Big Dog, Tiny Bed

For the first time in either of our dogs' lives, we have a hardwood floor. We have not yet invested in an area rug, so the dogs have been sleeping on the entryway rug, upstairs or on the cool floor. This was fine in warmer months, but now that it's a tad frosty outside, the floor just doesn't seem as comfortable as it used to be.

We took our fleece dog blanket (usually used when traveling) and folded it into a bed for Baxter and we bought another fleece crate pad/bed for Kirby, both of which we put down on the living room floor. This made for some happy evening dog-snoozing and provided a place for them to more quietly chew and drop their toys.

For a while, Baxter and Kirby were keeping to their own beds, and occasionally Kirby would come over to Baxter's and curl up next to him. The other evening, Kirby claimed the big bed first and surrounded himself with all of his toys. Baxter, rather than kicking Kirby out or laying down next to him, went over to Kirby's tiny little bed, turned around three times in progressively smaller circles and curled up so tightly that even his noze and stub of a tail were entirely on the bed. (This picture doesn't even capture how tightly wound Baxter was...at one point his nose was resting on his back legs mere inches from his tail.)

Apparently Baxter decided he liked this rather tight sleeping arrangement, because the next night, unprovoked by Kirby's encroachment on his bed territory, Baxter looked at both beds and decided to sleep on the little one. I thought maybe it was a matter of location, so I switched the location of the big bed and the little bed. Baxter again chose the little bed.

Now, I can't figure out why he would do this, when it requires a tremendous effort for him not to hang over the edges on every side. Perhaps the newer, little bed is softer (although it seems about the same to me). Or perhaps it's just Baxter's way of telling Kirby "I can sleep wherever I darned well please"...?

In any case, it's a pretty funny sight to see...