Where does your dog sleep?

[gcv-border]

I have often wondered about Torque's sleeping preferences and finally had a light bulb moment -- why don't I ask the BC boards??!

 

As a puppy, he was crated in our bedroom at night. Once we felt he was somewhat trustworthy at night (8-10 months of age), he was allowed to sleep uncrated. Our bedroom door was open, and he chose to stay with us in the bedroom. We have two comfy (I think) dog beds in our bedroom - one for each dog.

 

At some point, 16, 18 or 24 months (I can't remember), he decided he would rather sleep downstairs. He comes up at night and lies in a dogbed while I putter around, but once I get into bed, he heads downstairs. I believe he is sleeping near the front door on the mat which is over a hardwood floor. Not comfy, in my opinion.

 

He has been going through rehab recently where he should not be running down the stairs so I have kept him in the the bedroom at night and closed the door. That way, he is not going up and down stairs unmonitored. He is doing very well on the stairs now and rehab is almost done, so last night I left the bedroom door open. Sure enough, he was back to his old behavior and stayed downstairs last night.

 

I was wondering if anyone has any insights into his behavior - and where do your dogs sleep when allowed free choice? And why?

 

Jovi

[Lewis Moon]

Cerb is terribly spoiled and sleeps on our bed in between our feet. In fact, at around 8:30 he heads in and curls up there and waits for us. Sometimes in high summer he'll sleep on the cool floor, but 95% of the time he's on our bed. I've read where sleeping at the foot or bottom end of the alpha's bed is pretty normal behavior for a lower pack member. Even when I pull him up so I can scratch his belly while I read, he'll head back down to the lower end of the bed.

We don't have any furniture rules (except counters and tables) so I'm sure we've given him the overall signal that it's OK. Plus...what's not to like about a memory foam mattress?

[skiba]

When I'm up late Oliver will curl up by the front door, I suppose it's cool. But when I go to bed he's right there, curling up beside me. I've woken up more than one with him trying to push me off He's good about getting off when told though. Then he squeezes under the bed, having to flatten himself like a pancake to fit. ...Odd dog :]

[Tommy Coyote]

Cerb is terribly spoiled and sleeps on our bed in between our feet. In fact, at around 8:30 he heads in and curls up there and waits for us. Sometimes in high summer he'll sleep on the cool floor, but 95% of the time he's on our bed. I've read where sleeping at the foot or bottom end of the alpha's bed is pretty normal behavior for a lower pack member. Even when I pull him up so I can scratch his belly while I read, he'll head back down to the lower end of the bed.

We don't have any furniture rules (except counters and tables) so I'm sure we've given him the overall signal that it's OK. Plus...what's not to like about a memory foam mattress?

Tommy sleeps on the bed with me. But Ellie often prefers the hardwood floor. She can't jump up on the bed anymore. I have blankets down for her but she doesn't always sleep there. I think maybe she gets too hot. She is very heavy coated.

[WildFlower]

Both Daisy and Devon start on the bed with me. Then after I am done giving scratches she hops down and sleeps on her bed. Devon moves up and sleeps on the extra pillow next to my head.

[arf2184]

Both my dogs sleep in the room with me (door shut because Bear is a garbage thief when no one is looking). They each has a Kuranda cot with a blanket on it. Mostly they sleep on their own beds.

 

Bear used to sleep on my bed until he was about 2 yrs old. Then his sister started growling at him when he got too close to her on the bed (an 80lb dog, 70 lb dog, and 5'10" person is a tight fit for one full size bed). Even though she's gone now, he still prefers to sleep on his own cot, which is on the floor at the head of my bed (so I can reach over and pet him when he starts snoring too loud). Occasionally he'll get on my bed to visit for a while (usually in the morning), but he never stays very long.

 

Meg starts out at the foot of my bed, but usually moves to her own cot early on in the night. She's a light sleeper and will jump up at my slightest movement when she's on my bed. Her cot is on the floor at the foot of my bed...if I move it, she gets annoyed and will just stare at it until I put it back in the right spot. In the morning, she gets back on my bed to visit or sleep. If Dad lets them out to potty while I sleep in, Meg will lay next to and fall asleep when they come back in.

[Cody & Duchess]

Duchess has slept at our feet since we got her at 5 months. Cody sleeps on the bed from 8:30 (usually by himself) until the TV goes off, then he sleeps on his recliner. Grace (all 57 pnds of her) sleeps up by the pillows between our heads. Boots, the newest one - a border collie,bernese mountain dog mix sleeps on her pallet, on the bed by our hips and on the tile floor. She is 11 months and 65 pnds. It is amazing, she doesn't wake you when she decides to get on the bed. And yes.... mostly we do get a good night sleep except some nights there is a lot of snoring.

[rufftie]

the dh doesn't let the dogs on the bed. but he does go to work awfully early ! the dogs have always had their own beds in the bedroom. twitch is free to roam, but doesn't really. nova has to sleep in crate. if i turn over, or go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, she is up and on it! so if i want to sleep, she has to be crated.

