It's Like Herding Cats...

While I was at work this morning, Doug sent me a text, "Your doggie just herded the cats into their room. It was kind of awesome to watch."


For those of you that have forgotten, Denali is an Australian Shepherd. Her mom (and dad, RIP Spur) work(ed) a 25,000 acre cattle farm in New Mexico. So, she comes from working herding stock.

We've had the two cats since before she came to live with us. The cats were kittens when we got them and we had a dog then, so the cats are used to dogs. There's usually no problem with them.

I've never seen Denali herd anything except for a gangly 13-year old boy at the dog park, who thought it was fun to run through the park, holding a stick above his head and watching a pack of dogs run after him. Did I tell you this story already? Well, Denali saw the commotion and felt like she needed to take control; she ran straight across the park. She did not circle the group, but instead ran right in front of the boy and tripped him. UP in the air he went. He flipped, heels over head and landed flat on his back. His glasses went flying off his face and landed 5 feet away. I apologized to him and his mother, but also warned him that there are "herding dogs" in this park and running around like he did would bring out the instinct in these dogs and it could happen again. He kept his running to a minimum after that. (He also told my dog, "I don't like you" as he continued to tease the other dogs with the stick and she followed ALL his commands. After a while, he saw how awesomely obedient she was to his commands and he finally gave her a chance.)

Evidently, this morning, my monster-cat, Ula was up on our stove. We don’t allow the cats on the counters or tables, but they get up there when we’re not around or not paying attention to them. Poor Ula. He’s so naughty. He gets into EVERYthing. We often call his name curtly and it has conditioned Denali to go “on alert.” Usually she just goes to find him and gently pounces on him to say, “Hey! Stop that!”

I don’t think Doug even saw Ula on the stove until after Denali got agitated. He said Denali saw Ula on the stove and went into herding mode. I’m not sure how it all happened but she also rounded up the other cat, Mr. Whiskers (typical cat, happy to lie around all day; he doesn’t usually get into too much) and sent them both into their room (a small nook off our kitchen that has folding louvered doors; we keep their box and food in there. We also lock the cats up in there to keep Ula out of everything at night and when we leave the house.)

After it was all over, Doug was so awestruck, he gave her a “cookie.”