Dog Owners: Where should the dog(s) sleep? More importantly, where Not!?

Bedroom yes bed no.

One of the best things you can so for the dog is have it sleep on your floor where your scents are. They can while away the night in an utterly blissful high. What a great bonding and training mechanism.
The bed is yours-you are alpha. You cannot share this position.

Mine sleep in my bed, they always have. I have no problem with being the “alpha”. There is furniture they know they can get on and furniture they know they cannot. The bed is a piece that they can enjoy all they want.

As long as the dog knows you are alpha Ryan, there should be no problem. However, it can lead to problems for new dogs.

For about the first year we had him, our Boston Terrier slept in the bedroom, crated.

After he was "trustworthy" (housetrained), he was invited to the bed and has been sleeping there ever since ... except when he chooses not to. I wouldn't have it any other way, personally. Luckily the boyfriend and I agree on this! We both grew up in houses where it was typical for the assorted dogs and cats and dogs we had along the way to sleep with people.

I know many trainers would disagree with this arrangement. I sort of don't care! LOL. Even our vet once told us, "What's the point of having a dog if you don't spoil him a little?"

Um edit: That's just "... dogs and cats ...". Guess I was showing my doggie preference!

Actually the younger dog is about as submissive as you can get. Total lover and follows me everywhere. Smart little guy. The older dog THINKS she is alpha, but really she is only alpha to the younger dog.

The key is: will it leave if you tell it to?
If a dog considers itself an equal it may tend to do so in other situations.

Also, these dogs are terriers. Remember, terriers are bred as hunters and the only hunting dog that was aloud to kill its prey!

These traits can lead to serious over assertiveness if not handled properly.

Dogs have four main drives: Prey, defense, social, and reproduction.
They also have wills, and the will to lead (usually about 9 to 11 months) should be suppressed and guided or the real trouble begins.

Depends on the dog and the person. My girl and I enjoy when our beagle jumps up and bed to sleep with us. Besides during the winter he's a good foot warmer.

Fleas, mites, dirt, ticks.......NOPE not in my bed.

As you can tell, I believe they should be relegated to their own beds or the floor (whichever they choose).

Fortunately my dogs are clean, lol.

isnt it all kind of a "your dog/your business, my dog/my business" type of thing?

billy: true.

phil: you bring up a good point. Guess having an indoor/outdoor dog changes things a bit.

Dogs are pack animals. I think that part of being 'alpha' is providing safety/security as pack leader - While hunting, playing, or resting.

Anyways. Our 2 Boston Terriers sleep on the bed, but on top of our covers. In the winter they have their own blanket we cover them with.

It's a personal preference thing I guess. I don't mind them being there.

He hops on the bed and sleeps in his own space. Billy has it right, though - 'your dog, your business; my dog, my business' - which is a refreshing perspective.

Billy-
Yes it is "your dog/your business, my dog/my business".

The caveat here is however that the dogs are both "OUR" dogs. The bed is "OUR" bed.....and our ideas of allowing the dogs or having a preference for the dogs to sleep in the bed and bedroom are very much opposite.

Not to worry, I am not using this site merely because I'm too cheap for marriage counseling. I don't expect "my" problems to be sloved here. Just thought it would be interesting/fun to get others opinions and practices on the matter. When all is said and done, I suspect things will remain the same as they are here.....for if I were to push for a change too hard, winning that change would not be worth it in the long run. There's always the couch, but it's kinda hard.

Seems like the compromise would be to allow the dogs in the bedroom and set up nice cushy comfy doggie beds for them so they have their own place to sleep but are still nearby.

That'll be $80.00, kthx.

:)

We let our dogs sleep in our bed if they like, which is a super-king. Two of our dogs, our Puggles Eddie Haskell and Chauncey Gardener, sleep there every night. Our Westie-Bischon mix Candy varies in her sleeping preferences: sometimes with us, somtimes with one of the kids, and sometimes on a doggie bed by the fireplace.

We also have dogs we foster with Planned Pethood, and they are welcome to sleep wherever they prefer. There is sometimes some conflict with the Puggles about new dogs sleeping too close to Mom or Dad, but it is important to reiterate the fact that you are the alpha and reprimand the "established" dogs when they try to use your bed as a wrestling ring for hierarchical battles with new arrivals.

Still, what usually happens is that the Puggles wind up with the more "privileged" spots at the top of the bed, with the newer dogs at the foot.

Now, there is also another territorial battle we recently encountered with Eddie Haskell. When my wife goes to work, Eddie starts collecting her shoes and odd items of clothing and puts them on the bed. If another dog arrives near his Shrine of Mom, he gets really pissed and grumbles at the interloper:

In our case we have a nice cushy doggie bed, and they still climb in bed with us :)..

Our general rule is humans first, dogs 2nd with the bed. Normally if a dog is laying in a place that that either of me or my wife wants, we kick the dog off the bed. For the most part they seem to have realized this and tend to stay in the "Safe" zones on the bed :)

"In our case we have a nice cushy doggie bed, and they still climb in bed with us :).."

