The Dog Blog with Kathryn Socie
Two Dog Nights (and a couple of cats in the middle)
By Kathryn Socie, 5-28-08
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My dogs sleep with me. Well, actually, I share my bed with two dogs splayed out, dreaming wildly, and two very restless cats that snore-- it’s a crowd and not at all conducive to actual sleep. Sandwiched in between two contentedly tired dogs, while cats nestle on top of one another and curl up on my chest (making it difficult to breathe at times), is a moment of the day I have come to relish. Despite all of this delight, my sleeping arrangement is highly contentious and on so many different levels.
Not long after bringing my first dog home from the local Humane Society well over a decade ago, I found myself in the midst of the oddest discussion with my mother in which she expressed genuine concern about my marriage-ability. According to her, no man would marry me if a dog slept on my bed. She lectured me in a Yoda-like fashion as if she were passing down a sacred bit of wisdom from the ancient married women of yore, like a dog on the bed was some cryptic spell that kept men away and that she was trying to rescue me from old bitty-hood. I rolled my eyes at her. In hindsight, given my recent dating track record, she might have been right.
Beyond keeping suitors at bay, bed privileges are theorized to destroy an owner’s status as leader of the pack and are considered by some to be a crucial canine no-no, handing immeasurable amounts of power to the four-legged. Though I like to think my dogs can handle this power without letting it jog some ancient portion of their DNA, unearthing their inner Alpha, the Monks of New Skete, as just one example, adamantly disagree. In their book “How to be your Dog’s Best Friend,” this unlikely group of dog trainers advises that “…a dog trying to get on the bed should receive slapped paws and a shove off,” which is a position that should come as no surprise from a group of celibates. Then again, we have this much in common.
But if Mom and the Monks are right and indeed I have committed a gross error in sleeping with my dogs, at least I don’t go to bed alone.
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Comments
pure, witty fun!! thanks for sharing your talent. i know SO many people in this bed, 'er boat.
truly the "new west" - you gotta live it to "get" it.
looking forward to more musings!!!
xo
Let your mom know there's still hope for you -- despite the animal farm, I've also shared it with a pretty good (and understanding) guy named Shane for the last seven years.
Tee
(who may single-handedly keep the king-sized bed industry in business)
His sense of impending doom led him to join our other dog on the bed from that night on...
So one of the rat terriers got under the Hudson Bay blanket and on top of the sheet. And trapped, really. No problem, as he just chewed through the king size HB Many Beavers blanket and slept with his head through the hole. How can you get mad? It was so funny to see. We now have a big, expensive blanket with a porthole for a puppy.
And, when either decides it is time to go outside for a leak and a chance to sniff some air, they crawl out, stand up, and shake their heads like only rat terriers can, and the noise of their ears flapping wakes you. Groggy, still mostly asleep, you trundle off to the door, and let the little buggers out, and they come back in right away and beat you to bed. Of course, they take the good spots. Of course, they splay out and take up more room than their deeds call for. And it is then that you understand your place in the world: dog warmer.