Every night, Mochi climbs onto the bed waiting inside his shelter kennel.

But he never gets his whole body onto it.

The nine-year-old Pekingese mix pulls himself forward until his chest reaches the edge of the mattress. His front legs settle awkwardly beneath him.

Then he stops.

His shoulders remain on the bed.

His neck extends beyond it.

And Mochi lets his entire head hang toward the floor.

At first, it looks as though he is about to reposition himself.

He does not.

His eyes close.

His breathing slows.

Within minutes, Mochi is asleep with his face suspended over the edge of the mattress.

As the night passes, gravity slowly pulls him farther forward.

His chest inches toward the edge.

His head drops lower.

Eventually, his nose is only inches from the floor.

That is when Mochi suddenly wakes.

He braces with his weak front legs, struggles to pull himself backward a few inches, settles his chest onto the mattress again—

and immediately falls asleep in exactly the same strange position.

Mochi Has a Bed. The Problem Is What His Body Can Do on It

At first glance, his sleeping position seems almost inexplicable.

There is enough room for Mochi to lie completely on the mattress.

Nothing physically blocks the rest of the bed.

He could theoretically move farther onto it and rest his head on the surface like most dogs.

Instead, he stops at the edge every night.

That repeated choice begins to make more sense when staff watch what happens when Mochi tries to reposition himself.

His Neck and Front Legs Are Both Working Against Him

Mochi has chronic pain affecting his neck joints, along with weakness in his front limbs.

Those two problems make an ordinary movement much more complicated.

Changing sleeping positions requires more than simply rolling over.

A dog has to shift weight.

Push with the limbs.

Lift or turn the head.

Stabilize the shoulders.

Then control the body while settling into a new position.

For Mochi, several parts of that sequence are difficult at the same time.

Lowering His Head May Be Easier Than Holding It Up

Once Mochi reaches the edge of the bed, gravity can do something his tired muscles no longer do comfortably.