Career Change Changes

Hill's Science Diet is Guide Dogs for the Blind's primary food choice, so that is what Cabana has been eating all her life. But every once in a while, I hear that Science Diet isn't necessarily the greatest selection out there. Cabana has always done really well with Science Diet, though. She's very regular and seems to enjoy the taste, although she's barely ever eaten anything else but that.

I wondered what other people feed their career change/pet dogs? Is there a food you'd recommend and why?

Also, I went to buy Cabana some training treats the other day. GDB puppies are not allowed to have treats, other than pieces of their regular kibble. When I looked at the VAST assortment, I had no idea what to buy. There's so much talk about some treats not being good, making your dog too fat, or being high in something or another. I don't want to upset Cabana's tummy either. But I'd love to find a highly-motivating treat that I can use to work on Cabana's recall, one that will pull her away from the most inticing distractions. Any ideas?

Last Jacketed Outings

One of my favorite things to do with Cabana was to walk to the grocery store in our neighborhood. Because it's only a couple blocks away, instead of doing big weekly shopping trips, I'd usually just buy enough for that night's dinner and, if I wasn't too lazy, the next night's, plus whatever other incidentals. We'd then walk back home with the heavy filled reusable grocery sack slung over my shoulder.

Because we were at this grocery store several times a week, all the grocery clerks knew Cabana well. They were always interested in her growth and progress, having seen her with me since she was just 3-4 months old. I'd almost feel like I was disappointing them if I went there without her in tow!

So yesterday, I took Cabana there for the last time and let the clerks know that this would be Cabana's last trip to the grocery store. They were all so sad to know she'd been career changed, but very happy and relieved that we'd be keeping her as our pet.

Here's the path that takes us to the grocery store. There are metal posts sticking up that allow pedestrians and bikes, but block cars from driving through. For months, I'd walk through one of the openings and let Cabana walk through another, lifting my arm and leash over the post. But then, I realized that wasn't a good habit for a guide dog. So I started having Cabana walk through the same opening as me, figuring she'd need to guide a blind person that way. Of course, now it doesn't matter--but I thought about that every time we went through those posts.

We also went to CVS and Trader Joe's, where the clerks also know Cabana well. After telling them about Cabana's CC, a few people asked me if we'd be able to keep the jacket, thinking that I could still "sneak" her in! I was surprised by their assumption that I'd be so willing to commit felony! Yikes.



I felt REALLY foolish taking these photos in CVS and in front of Trader Joe's. From the looks on Cabana's face, I think she felt foolish, too! Oh, the sacrifices we make for our blog!!

I'm really going to miss taking Cabana to stores. I was never popular in high school (or at any other time), but going shopping with her gave me instant popularity! OK, I know people weren't noticing ME so much as they were noticing HER--but still, it was nice to get such glances of admiration. And although I complained about it sometimes, I loved the interaction with people, getting to explain about Guide Dogs and puppy raising. I think I will definitely puppy sit so I won't lose those experiences all together.

Letting Go

Inherent in being a puppy raiser is the aspect of letting go. We sign up, knowing that we are going to have to let these puppies go one day. We just hope that ultimately, our letting them go will result in great things, changing someone's life for the better.

But heck, life is all about letting go. As parents, we let go of our children over and over again, as they enter kindergarten and college, get married, or move to another state. We let go of possessions, jobs, even friends. If we didn't ever let go, we'd be immature, stagnant, bored, unbalanced.

Yesterday, as I wrote about Cabana's career change and the difficult decision we'd be making, I felt a little like a trapeze artist, knowing I had some letting go to do. I was hanging on to the bar, knowing I had to let go and freefall for a little while, before catching the next bar. The next bar might be keeping Cabana as a pet, placing Cabana with another family, raising another puppy, or some combination of those things.

What a tremendous blessing to have 30+ friends there to support me during that freefall. All your comments were filled with heartfelt compassion, personal experience, and sage advice. I appreciated each and every word. What an amazing community of puppy raisers and dog lovers we have here.

We got home from our trip this evening, and I will be picking Cabana up from the puppy sitter's tomorrow morning first thing. I'm so grateful that all of this happened over the Thanksgiving break. My husband, daughters and I had four uninterrupted days together, plus 12+ hours driving in the car, to hash all of the options out. We talked about it a LOT, and that was extremely beneficial. I think it also helped to not have Cabana there, since she might have made us less objective (either by being too cute or too distracting).

