aibu to not understand why dog owners let their dogs sleep with them in bed?

[firthy85]

to get things straight i am a pet lover and grew up with many different dog breeds. some with great personalities of their own and good company but they are pets at the end of the day right?. i never had any problem if a dog wanted to sleep in my bedroom but they had a dog's bed. surely encouraging a dog to sleep in your bed is setting the dog up for a fall? god forbid something ever happened to you as the owner and the dog had to be rehomed it could be a nightmare for the dog's new owner if they are strict about dog/human boundaries. so what do you think?

Hilarious thread! My dogs cannot sleep up with me cos the cat does and he does not like the dogs all that much! Sometimes though to be fair to the dogs, me and my ds sleep downstairs with them instead and have a sleepover of sorts with them. They are our family. We treat them as such.

I've never let my dogs on beds or sofas ever. My cat however goes wherever he wants and is an awesome hot water bottle 😹

Got bored after about 30 posts. My dog sleeps with me and I absolutely hate it when he's not there for whatever reason.

Don't understand the hygiene objections - surely you just change the sheets regularly? At least they don't sweat/spunk like humans.

I'm with you OP. I've always had dogs and find it really weird (though if anyone were to attempt it with my current dog )basset hound), I'd have a grudging admiration that drool and smell and the endless shedding was so inconsequential to them). In my eyes, they're not family, they're pets. I love them dearly of course, but would I rank the same as my nephews for example? Uh, no.

Each to their own...as long as I don't have to sleep in the bed that's fine. Some people let pets do things I find really bizarre...cats wandering over kitchen surfaces, dogs eating scraps off the same plates you eat from. Not for me but hey. As long as it doesn't affect me...

Well you're pretty much all out of order. We've had two photos, TWO! Come on guys, step up. Add photos to your posts please 🐶

I’ve been widowed 3 years now, and live on my own. My German Shepherd girl seemed to know that “Dad” wasn’t coming home from hospital and from that night onwards, has slept on my bed! I love it and often go to sleep with her paw in my hand. She’s warm, comforting and makes me feel very safe.
My ds (adult now) has, when he was much younger, piddled my bed, vomited in my bed, and over me, and woken me far more times than I care to remember!
The ddog has only ever woken me when she has sensed outside people or noise. As pp said, the only thing she leaves in/on the bed is fur!!
Love her sooo much, we will be off to bed together shortly!

Here’s the bed-warmer!

@Raggedydoll1

Are you me?? 😄

@Emeraldshamrock

My Dsis wipes her pooches bottom with a baby wipe, no crumbs on that arse.

Not sure why this isn't the norm? Wouldn't dream of allowing any pooch onto my sofa/bed without its arse/paws having been wiped. Just gross otherwise. I love dogs btw.

@Onlymeandthedognow beautiful beautiful dog.

Completely agree. I've had dogs all my life. I love my dog, he sleeps in my room in his own bed, but no chance he's getting in the bed. He goes out and gets covered in mud etc every day, he doesn't get a bath every day obviously, so no chance he's going in the bed!

@Zlistceleb winter morning snuggles

Sorry if I’ve missed this in the thread but I’ve seen a few mentions of it being bad for boundaries.

I’ve never had a dog, so can anyone explain this to me. I’m genuinely interested, not wanting to start an argument!

@Zlistceleb

Thank you!
Yes, she is a beauty... and she knows it!😄 She’s also probably the most obstinate and mischievous GSD I’ve ever owned... but so loving, so cuddly, so loved.
Currently fast asleep on my legs...

Gemma888 I think it comes from people who think you need to be alpha. Alpha dogs are the bosses and get best of everything, the rest of the pack have a pecking order as well.

I don't agree with that philosophy. My experience is that animals, like children, want consistency and boundaries. If you are consistent and fair ie don't randomly change rules which is very common when it's cute for puppy to do something but not cute for a grown dog to do it so it's suddenly not allowed, you'll naturally be a leader. Works with my dogs, works with my horses.

Be clear, say what behaviour you want not "no", reward attempts. Basically teach your dog the manners you want them to use.

@queenMab99

My dog doesn't mind poo crumbs.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

@PrtScn

My partner lets the dog sleep on the bed. I don’t like it, she snores, farts and licks her lady parts too often. They both now sleep in the spare room 🤣

🤣 Do you think she may have learnt that from.the DH though?

My rabbit sleeps in my bed, he has free rein of house and will jump up when we're asleep. He's litter trained so doesn't worry me

I wish I didn't allow it from the start, like many things. My house feels like a shit hole now, crumbs everywhere, dog smelling bed covers etc. If I could start again she'd only eat from her bowl (no food sharing) and she'd sleep in her bed in the front room.

Just to add, I've had many cats, they do not leave smells everywhere, so a cat on the bed is fine. They also have the ability to eat the food given to them by hand, where as a dog will take it and drop it 20 times then leave it and beg for more. Dogs are filty buggers.

But I do think that the people who sleep in bed with their animals are in huge denial about the smell, the poo crumbs, the hygiene and the fact that it isn't actually a good idea from the pet's POV wrt boundaries

Exactly this

just to remind a few people that i did say i had grown up with dog's so i am not an mn dog hater. also to the people who say "make your family decisions around your dog" well not to be judgy at all but that sums up the problem. you make your dog decisions around your family surely? when your thinking of getting a dog so much has to be thought about do you have toddlers, what breed of dog would best suit your situation and the fact some of you don't mind the fact you for example may have a bitch who has had a jolly good ol lick of her minge then climbed into your bed makes me wonder what the rest of your house is like? environmental health would have a field day. jumping up and face licking is fine they jump up, you make a fuss of them then you say "down" sit stroking etc that is showing them you love them.ps to the people who asked why it bothered me um duh? is this not a forum where people ask all sorts of questions? parenting help,things that have happened to them,or just other random burning questions? surely

I love our dog and cat to pieces. But neither of them are sleeping in our bed. The cat is 13 and I'm not about to start that now and he would be a complete pain in the arse, miaowing and running about all night. Dog is 1 and as far as he knows he sleeps downstairs in his own bed which suits us all just fine.

Dogs are pack animals. They settle best when they are in company so there’s that.

Also he’s a huge comfort when my husband is away and a huge hot water bottle so he saves on the heating bills. He goes down to his bed if he’s told though, even though he creeps back up when we’ve fallen asleep.

DDog sometimes sleeps on the bed. Tonight he is sleeping on the sofa with DKitten. DBlack cat is currently asleep IN bed and DGinger cat is watching the snow on our windowledge

I don't care what other people think of my pets and sleeping arrangements if I'm honest