Where The Wild Things Are....They're in My Bed!!

I know a lot of dog gurus are adamant that your dog should not sleep with you. Conventional widsom would state that your dog should not sleep with you, especially when you and your husband share a full sized mattress (I didn't even know that there was anything between "queen" and "twin".) Especially when she is 90lbs of golden retriever love.

Our male golden, Dante, is now 9 years old and really prefers the cool touch of our leather recliners and couches to the hot, cramped bed. With the exceptions of the mornings. He loves to cuddle with you so long as you pet him. Continuously. Once (and IF) you fall back asleep and quit petting, he heads back for one of his recliners.

Shelley, after we rescued her, slept on the floor at the foot of the bed. For maybe two weeks. Then, halfway through the night I'd wake up with back pain, and find her curled into as tiny of a ball as she could manage, tucked away behind my legs. Naturally, I lacked the heart, and the lower body strength, to remove her.

Shelley is my shadow at night--even when my insomnia strikes, she sticks close by and follows me room to room. If I nap on the loveseat, she still tucks herself into a ball behind my legs (see picture, that's my legs her feet are flopped over!)

And so it's gone for the two years we have had her now.

I have not had a day completely off of work since the New Year. So when I found a sub for today's Step and Pilates classes, I was overjoyed. I wasn't just going to sleep in...I was going to sleep ALONE, in the cold, dark guestroom, for as long as I wanted.

It was supposed to be so easy.

I fell asleep on the couch, with Shelley tucked in with me. I snuck out from around her and snuck into the guest bedroom. As I was settling in, I heard the tinkle of her collar roving through the house, and then stopping in front of my door. I waited to see if she'd wander off to bed with my husband, but no.

I couldn't bear the thought of her sleeping at the door, quite obviously locked out. So I let her in.

So much for my plan to sprawl out and sleep alone, not being awoken by hungry dogs and their tickly whiskers in the morning. As we settle in, I hear more tinkling of a collar, and then hear my male Golden push open the door.

And so of course he hops in the bed, and I find myself lovingly flanked by my faithful friends. And when my husband fed and pottyed them this morning, he asked if he should keep them out, since my plan to get uninterrupted sleep was already not going to plan.

And I said no. They reassumed their positions, and I slept like a rock, comforted by their devotion and love.