Where does your basenji sleep?

[Andrew]

Lola came home as a tiny puppy, having never slept in a bed before. The very first night, we put her in bed with us. She immediately started pecking my shoulder with her nose until I picked up the edge of the blanket for her. She ran straight under the covers & settled right in between my legs in a little ball like this was how she had been sleeping every night for her short life. This is where she always sleeps, under the covers. If it gets warm, she becomes "rigor mortis dog", locking her legs straight out, nails dug into my legs. It it gets hot, she wakes up, rushed to the top of the bed, sticks her head out of the covers, collapses & falls instantly back to sleep.
Callie came to me at a little over a year. She had slept in a crate at night at her breeder's house, so the first couple of nights were confusing to her. She finally got the idea of sleeping in the bed, and it took her another 2 confusing weeks before she figured out where Lola was dissappearing to. Once she figured out the under the blanket idea, she decided right by my chest was her spot, and has slept there ever since.
On cool nights, the cat will sleep next to my face on the pillow.
They have gotten used to me tossing & turning, and it doesn't seem to bother them in the slightest. I'm usually the least comfortable, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

[wubanga]

@Lenora:

Mine sleeps curled up behind my knees and when I turn over she does too. Occasionally she stretches out and then we have a problem with sharp toenails where they shouldn't oughta be. I'm trying to picture Lisa Stewart and FIVE basenjis in a king sized bed. Some B's are pokers and pushers (and growlers!) in the middle of the night when the human invades THEIR space!

ya my tri colored one growls if the red one invades his space and occasionally thinks me or my fiance is the other dog moving and growls. gets so hot in the bed with 2 b's i end up sweating my ass off waking up at 4-5 am and moving to another room and of course the tri male follows me and like someone else said he his fav position is w his head jammed into my armpit!

[DebraDownSouth]

ROFLMAO, here's a thought… when you get up and leave, shut the door.

[stazy]

Most nights Jake sleeps in a crate. Once and a while I'll let him sleep in my bed.

[erica ruth]

my boy also sleeps under the duvet….....and on top when he gets too hot. nice in winter but a pain in summer...lol..
our boy hasnt got the knack yet of finding his way back down under the covers after his spell on top.....he paws me, and grunts quietly i lift the covers ,say, IN and in he crawls funny for a while but the continual pawing does wake us alot...............but, he`s worth it.

[Knipper]

Cricket will nap on top of the covers, near the foot of the bed when we watch the TV. When the TV goes off, it takes a few seconds, but then she pokes Husband to lift the sheets, and snuggles underneath by our knees. By morning, she's sleeping on one of our pillows, either half under the blankets still, or wrapped around Husband's bald head. I have been woken up by tail hairs up my nose…

[krunzer]

Becca does the same thing. When she wants under the covers she will start pawing at your head. Then you lift the blanket and say Under and she contorts her body around and under the blankets. She always sleeps up by my head. More times than not I end up rolling over in the middle of the night and come nose to nose with her head on my pillow. Tucker really isn't an under the covers kind of guy. He sleeps on top right behind my knees. When he gets too hot he will roll onto his back with all four feet in the air and sleep like that. The will not sleep with each other. If Becca is under the blankets and Tucker gets up to move or wants to play he will start pulling the blankets back to find Becca. Then Becca starts to emit this horrible growl until he has the blankets off of her. We also have a king size bed and I think the dogs get more of it than my husband or I. I call them my little furnaces in the winter, they get soo warm!

[erica ruth]

Isnt it amazing how they all follow the same sleeping habit….....

[DebraDownSouth]

Sayblee would poke me to raise the covers. Arwen sometimes will but Cara is snarky if she is in bed first so I grab her and let Arwen under first. At night sometimes Arwen will be on top of the covers if she got up for a drink because she won't risk Cara to get back in bed. Makes me sad and I wouldn't mind her waking me up to grab the bed guarder Cara, but she doesn't. I keep the bedroom COLD at night so at night they want under the covers.

[pennypen]

We finally got out dogs a cozi cave which has been a life saver. The now sleep in that at night and my husband and i are our alone space. I love my dogs but not enough to give up my time at night with my husband. When they get up at 6am to go outside they can come in the bed then but genrally it's just penny that does. Charlie will go right back to the cozy cave like a good puppah. I know they wish they could sleep in the bed with us cause at night I have to lay by the cozy cave untill they fall asleep (doesnt take long) so they dont get out and try and get on the bed. I feel bad soemtimes but it's just too much. It's like letting your children sleep in your bed every night … its just not doable for me. I miss snuggle time with thme so now we watch movies in our game room instead of inbed and stay out in the living room longer at night to watch tv so they can snuggle with us. But once we say "bed time" they know where to go. It's made the world of difference for us.

[2baroos]

My 2 each have their own beds and blankets. Max sleeps on my side and Shera sleeps on Hubbys side. They have soft blankets and get tucked in. In the morning they are allowed o the bed. Max will only come to bed after I get up and then he rolls,snorts,grunts and groans where I have slept.

[Maca]

Well i was worried for allowing Maca and the new one, Laika to get on my bed, here on Mexico dongs arent allowed on bbeds, but the troubles starts with Maca growling and fighting with Laika, i left both outside now if they fight but looks like Maca are understanding that Laika can go to bed too. BUT will left outside time to time,

[LewieFitz]

I've been watching this thread for a few days now and am not surprised by the number of responses…

Our little guy sleeps in our bed, but still in his own little bed at the foot. Sometimes in the morning when his Daddy gets to go into work late, he gets a "bed-ride" to the top to cuddle. Lewie can totally tell when one of us needs actual furry cuddles, because on those nights, he forgoes his bed entirely and sleeps between us, all curled up... until he decides to stretch- at which point one of us will get out stretched paws to the chest...

