Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO General Forum => General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws => : fuzzywzhe June 05, 2005, 06:20:21 AM
-
Hehe - I'm just curious how many other people sleep with their dog. ;D
-
Count us in for our bed, it just started about a week ago, but now I can't sleep without her there!
-
Greta (pictured) used to sleep on the bed with me, but now that she is older and very stiff it is too much effort for her to sleep there. Plus, since she is so stiff, she takes up most of the bed. So, she sleeps next to the bed on her own comforter.
Lou fluctuates throughout the night, climbing onto the bed and then moving down to the floor. Same with Betti. It also depends on if it is hot or cold in the room. Last weekend, when we went camping, Betti slept under the blankets. When I leave for work in the morning she climbs up on the pillow, either using it as her entire bed, or with her head on it like a person.
-
heres Spotakiss's favorite place to sleep.Go figure?
-
I desperately wanted Bogart to sleep with me when I got him - the man that had him before me had put some VERY strict rules in his life and I would call him up on the bed and the whole thing would shake like one of those quarter taking vibrating motel beds - so I had to relent for his sake. I got another greyhound "foster" that I ended up keeping.... he had horrible nights - restless - whining - barking in my face - until I realized that he would sleep all night in the bed with me - HUGE MISTAKE - this particular dog had real alpha issues... I understand that there has to be a structure within the pack - however I could never get him to understand that I was the alpha in the big scheme of things.... I loved this dog but allowing him to sleep in bed with me gave him the idea that we were equals and I slowly lost my position as head of the pack. He ended up turning on me one day after he had gone trash diving and I was trying to remove a steak bone from his immediate area. It was a bad bite - it broke my heart. I had small children in the house and decided that the best thing to do was to put him down - I was his third home because of behavior issues and I couldn't deal with him being with someone else who may not treat him well or the fact that he may bite again. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do - I have put down sick animals before - but never a healthy animal with behaviour issues. It still makes me cry if I think about it too long. How did I get off on this.... sorry about that!!!
LONG STORY SHORT - my dogs prefer to sleep in their crates - so that is where they sleep every night - they were in my bedroom for years - but recently my husband and I have given them their own room - this is taking some adjusting - I am not sure I like it!!!! :(
Here are some pics of them in their "bedrooms".
-
OH Boy.. if you are having Alpha problems the worse thing you an do is have your pooch sleep with you in bed and I should know because I went through it with my first Dobie, now all my dogs sleep happily in their crates ;D. It took me 3 months to get Ace to stop sneaking into bed before I decided to crate him at night, it was terrible, lots sleepless nights. :(
-
Trust me it was a lesson learned the hard way - and one not soon forgotten!!! :'(
-
I hear ya ;)
-
Spotakiss looks like she is saying " Excuse me but this is my bedroom!! You didnt even knock first."
I live that puppy she is so cute. I see she is in her lanky stage. Judge would love to meet her. :D
Coonie
-
Ranger sleeps just about anywhere! lol! At night, though, he has his own doggie bed beside ours. He just sprawls right on out. It is so cute! The dog has no modesty...just spread eagle for the whole world to see.
-
our dogs sleep in bed too. We have them spread out though, Galahad is the one who always sleeps with me, the other ones sleeps with the kids and I think they are on some kind of understanding that they take turns with the different kids. Duging day, they sleep either on a bed or on the couch or somethimes over a vent, confisticating the cool air. They have nice doggy beds, but noone seem too impressed by them, I guess I could have saved those money ;D
Marit
-
Our guys sleep on their doggy beds on either side of our bed. Ranger sleeps on my side, Gwen sleeps on her daddy's side.
I get up pretty early for work, and Ranger used to sleep in bed with his daddy after I got up (he gets up with me now. YES! He loves his mommy best!). I would go back into the bedroom for something and find him in bed on my side of the bed, laying on his back with his head on my pillow, kind of like "Hmmm, so this is how people sleep..." He would give me the dirtiest look, like "Excuse me! SOME of us are trying to get their beauty sleep".
-
In the winter, Niki plays a game she made up regarding the bed. She won't jump in bed unless I am laying in it. Then she pretends that she can't make the jump into the high mattress. She waits until I get out of bed to help her up then quickly plows into my side of the bed. I prevail though as she gets pushed over.
During the summer months she prefers the cool grass outside.
-
During the summer months she prefers the cool grass outside.
Does it get very hot where you live? We are in San Diego, so we don't have to worry too much about the heat, but my mom in Phoenix has two collies... During the summertime, they don't even want to go outside for walks, let alone sleep out there...
