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Is it bad to allow your GSD to sleep in your bed with you?

153K views 263 replies 204 participants last post by  Gaia 
#1 ·
First post, dont hold back :p

My 5 month old GSD has his own bed, and uses it most nights, however some nights I need to go to sleep and he just isn't getting bored or comfy, If I let him in my bed with me he goes right to sleep. Now Im aware this might not be the best thing down the road. But if i continue to do this, is it really going to haunt me in the future?
 
#60 ·
I happen to think it's BS that a dog will think it's dominant if it sleeps with you. What if you sleep on the floor? o_O Does a dog think it's dominant when he sleeps next to you on the couch while you watch the news, or if you sit on the floor with him? Come on now.

Mine sleeps with me if he wants to, and if it's not hot. Otherwise he can go pant far away from me.
 
#61 ·
Lisl has been sleeping with in my bed except for one night I crated her because I was dead tired and had to get up earlier than usual the next morning.

I like it because she seems to like it and I don't have to crate her. She spends enough time in there when I'm at work, so I don't want her in there if she doesn't have to be. She can't get off either because she's too small and the beds is too high.

She behaves and can make it through the night if I make sure she goes out enough before bedtime and restrict her water intake after 8PM.
 
#64 ·
I think I have a permanent crook in my neck. Babs has decided that her spot is across my pillows. Even if I get her off there and get myself situated, by the time I wake up, I am lying diagnal, crooked, and she is breathing down my neck on all my pillows.
 
#65 ·
Shasta sleeps on the bed with me pretty much all night. She does know thats she's only allowed up when the comforter is pulled up though. She can lay on the comforter but thats it and she has to be invited up (mainly because I have to adjust the covers where I want them before I'm battling 70lbs of dog to move the covers where I want them lol).

helps in the winter too because i'm under the covers and surrounded by cats and at least one dog so its not too cold haha. She knows she's not allowed up to sleep when my husband is home thought because theres not enough room for all of us to be comfy on a queen sized bed.
 
#66 ·
Hmmm

It is preference but my boy Bama has been sleeping in the bed with me since the day he came home with me I've never had any behavior problems with him except being young and very excited he not allowed on the bed if I'm not in it though and he waits for me to get situated and I call him before he gets up there but my husband is a long haul truck driver so he is gone like five plus days a week so that's where Bama normally sleeps but when hubby home he sleeps at the end of the bed its almost like he has to be touching me to sleep and the cat sleeps wherever but when she wants to be on the bed she sleeps on my pillow
 
#68 ·
Ollie's not allowed on the bed right now but that's mostly because when I do let him he blunders around, gets into everything and harasses the small dogs. If he'd behave and sleep then sure but I think he needs a bit more training and some maturity before that happens, lol. So for now he sleeps either in his crate or on the floor next to my side of the bed.
 
#69 ·
My dog shares my bed with my husband and I, and there is no doubt about him respecting me as pack leader. Silly myth.
 
#72 ·
My dog Lanee will start off sleeping with me; then after an hour or two, she goes into the utility room (spare bedroom full of storage) where there is a large couch; she hops onto it and sleeps. She thinks that couch is heaven, so that's fine with me. She can have it.
 
#74 ·
I don't think so...although I cant get Berlin to sleep in my bed if my life depended on it. Lately he has been jumping up there with me for a few minutes, but he is obsessed with sleeping in his crate.. (although he has made my bed the official spot to bury his high value treats/toys/bones..lucky me!) :rolleyes2:
 
#75 ·
For the first 18 months, Finn slept in his kennel our bedroom. Part of it was that we wanted to establish pack structure, the other part was that, as a puppy, he loved to chase after the cats. After that, we let him on the bed after we minimized the kitten chasing. Since then, he'll sleep on the bed, but he gets down if asked with no issue.
 
#77 ·
I let Yager every now and then but most nights I put him in his crate. When he does sleep with us he has to wait beside the bed until we get settled and pat the bed for him to come up. He is then only allowed at the foot of the bed and never up by our heads or the sheets. He is quick to get off if I tell him to. Honestly, I think he listens better after I have let him sleep with me. Almost like he's grateful or something.

I did have a dog when I was a child that would growl at you when you tried to get him off of the bed. That is serious issue for sure. He was such a grumpy old bear and never a people pleaser. lol
 
#80 ·
Its all personal preference... I had always let Diesel choose where she wanted to sleep, she had a dog bed in the room so she would generally start out on the bed with me and then once I was almost asleep she would normally jump down and lay on her own bed until morning when she would jump back up for a little bit while I was waking. I never had any problems at all with her she was a very obedient dog who knew I was the pack leader.
 
#81 ·
Tess has been sleeping in our bed since last Friday night, before that she always slept in her crate. She was spaded last Thursday and she cried most of Thursday night, she just couldn't get comfortable. They sent her home with an e-collar but I took that off of her trying to help her to feel better, but she still didn't get much sleep. I tried putting her in her crate but she was so miserable there. She would actually fall asleep standing up, most likely from all the medication.

The following night she still wouldn't lie down in her crate so my husband picked her up and placed her on her side in our bed and she fell right to sleep. He slept on the couch that night and I slept beside her watching out for her, she didn't move an inch and slept for 10 hours straight! She now wears a large overgrown tee shirt and not the e-collar and has slept in our bed these last few nights.

I'm not sure if I will let her sleep there once she's back on her feet, however, I do not have a problem with it whatsoever. My last dog use to sleep in our bed when he was a puppy but once he got big, he preferred to sleep in his own bed....there was much more room...:D
 
#82 ·
I love my dogs to death... but I also have a strong sense of personal hygiene, so the dogs are never allowed on the bed... Sometimes we will let them come up on the couch, but only when there is a special blanket that is placed where they can sit. I use it as a reward every so often (once or twice every two weeks).

Luckily, my dogs do not eat their own feces... but I know some owners that have dogs that do that and sleep in their bed. That would make transmission of some pretty nasty stuff (like giardia) very easy...
 
#83 ·
Lisl now sleeps on the floor in my room. She jumps off the bed after lights out, but then wants back up at sunrise.

She's big enough to jump up on the bed, but she still has me drag her up every morning. I don't mind. It's nice spending some quiet time with your dog before the day begins.
 
#84 ·
Both of my dogs are allowed on my bed when the covers are pulled up. Neither sleeps with us on a regular basis. My lab will on rare occasions, but prefers the couch at night. My shepherd is still in a crate at night and I think he is much more comfortable in it than he would be in the bed. He is way too hot natured!
 
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