Do you sleep with your dog?

[greekblue]

I want to know how many of you have / had your puppies sleeping with you (on your bed) -- especially large breeds -- and if you still sleep with them if now they are adults and huge.

[Rivsky]

River started sleeping on our bed as a puppy and still does now - fortunately for us he's a small dog!! Seriously think about whether you want Niki on your bed for the next 15 years though - it's one of those things that once you start is really hard to stop.

If I had a large dog I'd probably be more inclined to set up their own sleeping area in the same room but not on the actual bed - that way they would still be close by but not hogging all the blankets and all the room!! My sister regularly wakes to find herself squished up against the wall while Brandi is stretched out the full length of the rest of the bed!!

[k9hullio_sam]

Mandi sleeps with me, but she is still small too . I think if I had a large breed dog I would just have to get a big bed--how could you not sleep with them, they are so cute!! lol

[britishbandit]

I let my dogs sleep on the bed sometimes.

But I'd never have a dog as a young pup sleep on the bed (overnight anyway). I think crate training is very important and valuable for pups, not to mention the oopsies that could happen on the bed while potty training. LOL

[IceyBlueSibes]

The one night I had Kelso sleep with me when he was a puppy, he pee'd ALL over my comforter. Let's just say I felt really warm that night... LOL

I agree with Karen. I think establishing the potty training (crate training) should be your first goal with the puppy. Once the puppy becomes completely reliable (not having accidents OR being able to tell you he/she needs to go out) in the house out of the crate, then I'd try it over night.

But all of my big dogs sleep with me. At different times for certain ones. When I only had 3 dogs, I have all 3 of them in my twin bed for a while! LOL But they don't do that much anymore. I might have all 5 in my room though.

Kelso sleeps at the foot of my bed by the fan, Lugar has to lay ON me or touching me in some shape/form, Sheiba generally lays by my feet, Denali lays against the wall side of my bed, and Ike will either lay at my feet or right next to me. It varies with who's in the bed though. lol Usually it's Sheiba or Kelso mostly. Lugar will sleep with me now and then, but he gets up in the middle of the night to go lay on "his couch". Ike sleeps with me when Steven is not here, or if I'm not feeling good. Denali only sleeps with me when she feels like it. No certain times -- she just has her "spurts".

[Tonka's Mom]

I let tonka sleep in bed with me since he was a puppy. I thought getting a kennel for him that he would outgrow in a matter of know time was pointless, he never had one accident and I am very proud of him. He will however be 2 years the end of this month and weighs in at over 120 lbs. Im glad I have a very understanding husband and a very large bed. I am currently kennel traing my current neo puppy to kennel cause I dont think my husband would let me get away with it twice,lol. Not to mention I would need a bigger bed.

[Cassiepeia]

When I had Jesse I let him sleep on my bed a few times in the twelve years I had him and he peed on it twice.
I will never again allow a dog on the bed with me while I sleep at night. I don't believe they need to be there in order for them to feel close to you (although see nothing wrong with other people allowing them on their own beds if that's what they like ).

Anyway, if I were you I'd crate train Niki and let her have her own space at night (it'll give you room to have a good nights sleep too). She's got all day to interact with you and feel close to you.

Cass.

[LilacDragon]

Crate training is very important for many reasons. If you take the home safety and housebreaking out of the equation - consider this:

Suppose a family/medical/natural disaster emergency came up and the ONLY way to save your dog was to either kennel it with a vet or crate it safely in a hotel room?

My large breed dog (s) are allowed on the bed when invited but are not allowed to sleep on the bed all night. It isn't something that I would allow with a large working breed puppy. Not for several months and before some training had been done.

[Kris]

We crate trained Darby but as he outgrew the second crate we moved him to his own uncrated bed in our laundry room with a child gate there to keep him in. Partly this was done because he hadn't outgrown his "eat everything that is cloth" phase (and still hasn't), and partly because we were having difficulty with him waking up very testily (snapping instinctively until he was fully awake). While we've overcome the testiness, we've kept him in the laundry room because it's become "his" place. It's where he goes when he wants to be left alone.

The only time he sleeps with us is on the couch during the day.

[greekblue]

I have a very large crate for Niki with dividers, so she can use it when she is older too, and I will crate train her. I am definitely planning to crate train her because I want her to learn to stay in her crate when I am not there. I do not want her roaming when I am at work or school; that can be very dangerous (I have cords she can eat from my computer).
But I was thinking for her to learn to be in her crate only when I am not there and the night to either sleep with me, or have a "night bed" next to me outside of the crate.

[mulroony]

Not as a puppy, but when housebroken yes. Both of our dogs sleep with us, and at one point it was Jill, myself, and our 50lbs Shelby sleeping on a twin.

[ginastags2315]

Mufasa sleeps in his crate. Muffin and Abbey are allowed to sleep on my bed with me, but Abbey usually sleeps on her dog bed, and it's too hot for Muffin to sleep on the bed in summer, so she only sleeps on it in cooler weather.

[Kuchi]

I crate trained Kuchi to sleep in the crate and that's now the only place where he can sleep peacefully. I've tried letting him sleep in a bed, but since he is a watch dog, he just eyed the door the whole time and didn't sleep. He's happy sleeping in the kitchen in a crate, its much cooler in there too.
Your dog might be able to sleep with you, but being a large breed, don't let her boss you around in there.

You have to be really excited now. When are you getting her? And I must say I spent a lot of money on toys and what did Kuchi want to play with, cat toys, tennis balls we already had, slippers, etc. Of course it took him a little while to know what toys he can play with. He also understands that he has his own basket full of toys so he does get toys from there, and yes, sometimes he'll trade out a toy. Now how can I teach him to return all of the toys is the question?

[mmizuno94]

Yes we let both our dogs sleep on the bed. Kali usually comes onto the bed later in the night after we've gone to sleep. Sometimes on the weekend when we're sleeping in the morning she'll sit next to the bed and whine, cough or scratch the bed to ask for "permission" to be allowed on the bed. I don't know why she does this. It's something she just does on her own.
Kasia is always in bed with us. She sleeps inbetween Chris and I and has to be touching someone in some shape or form. She usually starts off at the foot of the bed (usually under the covers) and then she somehow ends up with her head on the pillow and the covers just covering her body. It's really a cute sight. She's always done that.

[Beryl]

My dogs start off in a very large (Great Dane sized) canvas crate in my bedroom. Early in the AM, they are let out to do their business and they are not crated again until much later for naptime. During that time, sometimes they sleep on the bed (usually Latte - poo). However they can be disturbed in their rest (human movement) so Latte will leave and find a spot to finish sleeping.