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Where does your dog sleep?


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I want to do the right things for my dogs, and sometimes I question whether I do. I was reading a book on dominance and it was saying that you should never let a dog in your room or pet a dog on their demand. I am really glad to read that others allow their dogs on the bed with them.

 

 

A lot of that "dominance" theory is vastly over-rated, IMHO. If one of my dogs were to get pushy, rude or demanding, we'd deal with it. If I found him or her being willfully disobedient or unreasonably headstrong, I'd take a good look at what I'm not doing right.

 

But so long as my dogs are respectful, well-mannered and keep the family peace, hubby and I are perfectly happy to let them have a cuddle on the bed or whatever. In fact, as I type this, I'm sitting on our futon couch with two of my youngsters snuggled against my hip. :)

Cheers ~

 

Gloria

P.S.

Nor do I see this coddling having any negative affect on their usefulness as sheepdogs. :P

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I do have a few rules about dogs on furniture. It is a privilege, humans always take precedence (they know to get out of the way if they see a human butt headed where they are lying :lol:)

 

Please to teach this rule to Mr. Woo for me. I cannot tell you how many times I have sat on Woo on the sofa, and then he cries ("Waaah! You're sitting on me and you're heavy! Waaah!") but he doesn't move. I also generally find him in my spot on the bed every night and I have to drag him across the bed to his spot by his hind legs ... although to be fair, I think that's a game he just appreciates.

 

There are no dominance issues in my house! There is simply Woo, and then everyone else who should do his bidding ;-)

 

RDM

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I also generally find him in my spot on the bed every night and I have to drag him across the bed to his spot by his hind legs ... although to be fair, I think that's a game he just appreciates.

 

The Woo and The Noodle have been communicating, I see. I call this "The Same Thing Happens Every Night." EVERY night when I go to get into bed, who is in my spot? Nick. And EVERY night I have to walk around the bed, call him over to HIS spot. EVERY night he comes to his spot, sits, and puts his big ole paw up for me to shake, and roodleroos at me. I then walk back around and get in my now-vacant spot. You would think that after three years of this, every night, that he'd get it, but NO. Like Woo I think he likes the game.

 

Incidentally, Ginger, who is a very naughty dog about most other things, politely waits quietly on a dog bed until I call her up at night. I know, this one act might just ruin her reputation. Almost.

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Incidentally, Ginger, who is a very naughty dog about most other things, politely waits quietly on a dog bed until I call her up at night. I know, this one act might just ruin her reputation. Almost.

 

*gasp* The Turd has been outted.

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I'm pretty strict about the "no dogs upstairs" rule- I really appreciate some dog-free space! I also really dislike having dogs on the bed, so no co-sleeping for us. Neither Nick nor Hoot have shown much inclination to get on the sofas, but my old Lu was a total furniture dog. Her favourite was an old recliner :) Nick pretty much sleeps in his crate, which has an old pillow inside of it, although sometimes he drags the pillow out & sleeps in the empty crate. Hoot will crash on the dog bed in the living room, but he sleeps in his closed crate at night- he won't sit still all night otherwise. Both dogs like to sleep under the dining room table, but neither will sleep anywhere near the woodstove. That used to be Lu's spot, and she would snark at anyone who tried to take it.

 

I'm pretty sure both my dogs would quite happily stay outside all the time if they could. Even in the winter, they like to sleep out on (or under) the back deck when we're outside... or when I make them hang out outside when they're totally filthy!

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Dog-free space..... What is that? Half the time I have someone accompany me to the bathroom.

 

Dog people who desire dog-free space.... I can't really wrap my head around that one, but I know there are people in this world who actually have lives outside of the dogs.

 

Lives.... What is that? :P Okay, I know I spend too much time with the dogs.

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The Woo and The Noodle have been communicating, I see. I call this "The Same Thing Happens Every Night." EVERY night when I go to get into bed, who is in my spot? Nick.

