[yoshiposhi]

Hi,

This is more for my own curiosity, but do you let your dogs sleep with you at night?

My shiba has never really shown interest in sleeping in the same bed as me, he prefers his own bed. My pittie pup is the total opposite, she tries to snuggle and sleep with me at almost every opportunity (could also be because she's a pup). When I first got her (at 8 weeks), I made sure to crate train her (but with the door open) so she's learned to love her crate and will sleep in it if her own bed is being washed etc. However, when she sleeps on her own she would still wake up in the middle of the night (at 3am) and wake me up because she wanted to sleep with me. The lack of quality sleep was really putting a toll on my health (I have an autoimmune disease and if I'm stressed or sleep deprived it really affects my body) so I decided to let her sleep with me and now she sleeps through the entire night.

In the evening if I'm watching TV on the couch, she sometimes sits in front of me and stares because she wants to go on the couch and cuddle/nap next to me but I will ignore her and she will eventually go to her own bed and sleep. After an hour or so she will wake up and come back to me and want to sleep on the couch. If it's right before we go to bed I'll let her up because eventually we'll move to the bed and sleep for the night anyway.

At first I thought that this would cause separation anxiety or just make her more needy so I've considered stopping it and hope that eventually she will learn to just sleep in her own bed throughout the whole night. So far she does not seem to have any separation anxiety issues. She is a little attached to me and whines whenever I leave for work or when I run errands but she settles down eventually. I always make sure to give her enough physical and mental exercise.

Are there any serious repercussions to having your dog sleep with you in your bed at night? I'm referring to behavioral issues.

 

[jagger]

Ours sleeps where ever he wants, no issues what so ever. He could be under the blankets on the bed, on the couch, in his kennel or too warm and stretched out on the floor where the fan can hit him direct.

 

[Doppelganger0337]

Are there any serious repercussions to having your dog sleep with you in your bed at night? I'm referring to behavioral issues.

Personally I've let Bandit sleep in bed with me every night since I got him and I haven't had any behavioral issues. We even went from one house where he was allowed on all the furniture to one where he cannot be on the couch and he learned to go to his bed in the living room instead of the bed without a problem.

We crate trained our first family dog Duke and he slept in his crate every night without an issue, however we got Molly very shortly after Duke has passed away (family friends had recently bought a puppy from a breeder and when one of the litter-mates was returned they bought her for us because I was having such a hard time losing Duke) and because our grief was so fresh Molly crying in the crate that first night was too much and we let her in bed. She uses her crate as a hide away now, its her "safe zone" she likes to go there when shes done something wrong because she knows my parents will leave her alone in there, but she's slept in mine or my parent's bed every night for the past 9 years.

 

[PoppyKenna]

Chisum usually sleeps with me unless he gets hot, in which case he will go into the other room and sleep under my desk.

 

[Shandula]

Both my dogs sleep with my husband and I (I keep saying we need a King!). Heidi generally stays up all night, but Levi comes and goes if he gets hot.
I've noticed no behavioral issues from this.

 

[newdoggirl]

Yoki sleeps with us too and if I roll away from her she gets up, does a little circle and snuggles back in so that she's touching me again. It's funny because she's so independent outside but at home she wants to be as close to her humans as possible.

 

[jclark343]

Both dogs sleep with me and my husband (also in a queen sized bed). They usually will alternate who will be up and who will be sleeping on the dog bed in the room.

 

[SchnauzerGirl8810]

Both dogs sleep in bed with my husband and I. It is so cute when my husband says "bedtime boys!" they both go running to our bedroom and wait to get lifted into the bed.

I have not noted any issues with the dogs but I will say that I feel it disrupts my sleep a little bit, but not enough to stop letting them in the bed. Also, it does limit marital intimacy, so that's a downside...

 

[Doppelganger0337]

I have not noted any issues with the dogs but I will say that I feel it disrupts my sleep a little bit, but not enough to stop letting them in the bed. Also, it does limit marital intimacy, so that's a downside...

Bandit will go sleep in his bed under my desk if me and the boyfriend start moving around too much . He's back on the bed by the time I wake up in the morning, I think he comes back once he hears the BF start snoring.

 

[BrittaS]

Bri sleeps in her dog bed right next to my side of our bed. My husband and I didn't want her sleeping on the bed. I get warm at night the way it is and I can not even tolerate my husband snuggling at night, because I get too warm.
She is always welcome to nap next to/on me, when we're on the couch, but the bed is a no-go for us.

