Sisters. Sisters. There were never such devoted sisters.

Dear Friends:

I know that I haven’t updated this blog for a long while, but I hope you understand that having a new - um - sibling around the house has cause me to have to pay much more attention to her than to this blog. I can tell you that I am doing fine...made it through the summer tick-less and didn't eat those bad things in the grass as much as I did last year. No vacation, and I do miss Scarlett and Wilson (eh), but maybe I'll get to see them again soon.
So, let me tell you about what it's like to have a little sister: It's wonderful. It's horrible. It's sometimes both at the same time. The biggest change with having Rozi around is that the food situation has been altered. Before, I could peck at my food, often bringing morsels into the other room to enjoy some quiet while I ate. Now, with my hoover of a sister, if I don't get on top of the food (literally), there's a good chance that I'll go hungry. A little (they leave dry food around the house for me, so I don't starve, but dry food is, well, dry). I know that Mama has noticed this (and the fact that my sister's belly is larger than the rest of her body), so I've been given my meals in a private area (aka the chair that Rozi can't reach...yet). So, I think I'm eating okay, but it's just so hard when there are two mouths to feed. Sometimes, especially when I get a treat, she hangs around my mouthal area just in case I drop it. And, if I do...well, you've never seen something so little and white move so fast since the Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland was late. I am getting used to mealtimes, but I just hope (and would keep my fingers crossed if I had fingers) that I'll have enough to eat in the morning and at night. Speaking of which, I still get Cheerios treats at night time, and Rozi always gets sad because I get a lot and she gets only one or two (due to her still struggling to control her - um - waste impulses). And, when I get a handful of Cheerios offered to me and she's around, I have to gobble the whole thing up at once, else she'll have some which means (a) I don't get the full treat and (b) she's eating when she's not supposed to.
Enough about the food; let me tell you about the sleeping arrangements. I  still try to cuddle with and protect  Mama at night, and usually have no one (human or canine) getting in the way. But, sometimes little Miss Rozi figures out a way to get there first. I have a few strategies that I use in those circumstances: (1) I ignore her and climb over her and wedge my somewhat emaciated (see above) body between her and Mama (2) I get a bit aggressive, which is difficult for me but must be done, and push the little thing out of the way. I hate to say that I've resorted to biting (her) when I need to, but a dog's got to do what a dog's got to do. (3) I ignore everyone at bedtime, either jumping down to the floor and enjoying some alone time, or heading to the foot of the bed where I can both have quality time with my boyfriend the stuffed bear, and watch out the window for intruders.
I would say, though, that the best part about having a sister is that I always have someone to play with. We like to chase each other around the house, and we like to wrestle (I usually pin her on her back pretty quickly) and it's all great fun. And, sometimes, we wrestle while standing on our back feet: imagine Godzilla versus Mothra, but two Maltese instead of two creatures created out of nuclear accidents. That's what we're like. And, we also like to take naps near each other (near, not always next to). I prefer the back of the couch that faces the street, so I can bark and scare away all the intruders who walk in front, including neighbors, dogs, and squirrels. If you ever were over my house, you'd see that most of the time, none of these are on our front lawn. You're welcome.

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And, now, Rozi and I have started a new chapter in our lives: we're going to school! Yup, Mama and that guy had someone come to our house to teach Rozi and me to be better behavioured. I can't for the life of me understand why. I come to dinner about half the time when called, I go outside to do my "business" about a quarter of the time, and I come when called 0% of the time. And, yet, they insist. I heard about this and was excited, since I'd always wanted to go to school and learn a new language, since I thought it would be useful to speak with and understand cats so that I could reason with them if then trespassed into our yard, and so that I didn't have to resort to maniacal barking to convince them who the alpha mammal of the house was. But, no, we didn't learn a new language.
We learned two lessons: one was that Rozi and I are supposed to go to a special mat in the house when they tell us "Place" and then we're just supposed to sit there. Can you believe it? Just sit there and not do anything except sit and stare and maybe sleep and they may give us a toy to play with some day (I hope I hope I hope) but that's all. Even when they walk out of the room, we're supposed to just sit. Ugh. And, then, when they tell us "Free" we can go. I have to admit that "school" wasn't as much fun as I'd seen on TV, since we didn't have inkwells to dip each others' fur into. I kind of hated it. But, there was no homework (that I know of), so that's good.
And, the other thing we're supposed to learn is to not run out of the house when the door is open. Now, I understand that completely, since I don't want to get shocked by that special collar they have me wear. Rozi...not so much. But, she and I did good at it yesterday, since everyone said, "Good Girl. Good Girl. Good Izzi. Good Rozi." No treats, though. And, then today, my little sister forgot everything we learned and ran out of the house in the morning at full speed, like a marshmallow shot out of an air cannon. Mama had to run down the street to the church to get her, but both Mama and Rozi were fine when they got home (but I think Mama was upset since she didn't plan to do her jogging that early in the day).
After we were done yesterday, Rozi and I were so exhausted from going to school that we slept and slept and slept. And, we (Rozi and I) are supposed to have practice every day for ever and ever, and we're supposed to learn new things in a few weeks. Ah, my carefree days of puppyhood are starting to slip through my paws.
I really do like having a sister around, since we have so much fun when we play, and I can teach her to do things like how to plop yourself down for a nap, and how to roll on your back for a belly rub. So, I guess I'll let them keep her.
But, if she starts to make a move on my boyfriend, the bear, it could get ugly.

Arf, Yip, Yip, Arf
Izzi

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