Bed Bugs

I am gaining a renewed understanding of why my dog is intrinsically a bully, despite his outward friendly demeanor.

It has to do with the fact that lately I've allowed him to share some snoozes with me. He's such a nice little snuggler, and I rarely allow him to lay under the covers. Most of the time, he'll situate himself somewhere up by the mass of pillows at the top of the bed, curl up in a ball with his back to me and rest peacefully. He knows when it's time to go to bed and will sit up politely at the foot of the bed until I've brushed my teeth and washed my face in the adjacent bathroom. Once I lie down to go to sleep, he'll trudge up the covers beside me and with a big human-like sigh, he'll plop down for a night's rest.


Linus is becoming a pest at bedtime - a little bed bug!


Let's face it: when he's sleeping, he's at his sweetest. But after a couple weeks letting this go on, I am second guessing the "peaceful" nature of this scenario. With his increased confidence, Linus has begun pushing his way to the dead center of the bed. Often I will wake up in the early morning hours to literally find myself tettering on the edge of the bed - and without covers! The little man will be found in the dead center of the bed, cozily curled like a fat rolly polly. And I will have to remove him from the spot, replace him at the top of the bed and remind him that he's not the boss here.



Linus and I can now only take naps together.

Over the past few weeks, my explanations for his relocation on the bed have digressed from simply, "No, Linus, this is mommy's spot" to "Ughghg... you little turd." They are especially curt when I have only a few hours a sleep to go. While I am somewhat impressed at his ability to steadily push me to the edge of my own bed, his bed bullying is starting to rub me the wrong way. As in, off my own bed.

Last night, before I went to brush my teeth, I courted my little bed bug to his old kennel in the dining room. Before submitting, he peered up at me with apprehension. Those bulb-like eyes pleading to me, "You're not really going to do this, are you?"

Yes, I did. And when I woke up this morning, instead of finding a cream rolly polly in the middle of MY space, he was curled up in the corner of his kennel. Bed bug problem relieved!