A dog was forced to take drastic action in an attempt to try and oust her owner’s cat from her favorite spot on the couch.
Betsy the Bulldog was desperate to sit alongside her “dad” Steven Wiley but, as the video posted to TikTok by her owner Victoria Charlton explains, she was “too scared” to move her feline sibling Gizmo out of the way.
Betsy is only 16 months old but she already rules the roost in Charlton’s home in the city of Newcastle in the UK. “We got her when she was five months old,” Charlton told Newsweek. “She was actually my niece’s dog but she couldn’t cope with her so we took her and that’s where the fun began.”
Betsy the bulldog asking for Gizmo the cat to be moved.
TikTok/Betsy.Bulldog
Charlton had never had an English bulldog before, but was determined to do things right with Betsy. That meant researching how best to care for her and training, lots of training.
It all paid off with Betsy now a thoroughly content and well-trained canine companion. “She will do almost anything for a treat,” Charlton said. “She can sit, lay down, paw, turn around and jump up. She’s also learnt to press a button for treats which is her favourite.”
Betsy loves being the center of attention in the house. “She literally is our baby and she just wants to be on or next to us at all times,” Charlton said. “Her favourite thing to do is lie on the sofa like she pays rent. She is so gentle.”
However, she has a rival for her family’s affections: Gizmo the cat.
The idea that cats and dogs struggle to co-exist in the same home is something of a myth. The reality is a little more complicated than that.
In 2020, a study published in the journal PLoS One saw 1,270 pet owners, who had both cats and dogs, surveyed on their behavior. The results revealed that 62.4 per cent of cats and dogs who lived together not only got on well, but even played together. By contrast, only 40.9 per cent fought.
Though Betsy and Gizmo don’t necessarily “fight like cats and dogs” Charlton notes that Betsy tends to keep a distance. “Betsy doesn’t mess with Gizmo. She’s the only one in the house she doesn’t mess with.”
Their adversarial relationship has led to a few stand-offs though, like the one on Charlton’s couch, which was captured on a video shared to Betsy’s TikTok @Betsy.Bulldog, where it amassed more than 648,000 views since being shared earlier this month.
“She hates it when Gizmo is next to any of us on the sofa,” Charlton said. “Betsy’s spot is next to wherever we are sitting. So she will either do the paw flick to ask us to move her. Or she sits and barks at her in the hope Gizmo will jump down and she can have her spot.”
At age 10, Gizmo is no pushover though and gives as good as she gets. “She isn’t scared of Betsy at all; she will sit next to Betsy’s food bowls just to wind her up. She knows Betsy is scared of her.”
Charlton might want to consider getting a bigger couch.
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