Peculiar habits of pets

[SpikeyBush]

I had a cat once that linked the sound of the electric tin opener to a fishy treat. If I opened a tin of salmon I'd give him the fat, bones and skin. No matter where he was, as soon as I opened a tin with this particular electric opener, he'd be at my feet in seconds. Even if I was only opening a tin of peas, he'd be there meowing at my feet.

After he passed on, the first tin of fish I opened resulted in some tears when there was no cat at my feet.

What can you share?

[tinkerbell23]

My westie has a toy dog...same size stuffed dog, who he "spoons" every night and he cleans her and cuddles into her...carries her up and downstairs? He literally spends hours lying ontop of the toy licking its head and then falls asleep with it in his mouth.....x

[tinkerbell23]

I actually have videos lol xx

[bunkmoreland]

been there exactly the same way spikeybush;-),it got to the stage where i used to have to turn the tv up and turn the taps on to beat the harassment and falling over him in the kitchen :-)

[FredPuli43]

You can have a dog that's too well trained ( or too stupid?) . My two wolfhound dogs have taken to sitting as soon as I get the sugar for my coffee from the cupboard. I deduce that this is because, if I give them a sugar lump, i require them to sit on command first. They now do it anyway, either to save me the trouble or to give me a hint of what they hope for.

As related before, I once had a standard poodle which rushed to get outside in thunderstorms, so she could chase the lightning. My mother had a papillon that would rush to the door when the postman came, not to bark at him, but to riffle through the letters on the floor and pick up any which came from me and proudly carry them off. One of the cockerpoos here likes nothing better than to rest in the hearth, and is permanently marked with soot. She even tries this in Winter, when the hearth is cool enough. Nothing compared to one wolfhound who liked coal so much that she'd pick burning coals out of the fire and trot off around the room with them, in a fair impression of the Hound of the Baskervilles. One spaniel took to barking at a fox head on the wall and then ran outside to find the rest of the fox and bark at where it should have been,as it was 'looking in', when the door to the room was shut.

They've been a mad lot here.

[Kathyan]

I had a cat once that could hear a packet of crisps opening from half a mile away! She was nowhere to be see when I got them out of the cupboard, but as soon as I opened them, she'd be there. If I offered the packet she's get one out herself. She would eat any flavour but salt and vinegar!

[wolf63]

I submitted this to the letters page in the Daily Mail a couple of years back.

>>> In 1980, after 17 years of pleading, my brother and I were allowed to get a puppy. He was a cross German Shepherd/Bull-mastiff and we named him Hutch.

He was big and handsome and he was the amazingly sweet natured and gentle dog. He looked and acted like Scooby Doo.

At the front of our house was a little patch of lawn, around some of this area were hedges and large shrubs. Some days, when there was no other trouble to get into, Hutch would sit at the open gate and watch the world go by.

A man who bred Afghan Hounds regularly walked six of them past our house on two leads with branches. Hutch used to wait until he saw them coming and hide behind a bush. Just as the man passed the house Hutch would leap out and utter one "boof" - all deep and menacing.

Then he would sit back and smile at the bedlam that he had created. The Afghans were nervous creatures and they would get all the leads tangled up and be in a frenzy.

The man would shout out nasty comments about Hutch's parentage. But our little angel just sat there watching.

After the man had finally passed our house and Hutch’s fun had ended he would go back into the house to laze around and plan what to do with the rest of his day.

I never understood why the man didn't take a different route - maybe he wasn't as intelligent as Hutch.>>>

When my mum told us that we were getting a puppy she told us that it was a Bulldog/German Shepherd mix. It wasn't until later that we realised that a Bull-mastiff was a bit bigger than a Bulldog. :-)

[horseshoes]

We had a ginger cat called Russell, who would get very excited if he heard my husband coming home with something in a carrier bag. He would assume, very often correctly, that there was going to be a curry cooked by OH and something Russell absolutely loved. He also loved courgettes in tomatoes with a cheese crust. I always said it helped keep his colour!

[horseshoes]

..... oh yes! and he used to suck on a particular pyjama top, whether was wearing it or not.

