Every so often, Jingle will start sliding across the hardwood floors. She’ll suddenly be afraid to go down un-carpeted steps. This tells us it is time for an in-between-the-paw-pads trim.

Everyone loves it.

Jingle lies on her side, the children take turns feeding her tiny pellets of special occasion treats.

I trim the fur with my sharp scissors. Jingle flinches with each cut, like her feet are ticklish.

We all tell her how beautiful she is. What a good dog she is.

“Who’s a good girl, who?”

“Thump, thump, thump,” answers her tail on the floor.

One of the only drawbacks of receiving Jingle, was Riley’s beloved cat’s opposition to her. Tanya the calico had always slept on Riley’s bed, and as much as Riley loved her new dog, she really missed her cat.  After some initial drama, they slowly learned to tolerate each other in the house. Hissing rarely happens these days. Both are attention seekers and neither one can stand if the other is being pet, so I often find myself with a dog on one side, a cat on the other, scratching one of them with each hand.  

Yesterday, was Riley’s birthday. After our morning cupcakes, and sending Seth off to school, Todd and Riley and I snuggled up in bed, looking at a photo album from the day she was born. When we paused, we noticed this. Jingle and Tanya cuddled up at the foot of the bed. Tanya’s white mitten paw resting on Jingle, who is flat on her back. Both of them, zonked.  

Riley was beside herself.

It was a very happy day.