Damn, it’s been cold in NJ! I am trying not to incur $500 monthly heating bills, so I have the heat at the lowest possible setting and am dressed for the outdoors indoors.
However, my furballs have come to the rescue at night. I’ve been waking up surrounded in a dog triangle, with all three under the covers: lab across my feet, golden retriever on my right side, and border collie on my left. I don’t even care about furry sheets, it’s like sleeping with fuzzy electric blankies. Cat is itty-bitty, so he counts as an extension of his “mom” (the golden) and sleeps between her paws.
Are there other Dopers enjoying inter-species heatfests this winter?
Yep, my dog sleeps under the covers and keeps me warm (New England winters plus a 260 year old house make for cold nights). I call it paying the puppy rent.
yep - we love having 3 dog nights! Ours are all small: terrier mix, min pin and min pin mix, and I am the closest to surrounded, cause they love their momma!
Yep. It’s not all that cold, and we have fleece bedding, but I still love the warmth of having three cats next to me at night: Havoc stretched along my shoulders and back, Pixel wrapped around my butt, and Caelan curled up into a ball against my chest. Until I get restless, then they all go sleep on my wife.
Yes, the cats have decided to use us as a heat source at night. Depending on the night we have 3 or 4 cats with us. Usually Scotch by my head, Blue by my legs, Red beside the hubby, and Soda by his feet.
Yes, we were just talking about this at work. I live in Florida, where as you have probably read in other threads it’s really, really cold (44 now! I mean really!), and my dog has been snuggling with me more than ever. The other night I put him under the covers with me and he stayed there, which he has never done before, so I figure he was cold, too.
I’m down to one dog and one cat, and they stay above the covers, but they are snuggling in closer this winter. And it is keeping be from buying another space heater.
The dog insists on priority. The cat is mellow about that.
The problem I have with the dog sleeping under the covers is that when he gets too hot (usually before I do what with the fur coat and all), he rolls over on his back and sticks up all four legs ripping all the covers off (he has long legs). Worse than a man, he is!
I have three cats, but they self-police themselves so only two are under the covers at any one time. The other is usually close by. And then there’s the dog. At least he doesn’t spend too much time under the covers; he gets too hot.
Normally, my cats hate having any kind of blanket or cover over them, so they stay out of my bed. But the other night, I was rearranging the mound of quilts and comforters on my bed, and I found my cat Rex had burrowed down into the center of the mound to sleep. Guess it was the warmest place in the house.
I was startled to find an animal in my bed and shouted, “Oh my God!” Rex opened one eye and clearly seemed to be saying, “It’s cold, either get in or cover me back up!”
Oh YEAH!! I sleep with 4 dogs, and 2 cats come and go thru the night. I set my furnace at 60 about an hour before bedtime, and sometimes even crack the window in my bedroom. My 2 big Setters HAVE to snuggle as closely as they can… no matter WHAT the temperature is. It could be the middle of July and 95 degrees… they still want to cuddle.
