The Carpet Flower
Rurik the Fierce (or A Tale of Cats and Communists)
Around the time I was born my parents had a very gentle natured boxer dog with the name of "Rurik".
I spent a lot of time with him until he passed away when I was three years old.
My parents joked that he was such a friendly dog that in case of a home invasion he would have reliably lead the burglar to the fridge.
There were only two things that made Rurik angry.
First, he was very protective of baby-me.
When people peeked into the param I was lying in, he got furious.
Nobody was allowed to get near me.
The second thing were cats.
Boy, he hated cats.
This wasn't always the case.
He had a very bad first encounter with a cat when he was small.
Innocently he walked up to the cat to see who was visiting.
The cat lifted a paw in warning, but the warning was received as a greeting.
Rurik got even closer and didn't know what was suddenly happening.
Things happened so quickly that he didn't even defend himself.
The cat swiped his face multiple times and scatched it so badly that it was bleeding.
Confused and scared he retreated to my parents where he received some attention and love.
From that day on cats were regarded as the evil incarnate walking this world.
Just the mentioning of the word "cat" worked him up.
My parents travelled a lot due to my father's business dealings.
Sometimes Rurik went to a dog trainer in Latvia where he was taught to obey commands in Latvian and German.
Sometimes he stayed with my mother.
Sometimes he accompanied my father during internaltional business dealings.
Rurik had a reputation with my father's Russian business contacts as an exrodinarily well trained and loyal guard dog.
This came to be due to an event that unfolded in my father's office in Moscow.
In that office my father kept a small statue of Lenin.
This was to indicate favourable sentiments towards the party.
Such indications were advisable to not end up on KGB lists.
My father however was often driven mad by the practices of the communists.
When he got especially worked up after a call or visit he used to shout "Cats and communists. CATS AND COMMUNISTS!".
All the while waving the little statue of Lenin at Rurik.
When my father did this Rurik got furious too.
Rurik started to hate that Lenin statue so much, that my father had to put it on a shelve where the dog couldn't see it.
The statue was "cat" and there was nothing worse in the world than that!
One day, while my father was busy someplace else in the building, Rurik was lying in my father's office.
The leader of a KGB functionary delegation entered my father's office.
He planned to wait there for my father to return.
The functionary saw that the Lenin statue was not in the right place and put it back on top of the desk before sitting down in my father's chair.
When Rurik spotted the statue he started to growl fiercly at it.
However, the functionary sat in a direct line behind that statue.
He thought that the dog was growling at him.
He tried to slowly get up from the chair, but was driven back by the terrible sounds Rurik was making.
The delegate was pinned down.
The remainder of the KGB delegation gathered outside the office watching the spectacle, but nobody dared to go inside.
More than 10 minutes passed like this.
Somebody had sent for my father, who on arrival immediately understood what was going on.
He went into the office and placed himself between the statue and the dog.
Ensuring that the statue wasn't visible to Rurik, the dog calmed down quickly and was back to his friendly self.
All tension was gone.
My father then tended to the sweating and shaking KGB functionary.
The whole delegation was filled with praise for Rurik's performance.
They had never seen such a well trained guard dog.
I spent a lot of time with him until he passed away when I was three years old.
My parents joked that he was such a friendly dog that in case of a home invasion he would have reliably lead the burglar to the fridge.
There were only two things that made Rurik angry.
First, he was very protective of baby-me.
When people peeked into the param I was lying in, he got furious.
Nobody was allowed to get near me.
The second thing were cats.
Boy, he hated cats.
This wasn't always the case.
He had a very bad first encounter with a cat when he was small.
Innocently he walked up to the cat to see who was visiting.
The cat lifted a paw in warning, but the warning was received as a greeting.
Rurik got even closer and didn't know what was suddenly happening.
Things happened so quickly that he didn't even defend himself.
The cat swiped his face multiple times and scatched it so badly that it was bleeding.
Confused and scared he retreated to my parents where he received some attention and love.
From that day on cats were regarded as the evil incarnate walking this world.
Just the mentioning of the word "cat" worked him up.
My parents travelled a lot due to my father's business dealings.
Sometimes Rurik went to a dog trainer in Latvia where he was taught to obey commands in Latvian and German.
Sometimes he stayed with my mother.
Sometimes he accompanied my father during internaltional business dealings.
Rurik had a reputation with my father's Russian business contacts as an exrodinarily well trained and loyal guard dog.
This came to be due to an event that unfolded in my father's office in Moscow.
In that office my father kept a small statue of Lenin.
This was to indicate favourable sentiments towards the party.
Such indications were advisable to not end up on KGB lists.
My father however was often driven mad by the practices of the communists.
When he got especially worked up after a call or visit he used to shout "Cats and communists. CATS AND COMMUNISTS!".
All the while waving the little statue of Lenin at Rurik.
When my father did this Rurik got furious too.
Rurik started to hate that Lenin statue so much, that my father had to put it on a shelve where the dog couldn't see it.
The statue was "cat" and there was nothing worse in the world than that!
One day, while my father was busy someplace else in the building, Rurik was lying in my father's office.
The leader of a KGB functionary delegation entered my father's office.
He planned to wait there for my father to return.
The functionary saw that the Lenin statue was not in the right place and put it back on top of the desk before sitting down in my father's chair.
When Rurik spotted the statue he started to growl fiercly at it.
However, the functionary sat in a direct line behind that statue.
He thought that the dog was growling at him.
He tried to slowly get up from the chair, but was driven back by the terrible sounds Rurik was making.
The delegate was pinned down.
The remainder of the KGB delegation gathered outside the office watching the spectacle, but nobody dared to go inside.
More than 10 minutes passed like this.
Somebody had sent for my father, who on arrival immediately understood what was going on.
He went into the office and placed himself between the statue and the dog.
Ensuring that the statue wasn't visible to Rurik, the dog calmed down quickly and was back to his friendly self.
All tension was gone.
My father then tended to the sweating and shaking KGB functionary.
The whole delegation was filled with praise for Rurik's performance.
They had never seen such a well trained guard dog.