I knew I was feeling very stressed out from a combination of things going on with my husband, work and having work done around the house. Well, my stress-o-meters (my 80 pound female golden retriever and golden/yellow lab) exploded from all the stress I have been under lately. They had an altercation (read fight) this morning. The good news is that I caught it very early and pulled them apart before any real damage was done. The bad news is, their fighting always shows how much stress I am under and have been under.
Looking back, the clues were there the dogs and my cats were picking up on my emotions as all of them have been doing a lot more hovering lately. They always do this when I am upset.
The good news is that after I got them split up and disciplined and then stopped shaking, I got my cry that has been bottling up inside me. I really hate it when they suffer because of what is going on in my head.
I had the opposite experience. My son, daughter-in-law, and their dog, who live in VA, were visiting. I'm in IL. My son and I were having the argument that many people here have talked about. He didn't see anything wrong with his dad, the doctor's report (which he read) didn't sound that bad, I was exaggerating things, don't bother him until there is really something wrong. I was upset and beginning to cry - seems reasonable to me. My son's dog walked over to me, put one paw on my lap, and licked my hands and arms to comfort me. The dog understood, even if my son didn't! I never really wanted a dog, but I decided if I could have that one, I'd take him!
My 1 1/2 yr old miniature schnauzer always ran and got into this cage when I lost patience with my husband. It upset the dog more than it did my hubby. The dog loves us both and couldn't handle the yelling...shame on me.
Dewdrop, a friend was at the house one day recently and got a call from his son. He got very upset with his son even though it didn't show in his voice or actions, one of my dogs picked up on it and started winding around his feet to comfort him. He was so surprised that she did that and hadn't even realized that she was picking up on his emotions until I pointed it out.
My main point was that I was getting overstressed and reaching a breaking point. The dogs picked up on it and reacted. The clues were there in their behavior and if I had been able to and payed more attention to them, I could have avoided the whole fight between them just by adjusting my behavior. I do know that this is their pattern as they also had a couple of major fights when my husband was in the psych ward last year. Those particular fights involved trips to the vet and stitches.
Yes. It's true. Even our little 15 week old black kitty acts weird if I get a bit stressed. He hops up on my lap and climbs up my frong and puts his head under my chin. Then he gets up higher and licks my cheek. That little rough tongue tickles and makes me laugh. What a cute little black stress reducer. He's such a beautiful little furry guy. And you wanna know what his favorite toy is??? A wadded up piece of aluminum foil. He bats it around on the kitchen floor for the longest time. Then he gets so pooped out and takes a really long nap. What a joy!!
Our cat, Topsy is now 2 years old and settled into adulthood. We have kept her, in the laundry room at night until last week and I let her have the run of the house. She seems a bit confused about her newfound freedom because she was perfectly happy with her bedroom quarters. It was me wanting company. She spends most of the night on the foot of my bed but the last 2 nights I have noticed her spending part of the time on the hall rug between my room and DH. Last night I heard him get up and Topsy gave a "kitty watchcat noise alert". I think she is keeping an eye on him.
It''s not a good trade. Bill didn't care for cats walking on his head during the night and of course I honored his wishes by keeping the cats confined during the night. Our earlier house had a large laundry room with a huge window. Our current house has a small laundry room with no window. I felt badly keeping the cats in there but they didn't seem to mind. Now that I am home alone the cats have run of the house (and my life). Both of them sleep with me and I enjoy their company-even a cool wet nose from time to time. I really would prefer my husband back.