Spoiled : The Dog Chair

Soooo.....I may have bought a new chair for my bedroom just so the dog had another option for where she wanted to sleep.

Of course, Molly approves of this behavior and finds it entirely sane and rational.

Before I got a dog, I decided I wasn't going to the the sharing the bed thing.  I understand why people do, but I'm just too bad of a sleeper to add one more reason to keep myself up.  The choice has been reinforced by the few times I have invited her up and she has promptly taken over half the bed, kicked me in the face repeatedly and just generally been the worst bedmate ever.  She may be awful cute, but she's not always particularly cuddly.

So, prior to her arrival, I bought a comfy dog bed and laid it next to my bed.  Molly immediately went up, sniffed it, then turned around and went under my platform bed and choose to lay on the bare wood floor instead.  

I've discovered that she really loves being under things, bed, coffee tables, dining tables, whatever she can hide out under. It helps her to feel safe and somewhat shielded from the potential dangers of the world, which is especially important while she gets comfortable with so many new surroundings and experiences. So, since I have just enough clearance under my bed, it made sense to move her bed under there.  And I think she was actually quite happy with that arrangement.  I, however, started feeling guilty that she couldn't see me when I was in there folding laundry or otherwise not sleeping and felt like I was banishing her to hang out by herself under the bed rather than being part of the action (if you can consider laundry folding to be 'action').

So, the chair idea was born.  Basically, the chair is a glorified dog bed, because who actually sits in chairs in their bedroom? (I don't, which is why I never had one before).  But it gives her a place to be closer to eye level.  I topped it with a throw and her trusty snuggle sack and she is quite happy up there.  I keep an eye on how much she uses it versus her old bed.....and it seems like a pretty good balance actually.  It's obvious she likes having the chair as an option, she usually hangs out there when I'm in the shower since you can see into the master bathroom from there, and also will go up there on cold nights to get off the floor (and into her snuggle sack), but still spends quite a bit of time in the dog bed underneath my bed as well, so clearly she wasn't as miserable as I'd feared hidden down there by herself.

Slightly crazy dog mom? Possibly.  Completely spoiled dog? Definitely.