Hannah Meets the Neighbor Cat (through the fence)

We had been fostering Hannah for a few weeks in late May, 2008, when she and the neighbor cat happened to be outside at the same time.  They were separated by a fence, which we thought a good thing.  It was clear she was interested in the cat, and the cat in her, but we didn't know what to expect.  Would she sniff, growl, snarl, try to lunge through the fence?

Hannah followed the cat as it walked along the fence, clearly curious about this creature with four paws.

The cat feigned disinterest in Hannah and interest in something in the distance.

Still, the cat rubbed along the fence as if trying to tempt Hannah into more than looking and sniffing.

Or perhaps it was just trying to be friendly in a cat sort of way.

When Hannah didn't do any more than watch, the cat sauntered to its tree and laid down.

At the time we didn't know how Hannah would do with cats but we know that if she moved to a forever home that wasn't ours, her new owners would want to know.  Our home became her forever home, of course, so it didn't matter because we didn't have a cat.

A number of years later her human sister married and moved to a farm where they had a cat.  We took Hannah to visit.  She and the cat greeted and that was that.  (She greeted the chickens in an equally calm manner.)

Two years ago Hannah's other human sister adopted two tiny kittens and brought them home for a visit.  We thought Hannah would be fine with them but we were cautious since the kittens were so tiny.  She was fine.  In the photo below Jack is crawling over her to play with a strip of fabric.

Unlike some Airedales we've known, Hannah seemed to love most other creatures.  We thought it a wonderful attribute.  She did, however, draw the line at Jack's sister, Jane, cleaning her ears or messing with her paws.  A low growl and we moved Jane to some other activity.  We didn't think it fair that aged Hannah should have to move.

How I miss her and her furry face!

--Nancy.
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