-
I never understodd the reasoning that if you allowed an alpha dog on your bed it would create problems.
You sleep alone, therefore you are the alpha dog, right?
Well, if the dog sleeps alone, is he the alpha dog?
And if you sleep together is the dog sleeping with you and therefore becoming the alpha dog or are you sleeping with the dog, and therefore YOU are the alpha? If just doesn't make sense to me.
I've slept with my dogs for a long time and never had a problem. I've had alpha dogs in rescue a few times. Rescues don't sleep in my bed (I do not allow rescues to get too comfortable in my home because I don't know what sort of person is going to adopt them)
I've once been threatened by an alpha female Siberian, and I simply backhanded her across her face for showing teeth, and that pretty much established our heirachy after that. She never challenged me again or showed aggression with me. I know that a lot of people say you shouldn't physically hurt a dog, but in my opinion, this is short sighted. It's not something you should do lightly but it's a tool. If a dog bites me while in rescue, I'm supposed to euthanize them and I'd rather beat a dog up than kill one.
With regard to physical punishment, it's extremely important to distinguish between a dog showing aggression because of fear, and another showing aggression because of dominance. If a dog is showing aggression because of fear and you hurt them for it, it will only establish in their mind that they were right to be afraid and should have been aggressive because you were aggressive. Never hurt a dog that is showing aggression because of fear. Either don't interact with them or if you do get bitten, just grin and bear it and don't show pain or fear.
-
dakota will sleep with me for awhile then he sleeps on his feather bed the 2 boxers and the cat sleep with me all night...i love it but boxers do snore and do have the gas problem so some nights are just bad but what does not kill us only makes us stronger refering to boxer farts......
ann
-
The sleeping on the bed puts the dog literally at the same level as you. To maintain alpha status you, being on two feet, must remain higher than your animal. Sleeping at the same level makes you equal, creating a battle for alpha.
-
Rocco sleeps with me in the bed or on the floor. He gets up and down probably all night. I guess it gets hot on the bed. Maia sleeps in her cage due to the fact that she has potential for alpha issues. Plus she shreds things and I don't want her to be tempted while I sleep. She shreded two of Rocco's babies that he sucks on before I gave up on having her sleep with us. She loves her cage, and runs to it when I start turning off lights. I think we all sleep better now.
-
I have not ever had any issues like I had with Tobey (the one that bit me). Establishing myself as the alpha has never been a problem with any of my other dogs - fosters or my own. No one knew what kind of situation Tobey came from before he was with me. The entire dynamic of our home changed when he came into it. I guess I left a lot of the story of his life with me out. The mistake I made with him - and this is specific to this particular dog - was allowing him to sleep with me. As greek4 said - I allowed him to become my equal by putting myself on the same level as he was. This was originally done to keep my sanity because I wasn't getting any sleep at night!!! It started out fine - then it became an issue of him hogging the bed - I adjusted - then if I would move he would growl at me.... I would get up out of bed and make him get down off of the bed to try to show him I was the boss of this mess..... then it became a problem of instead of just growling when I moved in bed he started growling and giving me a warning snap - this is when I should have realized that things had gone horribly awry - however I was not a very dog savvy owner at that point - and I wonder if I had not ever gone through this episode in my dog owning life if I would even truly understand how the whole alpha dog heirarchy (sp?) can get that out of hand. Thankfully my other dogs totally look to me as their pack leader - they are devoted and we rarely have any problem beyond the occasional counter surfing episode. All I have to do is look at my male sternly and he literally melts to the floor! My poor Tobey had issues that I will never know of - all I know is that I was able to give him a happy life when he was with me. I feel terrible for the mistakes I made and often wonder if I would have done things differently how we would have made out.
-
Finn is on the floor, cause he wouldn't fit in the bed. The girls sleep in the bed during the day but at night only one does. She knows it's our bed and she sleeps in it. She doesn't hog the bed or get upset if we tell her to move cause she's in our way. But in the morning when either me or my husband get up they will all climb on the bed to cuddle with whoever is still sleeping...it's sweet to wake up to!
Vicki
-
My boys would *love* to sleep on the bed with us, but as my Hubby is 6 foot tall, and we only have a queen-size, they are limited to "visits" before bedtime. Once we get up for the day however, all bets are off, and we can usually find them drooling on our pillows and trying to bury their toys under the comforter.
