by Pa Rock
Servant of Dogs
This year on September 1st little Rosie (11 pounds) will have been a member of my household for ten years. Her eyesight is failing, but Rosie's hearing remains exceptional, and she is fully aware of everything happening within a hundred yards or so of our house. She is a wonderful companion and a good friend.
Rosie and I lived by ourselves for several years and got along fine. A few years ago my oldest son and his very large Boston terrier, Riley, who was built like an English bulldog, came to live with us. Rosie and I both had to go through some adjustments learning to live around others, but we managed to navigate those changes. Riley, who had become very protective of Rosie, died of old age two years ago, so Rosie had go to through another adjustment phase in her life. She inherited Riley[s big, soft dog bed and loved it. I'm sure that it evoked memories of her departed friend.
Gypsy, a seventy-pound-plus bulldog/pit-bull crossbreed, bounced into our lives a couple of months ago, and poor Rosie had to begin adjusting all over again. Gypsy loved to play - and bounce - and it didn't take her long to begin tearing up Riley's old bed. Rosie, who is sweet and normally docile, would just get out of the way and let the big dog be her puppy-self. Eventually I had to get a new bed for Rosie and figure out strategies for keeping Gypsy away from it.
Meanwhile they sampled each other's food, begged for each other's treats, and even traded water dishes. There were all kind of games at play and the two canines, one small and elderly and the other enormous and still a puppy, remain in the process of learning to co-exist.
Rosie's new bed was a sticking point because I was bound and determined that Gypsy was not going to play it to shreds. At first the big dog seemed to resent the new bed and the fact that she was denied access to it, but gradually her demeanor changed and it was more like her feelings were hurt because the little dog had something which she didn't. So yesterday when a larger, new bed that I had ordered for Gypsy arrived in the mail, I thought she would be one big, happy puppy.
Of course I was wrong.
Gypsy sniffed around her new bed for awhile and even laid down on it, but she was unimpressed. Rosie, on the other hand thought it was great, and this morning she is the Queen of the House sleeping peacefully on the new dog bed, and the big princess is sleeping soundly in a sunny spot on the floor.
The royal pecking order has been established.
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