I never slept with dogs in the bed until the day our cat Rosie died. Rosie was an excellent bedmate, and as the elder stateswoman of the house, she had the reign of the upstairs while the dogs slept downstairs (don’t feel badly for them- they slept on our Pottery Barn couches, the little rats). Toward the end of her life, Rosie- who hated dogs and sometimes hated herself, hissing at her own reflection in the mirror- began to have a silent dialogue with our Border Collie mix, Sophie. Rosie would sit at the top of the stairs while Sophie sat on the landing, neither making a sound or moving…just communicating for long periods of time. We wondered what in the world they were sharing, but we think we finally figured it out.
The night after Rosie died, I was lying in bed, weepy, feeling her loss. I heard a familiar “ticka-ticka” sound (that’s how we describe the sound of dogs walking on hardwood floors), and turned to see Sophie with her head resting on the side of the bed, gazing at me with her sweet, soulful eyes, tail wagging. She had never come in our bedroom before, as it was always Rosie’s domain. Rosie was old and fragile, so we took great care to protect her, as Sophie loves to chase cats. We decided that Rosie had somehow given Sophie permission to take over her duties as the resident bed buddy- why else of all days would this dog do what she had never done before? I patted the bed once, giving her permission, and she sprung up and curled up happily at the foot of the bed. A new era had begun.
I started doing a series of photos called “This is what I woke up to” to capture the first dog view I see in the morning. Usually it’s just Sophie with us, as we have a queen bed and Cooper is a bed hog…and she snores loudly, farts, and makes other noises not conducive to a good night’s sleep. She joins us on stormy nights and weekends when we don’t have to be up at the crack of dawn, as well as for the rare nap. I love when they are both with us, as there is always a tender morning greeting between the two of them that is so touching…as well as some comedic moments as well. All in all a great way to wake up. Here are some of my furry morning views…
The View from Here 