Cleo and Cassie's Christmas Story

This is Cleo, an eight-year-old maltese that has been a key member of our family since 2005.  She is generally quiet, shy and docile.  She derives great pleasure from eating, she is a bit overweight, and having her backside scratched.  

Cleo is a warrior.  This past September doctors discovered a "stage three" mast cell tumor on her back, near her tail.  The news shook our household, and an operation was quickly scheduled.  Two doctors worked for three hours to remove the tumor and surrounding tissue.  Cleo has been on chemotherapy since, and all of her subsequent check ups have shown no recurrence of the cancer.

So mild mannered Cleo was excited when we decided to take her to Colorado for her annual Christmas vacation.  The second she sees her white travel case her heartbeat quickens as she crawls into it with great enthusiasm.  

The airport routine was the same as it has been for eight years.  Just before we board the plane, I take Cleo into the men's room and drop a wee-wee pad on the floor of a stall.  Cleo gets out of her case and relieves herself.  She then hops back into the bag.

On the airplane, Cleo rests on the floor in her case for the five-hour flight.  She doesn't make a sound.  Occasionally, she repositions herself in the bag, allowing her head to pop out of the opening.  When we arrive in Denver, I carry her to the nearest men's room, place a pad on the floor of a stall, and watch her relieve herself.  She then jumps back into the case.  

We always stay at the same hotel in Ft. Collins.  Cleo knows it so well that she frequently leads our family through the automatic doors, up the hall and onto the elevator.  Many of the staff members have come to know Cleo and welcome her with scratches on her back.  Cleo feels at home.  Neither snow nor cold bothers her, although she does not like walking on the salt.  

Because her white hair blends in with the snow, we wrap her in a dark coat so we don't lose sight of her.  It also keeps her warm.  But she often sits inside my brother's house, and tends to hang out near the Christmas tree.  When the family gathers to open gifts, Cleo watches with great interest.  

Cleo is a wonderful traveler, which is more than can be said for her younger sister Cassie.  Cassie is an eighteen-month-old pomeranian.  She is endlessly curious, totally self-assured, and a whirling dervish of energy, therefore, not able to travel on an airplane.   At first, the two dogs were like fire and water: two totally opposite temperaments.  It appeared that they would never get along with each other.  But, over time, they have become very close.

Cassie stayed with a friend while we were away.  But when we returned to our New York City home, she was excited to see us.  But she was even more excited to be with her sister, Cleo, and, no doubt, the two spent time exchanging stories of their Christmas adventures!  

Cassie Sleeps

Just let sleeping dogs lie. Right Cassie?

Cassie the Pomeranian

Cleo and Cassie

A dog may be man's best friend, but two can sure raise a ruckus!  That is the lesson we have learned when we expanded our family by one dog. 

Cleo is a sweet and docile Maltese who has lived with us for more than seven years.  From the very beginning she was a wonderful and loving pet.  While she was feisty and playful as a young puppy, she settled down into a quiet and loving routine as she grew older.  Of course, being a lap dog, she craves human companionship.  Since our family members have very busy schedules, she relies on the care of our live in nanny on weekdays.  We call our nanny the "danny", or dog nanny.

Cleo only barks when the doorbell rings.  Then she offers each visitor an opportunity to scratch her back.  It is always funny watching her back up into a stranger's leg.  Most shopkeepers and neighbors know Cleo, and say hello. Meanwhile, Cleo has cultivated friendships with other neighborhood dogs, made during her daily walks.

Cleo also loves to travel.  She is quiet and calm on airplanes for hours at a time.  She is an annual guest at the Hilton Hotel in Ft. Collins, where she enters confidently, walking in and out of automatic doors with purpose.  It is an amusing site to see.  She navigates the snow and frigid temperatures of Vail, Colorado, although it can be hard to detect her whereabouts in the white snow. 

Cleo was the queen empress of our household.  But that changed this past September.

Cassie and Cleo on Valentine's Day

Enter Cassie, a purebred Pomeranian puppy.  Cassie is brash, endlessly curious, overly energetic and tireless.  This dog thinks she is the center of the universe.  At seven months, she is already a bit taller than Cleo, although much of her mass is hair.  She is a puffball.

She loves to play fetch.  She yips and whines to get attention.  She barks shrilly when someone rings the doorbell, competing with Cleo's more traditional bark.  Together, their dissonance can be grating.

Getting these two polar opposites to come together can be quite challenging.  Cassie pokes Cleo with her nose, prodding her for a play date.  Cleo, already jealous about having to share her family with this intruder, responds by diving under a nearby sofa or bed.  If Cleo is trapped, she growls and lunges at Cassie with great ferocity.  Of course, Cassie thinks it's a game.  So human intervention is constantly required.

The dogs now pretty much live separate lives in the same house on different floors.  At least twice a day the dogs are placed in the same room together.  While there has been some progress, we have a long way to go.  Cassie is an early riser; she sounds the alarm by 6am.  Cleo is content to sleep late.  Cassie will chew on anything in reach, pens, paper cups, and even shoes.  Cleo has no interest in such trivialities.

