Gigi turned 6 this past November. She’s not technically old, but she’s had trouble learning tricks for as long as we’ve had her, since she was 2 months old. Her most impressive trick in her repertoire is “speak” but we didn’t teach her that; she already knew it when we got her.

This is a dog who still doesn’t really understand the commands “sit” “stay” or “come here” now matter how hard we try to teach her. The only “trick” she’s really learned from us is the “do not come into the kitchen when Mommy and Daddy are eating” rule. There’s an invisible line she knows not to cross. I’ll never understand how she can follow that rule but not answer to “come here.”

But now Gigi’s suddenly learning a new “trick” that we never thought she’d be able to comprehend, let alone master.

Over the past few months or so, little Gigi has begun jumping up onto our bed. If you’ve seen her, you know how teeny she is. We always thought our bed was just way too high for her to make it. I even thought about buying those doggie stairs they have at drugstores.

But one day, when she was pumped full of adrenaline by the offer of her favorite dog treat, she just sprung right up. And even after we added the 4-inch-thick memory foam mattress pad (for my arthritis) she is still able to make it! It’s quite a feat for her, The Least Active Dog Ever.

Now, hers not a graceful jump. Basically she gets her front paws and most of her upper body onto the bed and then has to pull herself the rest of the way. It’s one of the cutest things I have ever seen her do. The look on her face in that moment when she’s just hanging on for dear life is hilarious.

The fact that she can jump like that is even more impressive considering the fact that she was paralyzed in her back legs about 5 years ago, thanks to Hartz flea treatment, which should be illegal because it can cause severe neurological damage. I tell every dog owner I know to avoid Hartz and anything else you can buy at the grocery store, and stick to vet-approved treatments like Frontline or other prescription drugs.

I rushed Gig to the doggie ER and she recovered fully, but to this day she very often drags her back legs behind her. She can walk just fine, so I am not sure why she does that. But I digress . . .

So since we found out she’s physically able to jump onto the bed, we’ve been working with Gigi to train her to do it more often, to build strength and agility. But, being that she is Gigi, she very often acts as if she has no idea how to get up here and looks at us as if to say “Me? Jump up there? That’s crazy talk.” Even the offering of savory delights won’t bring her up if she’s in the mood to be lazy and a LIAR.

Still, she’ll hop up every now and then, more and more often these days. Her routine is so spend all of her time under the bed and at night, as soon as Danny comes in to go to bed, she stirs and hops up. Danny is a bigger draw than cookies, who knew? She won’t come up even when I beg her, but all Danny has to do is walk into the room. Granted, there are still times when he has to drag her up because she pretends she can’t do it, but she’s really getting much more confident and adventurous.

But she rarely ever stays in bed through the night. After we’ve turned out the light and started to doze off for the night, Gigi creeps to the end corner on my side. She sits there shifting her feet, almost as if she’s psyching herself up to make the jump down. It’s very annoying for me, a light sleeper. But then when she’s built up the courage, she jumps down and wanders off to do whatever she does at night. Part of me suspects that she actually waits until she thinks we are asleep before she heads off. So parent-like.

This morning was another milestone in Gigi’s jumping-up-to-the-bed training. When Danny and I woke up at round 7:45, Guess Who was already with us! You haven’t lived until you’ve been awakened by a dog sitting directly on you, tail wagging, staring at you intently. We have no idea when she joined us, but it’s the first time she’s ever come on up without any incentive. I’m so proud.

And now she’s curled up next to me, over on Danny’s side of the bed. I hope she starts hopping up to join us more often, as long as she doesn’t fuss around and walk all over us and yip for attention. Gigi and I are often fighting over Danny. I swear that dog is madly in love with him.

Imagine waking up to see this face staring at you:
Gahhh!