Venus on the Half Shell

While up in Maine this summer, Dorothy colonized one of her Aunt Nellie's beds:

As you can see, the bed is shaped kind of like a clam or oyster shell, and the dog is meant to lie in it, as, say, the pearl.  Nellie, who inherited the bed from two pug nephews, would occasionally lie ON the bed, but the only time she ever went IN it was on a day that was over 95 degrees, and thus not one that would seem to require the added warmth of a snuggly bed. (But Nellie is a Tibetan Terrier, and they do things differently in Tibet.)

Dorothy right away seemed to understand how the bed worked.  She would flip the top up deftly with her snout, and slip inside, turn around, and then lie with her head facing out.  She became so fond of it that when we were racing Hurricane Ilene to Philadelphia at the end of our vacation, the bed was tucked into the trunk with the rest of our belongings.

And Dorothy is still very fond of the bed.  It is now her lair--and thus a place to which she brings her favorite found treasures, such as brassieres:

Plum and Posy both made the mistake of trying to lie in the bed, only to discover that if you are in the depths of the bed, and a bulldogge joins you, then you are trapped in the bed and have to claw and hiss your way out.  Which is undignified and not fun.

So Posy has come up with another way to enjoy the half shell--she has made herself a comfortable nest on the upper deck, so if need be she can make a hasty getaway:

Apparently, what is good enough for the goose,

is good for the gander: