Dog owners... do you let you dog in the room when.....

Henkersbraut · Post by **Henkersbraut** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 4:30 am

My best friend's cat always wants to come along to the loo... He just does a round to inspect that everything is ok before wanting to be petted, but I prefer being in there alone, to be honest. But if I don't let him in, he'll be standing around outside, protesting loudly whilst trying to open the door. I'm sure he's not really a cat, but a dog in disguise.

As for the other, far more interesting, activity... no, I wouldn't have let my 3-year-old terrier stay in the room. He's a hyperactive thing and would've been jumping into the bed at the first sight of non-sleeping/reading activity.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 5:57 am

The dogs aren't allowed in the bedroom at all. Only one cat is allowed therein because he's the oldest and our Queen cat attacks him all the time. However, he is now banished because he threw up all over our bed. I'll let him back in in a week or so.

My wife doesn't mind sleeping with the pets but they can never be still and drive me nuts.

One of our cats is so paranoid she won't let anyone near her except in the morning. She'll come in the bathroom during the morning constitutional and purr like crazy.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:59 am

Our cats go everywhere. A closed door drives them crazy and it is always less trouble to let them in than to keep them out. They do like to watch whatever a person is doing, but I don't believe they attach any meaning to it. Making the coffee is as interesting as peeing is to them.

Our dog Rags, now long gone, was not at all curious about human behavior and I don't remember every having to close a door on him.

djm · Post by **djm** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 10:40 am

I'm not sure that "interested" is the right word for cats. Certainly they would monitor our behaviour, but we never locked them out of the bathroom, as that's where their litter was, in the bottom of the cupboard (nowhere else to put it in this small place). Sitting on the john was, however, a sort of A-ha! moment for the cats. They knew instinctively that I was not going to be able to get away for several minutes, and what an ideal opportunity for me to pat them, rub their ears, and scratch their chins ... just under there ... that's right. Good human! Nice human! Here's a purr for your trouble.

No movement on the bed was welcome. As the designated heat source, it was my duty to lie as still as possible to allow balls of fur to burrow into me from all sides. I would frequently awake to find myself pinned beneath the blankets. Even rolling over would earn me some pretty severe looks of disparagement.

djm

jsluder · Post by **jsluder** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 12:10 pm

We used to have a cat who was fascinated by the bathtub. She would perch on the rim and watch the water splash as you bathed. As my wife was bathing one day, the cat went running through the house, into the bathroom and attempted to leap onto the rim of the tub, overshooting by about a foot. SPLASH! My wife still has the scars. The cat never went near the tub again.

Our dog isn't the least bit interested in our bedroom or bathroom activities. He wants to be where he can keep an eye on us (he's Great Pyrenees, a guard breed), but he doesn't interfere.

I heard about one Great Pyr owner who had a different experience, though. This guy was used to peeing with the bathroom door open. One day, his dog (an "unaltered" male) followed him into the bathroom, watched him do his business, then walked over to the toilet, lifted his leg, and marked his turf.

Ah, dominance issues. That's why we had our male dog neutered as soon as the vet would do it.

SteveShaw · Post by **SteveShaw** » Wed Jan 18, 2006 6:00 pm

s1m0n wrote:My dog leans over the end of the tub when I'm having a bath and licks my wet hair.

Jeez, I hope that during this activity nobody in the house ever shouts out "Down, boy!"

Steve

KateG · Post by **KateG** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 11:59 am

When I was in college I had a cat who would follow my roommate or me (both women) into the bathroom and the jump onto the sink so that we could give her a trickle of water to drink and play with. When I took her home one Christmas break she followed my dad into the bathroom. He didn't know about the sink, but she was fascinated by the stream of liquid he did provide. She stood with her paws on the edge of the loo tracking it from source to destination till he almost fell over laughing.

Many years later I had a male rottie who was my shadow/bodyguard. He regarded bathroom breaks as manditory petting times. He was never allowed on the bed and was basically cool when my husband and I were cuddling, but occasionally he would get lonely and put his head on the mattress or stick a cold wet nose under the covers until it found a target. My husband did not find being eyeball to eyeball with a 95 lb dog charming, so I would have to tell the dog to go lie down. Since the command reassured him that all was well with me, he would obey promptly and we could pick up where we left off.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Tue Jan 24, 2006 1:13 pm

Cats are often into running water in bathrooms. I've had a couple who liked to stand up with their front paws on the toilet seat so they could watch it flush.

Tyler · Post by **Tyler** » Wed Jan 25, 2006 6:59 am

emmline wrote:Cats are often into running water in bathrooms. I've had a couple who liked to stand up with their front paws on the toilet seat so they could watch it flush.

When I was a lad we used to have a cat who would purch up on the rim of the bowl and stare into the water...
until I nudged him in!