Pippin thinks he is the only thing around worth looking at.
Example; A few days ago we had a garage sale. Well, really a yard sale. I took Pippin with me out to our drive-way to watch the people while I worked. We had set up the payment area in front of the open gate so we could see everyone who went in and out. When one of us sat there, we had our backs to the gate, which is a chain-link gate. The gate was blocking the immediate way into the yard, and hanging on it were some outdoor flags. There were enough of them that they covered the entire top of the gate and hung down to about the middle of it. Behind it was Pippin. I tied him so he could see most everything, but could not get in the way. If someone wanted to pet him, they could come round and do so, but only if they wanted to. He would stick his scrawny nose through the chain-links and stare wistfully at the people as they passed by. Or (and more often), he would bark. You see, because the flags hung so low, one didn’t really notice Pippin. If you looked at the fence at all, you merely noticed the flags, not the little dog poking his nose through and wagging his tail at you. Even later, when someone bought all our flags, there was still the table drawing people’s attention away. So, when no-one looked at him, or paid him any attention, Pippin took matters into his own paws; He told the people where he was. He barked, and would stop most of the time if he saw my motions telling him to stop (which are frowning and making the motion of snapping and then pointing accusingly at him and shaking the finger and my head), but then he would start right back up again in a few minutes. I warned him, “Pippin, if you keep barking, I’m gonna hafta put you in the house!” And do you know, he was quiet for probably 15 minutes. I praised him, and when I got a chance and when he was being quiet, and petted him and played with him, so he wasn’t completely ignored. But later, he started up again. So guess what? Pippin spent a good deal of the day in the house, in his special spot – the crate.
In the afternoon, I came and brought Pippin out again to see if he would behave (this was before we sold the flags). I tied him in the usual spot, and for a while he behaved. But he was still very eager to have someone notice him. So a man who is about leave notices the flags and walks over to look at them. Since they were hanging over, only the bottom half or more of them could be seen. So the man looks at the bottom of them, and then leans over to look at the top. Pippin was delighted. He had been watching the man closely as he walked up, but he hadn’t barked. I was watching Pippin. I was standing near, so I think that may have had something to do with Pippin’s good behavior. When the man leaned over, Pippin thought he was finally getting the attention he craved, and he was determined to make the best impression he could. He stood on his hind legs and put his paws on the gate and looked up at the man. He stretched so gracefully, turning his head to look side-ways at the man, pricking his ears. The show was on. The man looked at the flags, then straightened and walked away, with-out ever looking down. He didn’t even notice Pippin. Pippin was bummed. “Aw, man!”
There was another creature hanging around who was also looking for attention, only he got it: My cat, Zeke. We got Zeke from a lady whose friend had found him and his siblings in a card-board box on a freeway in downtown Houston. This friend had brought the litter to the lady because she had a momma cat already who was still nursing her kittens. But that little momma didn’t have enough milk, and though she made a valiant attempt, all the kitten were slowly starving. The lady tried to help, but putting damp kitten food out for kittens far too young to eat solid food didn’t help much. But Zeke and the other kittens were so hungry, they nibbled at the food anyway. So when we got him, Zeke was a stunted, starving, flea-infested little kitten that needed to be nursed. So, we bottle-fed him. Since he was bottle-fed, Zeke thinks he’s pretty much human. He’s not necessarily a needy cat, but he does love to be petted, loved on and held. And you know how cats will only eat as much as they need? Zeke has no concept of that. He will eat all that’s there and beg for more.
Anyway, at the garage sale, Zeke was amongst the shoppers. Rubbing on their legs and begging for attention by meowing at them. It was kinda funny. Our other two cats, Jack & Jill (brother and sister), were nowhere to be found, but Zeke came out of hiding and was around all day! Usually he wanders a good deal, begging for food. Pippin and Zeke are sworn enemies, you know, and I think Pippin was just a wee bit jealous. 
(They’re so funny… just a day in my life…)
