A Breakthrough Moment

Before I get into the good news I have regarding a possible breakthrough with Sam and Margot yesterday evening, I wanted to give a heads up about Kristy’s missing cat, Posey, just in case anyone who reads this blog also happens to live near me on the Southside of Huntington.  We’re all very worried about Posey because she is not an outdoor cat, and she is also an excellent hider, so she is probably very frightened and hiding out somewhere.  We have been putting the word out through Facebook and other social media sites, and Kristy posted this ad on Craigslist this morning, but so far we haven’t had any luck finding her.

Kristy and Posey

I really hate this for Kristy because her cats are her babies, which is something I understand completely.  Not only that, but Kristy is a HUGE animal lover and even recently spent several days taking care of a stray cat that just showed up on her doorstep one day.  She did everything she could to find the cat’s owner, and even offered to pay to have the cat spayed if the owner couldn’t be found and someone else wanted to adopt her (with three cats and a turtle already living in their apartment, Kristy simply wasn’t able to take her in).  Thankfully, she was successful in finding the cat’s owner and was thrilled the day she reunited Sage (the lost kitty) with her mommy.  So, believe me, if anyone deserves to have their lost cat found, it’s Kristy.  Again, if you live on the Southside and think you may have seen Posey, please reply to Kristy’s ad on Craigslist immediately.

Okay, so as I mentioned earlier, Margot and Sam may have had a little breakthrough last night.   After I got home from work, Margot was being her usual, playful self and pestering Sam, so I tried to distract her by starting up a game of ball.  Margot was so full of energy that she insisted I chase her around the house in order to retrieve the ball from her.  As we were playing, Sam started barking, but it wasn’t her usual “annoyed-with-Margot” type of bark.  I actually recognized it as the same type of bark that Sam used to give whenever Lexie and I would play a game of chase with one of Lexie’s stuffed animals.  Sometimes, Sam would get so excited watching me chase Lexie around that she’d start barking, and eventually she’d even jump in, grab the stuffed animal, and start playing tug with Lou.  

Needless to say, I was really surprised when I realized that Sam was barking out of excitement rather than annoyance, but I immediately encouraged her to join in.  Then, to my further amazement, Sam actually started playing with Margot!  I grabbed my phone, of course, because no one else was home, and I wanted to have proof of this incredible moment.

Sam and Margot’s playtime only lasted a few minutes before Justin got home from work, and they ended their game in order to greet him.  After that, Sam was no longer interested in playing with Margot, but just the fact that she played with her for a few minutes was enough to put me (and Margot, I’m sure) on Cloud 9!  Margot continued to pester Sam off and on for the rest of the evening, but each time she did I would wait a few minutes to gauge Sam’s reaction, and when I could tell that Sam had had enough, I’d distract Margot with a new game.   Overall, though, I would say that it was a much improved evening compared to the night before, especially considering the fact that Sam actually played with Margot, if only for a moment.  (I’m still in shock.)

12-Week Progress Report

Margot is 12 weeks-old today!  Before I get into her progress report, though, I kind of wanted to apologize for yesterday’s super depressing blog post.  I’m happy to report, however, that I’m feeling a little better today.    My overall situation hasn’t changed, unfortunately, but it’s rare that I will stay as upset as I was yesterday for more than just a day or two.  If I allow myself a whole day to just wallow in self-pity and bawl my eyes out, eventually I’ll reach the point where I simply can’t stand feeling so down anymore, and I’ll find a way to pull myself out of it. 

Yesterday evening, Margot helped greatly in that endeavor.  Justin was spending the evening with some friends and Ashley was visiting her family in Ohio, so I asked Zach and Kristy if I could bring Margot over to their place because I really didn’t want to spend the evening at home alone.  I’m so glad that I went over there, too, because I spent the entire evening talking about wedding plans with Kristy and playing ball with Margot for the first time.  In fact, I felt like last night was the first time that Margot had ever REALLY played with me, like interactively.   She plays all the time, of course, but usually I just sit on the floor cross-legged and let her flop into my lap as she chews on one of her toys.   I’ve tried playing ball with her once or twice before, but she couldn’t seem to figure out that she’s supposed to retrieve the ball after I roll it across the room and then bring it back to me. 

Last night at Zach and Kristy’s, though, Margot finally grasped the concept of how to play ball!  She especially loved it when I would grip the ball while it was still in her mouth and kind of “whip” her back and forth until the ball wiggled free from her grasp.  Sometimes, after retrieving the ball, she’d start making that back-and-forth motion on her own before I even had the chance to do it to her!  (I had Kristy take a video of this because it’s hard to explain, and I also wanted Justin to see it when he got home.)

My other favorite part about playing ball with Margot was when she’d sort of hide on the opposite side of the coffee table and peek at me under the table with her butt still up in the air.   I would then assume the same position to peek back at her, and she would quickly “hide” behind one of the table legs.  We would play this little game of Hide-and-Seek for a few minutes until she’d finally dart past me in hopes that I would try to grab the ball from her as she ran by.  She would run past me several times like this before finally stopping and allowing me to grip the ball so that I could whip her back and forth again. 

As I’m writing this, I realize that I’m describing our little game in such detail that one might think that I actually believed Margot and I invented the entire concept of “playing ball” last night.  Haha!  I’m sorry.  I’m just excited about it because, like I said, it was the first time Margot had ever played an actual interactive game with me, and it was so much fun!  It was great exercise for her, too. 

Okay, so I guess that learning how to play ball should be a part of Margot’s 12-week progress report.  Unfortunately, because we spent all last week at the beach, I don’t have much else to add in terms of specific milestones or achievements.  I will say that Margot is now able to crawl up onto the couch all by herself (and it’s the cutest thing to watch), she seems to be in the early teething phase, and she’s able to “hold it” for longer periods of time when she’s in her crate.  The biggest thing I’ve noticed about Margot this week, however, is something that I also mentioned in yesterday’s blog, which is how well-behaved Margot is for her age.  When she plays, most of the time she just lays on her doggy bed in the living room and chews on her stuffed animals or her bones.  Every now and then she’ll get up and wander around the house looking for something new to get into (mostly shoes or some type of paper), but as soon as we tell her “no” and take that item away from her, she just goes right back to playing with her toys.  If she decides she wants to join me and/or Justin on the couch, all we have to do is hold the Nylabone for her, and she is perfectly content just lying there beside us, chewing on her bone while we watch TV.  Quite often, we will catch her watching TV with us while she’s gnawing on her bone, which always cracks me up.

Unfortunately, we’re still working on the housebreaking, as Margot still doesn’t clearly indicate when she needs to use the bathroom.  I know I shouldn’t consider this “progress,” but I’m actually kind of thankful that at least she’s started having her accidents in the kitchen instead of on the carpet because they’re much easier to clean up!  I would also like to think that the reason why she’s having her accidents in the kitchen now is because she is at least attempting to go outside on her own.  We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing, though, and hopefully she’ll eventually start whining or something when she sees that the kitchen door is shut instead of just having an accident.