Dogs in bed

This has always been Vince's bed, but Samantha has taken it
over.  They shared it one night but Vince clearly wasn't happy
about it.  I replaced this huge bed with two slightly smaller
beds.  That seemed to satisfy him last night.

Some people say that you shouldn't let your dogs sleep with you.  I think differently.  Dogs are part of the family.  A dog's family is a pack.  The pack sleeps together.  For warmth, safety, and security, no one should sleep alone.

Gigi really considers the entire bed to be hers and
she occupies it for most of the day, lounging up
against the pillows. She moves to the foot of the
bed at night to accommodate us.

Clay occasionally makes noises about a king size bed, but I find them cold and impersonal.  Besides, it would just be an invitation to more dogs to actually climb into the bed.  We'd end up with no more space in bed, just less floor space in the room.

We have nine dogs right now.  Sparky and Hardy are in the crates downstairs in the kitchen.  Sparky is crated because I can't mix him with all of the other dogs.  Hardy is crated because he's a foster and crate-training is about the only training I do for my fosters other than simply teaching them to live with humans and other dogs in a household.  It helps make for a successful re-homing after adoption.

The only bedroom dog not pictured here is Theo.  He sleeps on the floor at the foot of the bed where I can't get a picture of him.  When he's up, he's a huge head right in my face so I couldn't get a decent picture of him.

Maya, curled up like a fox, but keeping an eye on me always.

Samantha one of the two beds next to me.

Vince, occupying the second bed next to Samantha.

Thankfully, Gigi isn't a large dane and she keeps her legs
folded up to be as compact as possible, most of the time.

Gigi rises well after the sun has done so.

Trooper, stretched out on the bare floor, but sandwiched
between our bed and one of several dogs beds.

Trooper comes over for petting when he's ready to
get up. When you stop petting him he reaches out
with his paw indicating that he wants more.

Maya sleeps on the floor at night, but hops into bed in the
morning for snuggle time. She is never in a hurry to get up.

Maya squeezes herself into any available space between us.
If there is no space, she makes some.

Max sometimes stays in the dog yard during good weather
and he sometimes sleeps in a crate in my office, but last
night he staked out a spot in the bedroom. He's looking
a bit raggedy here. He is blowing his coat along with Trooper
and Theo. I gave Trooper a bath the other day and there's a
bath in the near future for the others as well.

Maya has mastered the "look" that gets her whatever she
wants.