Monday, December 5, 2011

The Guardian

Never, never in her fourteen and a half years, has Charley allowed any other dog to share her bed. In recent months, she has allowed Sadie to lie close by her, usually butt to butt on the floor, or side-by-side with a foot of carpet between them.  But never on the same bed.

I was in my office working, Charley asleep as usual on her mattress in the living room, Sadie on the office couch. I was somewhat aware of Sadie leaving the room, and a little while later figured I should check on her - her idea of 'asking' to go out is to stand with her nose to the back door and hope someone will notice. As I left the office, I glanced down the hall to check that Charley was still okay, and this is what I saw:



Sorry for the poor quality of this photo - I didn't want to turn on lights or move too close for fear of disturbing them.

Sadie takes her guardian role very seriously - the weaker Charley becomes, the closer she hangs out with her. I just never expected to see them both on the same bed.

Good dog, Sadie, good dog.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jean, that's a lovely photo. It breaks my heart, but it's in a sad-but-happy kind of way - sad that our dogs have to get old and frail, but happy because it reminds me of just how lucky we are to be able to share our lives with such wonderful creatures. Sadie you are indeed a good, good dog. You too, Charley.

Deb S.

Unknown said...

Beautiful

Funder said...

Ohh, that's so sweet.. and so sad too.

Dom said...

This brought tears to my eyes. Good, good dog.

georgia little pea said...

Sweet and sad.

When Jordan was sickly towards the end, he slept beside my bed, which he'd not done before. He always preferred sleeping downstairs on his own bed. For comfort, I realised belatedly.

As for Rufus, although he and Georgia were not best friends, whenever he had an episode, he would let Georgia share his bed. (I actually took some pics of this remarkable event for the blog too!) I dont know what surprised me more - that he let G on, or that our rambunctious missy would bother to go check on him.

Aren't dogs the best? :)

Jen said...

Ahhh, what a bittersweet photo. It's lovely that Sadie is such a great girlie, taking care of her friend. Give them both a hug tonight. :)

Jen and the mostly black dog crew