Turning in circles on the bed

Bevo, Chyna & Brinxx turn circles before laying down.  Shooter on the other hand, just flops down anywhere.  Bevo takes this to another level, after he turns his circles, he has to straighten his bed/blanket with his nose befor he can lay down.  He is almost obsesive about having a straight bed.  He just doesn't seem to understand that his circles are causing those wrinkles.
 

ORIGINAL: BEVOLASVEGAS

Bevo, Chyna & Brinxx turn circles before laying down.  Shooter on the other hand, just flops down anywhere.  Bevo takes this to another level, after he turns his circles, he has to straighten his bed/blanket with his nose befor he can lay down.  He is almost obsesive about having a straight bed.  He just doesn't seem to understand that his circles are causing those wrinkles.

[sm=lol.gif] That's cute.

Most retired racing greyhounds I have worked with make a HUGE mess of their beds, bunching it all up into a heap.  They literally can spend several minutes using their paws to make a huge pile of their bedding.  I am sure part of this is instinctual, but I also believe that because these dogs lived crated on the track for many years with no blankets…only shredded newspaper that they have learned to bunch all the newspaper up to make the bed more comfy.  []

  It is very funny to watch and JJ gets really TICKED OFF if is blankets aren#%92t JUST right![]

Conrad has to turn at least two circles before he lays down, but Marlowe just plops right down. On the other hand, once Conrad is down, he's down. He's fairly dignified about himself.  Marlowe at least twice a day has a complete rolling-around-moaning-groaning-diving-into-blankets freak-out which is hilarious and definately most undignified.
 
I think I may have read somewhere that larger dogs tend to turn cicles just because their spines can get a little stiff and in order to curl up tight they have to lossen things up a bit first. But that could be a complete fabrication.

I think just about all dogs do this.  I've heard it goes back to their days in the wild when they had to make beds for themselves in leaves & twigs & whatever else they could find,
 
Joyce
 

ORIGINAL: fuzzy_dogs_mom

I think just about all dogs do this.  I've heard it goes back to their days in the wild when they had to make beds for themselves in leaves & twigs & whatever else they could find,
 
Joyce
 

Hm. That makes sense. Someone also told me once they were also instinctively checking for snakes. Don't know how accurate that is though *shrug*

I can believe the "out in the wild" scenario.  We have a rescue chihuahua-terrier mix who goes through a similar routine before bed, including "digging" or "burrowing" into the bedding.  The routine really looks like what a dumpster dog would do to try and make a comfortable place to sleep.  Since he sleeps with us, I think it's a combination of "re-arranging his bed" and showing happiness for having a bed.
 
Our other chihuahua, who is a purebred, is more content to lick your face and/or ears, then curl into a ball and go to sleep.

my dog drives me crazy at night, he will either lay under the blankets, which he gets under there and circles and messes the whole blanket up, or he will stand on top of the blanket and endlessly paw at it until its suited to his liking.

Nikki turns exactly three times, every time, before she lays down. She's very ladylike and proper. On the other hand, Sophie just flops--sometimes loudly. It sounds like she just falls over!

Hi all, I'm new to the forum, I have a Doby and a Pekingese and they both do the turning in circles thing on the bed when they lay down. However Sasha my pekingese only turns a couple of times. My Doby, Tuvok is very picky and he has to do quite a few circles and adjust the covers to get it just right.[][]

This is an instinctual thing, just as some cats will paw their water dish or right next to it...to "clean off" whatever might be on the surface of the water.
 
Dogs do this to instinctively push down the grass, or at least push down the bedding material of whatever surface they might be sleeping on. 
 
Be glad your dogs just turn circles...Xerxes paws at the floor, or the bed or whereever like he's digging to china...then he'll rub his chin all over it, growl for a few minutes and then lay down about 2 feet from the spot he just "prepared."  Or he will get on the bed and make a big show about burrowing in under the comforter.
 
Gaia will circle once and then just plop right down on top of me.  She doesn't like to sleep anywhere but in the bed, under the covers.

^Eevee digs like that!  She wakes me up in the middle of the night digging on her bed and folding it in half!  >X.x;<

I know that if Ella gets on the couch with us, she'll get on, get off, get on, get off AT LEAST 3 times before she gets on the couch and finds a comfy spot which usually includes being on at least one of our body parts.

Silly girl.

My pekes favorite spot on the bed is on my tummy when I'm laying on my back watching TV. My doby Tuvok loves laying curled up in a ball next to me. My Doby, Tuvok will take one morsel of food at a time and hide it in the covers of the bed. I call it his stash. My peke Sasha is a total ditz she loves to steal Tuvoks stash. Tuvok will get mad at her when she does it and he'll growl at her.
    Oh, but if he hears her outside wanting in and I don't, he'll start whining and just having a fit until I let her in. Boy, he's got good hearing too, she doesn't even have to bark or anything. I swear they are like siblings including the rivelery. We have a huge fenced in backyard that is full of squirrels and Sasha loves chasing them. The squirrels love getting just out of her reach and teasing her. Tuvok, he could care less about the sqirrels most of the time. They are a couple of characters.!!! I will try to post some pictures of them soon.[][][]