Punkin and Duncan

During the days, my companions are the animals that inhabit the farm with me.  Besides the cattle we are home for three black and white tom cats, two yellow cats that have adopted us (we think a male and female but they aren't friendly, just hungry) and something that lives under the trailer.  We hope it's a cat, since we do have several families of feral cats that come around occasionally, but it could be just about anything.  We also have a dog and a cat that live with us in the house.

A couple of years ago we lost our last dog left over from the kids.  A strange old beagle that our daughter had adopted from her brief stint as a volunteer at the humane society while in college.  I decided that I would finally get to choose a pet that was mine.  I researched, talked to breeders,  went to dog shows and researched some more.  After a lot of looking I decided I had found the perfect dog.  I didn't want a puppy. I'd had enough of babies, but I did want a dog young enough to bond with us.  I loved our collies that we had had so I decided I wanted another one.  However, I sure didn't enjoy the grooming required for their massive coats.  To my amazement I discovered you can have a short haired collie.  They are called smooth coat collies and they really are purebred collies.  Surprisingly, I found a dog that met all my requirements. 

So my grandson and I set off for far western Kentucky to pick up my new dog.  It was a great trip (I highly recommend trips with grandchildren.  You learn a lot.)  We located the breeder and loaded up our new dog and made the long trip home.  He was just what I wanted.  Young, only about 6 months old and raised by a breeder that believed in dogs being pets.   So we acquired Halcyon's Duncan of Averbrae, or Duncan for short.

He is a perfect dog, well mannered, tolerant of all the kids, loving and quiet.  However, he does have a few quirks.  I wanted a dog that would be mine and boy is he ever mine.  He follows me every step I make.  In the door, out the door, in the door, out the door--sometimes I want to just tell him to wait.  I'll be right back out!  He also doesn't like men.  A little problem since he barks at all the guys that tend to show up at the farm.  (I guess it is from being raised by a divorcee that didn't have a lot of guy friends).  He also has a best friend. 

Last fall someone donated a little orange kitten to our menagerie.  To our surprise Duncan quickly adopted the kitten as his own personal playmate.  He would sit patiently while the little kitten chased his tail or attacked his ears.  He would watch protectively while the little mite slept peacefully cuddled in his side.  The biggest problem was that he wanted his playmate with him all the time.  That meant that he wanted him inside with him.  I didn't want another house cat but somehow I got overruled by the two friends.  So now I live with a orange cat and a orange colored dog. 

Duncan will stand at the door and bark until I let Punkin, the cat, in.  The cat is tolerant of Duncan's rather rough playing, allowing the dog to roll her around the living room.  When she has had enough she just jumps out of reach.  Duncan also is her protector.  He doesn't like any of the toms to come around her, since they have shown they resent the special treatment she gets.  They wander the yard like a funny old couple, both about the same color, but one big and one little.

I don't know what makes their friendship so deep.  They, by all rights, should be antagonists.  Dogs chase cats, cats run.  That is the way of things.  However, for these two they are best friends and form a pack of two.   We have decided that if we are to have one of them then we must also have the other.  So when I go to hang up clothes I go with a dog and a cat.  We pick beans together, weed flower beds together and take walks together.

 I guess it's just a two for one sale.