The Bed Issue

We have a problem. It’s not a huge problem. In fact, I am not certain the dogs think it is a problem. It’s just that I have a problem.
You see, it turns out that Larry does not actually prefer sleeping on the bed with us. What he wants is to sleep in the most comfy place he can find. Up until a few weeks ago, that was our bed. But then J brought home a big piece of foam (used for making chair cushions) for us to put under Howie’s bed.
Howie has been limping a bit more lately, and I was worried that sleeping on the floor was aggravating his arthritis, so I asked J for the foam, so that Howie, when sleeping in his bed, would be on something with a bit more give.
Well, it turns out that Howie’s bed on top of the foam is a comfier place than our bed. And it is now Larry’s preferred sleeping spot.
Larry will still cuddle with me as I fall asleep, but if I wake up during the night, he’ll be in Howie’s bed. Or, if Howie was in his bed, but wakes up and wants out, by the time he and I make it back to the room, Larry is in the bed.

Howie does not try to take his bed back from Larry, and sometimes he just hops right up on the footstool and goes to sleep, but some nights, he really wants to be in his bed, and so he doesn’t really settle, unless I can get Larry out of the dog bed and onto our bed with me, and keep him there long enough for Howie to feel comfortable getting back into his bed.

Our plan for dealing with this problem? Well, we think we might remove June’s crate from our room (she also happily dens in the dog bed under my desk), and buy a third dog bed and put it where the crate currently is. AND have J bring home another piece of foam to put under it. Hopefully, we can then give Larry his own bed and Howie can have his back.