Where Cookie and Cinnamon sleep

Cookie and Cinnamon have been tagged by their dear blog friend, Honey the Great Dane, to play a game to show where they sleep. Thanks, Honey!

Well, because Cookie and Cinnamon are very busy right now, sleeping, I will show you where they sleep. Actually they have so many places to sleep during the day. Or, more correctly, they can sleep anywhere around the house and garden, except for the bathroom. For example, at a bay window, in the hallway, in a couch, on the deck, on their daddy's tummy, and and so on...

(Thanks Dughallmor Beagles for telling us how to make a collage.
This is the first collage we have ever made!)

But, this game is about where they sleep at night, right? But, before showing you where they sleep now, I will show you where they have slept in the past.


This is where Cookie slept when he was a puppy.

Cookie's first house

As his humans had never had their own dogs before Cookie, they did a lot of research and found information that a crate is good as a training tool as well as a place to sleep in. Their daddy also found someone recommending on the web that a slatted wooden mat is good for hygienic reasons, so he made one with materials that he bought from a home improvement center.

After about four years, Cookie was finally allowed to sleep in his humans' bed :-) But there is no photo of it.

This is where Cinnamon slept when she was very little.

Cinna House

Her humans called this place 'Cinna House'. There were some improvements from Cookie's first house. She had an area to wander around, although the crate was smaller than Cookie's. When Cookie was a puppy, his mum used this small crate when she had to take him to the vet by car without her husband's help.

After Cinnamon escaped from the puppy pen several times, her humans anchored the pen with weights for dumbbells, by putting old unused thin plastic cutting boards around the bottom frame of the pen and placing the weights on them. But it couldn't stop her from escaping. Her humans thought that she probably had managed to escape by climbing up her crate. So, they bought a larger crate as big as Cookie's, which should be more difficult for little Cinnamon to climb up. That's how 'Cinna House Version 2' was born. But Cinnamon still managed to escape from her puppy pen in the middle of night a couple of times (Neither her humans or Cookie knows how she made it!).

Cinna House Version 2

Later the puppy pen was removed and Cinnamon was given many toys instead.

Cinnamon in her house with toys

When Cinnamon became nearly four months old, Cookie had an operation for a slipped disk in the neck, and, for a couple of months after the operation, he had to stay quiet in his crate all the time, except when he had to go outside for toilet and rehabilitation. So, during that time, Cookie and Cinnamon slept in their crates side by side.

Cookie goes back to his crate after an operation

When Cookie recovered enough to walk around on his own. He went back to his humans' bed, this time along with Cinnamon. But again there is no photo of it.

In late January this year, Cinnamon suddenly became ill and was hospitalised for a week. At that time, her humans were told by a vet to restrict her exercise for a month by keeping her in a crate. However, because she is a barker, her humans didn't think she would stay quiet in her crate. So, here comes Cookie to help. As Cookie doesn't mind sleeping in his crate as long as he can't see his humans around (If he can see his humans around, he keeps whining all night, wanting to sleep with them in their bed), his crate was placed by Cinnamon's and he slept in it so that Cinnamon wouldn't feel lonely.

Where Cookie and Cinnamon sleep now

Since then, Cookie and Cinnamon have been sleeping side by side in their crates. Both of them willingly get in their crates at night, when their mum says 'House'.

Some people might think that keeping a dog in a crate for long hours is cruel. But, they seem happy sleeping in their crates, as long as they are let go out for toilet late at night before getting in their crates and they are let out of the crates early in the morning. It seems they feel safe in their own exclusive space. Also, I want to emphasize that they can wander around the house and garden freely during the day, as their humans work from home.

Ideally, I would like them to sleep in their own beds, not crates, beside their humans' bed. But, it seems almost impossible, because both of them want to get in their humans' bed if they can move around freely. I wonder if it is possible to train them to sleep in their own beds at night... Please let us know if you have any good idea!

When I was looking through old photos to find ones to use in this post, I found this lovely video of Cinnamon.

Now we would like to tag our beagle friends to play this game. The friends we are tagging are Jazz and Dixie and Kess. Hope they will have fun!