Peaceful morning...and dogs and cats

A nice morning, fresh coffee, a Gary Cooper/Burt Lancaster movie on the TV, and two dogs who keep trying to harsh my mellow by barking at any person, truck or cat that they see outside.

Or maybe they're just hating because Emily came over last night and after playing with them for quite a while, also dared to spend time playing with one of my porch cats.

Yep. I got porch cats. And the dogs are not amused. But since they don't chase mice and rats, the porch cats get enough food to keep them around. And they do kill them some mice and rats; I've seen them do it.

Of course I have to work to keep feline and canine separate. Murphy is still Murphy and he's racked up more than his share of cats and shows no indication of turning over a new leaf. And Belle just wants to chase them because they run, although if one stopped or didn't run at all she'd be a mighty confused dog. Still, taking them out on leashes when there is a cat or two lounging on my patio chair requires a bit of planning and caution because some of the cats--this one in particular--don't just up and run off or otherwise make it easy for me. They'll sit right there, just out of leash reach, and bet their lives on my keeping control of 160lbs. of prey-drive motivated Shepherds. Such fun.