Apollo loves to sleep under the bed. It's a good thing we have a custom built sleigh bed, it's high enough off the ground that he can wedge his big furry butt under there with only minimal bumping and lifting! He'll sleep under there all night until it's time to get up and go potty.
Zeus curls up into a ball and sleeps right by my nightstand, or if it's chilly, he'll move to the heater vent and sleep on top of it. *lol*
We have two cats as well, the female, Mysti, will sleep in bed with us until my hubby kicks her on too many times, and then she'll curl up on the window sill. Stitch, our little demon, sleeps in the laundry room. Otherwise, he'd spend the night terrorizing the house.
-
Raven sleeps with my son in his waterbed, Merlin sleeps on the livingroom couch, and Strider sleeps in his crate. When Strider hits 18 months and I get rid of the cage he is on his own for bedtime...He can sleep anywhere other than in my bed. I have enough trouble sleeping with a hot, snoring, farting husband without letting a dog up there.
Stella
-
When I say "ok come on lets go to bed" sometimes thier already in the bedroom on there beds. Chazzy the old girl gets penned off by my side of the bed (she has had issues with my rugs). Kiya sleeps in her bed on the "girls side" of the bedroom & Apache sleeps on the "boys side" by my husband. One or the other will jump on the bed for hugs, then will get down & go to bed. If, I should say "when" I get up in the middle of the night thier usually in the living room sleeping.
Before bedtime Apache usually makes himself quite comfortable on our bed. If I turn the computer on both Apache & Kiya jump up on the bed.
-
At bedtime, Zoey likes to climb onto the bed for tummy rubs while we watch tv, but then when we're ready to actually sleep she hops down on the floor. For the rest of the night she alternates between sleeping next to the bed, next to the door, and on her dog bed at the foot of the bed.
-
My dogs sleep on the bed with me, and Zoot absolutely has to be snuggled right up to me. In the winter he is under the covers and keeps me warm. I wouldn't make it through cold nights without him. Luckily my boyfriend lets his dog sleep in the bed with him too, because that is sure one thing that can ruin an otherwise good relationship between two people! I used to date a guy who wouldn't let my dog sleep in the bed. I should've known the relationship was doomed!
-
Female boerboel always sleeps on the bed. The rottie on the floor because he gets too hot. The male boerboel on the bed in the winter. The puppy for now has a coolaroo bed next to bed or in my lap.
[img width= height=]http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL420/1522477/5122366/89041302.jpg[/img]
-
Gerry,
Your dogs all look so confy on the bed in that pic. I just wanna cuddle with them all!
-
;)
The boys have always been in our room. They have crates in our room. The first few minutes of bedtime, when we say "Let's go to bed" they slowly go to the room, then on the bed.
We adjust butts, tails, legs, paws (terribly uncomfortable in the face, not to mention they stink sometimes) heads, and so forth until we are the ones actually comfortable.
After a few minutes, the boys slide off (using a stool we made for them) and go to their kennels. It's only a group thing for a few minutes. Good thing too. I mean two newfies on a bed...well, there is hardly room for humans. I throw my leg over Bryce, Hubby shares his pillow with Monty who is stretched between us. Usually a burp in my face after he settles his head by hubby. Bryce remains very still at the end of the bed!!
What's harshest...the guys all snoring. Now that is a rough evening.
:D :D :D
-
4 of ours sleep in their crates in the dog/laundry room, the oldest one Griz decided she didn't like her crate anymore so we started leaving her out in the laundry room. Now she gets out of there and normally sleeps in the den, on the couch, but she is quick and gets off before you come in the room.
-
Oasis, our collie/golden mix used to sleep in the bed until his arthritis got too bad and he can't jump up there anymore. He has his own bed in the living room now (unless the cats steal it from him) or he'll sneak up on the sofa after we go to bed.
Our australian shepherd sleeps under the bed. He started doing this on his own, but now if we say, "Rocko, get in your hole" he'll run under the bed. I snapped this hilarious picture of him one night when he got "really" comfortable under there.
-
I'm just curious how many other people sleep with their dog. ;D
No way - Abel and Lucy aren't allowed to come in the house, only once they slept in a crate in the house, it was freezing minus 15 degr. cent. in their shed then.
Either they sleep in the shed on a couch in the shed or they sleep in their wooden kennel.
When times get rough (wet, cold) they have a 150 W. heating-lamp above their couch, the kind poultry-farmers use to hatch their eggs.
Albert.
