[Dailydrool] Re-alignment of bed dog sleeping arrangements

[Val Brewer]

Interesting ( probably to me only, lol) is the re-alignment which has occurred with my pack and me for bedtime sleeping. all of us sleep on my Queen bed.  both my husband and I have developed incompatible sleep disorders over the decades—sleep apnea for him and periodic limb disorder for me—so we enjoy separate bedrooms. (Not an indicator of marital dysfunction, promise.  we are old codgers).
The dogs fancy me (which is good, since my husband doesn’t allow them in his room, which he needs to keep free of allergens as well.). So the three pack of dogs sleeps with me in my bed. There used to be some conflict among the three dogs about who was allowed, but that has disappeared now and all three sleep comfortably on the bed with me all night now.
 Mariah, our head dog, has yielded her authority to regulate which dogs may sleep on the bed  to me (if I am present to enforce it) regarding entrance to the “big bed”.  No matter where Mariah is positioned (often at the top of the ramp to the bed like the troll under the bridge), she will yield to my authority IF I gently place my hand on the side of her head while the other two seek entrance.   If my hand is there, this signals it is acceptable to the other two to climb onto the bed, which they do.  If I do not do this, neither of the other two will attempt boarding, although both will sit at the door to the bedroom and gently woof (repetitively) their desire to entire the coveted kingdom.  Once all three are aboard, then there is shifting. (I have an unfortunate sleep disorder, only partly controlled by medicine, which causes me to thrash all night.  I also have back problems, so back in the day, my husband and I invented a divided bed—half is heated waterbed (my side) and half is fairly hard foam, not heated  (Bill’s side).   
The dogs used to compete to see which could sleep on my side snuggled up with me, but over time my thrashing has defeated even them.  Now all three sleep on what was once Bill’s side—the harder foam side for most of the night.  This works well for me.  I get half of the bed to thrash around on.
In the wee hours of the morning, Mariah moves over to my side and nestles into the small of my back. I don’t know it I thrash less then or if Mariah doesn’t care, but it is lovely. there is no better heating pad than a warm, loving, basset hound.
So those are our sleep sagas. Semper Fido. Val

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