[PyrNet-L] Teenagers/dogs/cats

["Merrilie" <Grammy@biddeford.com>]

I rec'd this from another list I am on--- I was commenting that puppies are
like teenagers..... enjoy this!
Merrilie
>
> CHILDREN  AS  PETS
>
>  THE CAT YEARS
> I just realized that while children are dogs - loyal and affectionate -
> teenagers are cats. It's so easy to be a dog owner. You feed it,
> train it, boss it around. It puts it's head on your knee and gazes
> at you as if you were a Rembrandt painting. It bounds indoors
> with enthusiasm when you call it.
>
> Then around age 13, your adoring little puppy turns into a big old
> cat. When you tell it to come inside, it looks amazed, as if
> wondering who died and made you emperor.  Instead of dogging
> your doorsteps, it disappears. You won't see it again until it gets
> hungry -- then it pauses on its sprint through the kitchen long
> enough to turn its nose up at whatever you're serving. When you
> reach out to ruffle its head, in that old affectionate gesture, it
> twists away from you, then gives you a blank stare, as if trying
> to remember where it has seen you before.
>
> You, not realizing that the dog is now a cat, think something
> must be desperately wrong with it.  It seems so antisocial, so
> distant, sort of depressed.  It won't go on family outings.
>
> Since you're the one who raised it, taught it to fetch and stay
> and  sit on command, you assume that you did something
> wrong. Flooded  with guilt and fear, you redouble your efforts
> to make your pet behave.
>
> Only now you're dealing with a cat, so everything that worked
> before now produces the opposite of the desired result. Call it,
> and it runs away. Tell it to sit, and it jumps on the counter.
> The more you go toward it, wringing your hands, the more it
> moves away.
>
> Instead of continuing to act like a dog owner, you can learn to
> behave like a cat owner.  Put a dish of food near the door, and
> let it come to you. But remember that a cat needs your help
> and your affection too. Sit still, and it will come, seeking that
> warm, comforting lap it has not entirely forgotten. Be there to
> open the door for it.
>
> One day your grown-up child will walk into the kitchen, give you
> a big kiss and say, "You've been on your feet all day. Let me
> get those dishes for you."
>
> Then you'll realize your cat is a dog again.