Although we have pretty much made a decision, in case something crucial changes in my discussion with our puppy group leader (who I haven't been able to talk with since we got back), I'll wait until I've talked to her to make the decision public. Sorry for the big build-up! But I will say that everyone's comments made such an impact. It was extremely helpful to have such great input and to learn from the experiences of others. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Crazy Singing Dog

My mother-in-law recently sent us a package full of Christmas decorations. One of the items was this silly singing dog. You push a button on its paw, and it sings "Silver Bells".

Cabana isn't quite sure what to make of this singing stuffed animal. But it sure is cute to watch her! (Description of video: Toy is droning and making its motions. Cabana dashes up to it, then runs away, leaping, twirling. When the toy stops, Cabana ventures up to it and tries to incite it with playful motions to make it go again.)



Every time I turn this toy on, Cabana yawns. I know the yawn doesn't mean Cabana is tired. It means something else, like that she's annoyed maybe? I'm not sure...does anyone else know what it means?

In this second clip, Cabana tries to make the toy do its thing again. When it doesn't, she comes over to me and hits the camera with her nose, which makes me giggle.

Distracted by Poppy

This is Cabana's pal and fellow puppy-in-training, Poppy. Poppy is just a couple weeks older than Cabana, and Poppy's puppy raiser is our puppy group leader.

This morning, Poppy and her raisers came over to give us instruction on food protocol for Cabana's raging dog distraction. Basically, we had Cabana sit on the sidewalk in front of our house, while Poppy sat several yards away. Every time Cabana looked away from Poppy, she got a treat. Eventually, Poppy got closer and closer, while I kept marking Cabana's positive behavior with "nice" and a piece of kibble.

Next step was to have Poppy walk toward Cabana, with Cabana stationary, while still encouraging Cabana to pay attention to me as her handler and ignore Poppy. Finally, we progressed to both Cabana and Poppy walking past each other. Normally, Cabana would have been pulling and going bonkers, wanting to play with Poppy. But thanks to all the positive reinforcement, Cabana was able to walk past Poppy with barely a glance. Miraculous!

Of course, the real test will come when we go for a regular walk and pass some big fluffy German shepherds or huskies (Cabana likes fluffy big dogs best). But I felt like we made a lot of progress today. The challenge for me will be to take it slow. I think I have a tendency to expect too much, too soon.

After the training session, we let Cabana and Poppy play--and boy, did they ever play! They were so happy to run around with each other, cavorting and nipping and jumping. They're so similar in size that it was sometimes hard to tell them apart.

Here they are drinking water after their romp session. Cabana is darker and redder, pictured in the back.

I think Poppy's raiser had called Poppy to come to her and was rewarding Poppy with a piece of kibble. But it looks like Cabana was horning in, even though she'd already received plenty of kibble earlier.

Tonight, I'm looking forward to the opportunity to teach some good manners when someone comes to the door. We don't get many visitors at our house, so when the doorbell rings, Cabana becomes overly excited. This evening, when trick-or-treaters ring our doorbell, I'm going to give the "go to bed" command while someone else in my family hands out the candy. So hopefully, in the future, Cabana will know that's what I want her to do when someone really is coming over, instead of running to the door to jump all over the person who enters.

Happy Halloween to everyone!! Don't eat too much candy! Well, go ahead if you want to--it's once a year, after all!

House Arrest

This handsome fellow is Bucky. He belongs to my friend Suzi. I took exactly 3 pictures of these dogs together. And look, it's like the dogs are mimicking each other. Isn't it uncanny?!



Cabana has played with Bucky before, but Bucky isn't much of a dog's dog. He's sweet and friendly, but he's a people dog. On past play dates, he would growl at Cabana and refuse to romp with her, no matter how much she tried to incite him.



This time, though, Bucky did not growl. He still found Cabana a bit too high maintenance (I can relate--haha), but he was much more tolerant. Cabana kept playing a game with him that he didn't seem to mind. She'd dart under his body over and over, sliding under his belly and legs, almost sending Bucky toppling over.

On a related note, I took Cabana to work with me last week, where the tiny male Boston Terrier, Leo, was EXTREMELY amorous toward her. I mean, he was like a moth to a flame, the whole time we were there.

