Up close and personal

Some people don't allow their dogs on the furniture or on their beds.  That's fine, depending on your dogs and your furniture it may even be wise.  What I don't buy into, however, is the idea that you shouldn't allow your dogs on the furniture in order to reinforce their position as dogs as opposed to humans.  Seriously, if your dogs don't respect you, keeping them off the furniture is too little, too late.  Still, like I said, it's a personal choice, but personally, I love snuggling with dogs.
 

We have finally convinced Gigi to use a dog bed at night (most of the time) just due to space considerations in the bed, but when I'm in bed alone, Gigi lays on Clay's pillows and Trooper sprawls across the bed, keeping his face as close as possible to mine.  For a dog that so vehemently objects to being looked at directly by strangers, Trooper revels in it from those he knows, loves, and trusts.

Gigi can be snuggled up close to me and Trooper will move in between us.  Amazingly, the two of them get along without any problems.  Gigi is content being close by and on the pillows.  Trooper looks at her as if to say, "I need this," and then pushes his way in to be up against and on top of me.

Trooper only does this when I'm awake.  He has no real interest in sleeping in that position and no interest in being that close to me when I'm asleep.  Gigi, on the other  hand, sometimes sneaks up onto the bed the middle of the night.  We often wake up in the very early a.m. hours and reposition dogs in the bedroom so that we can all go back to sleep.