A dog’s life

Sure, the photo up above may look like an unmade bed, but it’s really just a messy bed. Which is to say, it’s a deliberately messed-up bed, courtesy of Jake. It’s the oddest thing he does, really.

We keep the guest bed made up all the time—or, more accurately, I keep making the bed. For some reason, Jake jumps up on it and paws all the covers down, sometimes knocking the pillows onto the floor, but not always, like in this photo. I have no idea why he does this.

Jake doesn’t mess up our bed, maybe because he also sleeps on it (don’t judge). But the guest bed is like a doggie playland or something, and I have to make the bed several times over the course of a week.

I know that the behaviours of cats and dogs have a logic from their perspective, even though we’re often oblivious as to what’s behind their behaviour. Maybe Jake thinks he’s making a little nest or something. Or, maybe he’s secretly aware of how exasperating it is to have to make up the bed several times a week.

The truth is, it isn’t really all that annoying—just odd. Apart from some barking, this is about as bad as their behaviour gets, and I know this would be heaven for some other dogs’ people. And, this oddity also reminds me that he’s here and has his own personality—he’s not part of the background.

So, I can put up with making the bed several times a week. Apparently it helps keep Jake amused, so it seems like a fair trade to me.

But I wonder if he wouldn’t mind cutting back to just once a week…