Same here with Pip. He's always in my space (unless Phoebe somehow beats him to it) and EVERY NIGHT I have to tell him "get over," which he does (while carefully skirting around she-who-must-not-be-touched). But not until I tell him to. The real classic is when he's sleeping with his head on MY pillow.

 

J.

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In the winter Antonia sleeps on her own little love seat next to my bed in the living room. We have to move downstairs near the wood stove in the fall. During the summer, she sleeps on the floor of the living room and doesn't want to go up the very steep stairs to the bedroom. She is very agile, but still gaining confidence. I put her bed on the floor in the LR and she sometimes sleeps there.

 

This fall, when it started getting cold, Antonia waited for me to notice her, then stood and stared at the place on the love seat where her bed goes. Clearly, it was time to get up out of the draft. I put her bed up there and she sleeps there mostly. Sometimes she sleeps next to the kitchen door. I think she is too hot although it is only about 55F in the house.

 

She can sleep anywhere she wants, but prefers her own spot. The only good light in the LR is on the bed and that is where we have heavy trauma during nail clipping. That might have spoiled the bed for her which is OK - lots less hair everywhere!

 

My last dog, Iris (Besinji/BC cross, really nuts, smarter than a BC and quick as lightening) always slept on the bed and loved to stay at the end of the bed all the time looking out the window. About every 6 months for all her life, she would decide she should be the sole inhabitant of the double bed upstairs. Then we would have a loud argument with bared teeth and all. She could bark and chirp, too. Sort of scary because she could jump 4' straight up without crouching or bending her legs. After that, she would go to her spot by the window and look sheepish. When we lived on a place with almost no heat at 7,300' el. Iris and I kept each other warm. She slept with her head on the pillow. Even at the end, once in a while I would wake up and Iris would be asleep like a human under the covers with her head on the pillow. Sometimes she would sleep under the covers at the bottom of the bed. During treacherous times, Iris wouldn't sleep at all, but sit up on the end of the bed all night listening. That one would go up and down the stairs really fast and jump from the top to the bottom. Besinjis jump like kangaroos.

 

Iris liked to sleep and stay in the house. Besinjis are bred to hunt african lions. She wanted to gather everything up and kill them. Not good on a working cattle ranch. I loved Iris a lot, and that mean streak was a handy trait from time to time in the mountains of Northern New Mexico. Thirteen years is a long time to be kept company by a pooch in isolated living situations. I still miss her.

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Kay-ak sleeps in bed with my wife and i. she starts out sleeping at my wife's feet. now we heat with wood and have to get up every 2 hours through the night to load the wood stove. my wife is the one who loads the stove through the night. when she gets done and tries to get back into bed is when the fun starts. kay feels that my wife is not allowed back into the bed until she plays with her for about 5 minutes. after the short mid-night play session kay will let her lay back down and they both go back to sleep for 2 more hours.

 

through out the day kay sleeps in her bed, my lap while i sit at the computer, in front of the wood stove, or laying next to or on me while i watch a movie.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Bear will take up half of the bed while Mommy and Daddy have less than half of a huge King sized bed. Domino will either sleep in between us, which is why there is only less than half of the bed left. That only because Domino is afraid of the dark and Bear doesn't realize how big she is now. When she was a puppy she slept under the bed, but then I found a bunch of MY stuff that she was hiding under there, lol, along with her Daddy's baseball glove, torn up into little pieces. Now the bed is on the ground, easier for her to jump up. During the day though, they both take up the tiled kitchen floor or if you're in the bathroom and you hear noises, look in the shower, Bear has been known to sleep in the tub.

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Dog-free space..... What is that? Half the time I have someone accompany me to the bathroom.

 

Dog people who desire dog-free space.... I can't really wrap my head around that one, but I know there are people in this world who actually have lives outside of the dogs.

 

Lives.... What is that? :P Okay, I know I spend too much time with the dogs.

 

I have the same "Problem" lol, half of the time I can't even have the doors closed, the other half of the time, one of them is in there with me. Especially during shower-time. there's always a cold wet nose peeking or pulling the shower curtain down.

