Cujo

Cujo (aka "Freddie") is still here. I'm not sure why he has had so little interest shown in him. Who could resist this photo, which is posted on the internet:

Now wouldn't you want to adopt this sweet little guy?

And he is sweet. He's my constant companion. He sleeps on my feet, or in my lap. He follows me everywhere. But he'll also go off and sleep in his bed if I'm tired of all that body contact.

He plays great with Lizzie. They chase each other up and down the hall, roll over on top of each other growing fiercely in pretend fighting, play tug-of-war and join with Sheila is chasing away garbage trucks, mailmen, and every dog who dares to walk past the front window.

He likes squeak toys, chasing his tail, and begging for pieces of toast from my breakfast.

He's not 100% housebroken, but oh so much better than he used to be. He can go days without peeing in the house and I haven't picked up a pile of poop in weeks.

He's soft and fluffy and very cute. What's not to like?

He does have this one little quirk, however. Nobody would know about it unless he'd lived with them for awhile.

He's fiercely loyal and fiercely protective of me and though he's sweet and loving and open and friendly during the daytime, when the sun sets, he turns into Freddie the Fierce. He attacks anybody or anything that comes near me. His friend Lizzie becomes his sworn enemy. His buddy Walt is someone to be snarled at and snapped at if he gets too close. It's very strange, but it definitely seems to be related to time of day. (It's why I've started calling him "Cujo.")

This morning, for example, the dogs let me sleep until nearly 8, which is practically unheard of. Thus, I was just waking up when Walt was coming downstairs for the first time. I sat up on the couch and was immediately buried under the dogs, for our morning love in. Walt came in, knelt down in front of me and joined the fray. Freddie jumped all over him, licking him and wagging his tail furiously.

But last night when Walt was going off upstairs to go to bed, he came over to tell me good night and Freddie snarled and leaped at him. When Freddie jumped off my lap and Walt called him over, he very happily jumped into his lap, but when he was in my lap, Walt had to wave at me from across the room, rather than come too close.

It's a small little quirk -- honest. And I'm sure when he gets into his forever family it can be easily trained out of him. I just hope that forever home shows up soon before it becomes an emotional upheaval for Freddie to have to move away from me.