime was to keep him company.
So now I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I've already come to love Jaime -- he is SO SWEET -- but maybe this isn't the best environment for him. I don't want him to be living in fear. I mean, he feels free to play as he will, it's not like he's never seen and is just constantly hiding under the bed or furniture, but is it really fair to him? Should I surrender him back to the shelter so that he can be placed in a less stressful home? Or are animals like Jaime so in need of good homes that even my home with this situation is OK?
I mean, I know that I'm rushing it a bit, it hasn't even been a week, but I just feel like certain patterns are developing in these early days and I didn't like what I saw last night. Part of the problem could be that right after I got Jaime, I was around pretty much constantly over the weekend. Yesterday was the first day that I was gone pretty much the entire day, so I don't know if that made him more antsy/insecure. I'm going to try to work from home for part of tomorrow to try to be around more and hopefully that will help. I know these things do take time, but I don't want them to fall into this irreversible cycle of being enemies. :/
I totally ordered a webcam yesterday so that I can install it and spy on Talis and Jaime while I'm away.
I guess tonight is supposed to be the Glee finale? Seems odd. It seems like barely any build up for what is supposed to be a big showdown. I mean, VA was shown as 'the impossible team to beat' from the very first episode.
Has anyone else heard of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson? The first book is called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm thinking about buying the trilogy because I'm like #489 on the holds list at the library, and something equally ridiculous on Paperback Swap.
OMG and I have overdue books at the library. This is the first time it's happened and I don't even know HOW. I'm usually very good about that kind of thing. I feel like such a bad member of society.
Things have gotten worse. I think initially, they were both somewhat in shock and getting used to things. Now, lines have been drawn.
Jaime has learned to be afraid of Talis. Before, he could tolerate a couple of growls and not frighten away; now he's intimidated by the least posturing from Talis. It's gotten so that he's even shyer with me. Before, he used to be braver about coming up to me or me moving around/going up to him; now he's almost always ready to take flight. After a bit of coaxing he'll usually come to me, and he loves being petted, but it doesn't seem like it's with the same abandon as before.
Talis has not relented about the bed one bit. In fact, last night he planted himself next to me from the outset, which he usually never does, and Jaime tried 3 or 4 times to get on the bed without being chased off, to no success. A couple of times Talis was actively barking and threatening; another couple of times he just growled a bit and it was enough to daunt Jaime into jumping off. When I got up in the middle of the night, I found Jaime asleep on the big round pet bed (which was Talis's) on the floor at the foot of the bed. It was such a sad little sight. So for the first time, Jaime didn't sleep with me. :( I kept waking up in the night, hoping to see him on the bed, but I guess he just gave up. :((
If Jaime doesn't make a stand, he's just going to be alienated and I don't want that to happen. A couple of times I tried to put him on the bed myself, but I guess he was too afraid of Talis and jumped off pretty much right away. It was better when he was less anxious about Talis, like in the beginning, because if he just settled down and went to sleep, ignoring Talis, Talis would have no recourse. But nor do I want to make Talis feel like he's being replaced, because the whole point of having gotten Jaime was to keep him company.
So now I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place. I've already come to love Jaime -- he is SO SWEET -- but maybe this isn't the best environment for him. I don't want him to be living in fear. I mean, he feels free to play as he will, it's not like he's never seen and is just constantly hiding under the bed or furniture, but is it really fair to him? Should I surrender him back to the shelter so that he can be placed in a less stressful home? Or are animals like Jaime so in need of good homes that even my home with this situation is OK?
I mean, I know that I'm rushing it a bit, it hasn't even been a week, but I just feel like certain patterns are developing in these early days and I didn't like what I saw last night. Part of the problem could be that right after I got Jaime, I was around pretty much constantly over the weekend. Yesterday was the first day that I was gone pretty much the entire day, so I don't know if that made him more antsy/insecure. I'm going to try to work from home for part of tomorrow to try to be around more and hopefully that will help. I know these things do take time, but I don't want them to fall into this irreversible cycle of being enemies. :/
I totally ordered a webcam yesterday so that I can install it and spy on Talis and Jaime while I'm away.
I guess tonight is supposed to be the Glee finale? Seems odd. It seems like barely any build up for what is supposed to be a big showdown. I mean, VA was shown as 'the impossible team to beat' from the very first episode.
Has anyone else heard of the Millennium trilogy by Stieg Larsson? The first book is called The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I'm thinking about buying the trilogy because I'm like #489 on the holds list at the library, and something equally ridiculous on Paperback Swap.
OMG and I have overdue books at the library. This is the first time it's happened and I don't even know HOW. I'm usually very good about that kind of thing. I feel like such a bad member of society.
