random truths – Day 1,004 (Friday) – no more cuddles

In the personal history day calendar, December 16 is a Winston anniversary. On this date in 2011, Winston came to my home in Tennessee (aka “The 402”) to stay with me and Moose for an overnight visit to see if we would all get along. Spoiler alert, we did.

Cuddle puddle, Dec. 16, 2011.

That night, valuable lessons were learned. It seemed none of us knew how to play. There was no rope tug of war. No ball chasing. No rolling about on the floor. Toys were ignored that night and every day and night afterward. Instead, we laid on the couch. Or, more accurately, I laid on the couch, and they laid on me as if I was some sort of doggy furniture. When I shifted them off me and got up from the couch, they both followed me everywhere we went. We were a content and happy cuddle puddle. 

Dogs laying on me and following me everywhere happened constantly when there were three of us. It was the case in Tennessee, the three years living at Mom’s after I moved back, and then for nearly five years at The BungaLowell. I liked it.

Now that there are only two of us, there is no more cuddling. No cute little critter follows me around the house. Winston lays in his bed, or on the couch out of my reach. I miss the old  level of attention, even if it was motivated primarily by canine rivalry.