My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

Where should a dog sleep?

26 replies

KeepSmiling83 · 08/05/2019 15:32

We are thinking about getting a dog and have been looking at all the practicalities. I want to start as we mean to go on so was thinking of putting a crate (then a bed once older) in our bedroom. I don't necessarily what them sleeping in our bed but like the idea of them being in the room with us.

However lots of people tell me I should keep the dog downstairs otherwise they will get too attached to me and will develop separation anxiety. Eventually the dog would be left for 3-4 hours in the morning while I'm at work so I want it to build up to being alone. I don't want to make this more difficult for them.

Would I be making it harder for them by having them sleep in my room then expecting them to spend the morning alone? What do most people do and what has your experience been?

OP posts:
Report
BorderlineExperimental · 08/05/2019 15:45

It's perfectly fine to have a dog in your room if that's what you want.

Separation anxiety isn't caused by being with a dog too much but by leaving them when they're not comfortable being left. Being happy alone is a skill that needs to be taught at their pace.

DH and I have four dogs, they sleep with us, we're both at home the vast majority of the time and they're still all perfectly happy being left for a few hours (in different combinations, they're not all left together) because we've made sure right from when they were puppies that being left has never been an unpleasant experience.

Report
AdobeWanKenobi · 08/05/2019 15:49

Where should a dog sleep?

Wherever you are comfortable with him sleeping really. I've had my boy in our bedroom before, but he's a terrible fidget and a snorer and whilst he doesn't really disturb me he does DH.
We have a bedroom that we use as a dressing room and now he sleeps in there overnight. It's warmer in winter for him and cooler in the summer.
Daytime he will stay in the kitchen if I have to leave him, though I do leave the radio on for him. He has no issues being alone at all.

Whatever works best for you and your home layout really.

Report
Bookaholic73 · 08/05/2019 15:50

Clearly the only place for a dog to sleep is in your bed? Wink

I have 2 dogs and when I got my first I planned on being really strict with leaving her in the crate in my room. She adapted to that really well from day 1. Me on the other hand...

Report
adaline · 08/05/2019 15:52

Dogs should sleep wherever you want them to!

Ours sleeps in our bed and is perfectly happy being left alone. A secure dog is a happy, confident dog.

Report
Wolfiefan · 08/05/2019 15:53

Wherever you would prefer.
Mine is a giant breed and stairs aren’t good for her joints. Plus we have cats and they sleep upstairs. She has a bed downstairs.
As pups they do need to be with you but also near the garden t prevent accidents. I slept with her in the kitchen to ensure she settled and that I could take her out in the night.
Then I went back to bed!
Some of it depends on the layout of your house and also the type of dog. If you have a large and muddy dog bouncing on the bed then you may regret it. And an older pet might struggle with a lot of stairs.

Report
Pipandmum · 08/05/2019 15:54

The crate is their little home and I put it where I was most of the day so they could go in and out at will. Then when I went out they went in the crate. After the dogs were house trained they didn’t go in the crate so much. So at the time they slept on a different floor. Now they are trained they sleep wherever but are also happy to be left on their own (I didn’t get two dogs at once but they were both trained the same way).

Report
Singlenotsingle · 08/05/2019 15:55

At the bottom of the bed, that's where a dog sleeps.

Where should a dog sleep?
Report
hippermiddleton · 08/05/2019 15:56

Our dogs sleep in the kitchen, the younger one in a crate, and the older one on his cushion. The dog-free top floor of the house does smell more fragrant and is noticeably less hairy than the ground floor, and I'd like to keep it that way...

Report
Cath2907 · 08/05/2019 15:59

Mine has slept in the bedroom since we got him at 8 weeks old. He doesn't have separation anxiety. He does had dog-coat anxiety and gets upset if I make him put his coat on!!!!!!

Report
Purplecatshopaholic · 08/05/2019 16:04

Mine sleeps with me and always has - he chose that option! - he is totally fine when I am out too, no separation anxiety, he just snoozes in any one of a variety of spots around the house until I get back

Report
dreichuplands · 08/05/2019 16:25

Where ever you want. Ours sleeps downstairs in a crate. Upstairs is an animal free zone (apart from dc's gerbil)

Report
dudsville · 08/05/2019 16:26

In the pack! someones bed/room.