Both Bucky and Leo are neutered, so there's no worry about anything happening. However, I mentioned these incidents to my puppy group leader, and in consulting with Celeste, there is a slight possibility that Cabana is having a "silent heat" (being in season but with no bloody show). Cabana's behavior toward Bucky could be a mating ritual, and Leo was WAY more affectionate than ever before.

So, Cabana is on house arrest until we can get an appointment with the Guide Dogs' veterinarian. I called them today and left a message, but I didn't hear back yet. Hopefully, we can go in on Monday, because I don't know how Cabana's going to fare with being cooped up for too many days. She's used to going for walks every day without fail. I think there have only been about 2-3 walk-less days since we got her 10+ months ago. From the start, even if it was just up and down our driveway as a baby pup, we knew it was important to give Cabana an outlet for her energy. We'll need to get creative this weekend!!

My New Default

Cabana and I stopped at a pumpkin patch this morning for a photo op. It's supposed to start raining this afternoon, so I thought I'd better do this before the ground got mushy (weather forecast calls for "torrential" rain tomorrow). Cabana wasn't too excited about posing, but she humored me. Good doggy!


I had a VERY rough weekend with Cabana. She just about broke my puppy raising heart! She started having her "episodes" again, which she had when she was about 6 months old but had stopped doing for such a long time. Over the past couple months, Cabana's dog distraction has worsened, which I kept attributing to her being close to going into season--but which I now think was not the reason at all. Her episodes are always triggered by passing dogs, like she's so frustrated at not being able to play with them.

My husband offered to walk Cabana all this next week, but I felt like I needed to "get back on that horse". After having a good cry yesterday, I got some ideas for working on this problem, and after this morning's walk, I think they worked. Cabana always seems "penitent", i.e. very well-behaved, after she's had an episode. But I think my interpreting her as being penitent may be too humanizing. One thing I know for certain is that MY attitude and behavior after she's had an episode are very different from my usual "default" demeanor with her. So, I think I need to ACT from the outset as though she's just had an episode--i.e., I'll tolerate no nonsense, no crap, no episodes.

This morning, armed with my NEW default demeanor, Cabana was much better about passing dogs without going into hysterics. She even sat calmly while a huge jackrabbit bounded across our path! Yay, Cabana! We're still rooting for you! And hopefully still rooting for me, too--after all, I think I'm the one that still has a lot to learn.


One other positive thing is that my hand/arm stopped hurting! I believe the culprit was Cabana's new green head collar. Our old tan-colored one was fraying, so a couple months ago, I asked our puppy group leader for a new one. I selected this green one because the webbing was thicker, and I thought it would hold up better and be a bit more comfortable for Cabana. Well, it might have been SO comfortable that she didn't mind pulling pretty hard with it on. When I think back (and look at my old blog posts), I started having arm problems at just about the time we switched to the green one. For the past week or two, I went back to using the tan one, and voila--no arm pain!!

Bathing Beauty

After our trip to the beach yesterday, it was time for a bath. Cabana LOVES her baths and might be happy to have one everyday. Too bad she has to go 6 weeks in between.

In the past when I've given her baths in our bathtub, I would pick Cabana up and put her in the water. Now at 50+ pounds, it's a bit hard on my back to lift Cabana, but I had every intention of doing that again this time.


(Erin, notice our humongo TN Vols cup! It's great for pouring water onto Cabana.)

This time, Cabana didn't give me a chance. After I ran the water for a while, just as I was going to pick her up, she gracefully hopped right in! She's not always willing to hop up or over things, so I hadn't even considered trying to get her to go in on her own.

I got in the tub with her so I could reach her more easily, slid the doors shut (thank goodness for shower doors, they make dog bathing so much easier), and after soaping and rinsing, I let the water drain out. She stood there calmly the whole time, then gave herself a good shake, after which I slid open the door. Again, I was just about to pick her up to take her out of the tub, but she hopped right out on her own! Such a smart and accommodating puppy!!


Here, Cabana dries off on top of and under towels, waiting patiently while I take my turn to get clean.

Let's Get Beachy, Not Bitchy

I so appreciated all your comments and support on my previous "rant" post!! Sometimes, a little rant just feels darn good, especially when others with similar experiences can chime in--it's so cathartic! Unfortunately, puppy raisers are only human--and humans and canines both are entitled to good days and bad days.

Last week, I was super busy getting ready for a big event over the weekend. That was likely part of my reason for getting "maxed out" by people's random comments in public. But Cabana was acting WEIRD, too, perhaps due to my stress, or perhaps because she's close to going into season? After all, she's over 11 months now and hasn't been in season yet, so we keep waiting....

