My Dog Pillow!

This was originally written on Monday 9/26/05

You know that your son is progressing well when everything in the house becomes MINE. In Zack’s mind, everything is his and you can not convince him otherwise. This was made more evident than usual when Deb brought home a new dog pillow.

We have an older dog that likes to lay around. I am her human so she's usually found laying around me. As I type this she lays near by waiting for me to go to bed. Now Jessica the dog loves my son. I would go so far as to say they are best friends. She doesn’t sleep with him but that is only because we keep the door closed to Zack’s room at night.

Food solidifies Zack’s place in the dogs heart. At every meal he finds some way to slip her food. For this she shows a greater than normal maternal instinct towards my son. The dog tries to rescue him from the swimming pool and barks at us as if to say WHAT ARE YOU DOING! On Zack’s forays into the pasture the dog assumes the vanguard scouting to make sure the path is clear. She trots in front checking for whatever dogs check for to make sure Zack will be OK.

Now saying this I also have to say dogs have a great sense of where they are in the pack. Deb and I are the dominant dogs in Jessica’s mind and as such our offspring must be deferred to. Jessica the dog has always treated Zack with a great deal of understanding to the point of letting Zack touch her eyeball. Yes, the dog laid there and let Zack explore her eye.

Thus we thought it extremely rude when Deb brought home the new dog pillow and Zack instantly claimed it and chased the dog away. In Jessica the dog’s mind, the matter was settled. Zack had a new bed. In Jessica the step daughter’s mind, the matter was far from over. ( Yes we have child and a dog named the same name. )

Jessica the teenager saw this as a completely unfair situation. Deb bought the pillow for Jessica the dog. Zack had no right to it. She ordered Zack off the pillow. At 2.5, Zack doesn’t order well. A fight broke out between siblings with Jessica the dog on the sidelines. Jessica the teenager would take Zack off the pillow and order the dog onto it. Jessica the dog would obey. Zack would then through a fit and order the dog off the pillow. The dog was caught in an obedience loop. You could tell she wanted to be left out of fight. Finally, the dog jumped up on the couch and laid her head down, ignoring any further commands to lay on the pillow.

The fight between Jessica the teenager and Zack raged on however. Obstinate teenager vs. the unwavering MINE! In the end I think MINE won but its hard to tell. Zack spent some time in his room. Jessica the teenager finally went to the TV room and shut to door. Jessica the dog just lay on the couch.

Time will tell if Jessica the dog will accept her new pillow or if she now thinks of it as Zack’s bed. Then again, when we come home from work Jessica the dog is often on Zack’s bed so I suppose its only fair that Jessica’s bed is now MINE!

In the end I don’t think the dog minds Zack sleeping on an item bought for her. The two lay together on the floor often. Zack throws her arm over her, leans against her belly and watches TV. She looks up, gives him one lick on the face then lays back down. Zack wipes the dog saliva off then kisses the dog. In the grand scheme of things, what’s one pillow between friends.