On the other hand… my big-bully Maine Coon, Seamus, loved to, needed to, “wrassle” every so often, and the procedure was as settled a ritual as in any dojo: he would lie on his side with his limbs posed as though he’d been frozen in mid-pounce, and wait for me. I would move one hand (likewise “pounce”-shaped) toward his exposed belly. As I got within his grasp-area, the wrassling would begin: he’d close his front and back paws around my hand and wrist, to grab and kick — no claws — while I rubbed, grabbed, and occasionally turned him over. Inevitably he would, in triumph, rear back his head, open his jaws in a shark-like chasm of fangs, and start to *chomp* forward… only to find his face surrounded by fingers that his eyes could just see through but his teeth could not bite. While he adjusted to that, one finger was stroking his forehead, “good kitty”, until he purred. He’d had his wrassle, and he never got hurt for trying to dominate — instead he got unconditional love. As an intelligent cat, he responded with love in turn.
On the other hand… my big-bully Maine Coon, Seamus, loved to, needed to, “wrassle” every so often, and the procedure was as settled a ritual as in any dojo: he would lie on his side with his limbs posed as though he’d been frozen in mid-pounce, and wait for me. I would move one hand (likewise “pounce”-shaped) toward his exposed belly. As I got within his grasp-area, the wrassling would begin: he’d close his front and back paws around my hand and wrist, to grab and kick — no claws — while I rubbed, grabbed, and occasionally turned him over. Inevitably he would, in triumph, rear back his head, open his jaws in a shark-like chasm of fangs, and start to *chomp* forward… only to find his face surrounded by fingers that his eyes could just see through but his teeth could not bite. While he adjusted to that, one finger was stroking his forehead, “good kitty”, until he purred. He’d had his wrassle, and he never got hurt for trying to dominate — instead he got unconditional love. As an intelligent cat, he responded with love in turn.
"Ask your child what he wants for dinner only if he's buying." -- Fran Lebowitz