doggie judgement.

[greyplanet]

do you let your dog sleep in your bed?

i am reading all these articles on training your dog to make sure he doesn't misbehave. and all of them. . . well. . . kind of suck. there's a lot of no's and don'ts in all these articles. don't let your dog sleep in your bed. don't let your dog go through a doorway first. don't play with your dog on the

Comments

[frontdoorangel]

There is nothing wrong with your dog sleeping in bed with you. It's your dog and your bed. My dog would sleep with me every night, but, my husband and I agreed on no pets in the bed since our house is full of animals and he wanted one room without them in it.

As for dog trainers- I understand that for some people they are a godsend, people who might otherwise consider getting rid of a dog for a behavior problem... however, people have owned dogs for thousands of years and somehow managed to get by without manuals, websites, and tv shows. Just do what you think is right. Like you said, if you aren't enjoying the time you spend with your dog then what's the point?

[gothicgranola]

Diego usually sleeps in his crate, but sometimes I'll let him sleep on the bed. The biggest thing that I learned from dog training books is to be sure that you're established as the alpha and that you're doing things on your terms. Diego can sit on the couch and watch TV with me, but only if I invite him. He knows that he doesn't have any rights to the couch. The same with the bed, the car, etc. Sometimes he forgets and jumps up and he gets reprimanded and we move on with life. He knows where he stands in the pack and that's the most important thing for both of us to be happy.

[hannahchan]

This. Henry normally sleeps on the floor at the foot of my bed. If I have (ahem) company, he sleeps downstairs on a rug or, more likely, the couch (because he knows I won't be able to catch him going up there without permission). Every once in a while, though, if he asks me nicely and it's really cold up in the attic, I'll let him up on the bed. I don't do it all the time, though, because A) he takes up a lot of real estate up there, and B) I don't want him to feel it's his right to be up there because then when I have ahem company, he'll resent whoever Mr. Ahem is for usurping his rightful spot. Basically, any item of furniture, he has to ask me first before he's allowed on it. That gives me control and him the comfort of knowing someone's in control. It works really well for us.

[gaslighthorror]

I don't let my dogs sleep in bed with me. They are needy, shed and fart. Oh, wait. That's my boyfriend. The dogs aren't that bad.

[martiniwhiskers]

My dog sleeps with me every night. She takes up too much space, insists on being under the covers, and sometimes sits on my head and farts. It's a pain in the ass. She's awesome and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[stealthsass]

my mother has many greater-swiss mountain dogs - over 100 lbs of furry fun...

and at least 2, but sometimes 3 sleep in the bed with them.

it's so bad they had to buy a custom-sized enormo-bed; and maybe that's going overboard. But when I feel cruddy and one of the doggies climbs up into my lap on the sofa (all 100 lbs of them) it cheers me up.