Finally, there was no room left to add anything else into the crate, so I just took her out and brought her upstairs with me. She plopped down onto my bed and immediately burrowed under the blankets at the end. I got in bed, and she curled up cuddled against my feet and was snoring within seconds. That was it. I was done for. I was officially the guy who let his dog sleep in bed with him.
Another thing I had to get used to fairly quickly was waking up to her little pink tongue most of the way up my nose. She licked me awake standing on my chest until I got up and brought her over to her puppy pad, then carried her downstairs for breakfast. I was making a cup of coffee when my phone rang.
“Morning,” I said.
“How’s Rosie?” Cole asked.
“Is that where we are as friends now?” I asked. “You call to check on my puppy.”
“Yes,” he said.
“Fair enough. She’s doing well. Currently chasing her favorite pink tennis ball around the living room.”
“Is she still sleeping in your bed?” He sounded like a concerned grandmother checking to make sure I was raising the new baby in an acceptable way.
“Yes. She has claimed the bottom corner and has her own blanket,” I told him.
“Have you even tried the crate again?”
“No,” I said. “She cried and wailed. I told you. She hated it. It kept me up and it was heartbreaking. She didn’t want to be down on the bottom floor of the house while I was upstairs. She would rather be with me.”
“Of course she would rather be with you. But you gotta be consistent. You have to teach her that the crate is her spot and that’s where she’s comfortable and can go to bed. Just like teaching a baby how to sleep in their crib. It’s better for both of you.”
“Why?” I asked.
“All those reasons all the experts say it is,” Cole said.
“Uh-huh,” I said. “That’s very compelling evidence. Tell me, Cole, does Bud sleep in a crate?”
“No,” he said. “But that’s a completely different situation.”
“Why?” I asked with a laugh.
“Because I didn’t get her a crate,” he said.
I laughed again. “Well, that is a very good reason.”
“I’m glad you’re enjoying her. You seem more like yourself again.”
“Me too. Having her around has been great,” I told him.
It really had been. She absolutely did the trick. I didn’t even have the time to be lonely. The wiggly black puppy needed constant attention. I was still battling with her over her leash and learning to walk on it. We were working on learning to sit and lie down, and if I wasn’t trying to teach her something, she wanted me to be patting her, playing with her, feeding her, or running around with her. It was a lot, but she was absolutely worth it.
Rosie was adorable even when she was stealing my food or chewing up my slippers. That was one of the things that surprised me about having her. Everybody always hears about dogs chewing up slippers, but I thought that was just a cliché, something people said because it was a cute, funny thought. I didn’t remember one of our dogs ever chewing up slippers or shoes or anything like that. But Rosie couldn’t get enough of them. She latched right on mine like those slippers were going to get the best of her at any moment. Her little growls were so cute I couldn’t believe she would ever be intimidating to anything.
I loved when she snuggled up under the covers to go to bed or curled up on my feet while I was watching TV. I loved discovering new foods she enjoyed sharing with me and watching her attempt to bury the ones she didn’t like. When it was just the two of us, she was easy to talk to. I didn’t have to be left just with my own thoughts or attempt to untangle things in my brain by myself. She couldn’t answer or give her opinion, but at least I could talk things out. Every now and then she would tilt her head to the side or wag her tail, and I liked to think that was her way of trying it to be a part of the conversation. I never really knew what it meant, but every time she wagged her tail and her tongue slid out in response to Merry’s name, I chose to think of it as her giving her endorsement.
I wanted things to work out with Merry more than I ever could have imagined. Almost more than anything I’d ever wanted in the world. She was constantly on my mind, and when I wasn’t purposely thinking of her, she would find her way into my thoughts. I could be thinking about something completely different, and suddenly she would show up as a part of it.