Because you allow it. If, let's say, you wanted to train them to use their dog beds instead, you could do it. It wouldn't be easy or fun or quickly accomplished, but you could do it.

Chauncy Gardener! "I like to watch". LOL

Heh. Offshore correctly recognized the reference to the 1979 film Being There, which is one of my all-time favorite movies. I am not sure our Chauncey has much in common with Chance the Gardener/ Chauncey Gardener, but he needed a middle name, and "Gardener" was as good as any.

jmleong

I agree.. if we really wanted to we could train them not to use the bed at all..But we didn't/won't We don't mind them being in bed for the most part. With us it's a fine line because my wife has allot of medical issues, There are times when they can't be in bed, and other times when my wife can't get up to play with them, so to pet/play with them she wants them on the bed with her. They are trained to the point that they know when and when not to be on the bed. They also know that the times we don't want them on the bed, not go repeatably keep trying to get on the bed.

In the doghouse in the backyard.

Drunkenwild, your dogs sound pretty smart or at least pretty intuitive. I think most dogs are! (Although I've met some not-so-bright ones in my day, LOL. Or perhaps they were just stubborn.)

Our dog sleeps right by my feet every night, and I wouldn't have it any other way. He makes a great foot warmer. :)

I climb under the covers and get comfy, then call him up. He knows that he has to wait on the floor until I get situated and pat the bed for him to lay at my feet.

He also knows that he needs to get out of the room for awhile when my husband pushes him off the bed so that we can have "privacy." lol

Our big dog sleeps on the floor in our bedroom. The small dog sleeps in our bed, between us, and the medium sized dog sleeps in the living room.
Security system at it's best.

Seems like the compromise would be to allow the dogs in the bedroom and set up nice cushy comfy doggie beds for them so they have their own place to sleep but are still nearby.

That'll be $80.00, kthx.

:)

posted by jmleong on Mar 27, 2009 at 03:08:20 pm #
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That's what we do with our dearly-loved dog, fortunate since he's pretty big.

Agreed with hockeyfan about the ultimate security system, as our dogs miss nothing that happens within 50 yards of our house. As an added bonus, we have not seen a mouse in the house in a couple of years. I think this is a function of the dogs running around outside and making the yard seem less mouse-friendly, so the annual cold weather migration of field mice we used to each November has ended.

Of course, I have extra holes dug in my lawn and garden from the dogs furiously chasing some mouse, but at least the house is rodent-free.

But, can you trust an alarm that goes off several times a day?:)

Our dogs (3 small) sleep in bed with us, often under the covers. Been that way for 30+ years, certain "frivolities" excluded.

We always had German Shepherds and they would sleep in a dog bed in our bedroom close to our bed.They made the perfect guard dog at night.Sometimes in the morning we would allow them to lay with us for a short while.

Well, clearly I am in the minority when it comes to allowing our dogs in the bedroom as well as in the bed. My wife wins this one. Well, she had already won actually, I was just curious......LOL

My reasons for NOT wanting them in the bed/bedroom have nothing to do with how much I love them......I love them as much as anyone can love their dogs. I just happen to think it is unsanitary to some degree regardless of how clean our dogs are. They are still dogs and dogs are animals. Also, being a light sleeper I wake up with every movement they make in the night.

So, I shall take my defeat like a man, standing up and continue to let Fido & Fido sleep where they and the Mrs. decide......

Thanks for the thoughts on the matter folks!

Maybe I should have allowed the dog in the bed and kicked the wife out.They both have bad breath in the morning!LOL!

Drunkenwild, your dogs sound pretty smart or at least pretty intuitive. I think most dogs are! (Although I've met some not-so-bright ones in my day, LOL. Or perhaps they were just stubborn.)

I think it's repetition more then anything.Once they pick up on certain signs or things, then they know what to expect and react to it accordingly. I've seen all my pets(dogs and cats) pick up things like turning the TV or computer off and hanging up the phone. At night, I typically turn the TV/Computer off, let the dogs out and get ready for bed. So now, when I turn the TV/Computer off, my dogs will automatically to the back door without me prompting them.

I let the dog in the bed, but not the cat because the dog sleeps soundly at the foot of my bed, but the cat will jump on my face every hour to play. Startles the hell out of me. He can sleep anywhere else, though, in the house - in the guest bedroom, on the couches, in a big pet basket I got for him with soft, comfy blankets. Usually, he falls asleep in the basement waiting to catch mice. The basement door has a cat "hole" so he can come and go as he pleases.

Poor dogsrule... You must have a young cat. My cat, now 5, used to jump on me in the middle of the night, especially on the feet- scared the beejeesus out of me. Now she sleeps in a kitty bed or sometimes at the foot of the bed. My sheltie has not figured out how to get into bed with us yet but I am sure that is coming.....LOL