A Modern Day Clash of the Titans

So I rescued an especially feisty kitten for a pet about 10 years ago. I think feisty might actually be an understatement, but that is what drew me to adopt her. I have grown quite fond of her over the years. She is my goddess and I love her dearly. She doesn’t let anyone near her unless she gets to know them and they respect her. I’m in a position now, where I was going to move in with a good friend. My friend has an extremely playful and friendly 75lb pit bull. Before I move in with him, I had to make sure that my cat and his dog got along. Jack is the dog’s name and Yoda is my cat’s name.

I showed up with Yoda in her carrying bag. She’s an indoor cat so she is not in the best mood. Immediately, Jack was curious and excited. Yoda was surprised and responded with her mini roar (hiss). Jack didn’t care. He knew what he wanted and was focused. I knew this was going to be a rough meeting. We calmed Jack down and made him lay down on the other side of the room. In the meantime, I let Yoda get out of her bag and find her ground where she felt she could make the most strategic move. She knew from the size of Jack that this was not going to be easy. She has never backed down in her life and she isn’t planning on starting now. She staked her claim behind a chair on the other side of the room. We then brought Jack over holding him to make sure nothing happened drastic. We moved the chair to allow them to get close while holding Jack. Jack saw an opportunity and executed a lunge forward towards her, invading her space. Yoda, while having an opportunity to run, stood her ground and smacked Jack in the face. Jack, unfazed, kept coming into Yoda’s space, and every time he did he got a vicious smack.

After meeting strong resistance from Yoda, Jack began to try to find other ways to invade her space. He tried to attack from the back of the chair. Yoda found strategic ground that forced Jack to come straight at her or give up. Jack by this point was trembling with excitement because he finally found an adversary worthy of his full attention. He went over to the TV, but he could only stick his head behind the TV. Jack tried to negotiate a surrender by way of barking and trying to get close to her, however every time he got too close and ignored Yoda’s growls, he got smacked. She would not negotiate with him. This happened for about 15 minutes until every time he got smacked he started to blink, not from fear, but I believe from respect. That didn’t break his focus. He was to determined and curious that he had to continue his quest to play with her. Again, Jack got another advantageous break. We moved the TV so that Jack could completely get behind on both sides. With no restraints and no restrictions Jack thought that he had her. Yoda, again did not run. Instead, she performed flawlessly. She smacked him with every violation. Finally, Jack was broken and admitted defeat. He started to lay down every time she smacked him and when he tried to go around to get behind her, he would actually let out a small yelp as a warning that he was coming. She was then able to turn around quicker, but Jack was learning to respect her boundaries because he would stop just short of her reach and just laid his head down next to her. She was now inside his head. She began to stop smacking him as much, just a growl. She started to trust him more. Eventually they were nuzzling noses with no restraints and no boundaries.

This story, rather comedic, has a rather important lesson it in it. For Yoda, her boundaries were put in place and she stood by them because her LIFE depended on it. She never wavered from them. Once Jack earned her trust, she was willing to surrender to him. For women, I offer this story so that if you get into a situation with another person to remember this story and treat your boundaries like Yoda did and treat them as if your life depended on it.

As for Jack, he didn’t know her boundaries, but was fearless in pursuing her. He was unwaivered in his purpose. You normally will not know a woman’s boundaries up front. You have to test them to see if they are there. If they are there figure out what they are. It took him a while, but he learned to respect her boundaries and only then did he get what he desired, a playful partner. In this case, Jack got a lot of chances to actually listen and learn her boundaries. In reality, you will rarely get this many chances to to the same. The fact that she stood her ground excited him so much that he was literally quivering with excitement. Personally for me, I love it when women have boundaries and stand up for themselves. It gives me a challenge and lets me know that they value themselves more than they value my opinion of them. It gives me something to go for that is of greater value.