Jemma has a lot of quirks. Many of them in particular involves the bond she shares with me. For example, when I am not home, she acts completely depressed to the point where she has been known to sit by the door and not move for hours, waiting for my return.
One time, she was put into the kitchen with the door closed as there was someone over and I wanted to minimize the risk of her running out the door should the guest open and close the door. My sister was over to visit at that time and I had to head out. Once the visitor left and my sister let Jemma out of the kitchen, for some reason, she thought I was in my bedroom with the door closed and she laid there for hours. Nothing my sister said or did could coax her to move, not even when she offered a "treat!" (And Jemma LOVES eating.)
Over the years, based on her observations, my sister has always said that Jemma only needs me + food and she would be happy for life. I am so used to it, I guess I overlook it at times and don't see what other people see when looking in.
But I do know that I can always count on her for company -- she is *never* more than 5 feet away from me. Even at home, if I leave the room for more than a few minutes, even if she is in a deep comfortable sleep, she comes out to check on me. A couple of times, she was extra tired, so she checked up on me, looked around, and then walked back into the room to sleep, but coming out every so often. Um, yes, this also means she tries her best to come into the bathroom with me. I have had many baths where she would be lying right beside the tub waiting for me!
Because of our bond, *I* have to personally walk her every time. She refuses to walk with most other people, not even Joe. People often get frustrated if they want to take her out for a walk because "she doesn't walk!!!"
This is what happens when Joe brings her out...
She doesn't even take one single step! All she wants is to go back inside (where I was) or wait until I personally came out to walk her myself. The only reason she is out on the doorstep is because he picked her up and put her there before closing the door. Otherwise, she wouldn't even have walked out herself.
This is what happens when he picks her up and puts her down half a block away in hopes she would cooperate better...
(Sorry, the video is quite dark.)
But once he walks in the direction of our house, she happily runs back...and refuses to move away again.
My silly girl. As you can imagine, it can be a disadvantage in some situations, especially when I want someone to take over my walking duties at times, LOL.
- Jemma's Mom
