Dog in the Bed

Definitely not the original plan.

Dylan and I had talked about getting a puppy for a while and had decided on a Norwegian Elkhound about a year before we actually picked ours up. I found a couple of breeders around the U.S. and Norske Farms in Clear Lakes, Iowa was the closest that also fell around our timeline of when we wanted to get a puppy. We wanted to wait until after busy season but also have as much warm weather as possible. I contacted Norske Farms and put down a deposit for a female and the litter was born March 3^rd, 2010. We got pictures every couple of weeks. There were two females to pick from and I got to pick first J My mom and I drove out to Iowa to pick the puppy and take her home. Freya (we already had the name picked out, it is the Norse goddess of protection and the only Norwegian name we could pronounce) was super cuddly and I knew she was the right pick.

So the usual puppy issues of whining the first couple of days and she ended up sleeping on the floor next to our bed. No big deal.

What do puppies do? GROW! I think basically once she was big enough to jump on the bed, she has at least tried to sleep with us.

We fought it for a good while until she was 6 months old. The purpose behind not letting her sleep with us was partly because I am allergic to dogs (not Freya though, thank goodness) and more importantly because letting the dog sleep with you lets them think they are your equal. We thought we had the Alpha Dog status and let her start sleeping with us. Then at intermediate dog training she went through her terrible teens/twos phase and wasn’t listening, so back to the floor for Freya. After about a month and a half, she was much better and was allowed to cuddle with us all night again.

These days she alternates between sleeping under the bed and sleeping with us (usually under on hotter days and all summer, but with us most of the winter).  This definitely works for me since I’m always cold going to bed and she will lay right on my feet. Then about 3am I get way too hot and move her to Dylan’s side.  Plus she makes weekend mornings even better since she just loves to snuggle with us.

Once we get puppy number two this summer we will definitely need a king size bed to fit everyone.