Wednesday Poll: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

This winter Moe and I got into a new bad habit.

See, I'm a cold blooded person, so I always want someone to snuggle with when I crawl into bed on chilly winter nights.  Unfortunately, Sweet Husband is just the opposite, so there are nights when he's too warm for a snuggle.  This winter I discovered a solution to our problem in the form of a certain wee terrier.  With Moe cuddled up against my chest I stayed nice and toasty, and Sweet Husband stayed cool as a cucumber--a win/win situation for everyone, including Moe who thought the idea was just swell.

Except now that Spring is coming I don't necessarily need my furry heat pack anymore.  Said heat pack however, now thinks that laying down his fuzzy head anywhere other than next to mine on my pillow is not an option. 

So, for this week's poll:

Where does your dog sleep at night?  How did the arrangement come about?

Comment and discuss.

Comments

[StacyH]

I'm almost ashamed to type this.

Mavvy sleeps with us, and it used to be she slept at the foot of the bed.

Well, than came the spring storms. And she FREAKS out about lightning and thunder. So she decided the place to be safe was on top of our heads. She now, almost every night that we tolerate it, sleeps between us.

But we are about sick of tolerating it. So the dog is either about to go back to her kennel for the night times (which could be a trade off, let her roam the house during the day, sleep in her home at night) or we're getting her a doggy pillow for the bedroom.

But I understand your dilemma, all too well. Hard to untrain these little pups.

[megan]

I have a wienie dog who has slept next to me since day 1. Under the covers. I never thought I would let a dog in my bed but they become like your kids. I would kick him out but he's a whiner. He'd scratch at the door and bark and whine. Like Stacy said, they are hard to untrain. I would need the dog whisperer.

[Sarah]

When I first got my baby, she didn't want to sleep on the bed. She'd jump off and curl up somewhere on the floor, so I'd go get her. I got a cute, cuddly dog so I could have something warm to sleep with me! I mean, other than the guy...

If we're both in bed, she starts off by our legs, but she always migrates upward until she's right between us. Somehow, I'm always the one that gets cut off from the blankets. If it's just one of us, she starts out closer to our torsos. Sometimes, she lays her head on my shoulder. How sweet is that? If it's really cold, she'll go under the covers. How can I deny her that if she's cold?

I am totally owned by a 15 pound fur ball.

[Fergus' Mom]

Fergus started out in the crate at night. Partly because he was a puppy and couldn't quite be trusted and partly because it was the only time Ivan (the great and terrible cat) could get a break. Ivan was king of the bed. Ivan passed away at the end of September and I missed having the fur ball there, Fergus seemed to mature overnight, and between both of those events I decided to give him a chance to be out and about at night.

He doesn't always sleep on the bed, if he is too warm he sleeps out on either the club chair or the back of the couch. If he is on the bed you can tell how cold it is...really cold and he is slam up against you...not so much and he is at your feet...getting on the warm side and not a bit of him is touching you...

It cracks me up every morning when the alarm goes off when he is on the bed. I swear he lifts his head and looks at me and says 'can't you just hit the snooze button ONCE!' then drops his head back down until I force him out to go on our walks. Saturdays are funnier still since he will wake up before me and I wake to a dog stretched across me licking me in the face so he can get out on his walk.

Yeah, who was I fooling when I swore this time, this dog, would not be sleeping on the bed. At least at a 24 lb Welshie, he is the smallest one I've had. A 65 lb Airedale takes up A LOT of real estate on a bed!

[Meryl]

Funny, that's what Sweet Husband says when I start deliberating about whether our next dog should be an Airedale or a Welshie--"If we get an Airedale, where will we sleep?"

And like Mavvy, Porter is afraid of storms, but (apparently) not so afraid that she'll risk getting kicked by jumping up in bed with us. (She's big, it just happens.) But then again, Porter has the monster of all dog beds all to herself, so I think she's pretty happy with the arrangement!

[Fergus' Mom]

try this! an airedale afraid of storms...her port in a storm? UNDER my bed. would completely rock the bed trying to get under...then once the storm passed and the adrenaline wore off she couldn't for the life of her figure out how to get out. Took lots of coaxing and more than once I had to lift the bed ;o)

Katie only got in bed when REALLY cold and she did literally take up half the bed. Rest of the time she was quite content to sleep by the bed (think she valued her space!)

[StacyH]

Mavvy does not value her space and she does not seem to EVER get warm. We'll see when summer hits though. She loves to be smushed in tight. It's very, very odd.

I've never had a dog quite like that. Jack would never sit with you for very long because he got too hot and would go some place else.

The only time Mavvy will move to another location is if you move too much. If you move too much, she'll lift her little head and look at you like, "Are you done??" And then lay it back down again, usually on my foot as to further emphasize this "not moving" rule.