Puppy sleeping on bed

[elzober]

Since puppy has been properly toilet trained from 16 weeks we've had her upstairs more. She sleeps on a blanket while we wfh during the day in home office and at night we've had her on top of the bed a few times.

Is this a good idea? She used to happily sleep alone downstairs but now she protests if she's not allowed upstairs so it's most nights now. She's going to be a big adult (Lab Staffie cross) so not sure she'll fit on bed when she's 30kg! Although I'd happily get her an upstairs dog bed.

When we first got her it was going to be no dog upstairs but that's all gone out the window. I don't really mind but she's shown more separation anxiety since she's been allowed upstairs

Lots of dogs sleep on beds so it's personal preference but yep she is going to be big !Which
may make it harder to get a decent nights sleep , also the more they sleep on the bed the more likely they won't want to sleep alone , very similar to go sleeping with a baby.
Ours is allowed on the bed after she has woken up in the morning sometimes that can be 5am or 7am , but unpredictable. Think you have to decide what you want for the next 10-15 years

It's personal preference.

Our beagle sleeps in our bed and has done since day one. He's never had an accident in the night and sleeps through until we get up for the day - anywhere between 6am and 10am lol.

He's fairly compact though - only weighs about 17kg and isn't grumpy in his sleep and isn't a dog that growls or gets possessive about his space. Some dogs do and I'd never let them in the bed.

In the Famous Five, Timmy the dog always slept on George’s bed.

We took on a rescue dog at Christmas (she was 9 months old).

We also said she'd sleep downstairs but she seemed so traumatised every time we left her (and as a German Shepherd cross was capable of doing quite a lot of damage to the doors trying to get to us...then she learned how to open the doors...)

Anyway, we gave up for a quiet life.

Now (26kg) she still sleeps in our bedroom...she has a padded fleece mat at the foot of the bed on the floor and that's where she tends to choose to sleep.

She might come onto the bed for an hour or so to begin with or occasionally during the night but I think she basically gets fed up of us moving around!

I've seen her cast a few filthy dirty looks at DH as he's got into bed and accidentally bumped her

You just need to be aware that some dogs are protective of their bed.

Our 5kg miniature poodle sleeps in our bedroom - she has her own bed (well she has beds all over the house). She sleeps in her bed or on the floor and will try to sneak onto the bed anytime from 5am sometimes. We always send her back to her bed. Teaching her to wait to be invited up.

That said, when DH is away for work she usually ends up on the bed but is crafty enough not to come on my side so I don't notice!!

She did a first year in a crate downstairs but once we left the door open for her to move around more freely she kept barking at foxes in the garden and that was very disturbing- hence she ended up in our room.

If you let him now he will want to when he's a huge boy.
Both my dogs sleep with me (I sleep alone). First four years for the oldest he wasn't allowed upstairs but as soon as he was that was it. He wouldn't understand why not now.

Personally I think it’s a bad idea and I say that from experience.

Our dog was in her basket from being a baby, shut in the kitchen all was well. Had the kitchen done and brought her onto our bed for a week. The fucker never left. It was lovely to have snuggles etc but then life moved on, she got very territorial with the children and had to be demoted to under the bed and she would growl at them if they came in in the night or heard them move. She then got very old very quickly and would keep us awake pacing, panting, growling to go downstairs etc and it made a fractious couple of years before she passed away.

I would recommend keeping them in a safe and secure place where they won’t be disturbed at night.

My chihuahua sleeps on my bed, always has. My other dog whihc sadly passed away not long ago she would sleep on anyones bed she could get on even the kids which was also fine they only want to feel loved and comfortable and each dog has their own way of feeling that but if they want to sleep on the bed that’s fine with me but my dog is small and fits nicely at the bottom below my feet as I’m also small lol, if it was a huge dog then I’d say unless you have a huge bed and sleep alone this isn’t going to really work out to good so it may be best to get your dog his own bed and have it right next to yours

It is a personal choice but I do not have dogs sleeping in my bed.

They have a choice of places to sleep but my bed is not one of them!

If you see the dust and sand that accumulates in a dogs bed I do not want that in my bed.

My dogs are happy to sleep without me and I think this is a good life skill to have as I will not always be around for them to sleep with. eg holidays or if they need vet care etc.

I am lazy and do not want to clean the whole house every day so dogs stay downstairs in their luxurious beds and I have a clean dog hair free upstairs.

Older large dogs may not be able to make it up the stairs when they are older so good that they are happy to sleep downstairs.

The argument that dogs are family and need to sleep with me does not follow as my 16 year old son is also family but he does not sleep in my room!

Dogs are not pack animals they are social animals and will often choose to sleep away from each other although nearby once they are adults.

I decided not to do this with our dog as I'm on my own and a dog that would not sleep happily in her own company/ couldn't be left alone would have been a major ballache.

I also don't buy the whole "sleep with them for ages and they will find their confidence to be alone" for kids or dogs. My experience with kids has been the opposite. They know what they know. If they are habituated to having someone sleep with them all the time, that is what they want. Which sounds terribly old skool written down... But hey ho.

I do LOTS of hotel stays with my dogs. They are always clean as bathed the day before (dog shows) In the hotels they are free to sleep on the bed. Sometimes they do, sometimes not. At home they usually sleep in crates in the bedroom. Occasionally they sleep on the bed. It’s all fine, they are more than happy to still sleep in their crates, happy to sleep on the bed.

I would just make sure that you make the rules, not the dog. (Applies to everything really) You say they can sleep on the bed, they can. Otherwise they cannot.

I also don't buy the whole "sleep with them for ages and they will find their confidence to be alone" for kids or dogs

We didn't leave our pup home alone for longer than 15 mins until about 9 months, and had no issues whatsoever when we did start to leave him. He also sleeps on our bed but is fine at the dog boarders.

Personal preference, OP. I have 41kg of DDog1 and 43kg of DDog2 that take it in turns to sleep on the bed. If they're not on the bed, they take their pick of the sofa, their bed under the stairs, the landing at the top of the stairs, next to my side of the bed, wherever, really. Entirely what you feel comfortable with.

My two spaniels sleep with me every night, and usually the cats too! This is their home as much as it is mine, and I love the snuggles they give too.