When we go camping, he sleep inside the sleeping bag at the foot of the bed... I personally think he likes this arrangement the best

[Kipawa]

Kipawa is the biggest bed bug I have ever seen! And many a night, like Sharron said, I am sleeping on the extreme edge of the bed while he is happily snoring away and taking up my side of the bed in a horizontal fashion. Do I push him away? No. Do I attempt in any way to reclaim some bedspace? No. Why? Because it is so darn comforting to feel his warm body against me.

Kipawa spends the entire night going under the blankets, coming out, going under the blankets, coming out … you get the drift. My husband sleeps super soundly, so I am on 'guard duty' every night, ready to lift the blankets for him to get under them. I have somehow built this into my sleep pattern. I can do it without actually waking up. And I know there must be a smile on my face when I do it.

Each time he heads under the blankets I get a free lick or two on my feet. I admit it feels really nice. The first time he goes under the blankets every night, I get quite the foot and calf lick. Sometimes he spends a good 10 minutes on it. I think it relaxes him - it surely relaxes me.

These are the kinds of things that endear this breed to us. They are such characters!

[KMac]

Such cute stories. I wish my mix could sleep in the bed with me but he wants his own space. He likes the hardwood floor right now. I put pillows and blankets and towels on the floor but he wants nothing to do with them. Maybe when it becomes cold he will want to cuddle up to me a bit more. Other then that I am left with a bedless puppy.

[srjeeper]

**This has been a fun read. I do so much enjoy reading these type stories and I'm often amazed at how simular yet different our B's are.

Peanut would hop on the bed the minute I climbed in and head right under the covers behind my knees. He wouldn't come out till morning no matter how warm it got.

When Zander entered the picture they would both share the bed, but it was 1 on one side of me and 1 on the other. As Zander got older and grouchier, Peanut just quit comin in at all and went & slept with mom.

Now it's just Zander, on top of the covers if the TV's on, but under the covers when it goes off. He stands and stares at my face till I lift the covers too. He'll also squirm up with his head on the pillow on occassions if it gets to warm under the covers.

That's when I get to wrap my arms around him and really snuggle him up….but those occassions are few and far between.**

[BART]

I got my boy when he was 5. When I went to pick him up, the guy I was getting him from was napping, with the dog. (He worked night shift). The wife went to get him and I met a couple other B's while she did. Guy comes out with
my boy, and I'm in love. He tells me that fella loves being under the covers. OK, well, I just don't want him under the covers. As with my first B we learn to make it work. My boy knows when I say "bedtime" to come to bed and he knows that he has his own blanket on top of the comforter to get under. Occasionally he will be active enough, in his sleep that the blanket falls off the side of the bed. That's when I get the cutest, little, gentle paw at my shoulder…. "Mom, I need a blankie"! Now, the couch is a whole different story... we fight over that. I'm constantly trying to tell him that we have to share, "blankie" included.:D:D:D

[basilboy7]

Basil has slept crated at night because up until the last month or so he wouldn't go to sleep if I tried to put him on his dog bed or on my bed! Just wanted to play, play, play. Now he's starting to fall asleep on my bed and I let him… he loves sleeping cuddling up and likes being tucked in. He usually won't move unless he just stretches out. He'll usually sleep on my bed for a couple hours then he'll get down and go sleep in his crate. Most nights he'll put himself to bed in his crate and the door remains open. Sometimes he'll lay down on his doggie bed and nap there but usually won't sleep there at night.

[crystalncody]

Although I've already posted our bedtime ritual and antics, last night and this morning were a bit interesting.

Last night, Cody fell asleep curled up against me on the couch while I was reading. When I tried to wake him up to go get in bed, he just sighed and flipped over onto his back with his paws stuck up in the air. Of course, I can't sleep without him anymore, so I scooped him up, took him into the bedroom, and sat him on the bed. Then starts our nightly "argument" over sleeping arrangements, usually ending in picking him up and moving him a few times. Lately, his favorite spot is on the pillows in the very center of the bed, so I have to be quick to lay down before he does. So last night, after a bit of maneuvering, we both got comfortable and fell asleep. Throughout the night, he continued to make himself even more comfortable until I woke up this morning laying horizontally across the bed with my head hanging off of one end and legs hanging off of the other. Of course, he's blissfully comfortable, also laying horizontally across the bed on top of the pillows.

The things I put up with….
I think that next time I may just leave him on the couch .... nah!

[Hana]

We vowed that Hana would sleep in her crate every night. This is embarrassing, but it took MONTHS of my husband sleeping on the couch next to her crate for her not to whine and cry. Then we got fed up, and thought 'let's bring the crate up to our bedroom.' That was much much better. At some point, not sure what happened, we gave in and allowed her to sleep on our bed. All I can say is she's one very happy happy cuddly pup now. She literally does her last potty outside at night, waits at the bottom of the stares and looks at me for permission (since I go to bed first in our house) and then as I head up she races with anticipation and happily lies down on the bed. When I get in she will re-situate herself and literally curl up into a ball right into the space near my tummy as I'm a side sleeper. She'll stay that way all night! Sometimes she'll stretch out but she's always at lease 75% somehow connected to me?! I can pat her, I can move and push her to try to give myself some space but is very hard to move when she's in such a deep sleep (or frankly pretending because she doesn't want to move!). And yup, like some of you have said, I have woken up to her with her head on my pillow. Sometimes we'll go back to crating to make sure she stays used to that and that the bed is a privilege. So far, she's only been under the covers at our feet once. She prefers on top of the comforters. There is a joy and comfort to cuddling your basenji isn't there? I can't describe it.