Where does your dog sleep?

[Cannedheat1999]

We’re getting a dog soon, and will be setting up her bed in the kitchen-tucked away and nice and calm-like a crate. But wondered how many folks let their dogs sleep
upstairs at night?

Up until the birth of our daughter, our dog slept in our room at the bottom of the bed occasionally getting on to the bed. Since then (six years) he sleeps downstairs on the sofa and to be honest I think he enjoys having the space. He also has a dog bed in the kitchen for when we are out of the house.

Mine isn't allowed upstairs.
Sleeps in the utility room at night.
On one of the sofas or floor or his bed during the day.

Mine has a bed under the stairs but he usually comes down to our room in the middle of the night lies at the end of the bed then gets up again and lies on the couch 🤣he can open every door in the house

In my bed and she is still up there under the duvet ! She will make her appearance when she hears signs that a walk is imminent.

Our first two dogs were singletons, and slept downstairs. Our third one had puppies just after we got her, and we kept one; they both slept downstairs together, but after I lost him I let his mum sleep upstairs with me. After 12 years together, I thought she'd be lonely on her own. She slept on the rug by my bed.

We started with a crate but pup hated it and after weeks of attempting to train and crying and barking at night, we gave up and had him in the utility room and he was much happier. At some stage we started to let him sleep where he likes downstairs. He isn't allowed upstairs.

Now he's 2.5 and has a sensitive tum, after various horrific poo and puke incidents on new rugs and the like, he now has his bed in the tiled kitchen where any issues are more easily dealt with. I feel sorry for him but couldn't handle the cleaning any more.

In the cupboard under the stairs. We put a baby gate across the door and it is her own room/"crate" She's very happy in there. Its cosy for her.

We've never allowed our Labrador upstairs. Later on it could be very bad for his joints so we started with no stairs from day 1. He had a crate in the living room when he was a destructive puppy but he sleeps on his vetbed on the sofa now, with a lamp and calming puppy music!

Sleep by my bed.

On our bed or in his bed in the corner of our room.
We tried for 8 weeks to settle him downstairs and then realised it was better for us all to be together.

Either on the end of the bed/bedroom floor/landing.

She would sleep with DD - if we'd let her (DD is only 2) so sometimes outside her room up against the chihld gate.

For some reason she has never liked having her own bed

Wherever they choose. Which, without fail, happens to be my bed, one under the duvet and one over.

In his crate. If disturbed night, ends up on sofa.

We have two, when we just had one she slept in bed with us from day one and it was absolutely lovely! However we then rescued a second dog and couldn't fit them both in comfortably as they are two large Labradors so they sleep downstairs on the sofa and we have never had any issues at all with this. Sometimes they mange to open the stair gate and sneak up for a cuddle in the early hours and we very rarely send them back down!

In my bed. My dog used to sleep in the kitchen but the separation anxiety got worse and would howl/cry for hours that I couldn't take it anymore. I never thought I'd let a dog in my bed. He's so happy in bed I can't explain. Don't understand people that don't let their dogs upstairs/in bed. The best feeling snuggling with your dog

Ours started off in a crate in our room until she was able to go the night without needing the toilet (we were advised that they won't go to the toilet in their crate so will wake you up which was mainly true, and did mean I was getting up once or twice a night to take her for a wee for the first month or so!).

Once she was toilet trained and could last the night without going to the toilet she had free range of the bedroom. Once she was big enough to get on the bed herself, she did. In the winter months she will dig to get under the duvet.

When we first got him - in a crate in the kitchen (husband's choice not mine.)

I got so sick of the crying all night and wanting to go out to the garden I used to sneak him upstairs and plonk him between us = no more crying in the night and sleeping through.

When he was about 4 months he slept on his bed in the corner of our room, then about a year later he decided he wanted to be on the landing with our bedroom door open.

As soon as we had a baby = downstairs on the sofa due to the noise and he's chosen to remain there since 😂

Mine happily slept downstairs in the kitchen for 3.5 years until she decided she wanted to be upstairs in my bedroom. I tried really hard to resist but she just was not having it anymore.

This is what I wake up to most mornings, the little one on my shoulder and the big one laid right beside me hogging most the bed 🤣 this wasn't my intention, they were going to sleep downstairs, the best laid plans and all that though.

On his bed in the kitchen. A very nice bed, mind. If he slept in our room we'd get no sleep, he is a snoring muttering wriggler.

Oh this is interesting reading! Our rescue pup is about 6 months, I’m trying to get him to sleep in his crate downstairs for the last week, he will sleep there happily if I’m on the sofa but howls if alone. All the puppy guidance seems to suggest they will get used to it but I don’t want to spend my life sleeping on the sofa!

Are you getting a puppy or an older dog?

There is increasing evidence that shutting an 8 week old puppy in a crate downstairs on its own, is psychologically damaging, just like leaving babies to "cry it out" is. You always hear owners saying "oh, she only cried for the first night or two" but that is because they learn that no-one is coming. It's not that they are fine with being alone.

When you think about it, it's incredibly cruel to take a tiny puppy away from its mother and siblings, with whom it snuggles up all night, and force it to spend hours alone in a place it doesn't know. The research shows that dogs who were treated like this as puppies are much more likely to show separation anxiety as adults.

As an aside, it also doesn't help with toilet training as you won't hear when it first wakes, and it is more likely to be forced to go in the crate.

We had our 8 week old puppy in a crate by our bed, with a blanket over it but a small gap so she could still see me. I could speak to reassure her if needed and take her outside immediately after I heard that she was awake and moving around. She still sleeps in the same crate now and the only time I ever hear from her is that (rarely) she will experience a bout of diarrhoea and will whine to tell me she needs to go outside quickly!

Another aside: the best way to reduce the risk of arthritis/joint pain later in life, is to do your research and choose a puppy whose parents have hip and elbow scores which are significantly better than the breed average. Going up and down stairs will have little effect on this.

One on my bed, one on my OH's bed and the other four in a luxury kennel in the garage.

Honestly whatever works for you...

When she was first home, her crate was in the lounge.
Now as an adult she sleeps in a combo of dog bed in our bedroom or dog bed in the hall. Our other dog sleeps in which ever bed is free

We don't have a big enough kitchen (but historically had a dog that slept in the kitchen). Our lounge has other pets caged in it so when she was younger we didn't want to leave her free with that, and we prefer to be able to shut the lounge off at night eg. When there's food about, christmas stuff everywhere, guests.

Our older dog has always slept in our room because I went through a stage of renting a room in someone's house, and we stay alot at hotels, other people's houses etc where he needs to sleep with us.