[sue11]

These stories are so cute!
Years ago I had a cat who loved to jump out at me. Her favourite spot was along the corridor which used to have a door half way down but the door was taken away leaving the frame still in place. She could just about hide herself behind the frame but it it left her nose sticking out and I could see her as I walked along. She jumped out when I got to that point, wrapped her paws around my legs then ran away in triumph! She would do this on a regular basis and I always knew she was there but could never bear to spoil her fun by calling out to her!
She also loved to help me make the bed. When changing the sheets she would jump up on the bed and would let us put the sheet over her and tuck it in under the mattress. She even would stay under the sheet when the duvet went on!
It is lovely to have such memories and then be able to share them with others, thank you spikeybush for such a lovely post!

[Bambiagain]

Most of my animals have qickly learned which was my car and been ready to greet me when I came home, even the cats who would normally be out and about. My neighbour's dog always howls some time before his owners' car appears but he's right every time.

[maggiebee]

Our dog always sat at the gate waiting for my dad to come home. He could be sound asleep but bang on 5.30pm he got up and sat outside.

[craft1948]

When my westie sees the dog groomer's van pull up he goes and hides behind the television...............

[firewatch]

Where do I start??
My grandmothers cat Susie (who is still alive at the grand old age of 18) would sing along to her when she was stripping fresh prawns of there shells for her (spoilt much?!)
Marmi my beloved bionic Kitty had a unique way of turfing me out of bed burp in my face then nick the duvet! He was so funny he just had to hear the noise of his food being done and he fly over the lower stable door section.
Mums cats have all been daft, Pandy used to walk along the electric cooker hob when it was on.
Our old landlords chooks would come in and nest on my clean laundry, much to my annoyance - I still have a vid of Greedy strutting her stuff.
Sprite our current lab runs every time into the sideboard makes me cringe the thunk it makes. Only just found out hes got an optic nerve seperating in that eye so he really cant see much that side. That and falling off the sofa in his sleep.
Lucky Lou, likes to chase her tail-she dosnt have one,it was docked! Also rolling her eyes at Sprites snoring she gives such a dirty look its comical.
At night they both sleep in dog crates, Lucky on top of sprite if his snoring gets to much Lucky stands up and bounces up and down till he wakes up and stops snoring.
I could tell you many many more stories but not enough space :(

[chaptazbru]

My cat Sophie used to wait for me and my dog to come back from walks and she'd hide behind bins in the entry at the rear of my street and jump out on us when we reached her. Lovely little thing she was.

[lcg]

i have three cats and they all have their own little foibles.....the oldest is a secret psychopath who minces your hand randomly and for no reason - and rules the roost. the middle puss is a complete blob who is obsessed by food...and farts at you if she doesn't get it (and they are true, rotten stinkers!). the youngest addition thinks - no knows she is human, and as such sleeps star-shaped in between me and mr kicker (he does get a bit funny about that, you know) on her own little pillow. the cat hair that gets left around the house is unbelievable - you could certainly knit more than one sweater with what the hoover collects on a daily basis! x

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

I currently have a cat who stands like a meercat and is at my feet the second a Muller yoghurt is produced.
I used to have a cat called Felix. A friend came to visit one day and I gave her a ham salad sandwich. Felix ran up her arm, down the other and stole the lettuce from her sammich.

[Hopkirk]

We had a cat that could open the cupboard where the dry cat food was kept.

She would then knock over a box of Go Cat, lie on her tummy with a paw outstretched into the box and pull crunchies out.

[FredPuli43]

Talking of food, we had a Yorkie that would steal any banana and then 'peel'
and eat it, nibbling along an edge, spitting the pieces of skin out, and finally getting to ther flesh and eating it. It took her ages, and the look of distaste at the bits of skin was a picture, but she was certainly determined.

Bossy and fastidious little devil too. Upstairs, she led me downstairs, to the kitchen by barks and 'pointing', and led me to her water bowl. It had water in it, so I started away. More indignant barks and pointing. I looked again. A tiny piece of her dog meat was in the water. I changed the water and only then did she drink it, giving me another look before doing so.

[jakep]

One of our cats waits on the drive for our cars to come home but will not move out of the way to let you park. You have to open the door so he can jump on your lap and then park the car.

[SpikeyBush]

Thanks everyone for your stories. I enjoyed them all. And my new cat (also my avatar) is proving to be just as unhinged as old fish-face who could hear a tin opener at fifty paces.