Day 33
These 2 have been best buddies for a very long time. Mocha, our PUZU (Pug, Shih Tzu mix) is never far from Josiah. She’s a smart dog. She learned early on, one of the best places to be is at his feet during meal time.
Josiah has been a notoriously sloppy eater from the get go, though he is getting much better these days. If Mocha plants herself just right under the table, she gets all the scraps dropped down from above, like Manna raining from Heaven. Might explain why she’s a bit on the chubby side.
One summer, Mocha spent a couple weeks with our older girls while they were in college. I never swept the floor so much in my life. It hadn’t occurred to me how much she really cleaned up after Josiah until that point. Shes like a little roomba, roaming around unobtrusively picking up all that lies just beneath his feet.
Since my knee replacement, she’s been my constant companion. She literally stays by my side, only veering away when she knows Josiah is heading to the kitchen table. She sleeps by my bed, jumps on my lap when I sit in the living room and stays just one step ahead of my walker. This is all new for Mocha. She has always been content to curl up on the couch and sleep the day away.
Clearly she knows I’ve been acting different and has become so protective of me. Last week, the bedroom door was closed while I was trying to rest. I heard her whimpering but couldn’t get up to let her in. She stayed put right outside the door until someone opened it, then scrambled to my side of the bed and parked underneath the walker. Right now she’s curled up on a blanket just a few inches away. She only moves when I do.
I think I’d like to take Mocha for training to become a dog who can visit kids in the hospital. She definitely has the sweet, docile temperament and adores attention. She’s small enough to sit on the bed for those who may not be able to get out of bed to pet her. The only behavior we’d have to address is her jumping.
When someone knocks on the door, Mocha is the first one there. She jumps joyfully all over them as they walk in whether they like dogs or not. We always make excuses and attempt to talk her down, but all the way down the long hallway, Mocha jumps on them.
I’m sure it’s an easy fix. Mocha learns quickly and most likely can easily be trained to sit and wait for the attention she so enthusiastically seeks. I just think it’s funny we have a bouncy, jumpy boy and a bouncy, jumpy dog. Maybe that’s their secret connection. Maybe that’s why they get along so well. They understand each other.
Maybe Mocha communicates with Josiah in a way we don’t recognize or appreciate. We’d better watch those two. What appears to be an innocent lick on the face in the photo above could actually be them planning some great escapade.
No doubt, it will involve jumping!