Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Yup. I admit it. I sleep with dogs. Well, actually, they sleep on our bed every night. I sleep better because of it. Sure, some folks find it to be an unsanitary practice, but I live with little white dog hair all over my clothes every day, so what’s the difference? Not much in my opinion.

I sleep well even though Vino regulates his body temperature by going in and out of the covers at his whim. I facilitate that by lifting the covers so he can burrow under their warmth. I have been trained to lift the covers by responding to a paw that gently taps me on the shoulder (gently, the first time anyways) to let me know it is time to raise them.

Mike is luckier than me. Katie Em sleeps under the covers the entire night and doesn’t move at all. His luck runs out in the morning, though. Vino taps him on the shoulder and then sits on his head like a cat will do, to wake Mike up. It’s the same time every morning like clockwork. Vino lets Mike know it’s time to go out to potty and then it’s time for the most important thing, the morning feeding. Vino chose Mike for the task of getting up. He has never once tapped me on the shoulder or sat on my head in the morning. If Mike’s not home and I want to sleep in, Vino wouldn’t dream of waking me up. He’ll sleep in with me for as long as I want. Mike doesn’t feel this is very fair. I told him to take it up with Vino.

I am much more considerate of Vino’s sleep during the night than he is of mine. If I must get up during the night for any reason, I try my best to do as the saying goes, “to let sleeping dogs lie.” I don’t do yoga except for the contortions I have to do to get out of bed without disturbing Vino. I could probably teach a class on it.