How to get a dog to listen to you

I had a hard time sleeping last night; I just couldn't get comfortable. My bed is a pull out couch in Dan's old room and is now Maryn's mother's office. The bed itself is pretty comfortable but Chip ended up taking up all the room and was pretty hard to move. He's a brown cocker spaniel and looks like a big brown bear. Anyway, so this big brown bear takes up most of the bed forcing me to find somewhere else to sleep.

I pace around hoping he'll wake up from the noise but he's out cold. I even flick the lights on and off to see if that'll get his attention but no luck. I'm really tired by now and my capacity for reasoning is somewhat off-kilter. I tiptoe into Maryn's room and see a fuzzy carpet on the floor which looks incredibly inviting. I grab my pillow and nestle down onto the floor.

In retropect I could have moved Chip but at the time that wasn't an option. Waking up on the floor at five in the morning was somewhat confusing and for some odd reason the floor was starting to feel uncomfortable; image that. I then made up my mind that I wasn't going to let a dog decide where I was going to sleep and quietly made my way back to Dan's room.

Chip hadn't moved from his spot and I stood in the doorway with my hands on my hips watching jealously as he slept soundly. Suddenly he woke up, raised his head and looked at me with those big brown eyes. Exasperated, I said, "Look. I'm really tired Chip and I don't want to argue but I'd like to get some sleep and if you wouldn't mind moving, I'd like to lie down next to you."

I felt ridiculous negotiating with a dog but once again, I was tired and couldn't think of anything better to do. Chip continued to look at me, his tail wagging and then shifted to the other side of the bed.

Getting in I bid him goodnight and thanked him for his graciousness. Silly me, I guess all I had to do was ask.