Anyway, we were a couple of bitches (Cabana is a female dog, after all) last week...ha ha!! (Pardon my language, I don't normally swear, but I couldn't resist the double entendre.) But now with my event being over, I decided no more bitchy--instead, we should get beachy!

So, after dropping my girls off at school this morning, Cabana and I headed for Bodega Bay (acclaimed because it is where Hitchcock's movie, The Birds, was filmed).


We did see a lot of birds, but none that tried to peck at us. It was cool and very foggy. In fact, I worried a little because if Cabana somehow got away from me, I wouldn't be able to see her in all that fog. But although she might have liked to get free from her leash, she had no such luck.


Cabana loved checking out the kelp. Kelp is so amazing and interesting and fast-growing. It's also stinky and fly-attracting and a bit disgusting. I'd never stick my nose in it like Cabana does--eewww.


We had the beach mostly to ourselves. The only time Cabana would stop dashing about and sit calmly was when she could discern someone approaching in the foggy distance. She knows good things happen when she sits, so she does it automatically, hoping that if she sits nicely enough, the people will be drawn to her. Her magical sit didn't work this time, though.


Here's a piece of kelp that looked a bit like a Nylabone.


Cabana played with it just like she would a bone.


Tired and dirty, Cabana headed home for a warm bath and long nap. It's a tough life, but someone's gotta do it.

What Cabana Did on Her Summer Vacation

We had a whirlwind of a week! It was a lot of fun, but it's also nice to be back home and catch up on blogs!

My husband's brother came from out of state, along with his wife and 4-year-old son, Adam. Adam and Cabana took to each other in the first 2 minutes. I don't know what they're doing in this photo--peekaboo maybe?

The first part of our vacation was in Santa Cruz, where we stayed in a rental house just minutes from the beach. Cabana loved and adored every minute we spent at the beach, running like mad on her flexi leash. She dug holes in the sand, ogled other dogs, and dashed through the waves.

Those retractable leashes, though, do not retract as fast as they should--especially when they're a bit water-logged! A couple of times, we had a massive tangled mess, and it was all I could do to keep Cabana still enough to untangle her.


Here we are at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk--a great place for puppies in training, since "regular" dogs are not allowed! We did see one other service dog there, and both dogs were equally distracted by the other. Still working on that one, ad infinitum!!


Onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Cabana and I had front row seats for the penguin feeding, and Cabana, although interested, was very well-behaved, even while being completely surrounded by children who wanted to pet her.

Unfortunately, Cabana had an accident while we were at the aquarium, although I blame myself entirely. I forgot to relieve her as we were leaving the beach house, and when we got to the aquarium, I tried to get her to pee. But Cabana wouldn't go, and the rest of my family was waiting for us--so I gave up. After we entered the aquarium, the time slipped by quickly as we went from exhibit to exhibit. Then, just as I was thinking I should take Cabana out, she peed on the floor. :(

Cabana hasn't had an accident in at least 5-6 months, so I felt bad for making her break her almost-perfect record. But hey, pee happens!


I don't know if it was to appease me, but our relatives said they wanted to take a tour of Guide Dogs for the Blind! They really enjoyed Cabana and hoped to get a chance to pet some of the baby pups. So even though we missed Fun Day, we got to have our own mini fun day! This puppy caught my eye because he was such a chubby chunk--what a sweet baby!


Also on the tour with us was a working guide named Donna, along with her partner Amy and husband Dave (they gave me permission to include them in this post). Donna was so good at her job!! I confess that I found it a bit difficult to see Cabana doing that someday, unless she undergoes quite a change in the next few months. Our tour guide used a few inevitable adjectives for Cabana, like "high-energy", "high-spirited" and "live wire".


But I know that Cabana CAN be disciplined and self-controlled, because she was ALWAYS so sweet and gentle with 4-year-old Adam who is a bit high-energy himself! It was absolutely endearing to watch them together. Above, they are sitting together on Cabana's dog bed.


Tickets to the boardwalk and the aquarium can be expensive--but wouldn't you know, they had the time of their lives with a couple empty plastic bottles and a big bucket of water.


As they say, "Priceless!"

