Tonight, I thought best to come to bed in stages. One dog at a time. As is always the case, Zeus was helped into bed first. Of our 4 dogs, only half can get onto our bed that's approximately 28" to the top of the mattress from the floor. Trixie is spry, springy and agile, so jumps onto the bed with minimal effort.
Gibby is also still very young, agile, and a great jumper. He always may be. I'm not sure, but I'm certain that Zeus rarely jumps because his back hips and joints are all terribly luxating and probably quite uncomfortable. He seems to enjoy jumping during playtime when we first go into the bedroom, but only once he's on the bed. And not often.
Harley is 18... Enough said. 🤣
So Zeus had dad (Doug) pick him up and put him on the bed. To accomplish this, Zeus wakls to Doug's side of the bed, turns around facing the foot of the bed, sits down, but with his backend under the edge of the bed, as if he might float up into the sky, otherwise.
I quickly went to my side and climbed into bed, under the covers. Doug and Zeus have an entire routine to put him into bed: Doug slides Zeus's backside out from under the bedframe so he won't get hurt when he's picked up. Then Doug leans over Zeus's back, wraps his arm under his chest, between his front legs. His other arm goes below the first under Zeus. Doug says, "Ready? One, two, three". Then hoists Zeus up into the bed. Fortunately, Zeus also helps with a little push off the ground.
Once on the bed, he rushes to my side, gives me loves, gets skritches and rubs. Sometimes a full massage of all his muscles. Then he turns around in circles a couple of times and plops his butt down, making sure that he's against my side or leg. He's not much for laying with his face toward anyone. Well, unless he's worried or having bad dreams, which happens less often than it used to.
Then he grumbles and barks at or for Doug for skritches, belly rubs, and kisses from him.
Then Harley comes in to play a little and try to lick and clean Zeus's face. Harley is mostly toothless, but since he was young, has always been a caregiver, licking to clean all of his fur family member's ears, faces, sides, butts. We discourage it because his mouth is kinda yucky. I mean, he's 18! That's well over 100 in dog years.
Soon after, Gibby and Trixie barge in together, like double trouble, full of energy and ready to tussle, bounce, and play on the bed. Trixie gets annoyed by my disapproval and Zeus so she jumps down to the floor to gnaw on her nylaBone. By this time, Zeus and Harley are both comfortably laying down, just relaxing, sometimes licking their paws as they unwind for bed.
Tonight, Gibby is obviously understanding that major playtime is not allowed in bed. He bounds around a few times, as Zeus grumbles his disapproval. Then he jumps to the floor, picks up one of his toys, and brings it up to set against Zeus's side, then sits back a foot or so, just watching Zeus.
I show it to Zeus and he quickly grabs it to chew and tug on a loose piece of soggy, slimy, furry fabric. Gibby continues to watch, enjoying some massage time and head rubs. While this goes on, Doug is out of the room so doesn't see the sweet gesture Gibby has made by sharing his toy.
When Doug comes into the room, Gibby hurries over to have Doug rub his head and pet him. He sits down and slyly reaches out a paw to test out touching the toy that Zeus is enjoying. For once, Zeus didn't growl.
Pretty soon, Gibby reaches his paw out and touches Zeus on top of his head. Testing the waters. Whewh! He still didn't growl!
Doug and I observed the exchange, discussing how smart Gibby is, knowing that he either wants his toy back, or wants to play tug-o-war.
Next, Gibby puts his paw on the toy and kinda slides it. Still no reaction from Zeus. 🤔 We can tell Gibby is really trying to figure out what he's trying to accomplish without upsetting Zeus.
Finally, he leans down and puts his face nose to nose with Zeus, almost like giving him a kiss. Zeus reciprocates... Earning a big "awwww" from both Doug and I. The shared moment was the sweetest thing, as if they were both saying, "Hey, I really like you and hope to get closer with you".
Gibs reaches for the toy gingerly agaibutn, Zeus growls. Not just a " yea, I don't want you to take it" sound, but a "touch it and lose a finger", deep throaty, real warning growl. So he sits back and watches some more.
I begin rubbing Zeus's hips and he turns his head from the toy to look at me, forgetting about it for a minute. Within probably five minutes, he's so relaxed, lost interest in the toy, and continues to look back at me now and then, as if to say, "yea, that spot, right there".
Doug says (yes, we talk to our dogs like humans), "You know, Gibby, if you're quick, you can get your toy back. When he's not watching". Do you think that Dog didn't understand? PSH! The next time Zeus looked at me, Gibby grabbed his toy and jumped off the bed to put it back under the bed, where he's claimed as his kennel space and hidey hole.
Watching the two was the highlight of my day, closely followed by Zeus and I taking a short evening nap wrapped in a pile of freshly laundered, almost-not-quite too hot, soft,fluffy blankets.
The intelligence Gibby exhibits daily is mind blowing. He's such a good boy and trying so hard to fit in, find his place among our pack, and be part of the family. Watching him learn and build these relationship bridges is amazing and heartwarming. I'm so full of... What word am I looking for here? All the feels, I think. I'm full of all the feels that he'll never have to learn this new-home process again.
As I close out this post, Zeus is laying between Doug and I, with his butt against my calf. Harley is resting soundly against my hip, and Trixie is snuggled up with her poppa, Doug because she's a bit jealous of him giving Gibby attention. She needs some reassurance that he loves her and she's a good girl.
Gibby is snoring softly under my side of the bed. He had tried to find a comfy spot in my pillows, but I think he was too warm, so went down to the cool floor.
That's my que to follow suit and get some sleep for another day at the shop tomorrow. We had no customers in studio today and sold two to go kits. Tomorrow might be a better day. Goodnight all.