Muffy Jorn, a registered nurse who blogs at Big Grey Birds, posts about a funny, but not funny, night of sleeplessness. Unfortunately, too many of us can relate:

Since the whole rheumatoid arthritis thing really blew up, my sleeping has not been so great. I am sure it is at least partly medication related; for instance, steroids cause insomnia, and I have been taking them for four years straight. Sometimes pain has kept me awake, and then if you throw the peri-menopausal insomnia into the mix, it is probably surprising I sleep at all. Oh-did I mention jimmy legs?

In this post, she writes about finally falling asleep only to be jolted awake by hiccups so severe it leaves her dogs thinking ala Dorothy Parker, “Hmmm. What fresh hell is this?”

We couldn’t get through this video without choking up. What a sweet story. It’s about Dale, a Scottish boy with Autism, and Henry, the dog who chose him.

We thought it was important to post a video like this after reading this story of a housing board in New York City that is denying an Autistic boy his dog.

These old girls know what friendship is all about!

(via Dooce)

(via Jonathan Dingman’s Twitter)

Bob, above, and Bailey, below, ready for Halloween!

A service dog trained to use the phone called 911 and got help when his Scottsdale, Ariz., owner suffered a serious seizure.

Buddy, an 18-month-old German shepherd, used his teeth to press programmed buttons until a 911 dispatcher came on the line, reported The Arizona Republic.

Buddy can be heard whimpering in a recording of the call placed from the home of Joe Stalnaker, who suffers seizures from injuries received during military service.

Buddy was trained to retrieve the phone and call 911 with his teeth when Stalnaker blacks out, the Republic reported, noting Buddy previously had made three or four 911 calls for other emergencies.

“He’s my world. He’s my best friend, no question. He’s always there,” said Stalnaker, who was hospitalized for two days but has recovered.

A 10-year-old paralyzed tortoise at the Jerusalem Zoo has new wheels that let her outpace her roommates.

The African Spurred Tortoise is paralyzed in her two hind legs, but uses a pair of skates to get around - so much so that she’s attracting the attention of male tortoises who want to mate.

Click here to see the tortoise and her admirers.

For nearly 10 years now, Janet and Don Burleson, of Kittrell, N.C. have been training pygmy horses - who wear sneakers - as guide animals for the visually disabled.

At first the idea of tiny sneaker-wearing guide horses seemed far-fetched to us, but as we read the Burleson’s Web site and learned more we saw how guide horses could be exceptional assistance animals.

Apparently, there is strong demand for guide horses among horse lovers who are blind, those who are allergic to, or fear, dogs and those who want a guide animal with a long life span.

And yes, we know what you’re thinking: can they be house-broken? To answer that click here.

In laying this egg, how did this Cuban chicken avoid permanent and complete disability? We asked our chickens, who just said, “Ouch!”

Anyone who questions the value of a nap just hasn’t learned what these guys already know.

(via gr8wisdom.com)