Bathrooms -
Always accompany guests to the bathroom. It is not necessary to do
anything. Just sit and stare.
Doors -
Do not allow any closed doors in any room. To get the door open, stand on
hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not
necessary to use it. After you have ordered an "outside" door opened,
stand halfway in and out and pretend to think about several things. This
is particularly important during very cold weather, rain, blowfly or
mosquito season. When a blowfly does get in the house and before human has
a chance to kill it, chase and catch it and while human is watching, eat
the fly making loud crunching sounds at the same time. This is especially
good at human's meal times.
Chairs and Rugs
- If you have to throw up, get to a chair or bed quickly. If you cannot
manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag
carpet is good. When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so
the vomit trail is as long as a humans bare foot.
Hampering
- If one of your humans is engaged in some activity, and the other is
idle, stay with the busy one. This is called "helping", but humans know it
as "hampering".
Following are the rules for hampering:
When supervising cooking, sit
just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby
stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and
comforted.
For book readers, get in close
under their chin, between eyes and book - even better if you can lie
across the book itself.
When human is working at
computer, jump up on desk, walk across keyboard, bat at mouse pointer
on screen, and lay in human's lap across arms, hampering typing in
progress. If there are shelves above the computer desk, jump up and
hide. When the human is engrossed with their typing jump onto
keyboard. This is sure to get a good reaction from human.
Walking
- As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of
the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms,
in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help
with their coordination skills.
Bedtime-
Always sleep on the human at night so she/he cannot move around. At least
five times during the night walk over human's face, this is to assure them
that you are alright.
Litter Box
- When using the litter box, be sure to kick as much litter out of the box
as possible. Humans love the feel of kitty litter between their toes. If
human buys a higher kitty box, pretend for a few days that you can't get
the litter over the sides. Then when the human has cleaned the house, go
to kitty tray and vigorously scratch kitty litter out onto just vacuumed
floor. Spread kitty litter as far as you can.
Hiding -
Every now and then, hide in a place where the humans cannot find you. Do
not come out for three to four hours under any circumstances. This will
cause the humans to panic, which they love to do, thinking that you have
run away or are lost. Once you do come out, the humans will cover you with
kisses and love and you will most probably get a treat.
One Last Thought
- Whenever possible, get close to your humans face, turn around and
present your butt to them. Humans love this, so do it often. PS: Don't
forget the guests, they especially find it appealing.
An open
letter to my pets:
Dear Dogs and Cats:
When I say to move. It means go someplace else, not switch positions
with each other so there are still two of you in the way. The dishes
with the paw prints are yours and contain your food. The other dishes
are mine and contain my food. Please note, placing a paw print in the
middle of my plate and food does not stake a claim for it becoming your
food and dish, nor do I find that aesthetically pleasing in the
slightest.
The stairway was
not designed by NASCAR and is not a racetrack. Beating me to the
bottom is not the object. Tripping me doesn't help, because I fall
faster that you can run.
I cannot buy anything bigger than a
king size bed. I am very sorry about this. Do not think I will
continue to sleep on the couch to ensure your comfort. Look at videos
of dogs and cats sleeping: they
can actually curl up in a ball. Additionally, it is not necessary to
sleep perpendicular to each other stretched out to the fullest extent
possible.
I also know that sticking tails
straight out and having tongues hanging out the other end to maximize
space used is nothing but sarcasm on your part.
For the last time, there is not a
secret exit from the bathroom, if by some miracle I beat you there and
manage to get the door shut, it is not necessary to claw, whine, meow,
try to turn the knob, or get your paw under the edge and try to pull
the door open, I must exit through the same door I entered. In
addition, I have been using bathrooms for years--canine or feline
attendance is not mandatory.
The proper order is kiss me, then go
smell the other dog or cats butt. I cannot stress this enough. It
would be such a simple change for you.
To pacify you I have posted the
following message on our front door...
Rules for Non -Pet Owners Who Visit and Like to
Complain About Our Pets:
1. They live here. You Don't.
2. If you don't want their hair on your clothes, stay off the
furniture.
3. I like my pet a lot better than I like most people.
4. To you, it's an animal. To me they are my adopted children who are
short, hairy, walk on all fours and do not speak clearly. Dogs and
cats are better than kids. They eat less, don't ask for money all the
time, are easier to train, usually come when called, never drive your
car, don't hang out with drug-using friends, don't smoke or drink,
don't worry about buying the latest fashions, don't wear your clothes,
don't need a gazillion dollars for college and if they get pregnant
you can sell the results.
Walking
- As often as possible, dart quickly and as close as possible in front of
the human, especially: on stairs, when they have something in their arms,
in the dark, and when they first get up in the morning. This will help
with their coordination skills.