The pros and cons of sharing a bed with your Pets

Full article here...

http://blog.downlinens.com/the-pros-...ith-your-pets/

What do you all think on this subject? My dog sleeps on my bed, and my Vet has his Labrador plus four cats sleeping on his. [I did ask him if there was room for his wife but he just giggled!]

My dogs have always been allowed to sleep on the bed if they want to. Some haven't liked to be so warm and others have loved it.
Current pup is still sleeping in a crate which she adores. Never known one to love her own space as much.
Don't like my cats in the bedroom since one of them took up shredding my toes for a pastime.

Well, I'm of mixed feelings on this. Most of my dogs like their space to some degree and don't like always sleeping on my bed. Nigredo, an 85 lb. Lab cross ADORES being on my bed even though he does not fit and makes things very uncomfortable.

Any and all cats are shut out as they move around too much, lick inside your ears, and otherwise making sleeping impossible. My current cat is 15 lbs and likes to lay right on top of you and she is just too heavy for that.

Nigredo can be a BIG problem, literally. He jumps up in the bed, and scrunches up next to me. I tolerate it for a bit as I don't sleep well anyway, but after a while he is told to get down, which he does right away. A bit later he jumps back up... often on my legs or something, and again is told to get down.

After I decide I'm tired enough to get some sleep, I turn my lights down, glasses off etc. A while later, he is BACK up on the bed, laying halfway on me or bumping into me and waking me up. He also snores and makes odd "doggy" noises and movements. He's NOT a curler, he's a sprawler... even when my A/C is WAY up and it's way too cool... he still sprawls, taking up way more space.

Leaving the door open is an option, but he lays on the bed anyway and the cats wander in to make things even worse. Locking him out is an option, but the cats don't like this very much (they lay right outside bedroom doors to sleep) and there is going to be trouble. Shouting at him to get down all night doesn't do much but keep us both awake.

I'd PREFER if he stayed on his own bed, but I can see that's not going to happen without tons of effort to reverse the damage I did when he was a puppy. Had he reached the 60 lbs. I thought he would, this would not be such a huge issue, pardon the pun.

I've taken to sprawling out to discourage him into jumping up as he can see there is no room. Kinda works, but sometimes he jumps up anyway and tries to force me to scoot a bit for him. Which I usually do.

Note that I am nearly 5'9" and am 230 + lbs and use only a single "twin" sized bed. Nigredo is 25" ATS and 32" from neck to tail base and the weight of a GSD. There is seriously no room but I usually break down and try to let him stay because I know why he's doing it... urghhhh

Mjfromga - you have me giggling!

Fourlegz, I'm so glad someone can find my story funny.

I assure you, on nights where he insists on snuggling with mommy, regardless of how hot it might be, how tired I might be, or how little room there might be... it is anything but funny.

I thought about getting him a crate but he does not like those (hated as a puppy, phased out of quickly), and he'd need a super giant sized one that IDK where to even get and really am not prepared to pay $200+ for one, either.. which is what it will cost.

My Jade loves her crate and tends to wee all over Nigredo's things when allowed to sleep in my room so it's best for her to sleep there, like yours does. She loves to sleep in my bed sometimes, too but Nigredo doesn't let her... and there is NO SPACE LEFT. They argue a lot anyway so best to not leave them locked in a room together in the darkness.

I hope I haven't offended you Mjfomga, that was not my intention. Just can't help conjuring up images of your furry friends. Sorry

I am far from offended. Actually, you gave me a bit of a giggle, as well. I admit that it would be hilarious to see a big silly dog in my bed and me tossing and turning while "fussing" with him.

In the end, they are family members and sometimes you go out of your way to make them happy... which is what I'm working with here.

Triffic!

Rosie sleeps on the bed with us for some of the night - the rest she spends on the sofa in the living room.

My previous two, Sam and Jade, didn't unless one was ill. They took up just too much room

For 3.5 years Ella used to sleep on the pillow on her previous owner's bed. I like having my own space and I'm a bit funny about pillows (no feed, no clothes, no shoes, no dirty doggie paws are allowed on my pillow) so I don't really fancy her sleeping on my pillow. She accepted her own bed really well and sleeps next to my side of the bed. She's got 2 options normally, one where she can sprawl and one where she's more curled up.
But she's allowed up on the bed in the morning when my partner leaves for work (as he leaves earlier than me) and on weekends she can come snuggle with us in the morning. If I'm on my own at night, then she can stay in my bed (only on top of the quilt though).
So I think we've got a compromise that suits all of us, but I think wether you have your pets on your bed or not is just a personal choice. I do think though if you only have one dog you should make sure he or she can sleep somewhere close to you and not make them sleep on their own in a different room or in the kitchen.. just my opinion.