The Little Pack

1. He greets me each and every morning. And if I sleep in too long, he cries… and if I still sleep in too long he begins to knock things over. And if I still sleep too long he races sideways through the house making a “greowl” sound: half growl, half meow. OK, so most of this behavior is actually kind of obnoxious. But all of these actions are rooted in his love for me and so I just find them all the more endearing.
2. His purr-coos.
3. His soft, soft fur.
4. The way he waits for me at the screen door every single time I take the dogs out. Awww. Sweet.
5. That he likes his belly rubbed.
6. The way he sleeps on his back with all four paws in the air.
7. His little games: whether he has a mouse toy, a bottle cap, or a paper clip, we are talking about hours of endless entertainment.
8. The way he plays in the running water in the sink and the fact that he only likes the way I turn it on. He literally snubs the faucet when my husband attempts to turn on the water for him.
9. That he comes when I call him and follows me around the house like a dog.
10. His big, round eyes and his absolutely meek innocence. He embodies a sweetness that is impossible to describe.

Since his haircut, we have started calling Archie “Boots” and this picture illustrates why. At 17 pounds now, he has come a long way since the early days. As a baby, Archie personified sweetness in a little ball of fur. So tiny, with baby fine fur and the tiniest paws. He slept on my neck, and would put his little paw on my nose. Perhaps I was snoring, I don’t really understand it. The fur on his paw would tickle my nose and wake me up. This was the beginning of his “purr-coos”: purrs so loud and content, it sounds as though he is cooing.

The pack dynamic is interesting to observe. Jackson hates Cheyenne, and Baby Titten and sometimes even Archie. This has everything to do with his possessiveness and insecurity with me. Except that you will find him occasionally bathing Baby Titten. He loves IO and Dixie and will put up with almost anything from either one of them. Cheyenne lives to provoke, well, anyone, but particularly Jackson and Baby Titten. Her and Dixie are like peas in a pod but they bicker like sisters. More and more Cheyenne is getting the nerve up to challenge IO’s authority. Dixie bosses Jackson and Archie around. She mostly leaves Baby Titten alone, as Baby Titten will chase her down, and I think she is actually slightly afraid of her. Dixie tangled with IO exactly once. Archie and Baby Titten have a complicated relationship. They fight often, and yet they snuggle together often.  During times of tension—if Cheyenne is acting too big for her britches and IO begins to warn her, Jackson and Dixie will quickly begin to stand guard, at the ready to follow IO’s orders. Further, if any single one of them perceives danger, it only takes one to lead the charge, and they all come running. Cheyenne need only make a peep and Jackson is there in a heartbeat, ready to defend her, us, and the rest of the pack if necessary.  As much as they all argue and squabble with each other, at the end of the day, they are a pack and will protect each other at all costs. One time, Jack got into a scuffle with a dog next door that was literally about 3 times his size. That dog pinned him like nothing. Within moments the other 3—IO, Cheyenne and Dixie—were at his side, determined to protect him and willing to take on this horse of the dog. Even more telling, Cheyenne loves this other dog and has played with him on many occasions. But her pack is her pack and she was there for her Jack. It was a normal dog scuffle, nothing more than a tiff really, and the melee was soon broken up. But the incident shows just how deeply pack bonds go and how superficial their spats really are. It really is a bit like watching a big family interact. This living breathing organic web of love we call our little pack.

After accumulating several boxes, one day I decided it was time to recycle them. I carried several broken down boxes out to the truck, and had a very difficult time holding onto to them. I was completely perplexed as I continued to practically drop the boxes and had to keep readjusting them. When I got to the truck I started to put the boxes in the bed when suddenly to my surprise a little 5 or 6 pound orange fluffball fell to the ground. And this perfectly illustrates the difference between Archie and Baby Titten. If this had happened with her, she would have been gone in an instant. And if I had the good fortune to catch her, I would have had serious puncture wounds. Archie, on the other hand,  just laid there.  At the time, I admired my superfast reflex to scoop him up, however, in retrospect, in all likelihood, he probably would have just laid there until I helped him. I held him close to my chest, my heart ready to pound out of it as what happened slowly sank in and I realized just how close I came to accidentally throwing him in the dumpster and losing him forever.

I realized afterwards he had been playing his little games, discovered the boxes and thought this was a perfect place to play.

Yesterday I vacuumed underneath my dresser for the first time in obviously too long and was startled to discover a treasure trove of the animal’s most prized possessions:

• 5 tennis balls
• 2 mouse toys
• 1 mini tennis ball
• 1 hanger
• 3 bottle caps
• 1 sock
• 2 furry puff balls (originally the feet of some toy)
• 4 bones