Bayley's Blankets

My aunt bought me a beautiful, soft, delightful blanket for Christmas. Upon seeing me open it, my husband immediately exclaimed, "That'll be Bayley's." I told him I would not allow her to have it, and he replied, "Good luck." See, Bayley loves blankets. In fact, I think they might be her favorite thing. Bayley loves blankets so much that I have experienced her to, at times, be covered by 4 blankets. She claims every blanket we own and declares it to be hers. She will approach us when we are using a blanket and nudge at us until we let her share it. Bayley wrestles herself under the blankets and burrows into a little ball. Sometimes, it is difficult to find her in the midst of the sea of blankets. For Christmas, we bought Bayley 4 new blankets of her own to replace the blankets she ate that we use in her crate. She had put such big holes in her "crate blankets" that on most days, we'd arrive home from work to find her wearing her blankets like a dress. Of course, as much as Bayley might love this, it concerned us because it's obviously dangerous for her to have these blankets in her crate! So, we bought new blankets. We put two in her crate for her to use (I mean, destroy) and gave her two extras for every day usage (and to replace the "crate blankets" once she destroys them). Because of this, I thought it would be easy to keep her away from my soft, cuddly blanket. Alas, the one thing I forgot about Bayley's love for blankets is that the softer the blanket, the more she loves it. So, the last week has gone something like this: Christmas Day: I sit down with the blanket and wrap myself up to watch the snow. I cover Bayley with her new blanket. All goes well. Day after Christmas: I curl up with my blanket and Bayley comes over to investigate. I tell her no and give her one of her new blankets. She accepts this and all goes well. (Fast Forward a few days): Now begins the battle. I'm in the kitchen working and I walk into the living room to see Bayley considering my blanket. I give her a different blanket and with slight hesitation, she accepts it. A few hours later, I'm sitting on the couch and I notice Bayley standing between her new blanket and my new blanket. She begins to nudge at my blanket and I quickly correct her. She looks at me with an inquisitive look and nudges the blanket again. I swear sometimes my dog is like a 2 year old. I correct her and she stands between the two blankets glancing at her's, then at mine, then at me. She does this several times and it's obvious that she is struggling to obey. Finally, she cuddles up with her blanket and all goes well. And then, the other day, I walk into the living room and find Bayley asleep under my blanket. How did I lose that battle? And so it begins... Yesterday, she decided to sweetly cuddle up next to me and I happened to be under my blanket, so I let her cuddle under with me. Yep, we shared. My husband's opinion is that Bayley's plan all along was to slowly wear me down. Maybe so. Either way, it appears that my blanket will be occasionally shared by Bayley, though I will continue to claim it as mine when I'm around.