Does anyone else's dog do this?

[halfbuffy]

When our dog was a puppy we didn't let him sleep on the bed, but since he's been big enough to jump on we've let him snooze with us and generally he's well behaved AND sleeps through the night which is a blessing...

Anyway I think he thinks he's a human, he tends to sleep up our end of the bed (between DP and I) with his head on one of our pillows, or in the gap between them. If I turn over to face him he gets up walks down the end of the bed and flips himself down in a huff as if I've hugely inconvenienced him by rolling over.

If your dog sleeps on the bed does it just curl up in a little neat ball down by your feet (which is how I imagined it would be), or do you also have one that decides to sleep like a human?

Oh god! I can't get past his head being on your pillow! Yuck!

My dog is only allowed to sleep with me when I'm drunk and he sleeps across my legs. His 40kg mass means I often wake up thinking I've left my legs at the bar

I know, it was a shock the first couple of times when I opened my eyes and instead of seeing DP I was met by the dogs furry mug.

If he is up our end we do try to move him because he's plonked in between us, but he migrates back as soon as we are asleep. I will add that he's a breed that doesn't shed and he's not drooly (if that makes it any better!...not sure it does!)

They quickly think they are the alpha dog and go high.
So yes the eventually creep up to the pillow.
On a side note, I had a puppy sleeping with me. One night we both work up to a strange startling noise (picture fell off the wall) the pup tore across my face and clawed my eye....horrendous pain and some permanent damage. Sadly no more pups in the bed.

Well I'm currently squished up in about six inches of super king size bed with four dogs sprawled out over the rest of it

Exactly where they sleep depends on the individual dog but none of them would settle for curled up neatly at the bottom. To be fair to DDog2 she is currently curled up quite neatly but she's right up at the top by the pillows. DWhippets1 and 2 are spreadeagled over what seems to be the vast majority of the bed and I've got DWhippet3 crammed in my armpit.

I do sometimes wonder if I'd sleep better if I didn't let them in the bed but I'd miss them

Oh pasture you poor thing! I hope it's not too severe

Ah so he's moving up the bed to try and be the alpha then? I hadn't thought of it like that! I've never really considered him to have the urge to be the alpha as he certainly wasn't in his litter, he wasn't the runt either, but I think he was quite a way down the pecking order! Plus he rolls over onto his back at the slightest suggestion of fuss so he's not assertive!

But maybe this is him trying to be!

Mines absolute favourite place to sleep curled up at the back on my knees.
She has been known to sleep head on pillow,body under quilt or be the little spoon
Failing these two she's sprawled out midway taking up as much space as a jack can

Wanting to be up at the top of the bed has nothing to do with wanting to "be the alpha" or dominance (which has all been thoroughly debunked, see here) and probably a lot to do with pillows being nice and comfy

All my dogs have liked resting their heads on something when they sleep whether that's pillows in bed, the arms of the sofa or each other's bums when they're laid out on the floor in the sun.

Lettuce we do have comfy pillows so I can't blame him! Well he's having a whale of a time at the moment, DP is at his work Christmas party so the dog had got a whole half of the bed to himself until he gets back!

Our JR is only allowed to be on our bed in the morning. she comes in for a cuddle I couldn't cope with her wriggling about in the night.

Every single morning she tries to lie down on the pillows and every single morning I have it tell her to go down to the bottom of the bed.
She then gives in and curls up by my feet. As soon as we get up, she's up to the top of the bed! Can't say I blame her though.

Off the Leash cartoons are always funny but they really nail the bed related ones........

I always assumed the pillow sleeping was because they like the smell of your breath! my dog would happily lick my tongue all night long if i let him.

Not content with sleeping on the pillows at the top of the bed, she has to burrow in the tiny space between my head and the headboard.
Basically making a nest from my hair !

It may well just be a question of the dog wanting to be close to you! Ours does sleep at The end of our bed, but she HAS to be touching my leg or she gets quite put out. If I move in the night, so does she. Puppies sleep curled up together and this behaviour is just an extension of that. The whole 'alpha' or dominance theory has been resoundingly debunked so it's not that!

I knew someone would come in spouting dominance theory BS before I opened the thread.
Children like to sleep in your bed, children push boundaries, children throw tantrums, children don't want to be 'alpha' - see where I'm going?

I wouldn't sleep on the floor if I could help it...