Last night, Matt and I did something we haven’t done for over a year. Get your mind out of the gutter; it’s not what you are thinking. You see, when Tank passed away last year, he was the only one of our pups trusted to have full run of the house. He still had a crate, but we rarely put him in it when we’d leave the house. He slept in our bedroom on his own special memory foam dog bed. He was spoiled, but he deserved to be. After he passed away, our bedroom had been too quiet, despite Matt’s monumental snoring. I realized it was the soft, rhythmic snoring of a sleeping bulldog. Sometimes, I still see Tank, paws tucked under, his nose smooshed down in his bed. I have to remind myself he’s gone and my heart breaks all over again. 

Last night, we took the plunge again, only this time, it was with Coal and Annie. See, we never leave one alone downstairs and since we are currently a two-bulldog house, that means they would be in our room as a pair. This was an interesting challenge with two of them, because that meant two of everything. There were two pillows and two cots moved into our bedroom just for the purpose of a peaceful night’s sleep. We also have a chaise lounge in our room that both can get on, but I figured they could share that if push came to shove, and knowing them, that’s how it would be. The other real challenge was Annie. She may be twenty months old, but she’s still a puppy and we’d never done this with a pup at this age before. Coal, I figured, would be fine as he’s mellowed over time. Annie still has moments of young puppy hyperactivity. Being able to freely roam our bedroom could prove too much for her puppy ADHD. But, we were willing to try.

After they took over our room with their bedding, we turned off the lights and settled in to the sound of the rain tapping on the windows. Soon, the only sound in the room was of Annie’s little grunt snore, Coal’s quiet little rumble, and Matt’s buzz saw take down of a rain forest somewhere in his dreams. To this day, I do not understand why his snore keeps me awake while the snore of the pups makes me believe all is right in our little house.

I got up a few times and that created enough of a disturbance in the Force to make Annie get up too. That was really alright as it allowed me a little extra puppy love. And that’s what I’d been missing. When it was Tank in our room, part of the routine was that if I got up, I’d give him some attention on my way back to bed. I usually fell right back asleep immediately. I’m quite convinced that the love of a dog is the best cure for what ails us in this modern life. Kisses from a sleepy pup are doubly so.

The irony is, the double bedding wasn’t needed. Coal slept on the floor by my side of the bed most of the night. I’d roll over and pet him a bit and go right back to sleep. Annie was a bit more restless and she changed from her pillow to her cot to the chaise, then she cuddled up to Coal on the floor. It was quite adorable and as I moved to take a picture, she of course got up and scampered to her pillow. It was almost as if she was ashamed to be caught snuggling with her bulldog daddy.

Overall, it was a successful night. I slept better, despite getting up a few times. Matt, I noticed, snored less. And the pups? The pups got a special treat and a little extra spoiling. This isn’t something we will do every night. It will remain something we do on special occasions, at least until we get another puppy. Then Coal gets the elevated status of Free Roaming Bulldog and will have his own special bed in our bedroom. Annie and the pup will remain snuggled in their crates downstairs. I think Tank would approve.