So I have been getting a bit of bad back recently and not sleeping so well. It has come on slow, but got bad enough recently for me to stop and think about why. The answer was Little Dog. She has been sleeping on our bed now for three and a half years, pretty much ever since Big Dog died.
She is part Collie has had their brains and the nerviness that a lot of Collies have. Losing her mate was tough. She would come up on the bed for morning cuddles but some mornings we were not awake at the right time (who likes a lie in at the weekend?) so she started getting up while we were asleep. It slowly got earlier and earlier until very soon she was spending the entire night up. Eventually we stopped pretending and she started the night up there too.
The problem is, she spreads out and Fand I end up with just enough room on the edges of the bed. I think part of this is a desire to snuggle up and keep warm but it made it very hard to move in the night. Moving would require waking up and shifting her. I don't begrudge her though, I think she really did need the comfort.
F and I talked a couple of nights back and agreed it was time to kick her off. So I went out and brought the bestest dog bed I could. A huge sheepskin lined thing with sides. I also brought a single duvet to go inside. we had it downstairs in the evening and it was obviously a success. Then at bedtime it went upstairs, on the floor right next to me.
When F came to bed later, we started the process and I expected a night of kicking her off the bed. I don't know how many times we did kick her off the bed. One time she was very persistant, she whined a bit and stood at the end of the bed with her head resting on it, looking at us. She wandered the house. She stood there so long I fell back asleep. Eventually she was persuaded to go back to her deluxe new bed, and stayed there the rest of the night.
I didn't sleep so well - part missing her, part watching for her creeping up. And then, the second I came awake, the briefest of seconds in which, left alone, I would have been back asleep again, she was awake, stood up with her front feet on our pallet bed platform, tail wagging and overjoyed to see me and esperate for a cuddle... I couldn't say no. Yesterday she needed a bit of reassurance to begin with. I think she needed to know that she was not being sent to a different bed because we were cross...
As we went to tbed last night we were not sure what would happen. She began the evening snuggled up with us on the sofa before migrating to the armchair for a good sleep. Unusually, about quarter of an hour before bed she came over for another cuddle. And then it was time and she went straight to her new bed and stayed there without any fuss until F woke this morning. Then she finished the morning with me on the bed.
I can't believe how easy and successful it has all been! My back is already feeling better and I slept so well last night. The only downside is I don't remember any of my dreams. Little Dog is happy too and obviously warm enough by herself... She has her house coat on at night as well as a fleece lined bed with duvet.
There is more to all this though, signs of a deeper healing I have been dreaming. A part of me, dormant, dead, slowly coming back to life.
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