Rolling Dog Farm Blog

This afternoon I noticed blind Widget and Birdie, our little Lab with muscular dystrophy, sharing the big dog bed in the living room.  I think what struck me was not just that they were sleeping together on the bed, but facing opposite directions.  And then I noticed Widget was sleeping right on top of Birdie’s tail, with it sticking out from underneath her.  I headed for the office to get the camera.

A few hours later this evening, old Pappy and even older Dillon, one of our ‘personal’ dogs from Seattle, ended up sharing the same bed, although in a completely different way.  That’s Dillon on the left and Pappy on the right. 

We were in the kitchen when we heard Pappy doing his half-bark, half-whine thing … it’s the "help, someone’s crowding me" signal for us to come running.  Pappy does NOT like to share, and he was mortified that Dillon climbed over him to get to the other side of the bed, then turned around and lay down by his side.  (The easier, more logical approach would have been to simply get on the bed from the front, but no, Dillon thought walking over Pappy made more sense somehow.)

Dillon had been terribly abused as a puppy and ended up at a no-kill shelter near Seattle.  He was terrified of people — he would cower and cringe when approached — and no one would adopt him.  Dillon spent five years at the shelter in a small outdoor kennel until we came along.  Now 14, he’s come a long way, but he is still very shy and timid around people he doesn’t know.  Dillon also doesn’t like to have his photo taken, so I had one shot, and this was it!

(Click on photos for larger image.)