Report
Hoppinggreen · 08/05/2019 16:31

Up to you
Ddog sleeps downstairs in his own room. The crate was in there when he was a puppy and then once he was out if the crate he slept in there on his bed. He goes and puts himself to bed at about 10 and if we go out and don’t pup him in his room when I get back that’s where he will be

Report
BiteyShark · 08/05/2019 16:37

It is really up to you. Different things work for different people and dogs.

Report
DeadButDelicious · 08/05/2019 16:59

In our bed, next to me is where the dog sleeps. Dearly departed Lolly Dog was happier downstairs. Each dog is different.

Where should a dog sleep?
Report
StBernard · 08/05/2019 17:53

I have a giant breed so didn't want him on the stairs. He sleeps downstairs and chills out in his bed, he's very happy and usually still fast asleep when I come down in a morning :-) my previous, less large dog used to come upstairs and sleep in a basket at the end of the bed. That worked well too :-)

Report
HankyPanky04 · 08/05/2019 18:00

The reason why my dog doesn't sleep in our room is because she snores! Loudly!

Report
Bunnybigears · 08/05/2019 18:06

All the dogs we have had have slept in their own bed on the floor in our bedroom. I prefer it that way as when they first move in (they have all been rescues) it is reassuring for them and reassures me that they are not downstairs weeing everywhere or something! Current Ddog sleeps in his bed on the floor of the bedroom until he hears our alarm go off then he jumps in with us for a quick cuddle before we get up which I dont mind and hasn't made him want to sleep in the bed full time as all the doom and gloomers told me it would.

Report
squee123 · 08/05/2019 18:12

in his bed on the floor in my bedroom. He's happier there and it has the advantage of being able to enjoy a lie in without worrying that the dog might be desperate for a wee. If he wants to go out he can just let me know. He doesnt have any worries about being left.

Report
ferretface · 09/05/2019 22:58

Ours sleeps downstairs in his crate because the cat has first claim to sleeping on the bed with us Smile he has the quietest room in the house with minimal noise/sights from outside to disturb him and he sleeps really well in there. We can hear him if he needs to be let out for the loo. He knows it's bedtime when he gets his special biscuit and bit of salmon that mean it's time to sleep for the night Smile

Report
SpornStar · 09/05/2019 23:02

When we had dogs, they had beds upstairs and downstairs and they slept wherever they wanted. Often that was on our bed but in warmer weather they’d find a cool spot on the tiled floor downstairs and sleep there.

Report
werideatdawn · 10/05/2019 09:50

I don't actually know where she sleeps Grin after she was fully house trained and no longer chewing shoes we took the crate away and she has a dog bed in the living room. She falls asleep on the sofa in the evening and she's often upstairs on the floor by my bed when I wake up.

Report

Don’t want to miss threads like this?

Weekly

Sign up to our weekly round up and get all the best threads sent straight to your inbox!

Log in to update your newsletter preferences.

You've subscribed!

KeepSmiling83 · 10/05/2019 19:45

Thanks for all the replies.

It seems like plenty of people do have their dogs sleeping upstairs with no anxiety issues so that's good. Hopefully if we do get a dog then ours would be the same!

OP posts:
Report
Hatemadeupwords · 10/05/2019 19:50

The problem often arises from a puppy who is never left alone to a dog that is. From an early age work on leaving him alone. I used frozen kings, they always seemed pleased when I was leaving them

Report
MarinaPunta · 12/05/2019 09:58

My dog sleeps downstairs. We have a duvet that is his bed that we put on the sofa around 9pm. He definitely lets me know when he wants ,e to leave ‘his bedroom’ as sometimes he will touch the Xbox to make it come on and make a noise. He does that when he wants something, and at that time, he lets me know when he wants to sleep.

He has a short walk in the morning plus a run round the garden, a longer walk in the afternoon, and another short walk around 8.30pm. Sometimes, I will see if he wants to go in the garden before sleep, but he rarely does. Apart from a couple of months when he was younger, he does not wee in the house. Having said that, if I take him to my sisters, he does sometimes do it there.

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.