-
In our bedroom. Both Shalom and Hosanna take turns being on the bed. Hosanna usually gets too hot or cramped and jumps off to the cool ceramic bathroom floor. Shalom usually sleeps on the floor by my side of the beed. When my husabnd leaves for work early in the a.m., they both jump up on the bed and snuggle with me. This is especially nice in the winter when it is cold. We bought inexpensive dog beds, which have been used as chew toys more than beds.
-
As Siberexpress said 4 of ours sleep in their crates. I tell them go to your room and they run and jump in their crates. Griz shakes like a leaf when you make her go in a crate.
-
Albert,
Where are you located and are the dogs in the pic Boerboels?
Thanks,
Gerry
-
Update...Tonka now would rather sleep on her coolerbed. She will lie on the bed with us then when the lights go out, she is ready to get on the floor on her bed!
-
My two go into their crates, they love them. But when it gets really really hot, I bring them into the bedroom so they can sleep in the AC. Alaska always sleeps next to my side of the bed on the floor, and Aspen on his back at the bottom of the bed on the floor (right where the AC blows) LOL
-
Our dogs sleep in the kitchen/hall depending where they want to be. Chance our oldest Bernese usually sleeps in the kitchen extension next to the tumbler in his dog bed stuffed with a huge cushion while Archie(pictured) will sleep anywhere but in the summer its usually on the stone floor in the extension near the back door because its cooler. Neither dogs are allowed upstairs due to parents orders :P
-
Lennon sleeps next to me and my fiance in bed until he gets too warm...then he sleeps on the floor on my side of the bed. I even share my pillow with him :)
-
I have 3 dogs.
The puppy, 11 months old, sleeps in her crate. I am about to begin allowing her some free time during the night. If all goes well there this will lead to her being allowed to be free in the house when we are away at some point in the future. I have another dog who fills that role right now.
The other 2 adults, ages 3 and 8, sleep in several different locations:
1 will always be by the bedside. They alternate sleeping there, and I really don't keep up with it. The other will either be sleeping just outside our doorway in the hallway, or, if it's the older gal, snuggled up on the sofa.
(She's allowed, she's earned that seniority...LO L)
I often come in the LR to find her sprawled shamelessly on her back, often with her head thrown back and such a look of luxury on her face I can't help but laugh.
;D
-
hi all, my first post (yeah me) I have 4 babies, a pit mix (Roxie-12yo ) that sleeps believes the best place to sleep is between my hubby and I, a shep mix (Simon-9) that sleeps w/ my 12yo, a St. (beau- 3 yrs tomorrow..happ y bday beau doggie) that doesnt think my 15yo's fullsize bed is big enuf for the both of them, often to my son's shagren, and a bloodhound (Ellie Mae-4yo) that sleeps in my 15yo's closet??? Altho I am sure this is left over from when she out grew her crate, but I still get a kick out of it.
-
Fwirly sleeps on the floor on her dog bed on daddy's side of the bed , right by hubby's pillow . That's her spot and that is where she wants to be.
Moose sleeps in two places, half the night he'll sleep in between hubby and me and close to one of our 3 cats who sleeps on my pillow. The second cat likes to sleep at the foot end of our bed and the third cat sleeps on the perch we made them on our door.
Sometime during the night Moose will go on his bed which is on my side on the floor, next to my pillow. When the alarm goes off, both dogs jump on the bed and snuggle and have kissies .
-
Lucy Loves My Bed. Plain and simple. ;D
PS She could care less if I'm in it or not!! LOL
-
A Queen sized bed should be enough for 2 persons to sleep comfortably... .however when you are kicked out of your own bed by your furkids.... ;) We are moving soon and I have already said that at the next house the furkids will be getting their own bed so we can have ours back. :D
-
You aren't getting your bed back...You are just going to have an extra bed while your dogs sleep with you ;D!...lol!
-
OEM is being crate trained and sleeps in the crate. Wifes Bichon sleeps next to her feet in bed.
-
Goliath sleeps on the floor at the foot of my bed. The only problem with that is that he snores quite a bit. When he was young I would pick him up and move him to outside the door (he never even woke up) but that is not so easy anymore. Try that with a 120 lb 7 month old baby.
Matthew
-
Well now we have a twin size bed and we all sleep on it Sassy gets half & Brat & I share the other half...We are all comfortable too....
DFTHYFBT&E
Love & Licks
Legends, Katie & Sassy
-
Everyone piles up in my bed. Bogart and Remmy sleep at the foot of the bed (Queen size) but Tonka insists on sleeping on the pillows beside me. Its fine right now, but in a few months when my husband comes home its going to be pretty cramped!!