Snuggily Dog

It is interesting to watch how Topaz changes over time now that I am with her daily.

Topaz was never the most snuggily dog in the litter. Sure she would fall asleep on us when we first brought her home, but as she grew her snuggily moments became less and less frequent. She would stay close by but not touching me or if she was touching me it was usually just her paw or a part of her back pressed against me. I never thought much of this. Some dogs are just not snuggily, cuddily dogs and I just assumed that she was one of those dogs. I allowed her to initiate when she wanted to snuggle and be close to me.

Our bonding time was play time. It also happened to be our training time a lot of the time as well. However, since we have moved to Tennessee she has changed a lot. I am not sure if this is because she now sees me on a daily basis rather than on the weekends I was home from college or on breaks.

The first major change I noticed was that she was getting in the recliner and laying on the foot rest while one of us was in it. Before she would never get in the recliner if someone was in it. She always opted for the floor or a nearby couch. If I was on the couch she always had to have an entire cushion to herself or sometimes a cushion and a half for her.

Then I began noticing that at night when we went to bed that over time more and more of her was pressed against me as we slept. Ken always made comments about the fact that she would snuggle with me but rarely with him and the duration was always very short. I told him to give her time and maybe she would snuggle with him because she used to not snuggle with me.

Last night, it finally happened. We were watching Sherlock Holmes and she laid down beside him and pressed her whole body against his leg and hip. We assumed it would last a few moments and then she would shift positions per the norm. Fifteen minutes later and she was sound asleep and happily dreaming. She remained pressed against him for over half the movie. She even opted to sleep with him and when I got up this morning a part of her was still touching him.

She still has her moments where she wants to be alone. Sometimes she just goes and hangs out in another room. However, she has come to be a much more snuggily dog.

Random Talk

So there are some who say that dogs do not understand what people say or could only understand the most basic words. I vehemently disagree with them. I regularly talk to Topaz.

Now I do not have any expectations that she will ever open her mouth and speak words back to me. However, we manage to talk without words. Our normal conversations consist of topics such as playing, finding toys, not chasing birds while on her walks or scoldings.

However, sometimes we have random conversations. The other day, Ken and I were going out for a while but he was taking his sweet time in getting ready. He was enjoy laying down. So Topaz came over and was looking at me and I told her to go tell him to get ready. I never expected her to do. However, she ran over to him and stood by him, gave a bark and then looked at me. I busted out laughing.

I love my conversations with her.