For most dogs, the best time of day is when they’re wolfing down a meal or playing with their favorite toy. But for Daisy, a two-year-old Rottweiler puppy, there’s nothing more exciting than snuggling up to her human sibling and putting him to sleep at night.
„She’s his shadow,“ said Brittany Troilo, Daisy’s mother. „She sleeps next to him every night.“
Daisy joined her family two years ago as a young pup and has been filling their home with love ever since. When she arrived, the little pup instantly fell in love with her brother and hasn’t left since.
„She can’t get enough of him,“ Troilo says.
During the day, Daisy and her brother enjoy playing tug of war with their toys and fetching things from the garden. But it’s at night that the real fun begins.
As soon as the clock strikes 8:30 every night, Daisy heads for the stairs and waits for her brother’s bedtime routine to begin.
„She sits by the stairs and waits,“ Troilo said. „As soon as we start going upstairs, she jumps on the bed, waits for her brother to brush his teeth, then she knows it’s cuddle time.“
Then, when her brother is finally snuggled up in his bed, Daisy puts her arm around his and gently falls asleep.
“She holds him in her arms every night when she sleeps,” Troilo said.
Daisy usually spends the whole night snuggling up to her brother. But one night, Troilo woke up at 2 a.m. to see Daisy sitting alert next to his bed, and she knew something was wrong.
„My son has type 1 diabetes and Daisy could tell he had an emergency, even though she’s not trained for it,“ Troilo said. „Now if his sugar is high or low in the middle of the night, she comes to wake me up so I can take care of him.“
Not only is Daisy aware of her brother’s silent emergencies, but she’s also aware of the medical equipment he carries with him, such as the Dexcom glucose tracker he uses at night.
The Dexcom plays an important role in his brother’s safety: It monitors his sugar level and alerts his parents in the event of an anomaly. Somehow, Daisy knows she shouldn’t touch her brother’s Dexcom, even when they’re sleeping.
„She’s very aware of what it is,“ Troilo says. “If it’s on her stomach, she won’t sleep on her stomach”.
And when Daisy puts her arm around her brother’s for a hug, she makes sure not to touch the device.
„She’s very smart,“ says Troilo. „She’s a special girl.“
Recently, Daisy’s family welcomed another Rottweiler puppy into their home. Daisy is obsessed with playing with her new sister, Lilly, but even the puppy can’t get in the way of Daisy’s bedtime routine.
„Even with the puppy, she knows that at 8:30 p.m. it’s time to get ready for bed,“ Troilo said.
No matter what she does, Daisy drops everything to join her human brother for their nightly cuddling session. And in the morning, the sweet pup wakes up ready to enjoy a new day, while counting the moments until she can snuggle up in her brother’s bed.