I will have to shut the bedroom door just to make the bed. Then there will be four big paws under the door with whining and crying until I finally give in and open the door, where they will then, pull ALL of the blankets off of the bed and start the process all over again. The same goes with cleaning the living room. I will let them outside, then clean, when they come back inside, all of the pillows come off of the couch, then the rugs will be pulled from where they are placed and so forth. But I love them, I couldn't possibly live without them. And I don't believe in crates.

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Jody sleeps in his crate in his boy's room. If my son goes to bed early and Jody sits with me for a while he will go to my son's door and wait for me to open it for him. He does this as soon as I start getting ready for bed. He is my companion during the day and wants to be near his boy at night.

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I've found myself thinking of this thread recently, and the original poster's question. Where does my dog sleep, and why?

 

Well ... since this thread started, my little Gael has decided that her morning must begin with getting out of her crate and diving under the covers with me. No, really. :P

 

She did it just all of a sudden, and we thought, okay, it's cold in the mornings, maybe she's just feeling like a snuggle before we get up. But it's a daily thing, now, and sillier yet, she often ends up head-down under the blankets! It's finally dawned on me what she might be doing.

 

I think Gael is hiding from her kitty fixation. Previously, Gael's morning consisted of getting up to go potty, then coming back in with the other dogs to go lurk out under the dining table, where she would stare at our cats until the humans got out of bed. Now, she doesn't even go potty with the other dogs. She just dives in bed and hides until it's time to get up.

 

My border collie is weird. :rolleyes: But I guess if she wants to quit her kitty habit, it behooves me to help her kick it. :P

 

Definitely one of the odder things I've had in a dog. But at least she's very polite and cozy when she snuggles. ;)

Cheers ~

 

Gloria

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Depends on the weather. If it's cold, I end up with all three dogs and a cat curled up on the bed with me. Originally, Zeph was relegated to the floor because he scared the cat when he jumped on the bed. However, he learned to be sneakier and I quit worrying about it. However, I think he's a little intimidated by Sekhmet and Seelie and now usually sleeps on the couch in the living room or on the floor by the bed.

 

When I brought Seelie home as a puppy, I put her on the bed at night to help bond with her. However, she was too young to roam the house on her own, so I had a leash on her that I slept holding on to, so I would wake if she jumped down or moved around anxiously. She now usually starts out sleeping with me than will jump down if she gets too warm or Sekhmet or I are too wiggly.

 

Sekhmet almost immediately ended up sleeping on the bed because, well, who doesn't want a cuddly puppy? When she got old enough to jump up and down on her own, she stayed there and I was fine with it. However, by nature she is a very cuddly dog.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Natty our deaf dog sleeps on the floor by the sofa....he has a sheepskin but likes the floor...Cora tries our bed...but most nights sleeps in the kennel....but some nights we let her win and stay in the bed...."bad owners" I know...but we love them...greg

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Sonny, my six month old has been out of the crate and on the bed with Zoey, my Heeler mix for a couple months now. In the summer though, she sleeps on the bathroom tile floor. If he decides to sleep there also when hot weather arrives and abandons me, I might have to join them on the floor. Kidding. :)

 

(Well, we'll see.)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Our border started sleeping uncaged prob about 8 months of age. She always slept in our room next to our bed on her doggy bed.. recently (prob 2-3 months now) she will go to her dog bed but after we go to sleep she goes out to the living room and sleeps on the recliner next to the front living room windows..Like she is gaurding us while we sleep..She has woke us a few times with barking and we would go out and she would be looking out the window..She is a very good dog..

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I didn`t see many responses for still sleeping in the crate. My border collie still sleeps in his crate only because he goes in by himself before I go to bed. I often work late in the evenings and Dexter sleeps by the back door until I start turning the lights out and then he heads into his ``house``.

 

He doesn`t bark at all to get out during the night so I don`t think he is upset about sleeping in the crate. Is there any risk that this may cause anxiety as he is seperated from us. During the day he is seldom on his own and in typical Border Collie nature needs to keep track of everyone in the house every minute of the day.

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