Coming Along

Although I wouldn't call them best friends, Cabana and Angie are learning to get along. If it were only up to Cabana, I might find the two of them cuddled up on her dog bed together, like in cute photos you see in calendars or on coffee mugs. But Angie is the one who'd have none of that. She's 14 years old and quite set in her ways. She tolerates Cabana, but she won't put up with Cabana's eagerness to sniff her posterior orifice.

Still, the fact that Angie is staying put on this lounge chair while Cabana sits beside her on the ground is tremendous progress in my book. And I didn't even put Cabana in a sit--she sat there completely on her own. We've come a long way since this photo, where Angie would beat a hasty retreat whenever Cabana was in the same room.

It seems like Cabana has learned to pay less attention to cats on our walks. In the past week, she either hasn't seen them or hasn't cared enough to see them. I hope it's the latter. If she can be less distracted by cats, MAYBE there's hope for her being less distracted by dogs.

I was pretty discouraged by a recent post on the Guide Dogs blog about career changed dogs. Sharon Davis of Aurora, CO, describes her feelings after her puppy Argos got career changed. She is a puppy group LEADER (i.e., she has much more of a clue about what she's doing than I do), and she was not able to help Argos overcome his dog distraction. She says, "...he just wanted to play with those other dogs." I know there's nothing more that Cabana would love than to play with the other dogs we see on our walks.

Still, I know it doesn't help to dwell on what may or may not be. I need to focus on doing the best with the puppy I've got, and I do feel encouraged when I see the teeny tiny baby steps of progress that Cabana is making.



Speaking of which, I've noticed my garden is progressing very nicely. I planted the veggies in this planter box on June 22. Click here to see how they looked just over a month ago. Last night, we had homemade pizza and salad. I used tomatoes, basil, lettuce and arugula, all harvested from my little garden. My zucchini plants are the huge leaves in the back. I think we're going to have zucchini coming out of our ears in about a week!

9 Things at 9 Months

Heavens to Mergatroyd, where does the time go. I'm late with this post! Cabana turned 9 months yesterday, and here are 9 things Cabana rocks at doing:

1. No accidents: I can't even remember the last time Cabana had an accident indoors, whether at our house or in a public place.
2. Shhhh: Cabana doesn't bark or whine (except when she's got business to do).
3. Selective chewing: She knows what's hers and what's not.
4. Beddie bye: Cabana is always happy to go to sleep at night.
5. Good morning: Quiet in her crate until we come get her, Cabana loves to hang with us, chewing her bone, while we drink our morning coffee.
6. Wait: Although she still knows this one a little too well, Cabana is very patient about waiting until we give the go-ahead to eat.
7. Tug-O-War: Still her favorite game, but when we say "that's enough", she lets go without any fuss.
8. Ready, get set, go: Grocery store, library, bank, no matter how mundane, any outing is like Disneyland to Cabana.
9. Stay: Cabana is great about staying put. In the photo above, she sits patiently while I take a quick turn around the tennis courts near our house to scout for any left-behind food or trash. Cabana loves to run around the courts to burn off some morning energy and practice off-leash recall.

Little Bridges Toward Success

When I picked Cabana up from the GDB kennels yesterday, I was told they had treated Cabana for ear infections in both ears. I was so surprised because I check her ears fairly regularly--and just a day or two before I brought Cabana into the kennels, I had marvelled to myself how clean her ears looked. Shows how much I know. Of course, she might have contracted the ear infections after she arrived there, who's to say.

They also upped her food to 2 cups, twice a day--hooray! I'm so pleased that Cabana can eat a little more. Like most Labs, nothing makes her happier than eating.

Cabana also came home with a bad case of diarrhea, which made itself plain just before our puppy meeting last night. Then, at puppy group, Cabana kept whining and whining. I thought she had picked up a bad habit while in the kennels (the dogs can be pretty loud there), so I corrected her (repeatedly) during the meeting to try to get her to stop. Then, she gave me "the stare"--and all of the sudden, I realized her whining was to let me know she needed to go out! And sure enough, I took her outside, and she had another bout of diarrhea. I felt AWFUL for correcting her when she had been doing the right thing all along! Poor thing!

This morning, though, the diarrhea seems to have cleared up. And we went for our usual morning walk. For the first 10 minutes of our walk, Cabana PULLED like the dickens. I felt like we were starting at ground zero. She has never been a perfect walker, and we still struggle with distractions--but today it seemed extra bad. Then, after a few well-timed (albeit non-protocol) pieces of kibble, Cabana walked better than she ever has before. A beautiful loose leash, no shenanigans--it was heavenly!



