My wife loves this dog.
This dog loves Martha.
This dog never stole Martha's chair.
OK, we both love her. She's Wednesday Louise Wagstaff Arden, called "Wendy" and named in honor of a character in a Cary Grant/Irene Dunn movie, 1940's great comedy, My Favorite Wife. She's also named in honor of the Doris Day character in the film's 1963 remake with James Garner, Move Over Darling.
Yeah, you see why we just call out "Wendy" -- too many syllables.
Wendy is my favorite wife's personally rescued dog. Several others are in a tie with Wendy as "beloved Martha rescued dog." Martha's a perpetual rescuer.
We've had Wendy for most of two decades. Martha rescued her in 2009. Martha first saw the young dog trying to keep up with some people who were walking along busy Polk Street near Love Freeway in southern Oak Cliff.
So, Martha pulled her car to a halt, got out and asked, "Is that your dog?" Nope, they said. The people explained that the young dog was living in and around the parking lot of an apartment complex where nobody wanted her and some people were mean to her.
Along about that "mean to her" part of the story, Martha claimed the dog. The people were happy and the dog and Martha were elated.
So, we got this great dog. I am a fan of Wendy, but not particularly a fan of recliners. I do, however, sit in a recliner Martha gave me for viewing television in our living room. I sit there if the recliner is available.
Usually Wendy is out-like-a-light on her couch -- it used to be our couch -- you know how that goes. Yeah, she claimed the big couch. But, if she wakes and realizes I'm in the office typing or outside doing yard work (rare event), Wendy, on her not-quite-youthful legs, will work hard to scramble into the recliner, curl up and go to sleep. That is, by the way, a LOT of curled up dog.
And while she may not have the sharp attitude she once expressed with other pups, she does have the determination to NEVER SURRENDER the recliner to any human. She kind of smiles as she resolutely sticks to her place in the chair.
Wendy is at that age where sleeping is important to her. It's a feeling she and her humans share.
Night-after-night Wendy claims "the big middle" of the family bed.
And, yes, the dog nobody wanted nods off with two humans petting her (or saying "Move over, Wendy!"). And sometimes the humans may even talk about how wonderful a friend she's always been. I guess the moral of the story of Wendy is this: Never reject a dog -- he or she is probably capable of being the most wonderful canine companion you'll ever have -- even when you're thinking about sitting in YOUR recliner and watching TV.
To the right, that's a photo of Wendy pointing one way an her pal Dudley the Angel pointing the other as they wait for a human to get out of a recliner or off a couch. Patient dogs.
[DEAR READERS: Send photos and stories of your slumbering dogs, napping cats or snoozing relatives and their critters to [email protected]. We'll spotlight 'em in our long-running weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap. Thank you for being a fan of animals and keeping them safe! Even if the dogs and cats hog the bed. -- LRP.]
As this photo demonstrates,
she doesn't always need
to be in the recliner
to nod off. Good dog, Wendy!
