Why won't Dad let me get on the chair with him?
Blog Entry 12
I was still a puppy when Dad broke his leg on 31st August 2013.
Before that it was a lot of fun: Tuffy and I slept on the bed with Mom and Dad, and I got to play with my big brother and bounce around for a long time before settling down to go to sleep.
Then Dad broke his leg and had to go to hospital, and things changed.
When he came home he had to sit in the reclining leather chair all the time. Mom put it in the kitchen so he could watch TV, do the crossword and Sudoku and then sleep in the same place.
Tuffy and I took turns lying by his feet, and I’d try and jump into Dad’s lap. But he wasn’t too keen on that idea, because I might re-break his leg before it healed.
I used to be allowed on the bed. What happened?
Dad had a lot of therapy to do, and some of it meant that he had to lie down on the bed.
Mom pushed away the ottoman and armchair that Tuffy and I use to get onto the bed, which is very high. It was so frustrating to watch all that activity and not be allowed to get involved!
Then Dad was finally well enough to sleep in bed instead of the reclining chair. That was a big day for him, as he’d not been sleeping well for weeks.
Well, I thought we’d all be back together again, and I was really looking forward to bouncing around with Tuffy and Mom and Dad.
But that wasn’t going to happen. Mom and Dad said that I was too rambunctious to go on the bed because I’d jump up and down on Dad’s leg. I suppose that was a possibility. But it made me sad not to be one happy family together again.
Maybe if I try getting up from here?
Mom had to sleep upstairs in the guest bedroom.
I wasn’t about to let her sleep without me there! So she put the rickety doggy steps, that Tuffy was too scared use, right by the bed with a chair against them to stop me falling over the sides.
She told me that it was great how I'm afraid of anything. I bounded up those stairs and slept with Mom that night and every night after that.
Except when she went away.
I tried sleeping with Dad and Tuffy (Dad said there was room for three bodies if I calmed down) but it didn’t feel right. So I slept on the sofa where Mom and I snuggle to watch TV after she and Dad have watched Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! every evening.
When Mom came back I was mad at her and ignored her. But that didn’t last long – I was so happy she was home again! And Mom looked sad about my behavior, so I couldn’t keep her feeling bad. She said she hadn’t wanted to go away.
When Dad was mobile again (Mr. Walker using his walker!) I liked to lie underneath it with him.
When Dad goes to bed Tuffy trots off after him and jumps onto the bed with him, and I wait with Mom until she goes to bed. I jump up the stairs next to her (she kinda helps me with that a bit, with her hand on my butt to give me an extra lift).
Mom says her prayers and sometimes lets me lick her ears while she’s kneeling by the bed. But I mostly jump around and play with my Beneful ball: it came free with the last bag of Beneful she bought (until it turned out that my skin is very sensitive so I have to eat venison and fish dog food). It’s the only toy I’ve ever had that I can’t chew to pieces.
Then she finally gets into bed, and I snuggle really close to her. If the cat Milo comes on with us, I sometimes sleep with my nose next to Mom’s face to make sure Milo doesn’t get too near to her.
Mom says she does like it when I have my face towards her and not my butt, because it smells better. I’d say it’s the other way round. Humans are so weird!
As soon as I go straight to sleep like Tuffy does, we'll all be sleeping together again.