Dog bed in kid's bedroom?

[mynameisnotmichaelcaine]

Hi all,

Sorry for spamming this topic so regularly at the moment, I just want to get things straight in my head before puppy arrives.

We are (hopefully) getting a cocker spaniel pup in the Spring. We have three kids, two teens and a seven year old. The seven year old always comes through to our room in the night for company, at around 3am. He never does this on holiday when he shares a room with his sister.

Is it a terrible idea to have the dog sleeping in his room? I think just having another warm body in the room with him would be enough to keep him in his own bed. We are hoping DS2 will develop a strong bond with the pup because it will be company for him once the older two have left home.

Obviously I would sleep in his bed during the night toilet training phase, until pup was reliable in the night. DS tends to be up earlier than the rest of us so would happily go downstairs first thing to let the dog out for a wee.

I have read about not leaving children unsupervised with dogs, but I am wondering if they're both fast asleep the risks are minimal to none?

Never hurt me, we had a little poodle. My friend used to sleep with two staffies in a bunk bed.

I don't think you can answer this until you know the dog and it's personality.

Some would be fine and would just sleep but some dogs can be very territorial over their beds and sleeping areas and my concern would be if your son kicked out or hurt the dog in his sleep, that the dog would growl or bite.

Also, could your son be trusted to leave the dog alone? What happens if the dog is unwell or needs the toilet?

Overall I think it would be a no from me. The risks may be minimal but if something did happen you'd never forgive yourself.

DS tends to be up earlier than the rest of us so would happily go downstairs first thing to let the dog out for a wee.

I have read about not leaving children unsupervised with dogs, but I am wondering if they're both fast asleep the risks are minimal to none?

If he’s up letting the dog out to pee then they aren’t both fast asleep! They’re both awake and unsupervised.

Don’t forget the chewing! Your DS will not love waking up to half his toys chewed up.

It's not massively restful sleeping with a dog, especially if he doesn't sleep in his own bed I would wait and see what the dog is like before making any decisions.

If you plan to crate train and do it properly, the whole point is that the crate becomes the safest cosiest place to sleep, which means you can then take the dog anywhere in terms of holidays/visiting other people - that's not a small thing, the absolute nonsense we've had in self-catering places trying to protect bedding/entice dog off bed in the middle of the night...

I think it depends on the dog and you’ll have to feel your way into it.

Our dog’s bed is right outside my 10yo’s room. Sometimes he sneaks into her room in the middle of the night and keeps her company. If she gets up in the middle of the night she stops and gives him a cuddle. They both seem to love the arrangement.

If the dog's bed is in a crate, then it might be helpful for the crate to be in your son's room. But if the dog is roaming, then a parent should be present.

I say this as someone who had a dog in my bedroom through most of my childhood with no issues. 99% of the time, it's fine. But you never know who will be in the 1%.

An issue I can think of...

7 yr olds tend to go to bed quite early, so you’d either be putting the dog to bed earlier than everyone else or sending it there when you go to bed - either way that’s likely to mean your DS is being disturbed.

Our dog sleeps with my youngest DD occasionally. And you’re right OP that if done correctly, a bond between a dog and a child is so special. Ours didn’t sleep with DD until she’d started to go to bed later.

I agree with the PP, how are you going to put the dog to bed with the 7 year old when I assume they go to bed very early?

hmm, our dog sleeps in ds room (he's 18) usually on his bed.
We don;t let him sleep in our room, as he isn't very quiet. When he moves round, goes out of the room etc he is blooming noisy!
So not sure if it will be peaceful having him there.

I would not do it until he is slightly older and more reliable with everything (chewing, wees etc)

I would also probably leave the door open so the dog can leave.

My 11 month old lab puppy was sick during the night last night, he sleeps in his crate and it was not a nice thing for me to discover this morning. He's never had any accidents in his crate but many puppies do. My dd wanted the dogs crate under her bed,she has a mid sleeper and it would fit no problem but neither would have a good sleep. He snores and moves about a lot in his sleep, dd is the same. In time, I think we will settle for a dog bed outside her room. He is rarely allowed upstairs, we have a gate on the stairs, he would just eat or chew everything in dds room. He'd also pick up any stray socks etc and this could lead to a trip to the vets. I didn't think he'd be in a crate this long but he's happy and loves his bed, it's his den.

Thanks everyone, that's really helpful. I'll wait and see then.

@GammyLeg

I think it depends on the dog and you’ll have to feel your way into it.

Our dog’s bed is right outside my 10yo’s room. Sometimes he sneaks into her room in the middle of the night and keeps her company. If she gets up in the middle of the night she stops and gives him a cuddle. They both seem to love the arrangement.

We have a really big landing -DS slept there for weeks when we had building work going on, so the dog's bed could easily fit there, in which case he'd be close to DS but not in the same room. This could potentially be the solution - it would mean he wouldn't be disturbed at the dog's bedtime too.

My dogs both sleep in DS's room - ddog1 tucked under the duvet with him, ddog2 in his crate (he likes it).
When the dogs were puppies and ds was younger, the dogs slept in a crate downstairs, but with time ddog1 started getting into bed with ds and we'd remove him when we went to bed and eventually he stayed there.