Sharing Rusty's blanket

The much needed rain started around 6 last night and fell in a slow drizzle until nearly 10.  With it came a cool breeze – so cool that I pulled on a sweat shirt at one point.  In fact, when I checked this morning, the temperature overnight had dropped to 44 (around 6 C).  Not exactly cold, but plenty cool.  Since we do not have air conditioning, the windows are open most of the summer and last night was no exception.

Now Rusty is a funny Siberian – he does not like to be cold.  Mind you, if snow is involved, he loves to run and play, but cold weather for cold weather’s sake?  Forget it.  Trust me when I say Rusty much prefers sunning himself in a lounge chair like this (no the picture is not staged – he climbed in by himself):

So, when I let the dogs into the bedroom last night, Rusty ran straight to his ottoman at the foot of the bed and started fluffing HIS blanket, building his nest for the evening.  Everyone else settled into their spots (Kodiak into a chair in the corner, Kiska and Qannik onto their beds on the floor, Cheoah into her crate, and Natasha – as the Queen that she is – onto the bed itself, feigning her nightly shock that the pillows are for me, not her).

But, poor Rusty, that blanket he was nesting in is actually the one spread across my bed on cool nights.  So, I was planning to use that blanket, and I took it from him.  There is still a blanket left for him, but not quite like the quilted material of the one now spread across my own bed.  Here is an old picture of him protecting his real blanket, not the quilt I took last night.  He is keeping any other dog from taking it from him in case he needs it (and, yes, he will pull it over him in the cold):

The look from Rusty was much icier than the weather.  He glared at me as I crawled under the blanket and turned the light out.  After a few minutes, I felt the first paw on the bed – no response from me or, more importantly, Queen Natasha.  The second paw – no response.  Slowly he moved onto the bed, on the opposite side of me from Natasha, and then fluffed the quilt up quietly.

We slept cozily and warmly through the night.