Snuggle Time

Before Howie, there were no dog beds in our room. Okay, that’s not quite true. In the last few weeks of Smokey’s life, one of the big dog beds we had had for him and Moree came into our room in case he did not want to get on the bed. And we did buy a dog bed for June’s crate, though by the time Larry joined our family, the bed part was downstairs and only the pillow remained in the crate.

But really, before Howie, all dogs slept on our bed, all the time. It was just the way things worked. Then Howie came with his bed. And while he liked a few snuggles with me in the evening, his arthritis was such that he did not like spending the whole night on the bed getting jostled, and after 20 minutes or so, he would go to his bed.

We found out during this time that Larry liked dog beds. In fact, we spent quite a bit of time chasing him out of Howie’s bed. So much so that we went out to CostCo and bought him his own new bed.

And after Howie, when we decided to create more space in our room by moving June’s crate out, we reassembled her bed. And when we got rid of my desk, we created a hidey hole spot for her under the new wardrobe.

June still sleeps on our bed. She goes into her den area when she wants to be away from Larry, when the day is a little too stressful with guests or whatever, but she does not spend the night there. She spends the night on the bed with us, cuddled next to C if I’m lucky, taking up all the space my feet might want to go if I am not.

Larry stopped sleeping on the bed this summer. It made me sad, but he was happy moving between dog beds and being on his own. I was just starting to get used to the idea of him preferring his own beds when he started waking me up in the early morning hours (3-4am) to curl up under the blanket with me. He would not stay long, generally 30 minutes or until I shifted one too many times, but he was cuddling.

And then, two weeks ago, the blankies came back out. Truthfully, the blankets remain out in our room throughout the summer, but they get shoved into the space between the wall and the bed. For the most part, it’s too warm to use them. But they stay out, because we live in the PNW, and you just never know when you’re going to have a chill day.

With September here, though, I have washed them and put them back into regular use. And Larry has gone from using any excuse to hop off our bed and curl up in a dog bed to making nests of blankies and giving me dirty looks when I try to move him to make space for me. He has started cuddling with me at bed time again, and will stay longer if he is under blanket.

Just the other night, he crawled into bed with me about 3am, snuggled up against my core, and was still there when the alarm went off at 5:45am. In fact, he didn’t even stir as I hit the snooze button. And we were just under sheet, no blanket, because even as the world cools off, our room, filled as it is with two people and two dogs, stay pretty toasty.

I am thrilled to have my little cuddler back, but I have to wonder- is it because the world is getting cooler, and with his small body and short hair, he wants the warmth, is it because the blankies are back in use (he and June have both historically loved them), or is it that, 5 months on, he’s finally going back to his pre-Howie habits?

I guess I won’t know until next summer arrives. Until then, I’ll be happy I have my own little personal heater back.