[Dailydrool] Sleeping in the bed

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

There are a lot of sleep-deprived Droolers out there, but I'm not one  
of them because our Elsinore and young Charlie sleep in crates in the  
back entry. Allergies and an aversion to washing the sheets more than  
I have to keep the dogs out of my bed.

When we travel and stay in motels, we suspend the house rules  
(because we're not in the house anymore, are we?) and let them sleep  
on the bed with us. Elsinore likes to stretch out sideways up by our  
shoulders and Charlie stays mostly in a ball down by our knees. (I  
read somewhere that a dog who feels as if it ranks high in the pack  
will sleep higher up on the bed, and a dog who feels it outranks its  
humans will sleep right up by their heads.)

Ken has enough body weight to be unaffected by Elsinore's desire to  
go sideways, but I don't. So while the dogs sleep great, I end up  
waking up every couple hours to reposition Elsinore so I'll have more  
room.

It's okay to lose a few night's sleep like this in exchange for the  
joys of early morning canine cuddling, and because someone else will  
be stripping and remaking the bed. But when we're not on holiday,  
I've got to work and I can't work when I'm half asleep because I've  
been fighting the dogs for bed space all night. Crates are wonderful  
inventions and we all sleep much better here for using them!

Elizabeth