Should you let the dog on your bed?
BY SIMON GOODALLShould dogs be allowed on beds, furniture, front car seats or even in the bedroom? If you're a dog trainer or dog lover, you'll be constantly told off for allowing your dog on the furniture. You'll get told your dog is dominant and that it will only turn out to be aggressive and you'll have thousands of problems.
So let me start this question off another way. How, Simon (myself), do you feel about dogs on beds and are your dogs allowed on the bed? This The answer is, I could not care less whether your dog is allowed on your bed and no, my dogs do not sleep on the bed - but mainly because I don't have a bed big enough for my wife and two large golden retrievers.
However, there is a gray area on this bed issue. There are some occasions when I completely forbid a person to have their dog on the bed or even on their lap. Those are the times when the dog is getting a bit big for its boots and starting to take over the house and defending set areas of the house and beds. This is a big problem and the dog could be aggressively doing this or jumping on the bed and peeing on it. Now let me put this straight by saying a dog that pees on the bed is not lazy - he is marking his territory so you know who has been there.
When people invite me round they imagine me turning up in a big ute to yell at the dog and tell the person no, your dog can't do this or this or this and so on. What they don't imagine is me turning up in a nice late-model wagon or motorbike and sitting down and chatting then deciding what to do.
In my opinion if you have your dog on the bed, don't tell anyone; enjoy how the dog keeps you warm at night - we don't all have someone to share our beds with. Ignore what people say; it's just like having children - what works for one dog will not work for the next dog. Treat your pet as you like and enjoy their long lives. Just don't let them take over!
Simon Goodall is the director of Dog Guru, which has branches in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga and Wellington. Simon is a member of the International Association of Canine Professionals and International Association of Animal Behaviour Consultants. On Facebook? Check out Dog Guru.
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Picture: Alex Steffler
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My two small dogs sleep with me and I couldn't care what anyone thinks about it!
The daxi sleeps in the bed (in my arms) for the first part of the night before moving over and snuggling my husband. The bichon starts the night out in her bed (on the floor in the bedroom) but comes up about 2am and sleeps in between hubby and I. She's only started doing this since I got pregnant so I assume she's looking after me...
I wouldn't have it any other way, though we did upsize to a king when the daxi decided to sleep longways between us! If they get annoying then they each have their own beds, but I struggle to sleep without them now.
My only rule is that they are not allowed in the bedroom when we are not at home.
I dont allow my pets in the bedroom at all. My dog sleeps on the couch, and the cats sleep... in the most stupid of places like on the coffee table! But although they follow me round the house and will sit in which ever room I am in, they all know the bedroom is out of bounds!
Agreed...our two dogs sleep on the bed with us, but they both know they wait until they're invited up, and they better get off when we tell them too!
The trainers we have seen have had a similar opinion to yours Simon - they could couln't care less if the dog gets on the bed, unless they start getting aggressive/possessive.
Wow! There I was beating myself up about the fact that I let my two little dogs sleep in our bed - when clearly I'm not alone! hehe nice :) I must tell my partner about that, she doesn't like telling people that we have the dogs with us, she thinks it makes us bad owners. However, there's nothing quite like a little fury beagle puppy curled up in your arms to go to sleep with, and the other is a spoodle/foxy cross, she likes to go right down the end of the bed under the blankets :)
No dogs at our place so they don't sleep anywhere. The kitten however sleeps where he wants. Most of the time he's happy enough to sleep on the bed, usually curled up behind my knees (on top of the covers). It's only when he decides that the middle of the night is a good time to be awake and doing laps of the house hallway-bedroom-bed-windowsill-bed etc that he gets ejected into the lounge with two doors between him and us.
Our 2 dogs are allowed on the bed for cuddles, but always sleep together in their crate in the lounge. They know its a privelege to be allowed on the bed. Its only if my partner is away that I let them stay on the bed all night, but I usually regret it because they like to sleep basically on top of you!
Its the same with the couch - they are only allowed on the couch when we pull out the blue blanket, but otherwise must be on their bean bag. When that blue blanket comes out they are on the couch before you can even say a word!
Our dog sleeps outside the only exceptions being when the weather is miserable she is allowed to sleep inside but only on her sofa in the lounge or when one of us is away she is allowed to sleep on the other side of the bed. The cat however does what he wants all the time... I will not forgo a good nights sleep for any animal shennanigans though..so if anyone plays up they are out.
I'm so relieved, I can now admit that my dogs sleep on the bed! I knew how controversial it is, and how some people say it's a bad move. But I want my dogs close, and I love waking up and seeing them wake up too, thumping the duvet with their tails. It's a great way to start the day. The cat is often there too.
I like it when I sleep in and wake up to a huge big white face looking at me and a gold one looking at my wife. Fortunately they dont bark in my face when I do sleep in! They did use to jump on the bed when the alarm went off but with kids we dont need an alarm anymore.
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The question should be - should your dog allow you on your bed?
The answer of course is... yes.
When I've owned dogs they tended to sleep on the bed. Not a problem when you're single but when you are not, logistically there is just no room.
I used to own a dog that liked to sleep under the covers, liked a pillow under his head and hogged the duvet.