Sleep Positions

Malamutes often prefer sleeping on hard, cold surfaces.

Maia especially. She perfers spaces in front of doors, or next to porcelin bathtubs or toilets on my dyed, textured concrete floors. Nice and cool.

Meadow - the wooly, goofy one - often seeks a softer surface. My bed, for instance, where she curls up against a pillow for extra comfort, when I'm not in it. Or the small rug next to my bed, when I am in it.

I took an old comforter and folded it twice to create a bed for Meadow. I used to cover it with a water-resistent piece of quilted fabric, a dog blanket a friend designed and made for me (I use another one in the car). It's much easier to remove the black cover, take it outside, shake the dirt and hair off, and run it through the wash, than to wash the comforter.

But recently I've observed a new behavior in Meadow. Instead of just plopping down on her bed as in the past - no circling for her, ever - she has now started to scratch at the bed to adjust it before laying down. I thought perhaps the black cover had become bothersome, so I removed it. The new behavior persisted. And oddly, she moves the comforter into lumps and away from the wall, so that when she does lay down, she's half on/half off the comforter. She'll stay there a few minutes, then move to one of her other favorites spots.

I continually replace the comforter to it's neat position against the wall, and she continually reshapes it. This morning I saw that she had taken her teddy bear over to the bed with her. That prompted me to photograph all the girls' usual sleeping spots, including the one of Meadow outside in the snow, belly up.

It may be time to try a regular dog bed again, at least for Meadow. They've always avoided them in the past, preferring the floor, but at least Meadow couldn't turn a one-piece dog bed into a pile of lumps.

Note: I've become a great fan of Gore-Tex or similar fabrics, that are waterproof. I have one piece covering my bed to keep the comforter dry and clean. I've placed strips of fabric on the lower front portion of my white couch, to keep the girls from staining it as they snuggle up against it. Less laundry, less scolding dirty dogs to stay off the bed, less hassle. I've done something similar for the back of my car (which I call "the rolling dog crate"): I purchased a big piece of vinyl fabric for about $10 and cut it to the shape of the rear portion of my car (back seats own). I then put an easily washed blanket on top of that for extra cusion for the girls. Keeps the car's interior clean and dry.