Toward the end of our route, I stopped to take these photos on a little bridge we cross. I removed her head collar for the photos--but then, I was able to leave it off for the remainder of our walk. I figured if Cabana got too pull-y, I would put it back on--but I didn't need to! Don't know how things will be tomorrow--but I'll take that little step toward success today!

Tuesday Topics 16 - Release Command

When it's time for Cabana to eat, she sits and waits very nicely. We release her to eat by saying "okay". But lately, probably in the past month, Cabana doesn't respond the first time we say okay. She just sits there and won't start eating. Sometimes, we have to say it several times or say it just the right way. Other times, I have to give her a little pat on the back of her neck before she'll dig in.



In the above clip, the first time I said "okay", I said it too softly--but mostly because I was being camera shy and didn't want my voice to be heard (not really too smart, considering the purpose of this video clip!). But even if we say it loudly and authoritatively, usually, Cabana doesn't respond the first time. Here, Cabana responds the second time, maybe because I said her name first. But there are days when we do this and she still doesn't respond.

We've never, ever punished Cabana for not waiting. She learned it very easily months ago and has done it consistently ever since. So I don't understand her recent hesitation. It's like she's nervous about doing it wrong.

And I don't want to teach bad habits by giving the command more than once. So I need to figure it out before it gets worse. Has anyone else had this happen? If we stick to our guns and only say "okay" once, then Cabana just sits and sits, drooling hungrily. Should we just wait it out, no matter how long it takes, and not give the command again?

Here's a clip of Cabana licking her bowl clean. She likes to get every last nuance of flavor. This clip is from the same meal as the above clip--the bowl has moved quite a bit on the rug!

8 Things at 8 Months

Cabana is 8 months old today. Here are 8 things Cabana loves right now.


1. She loves to lay on the bathmat in front of the tub while my husband or I take a shower.


2. She loves playing tug of war, especially with her Jollyball.


3. She loves to sit at the top of the stairs so she can take in everything that's happening in the house.


4. She loves to go on outings. Here we are at Tuesday Morning. She's a bargain hunter. ;)


5. She loves reading good books. Okay, not really, but wouldn't that be so awesome?


6. She loves going for her morning walks. Today, my husband walked her. He's tall, so she's gotta keep up with his long legs.


7. She loves hanging out in her crate after we open the door to let her out. Sometimes, she'll stay in there for hours and nap, even though she's free to come out and sleep on her bed. Silly pup.


8. And of course, she loves to chew chew chew her toys. Don't forget the Gnarlybone contest!!

Short Summer Do

The canines over at Life with Dogs are not the only ones with the gift of gab. Cabana offers her sage input from time to time when she's particularly inspired.




After about 6 months without getting a haircut, I finally decided I had enough length to warrant donating to Locks of Love, an organization that makes hairpieces for kids who have lost their hair due to illness. My hair feels pretty darn short, but it grows very quickly. My daughters have both donated their hair in years past, and I wanted to do it at least once in my life. Mission accomplished!!

Persia-nality

Persia is a sweet dog, and our time with her has been very smooth. I don't see much "slug" in her, though! She has a different kind of energy than Cabana, but she still seems plenty rambunctious and playful.

Persia's raisers told us to limit her water intake because she will drink and drink and drink, which can lead to accidents. And sure enough, Persia will drink every last drop I put in her bowl. She checks her water bowl often during the day, wanting more--and it's hard not to give it to her because I hate to think that she's thirsty. So I give her just a couple inches of water to drink at a time, rather than filling the bowl like I would with Cabana--and then I remind myself to take her out to relieve within the next half hour or so. And we've had no accidents thus far.

But talk about a fast eater--holy guacamole! I wouldn't have called Cabana a slow eater--Cabana eats her 1.5 cups of food in about a minute or so. But Persia eats her 2 cups of food in about 3 seconds. She doesn't seem to chew at all--she just inhales it.

Persia is quick--she can dash out the door in a millisecond. And she goes after flying insects and catches them in her mouth! Who needs a fly swatter with Persia around!

Another fun difference I've noticed is that Cabana will only lay on soft surfaces, while Persia doesn't seem to care what kind of surface she's on. When I'm showering, Cabana comes and lays on the bathmat in front of the shower. When I'm in the kitchen, Cabana comes and lays on the rug in front of the kitchen sink. But Persia will flop down on the tile or the wood.