I have taken the dogs on walks together on several occasions.  Cassie walks with swagger, her nose held high in the air, as she pulls me forward.  A nearby shopkeeper calls her sassy.  Cleo walks with caution, her nose to the ground, as she lags way behind me.  Cassie bounces and darts from one point to the next.  Cleo is methodical and predictable.  At times they crisscross and tangle up their leashes.  One thing for sure, these ladies just don't ever agree on anything.

Cleo will celebrate her eighth birthday this summer, while Cassie celebrates her first.  A joint birthday party is planned--although it may be held on separate floors.  

So it goes with our perky Pomeranian and mellow Maltese.

Cleo Stress Tests

It has been a rough weekend for Cleo. She has been emersed in her mid term exam studies, slogging through science, math, Latin and the American constitution, working like a dog!

There are four critical exams this week covering the entire year's studies. Does she know the difference between the sixth amendment and the tenth amendment? Does she understand the difference between a divergent and a convergent plate? Can she solve and plot a series of complicated percentages? Carpe Diem, as they say!

Amidst all the work and pressure, Cleo has had trouble sleeping and eating. Her school work is truly dogging her. She paced back and forth from one bedroom to another several times at night in search of peace and tranquility. While she was able to take a moment's comfort eating her dry meal and lapping up some water from her bowl, the anxiety weighed heavily on her. Most troubling were the whimpering and growling sounds emanating from deep inside her soul as she slept. She was living a nightmare. As a consequence she was dog tired most of the day.

But if you count Cleo out you'll be barking up the wrong tree! Down deep inside she knows she can do well. Yes, you may not be able to teach an old dog new tricks. But Cleo is still a young lady, and she has great pedigree!

Cleo

Alas, there comes a time in every child's life when they will want their own dog. That time came a few years ago when our then eight year old daughter, Zoe, pleaded and even pledged to help care for a new dog. She had already selected a name: "Agony." I was not optimistic.

Days later Zoe and I bought a beautiful yellow Labrador puppy at the neighborhood pet store. We brought the feisty little dog home and tried our best to train her. But Agony was quite a handful. That night, shortly after she got home from work, Mom had a severe allergic reaction (or panic attack). After a night of personal agony, Mom's brother agreed to take Agony home with him and end our agony. He renamed her Daisy and she is now a beautiful ninety pounds.

Zoe and I tried again a few months later. This time we wanted a small hypoallergenic dog with a calm temperament. Working through a breeder, Zoe and I were introduced to a four-pound four-week old Maltese with sweet eyes and shy demeanor. Moments later Zoe was carrying her "Cleo" home.

Cleo immediately became the center of attention in our household, the Empress. She demanded body contact with a human at all times. First she would offer her butt and seem to say, "I like you, give me a scratch." She backs into your leg or sits on your foot if you are standing. She jumps up into your lap and offers you her back if you are seated. She will stalk you from room to room, even up and down the stairs. She never wants to be alone.

Cleo is the official greeter in our home. She barks and runs to the front door when the doorbell rings. She will enthusiastically greet whoever is at the door, wiggling her tail, jumping up and down and sniffing the person. If it is someone she knows she will insist on being picked up so she can lick their face. On the other hand, if you try to leave her alone at home she will hide under a bed in an effort to avoid being confined to quarters.

Cleo understands several words. For instance, she knows that "outside" means she's going outside. We have been forced to speak in code. The word "walk" is now the reverse: "klaw." But Cleo appears to be catching on so we are now considering switching languages. What's Chinese for walk?

Cleo will not go out in rain, snow, cold or heavy winds. In other words, in weather unsuitable for an empress. Assuming the weather is good enough to take Cleo for a klaw, she zigzags from smell to smell. She avoids walking on sewers or sidewalk grates. She plants her paws firmly when she wants to stop. If I don't want to stop I will continue to pull. This is called taking Cleo for a "drag."

When it is time to "do her business" Cleo will suddenly lunge for the curb, tugging her escort along. She then walks in progressively tighter circles, like an airplane landing on an aircraft carrier, until she drops her load. She immediately tries to flee the bombing scene, as if the load is about to explode.

Cleo will eat only certain foods. She eschews most dog foods, preferring some human dinner at the kitchen table. Over time she has developed a real knack for getting what she wants. At first she put on the sad pose of a real victim, "a few scraps for the poor?" After several months she began hitting me in the thigh with her front paws, "will you give me some food!” Then she started barking very loudly, "I demand food now or I will annoy you to death with my incessant barking." Now she has begun pushing her bowl across the room to the kitchen table, then she bangs the bowl with her paws, "put the food in here!" Maltese are definitely smart dogs.

By the way, the veterinarian says Cleo is too fat. She weighs in at 6.8 pounds, one pound more than is normal for a dog her size. That means she has to lose more than 20% of her current weight. If such a demand were made of me I would have to lose thirty pounds or more!

Cleo's weight may have something to do with her latest bad habit, snoring. Like a majority of dog owners, our dog sleeps with us at night. Maybe Cleo has sleep apnea? No matter, it would be hard for our family to impose and enforce a strict diet on Cleo. But we are cutting back on her snacks and increasing her exercise.

Which leads to this final point. You know how Zoe pledged to take care of Cleo as a condition for getting a dog in the first place? Feed, clean up and regularly play with the dog? Surprise, surprise, this responsibility has fallen to the adults.

But, your royal highness, we wouldn't want it any other way!