 

[yoshiposhi]

Yoki sleeps with us too and if I roll away from her she gets up, does a little circle and snuggles back in so that she's touching me again. It's funny because she's so independent outside but at home she wants to be as close to her humans as possible.

Mia does the same thing! But sometimes she moves in too close and rests her head in the little space under my chin on my neck and I'm EXTREMELY ticklish!!!

I have not noted any issues with the dogs but I will say that I feel it disrupts my sleep a little bit, but not enough to stop letting them in the bed. Also, it does limit marital intimacy, so that's a downside...

I'm single at the moment so so far that isn't a problem haha but I can definitely see Mia putting herself in the middle if I had someone else in my bed lol


Thanks for all your replies guys! Now I don't feel so bad letting her sleep with me at night!

 

[annageckos]

I've always let the dogs, as puppies sleep in bed with me. The only one to sleep in the crate at night was Nevada, but she was happy there. I would let Freyja sleep in bed with me but she is just too big, I plan on getting a bigger bed so we will all have room. She does get into bed in the morning when my BF gets up. All the dogs are also allowed on the furniture. Right now I have Shorty snoring behind me and Freyja next to me sleeping. Vegas would be up here too, but there isn't any room, so he is sleeping on a big blanket with his head on a pillow. Sleeping on the furniture will not cause behavioral issues, it's a personal choice. I couldn't imagine not letting them on the furniture. I love having a dog lean against me or have a head across my lap.

 

[annageckos]

I wanted to add, but couldn't edit.

Freyja loves to snuggle, when she is laying next to me she has to be touching even if it's just a little. When she gets into bed after my BF gets up she lays in his spot with her head on the pillow. Once I woke up with arms around me and a warm body behind me, I though my BF was still sleeping til I realized that it was dog legs around me. Freyja was sleeping with her legs around me, snuggling. She is over 120lbs now and about human sized laying down. I thought it was cute and funny.

 

[diacrimor]

It depends. Sometimes she sleeps in her bed and other times I let her jump on my bed but she only usually sleeps at my feet. If I were to invite her on she'd come on immediately.

 

[Boxerluv]

Abby's allowed to sleep wherever she wants to(perks of being a senior and my heart dog).

Karma depends on how good a sleep I want. I love that if Abby's in the bed she generally sleeps at the foot of the bed. Karma on the other hand has to be right up against me and if I move she moves so I generally end up half off the bed or really uncomfortable because of how squished up against me(usually my back or neck) she is. So sometimes she's in her crate and other times she's in the bed

 

[Laco]

Samantha always goes to sleep with us in our bed, but usually during the night will go downstairs and finish her nights sleep in her own bed.

 

[Kyllobernese]

When I first got Susie, she was my only dog so she slept in bed with me from day one. Made it easier to housetrain her as I am a light sleeper and as soon as I felt her moving around, I would get up and take her outside. She has never been crate trained and when she got too big, she adapted to sleeping in her bed beside my bed. My small dogs, all four of them, have slept with me since they were housetrained. Before that they slept in a crate.

Kris and Bonnie have slept in crates at night up until about a week ago when I started letting Kris sleep in the kitchen with Susie. Bonnie still sleeps in a crate as she is just 9 months old and can't really trust her yet to not get into something during the night. In the mornings when I get out of bed, Kris crawls in and sleeps for a while as she is not an early morning dog. The rest all go outside, then come back in and sleep in their beds in the kitchen.

 

[linzydd]

Chrissy used to sleep with us a lot when she was smaller. She's a bed hog and a snuggler...she starts at our feet and then inches her way up all night long until she's practically on our pillow. She's the only one who gets any sleep when she's in the bed. Now she mostly sleeps in her dog bed right next to ours, or in her bed downstairs depending on the temperature.

Ringo usually falls asleep on the rug while we watch TV before bed, then finishes the night in his crate.

 

[ChessaQ]

Nope, I can't stand it. All of mine would prefer to sleep in bed, but I can't even stand one, let alone 3. I like to move constantly and sprawl out. Plus dog hair on my bed disgusts me. I'm ok with it other places, but not my bed. They all sleep in their beds beside my bed.

The only time I relent is when it storms really bad. Chess gets scared and so I'll let her until the storm is over.

 

[johnclick]

The Beagle I had previously preferred to sleep in his own bed. I adopted Pikey, an eight year old Beagle from a local shelter. The day I brought him home, he went straight to the bedroom and jumped on the bed. He seemed to know where it was, before he even looked around. From that day on, he has always slept in my bed.