[scomona]

Shiloh sleeps on the floor. He would rather sleep on the cold hard floor than on his dog bed or the foot of our bed. I think he would be delighted to sleep outside on the grass, even in the winter.

[geonni banner]

Sugarfoot sleeps on her bed right next to my bed. She is allowed on the bed, but only for bedtime and wake-up cuddles.

[Rave]

In my bed or on dog beds. Occasionally one will go into the open crate (no bed), probably to cool off in the summer. The one who doesn't sleep on the bed does so because of the other dogs up there.

[urge to herd]

Shoshone sleeps in her little den in the closet - she's always like the closet best. She does NOT like being on the bed or on the couch with us.

 

Gibbs sleeps part of the night with DH, and if I get up in the middle of the night, he'll come in with me and jump up to curl up at my feet.

 

Ruth

[alligande]

Our first border collie slept on his dog bed on my side of the bed every night he lived with us ( he passed in his sleep right there) the current 2 are different, Brody sleeps on the floor in the dining we believe watching all possible doors including the bedroom, he seems to prefer the hardwood floors over every comfy bed we have offered. Rievaulx often sleeps beside me on his bed, sometimes though even when cold he likes the wooden floors, or goes to his crate in the dinning room.

[bcnewe2]

Mick has his "bed" right next to mine, it's an open door soft sided crate wiht a matt inside. He sleeps so good in there it amazes me. He used to get up and wander but since giving him his hidey hole he's one happy camper. Ray sleeps on the other side of my bed on her bed. Dew is either under the bed or on it somewhere but not touching me.

Jazz thinks that room is just to crowded so she sleeps on the couch.

 

No one really stirs till I get up or start moving around. Although I hear Jazz wander about 2am to get a drink and with her bad joints I think she's just stretching herself out. I used to lift her on the bed with me but I think it's better than she can get up and move if she has too.

 

I was planning on sleeping in this morning, I was shooting for 6:30. Of course since I decided to cut Jazz's food intake down just a wee bit so she just had to get up at 5am and remind me she didn't get enough dinner last night...so much for sleepin in!

 

I don't think I'd sleep well if I had to sleep in an empty dog room. Nor do I think I could go potty alone anymore going to the bathroom is a dog family afair as is sleeping arrangements.

[BustopherJones]

Annie sleeps in her "den" (crate) in our bedroom. At night, we put her bed in the crate, and she goes in to sleep. During the day, we remove the bed; she likes to eat in her crate as well. She likes her crate (it seems to give her a sense of protection), but being in the bedroom she is still close to us.

[Gloria Atwater]

I've wondered sometimes how dogs choose where they sleep!

 

My lot each have their own spot. Old Jesse starts out either on the living room floor or one of two big dog beds out there, but he ends up sleeping on the bed right by my side of the human bed. Scruffy, my hubby's corgi mix, generally sleeps out in "Dad's" chair. In the early morning, he may come lay a while on Tye's side of the bed.

 

My boy Nick sleeps in his crate with the door open. He does that any time he's in the house, day or night. Sometimes in the early hours, he gets in the cuddle bed next to Ash's crate. When we start to stir in the morning, he'll hop up on the bed and either snuggle his giant, 50-pound, musclebound self against my side or at my feet.

 

His younger sister, Gael, sleeps in her crate, sometimes with the door closed but more and more with the door open. Once in a great while she'll hop on the bed when hubby first gets in, because I'm last to bed most times, but then she gets down and ends up back in her crate. Like her brother, when we start to wake up, she'll hop on the bed for a brief snuggle, then go out to the living room to stare at cats until breakfast.

 

Our Aussie pup, Ash, sleeps in her crate with the door closed, but she likes the cuddle bed outside next to her crate and would probably love to sleep with us, full time.

 

In warmer weather, Nick likes to sleep on the cold, HARD linoleum of the bathroom or kitchen. How is that even remotely comfortable?

 

Dogs are funny. I've a friend with an old dog who now sleeps in their walk-in closet. It's the one place the old thing can be fairly sure none of the young dogs will run over her.

Cheers ~

 

Gloria

[vickim]

Whisper generally sleeps with me on the bed or on the floor beside the bed, if it is warm. Hubby usually falls asleep on the couch, watching television. Sometimes Whisper will go sleep on the old couch in the living room, just to keep an eye on him. In her ideal world, she sleeps in the doorway of the bedroom: she is near the bed so she can see me and in line of sight of the couch where hubby has fallen alseep.

[JohnLloydJones]

Senneca sleeps on the floor beside the bed. She never attempted to sleep on the bed -- she obviously had a home that taught her good manners before she landed in the pound. My foster boy Glyn, on the very first day, hopped right up on the bed and looked very put out when I ordered him down. He tried sneaking up a couple of occasions since then, but has found his spot near the door. Beau, my newest foster slept in the bathroom initially, but now sleeps close to the foot of the bed on my side. He's so fat still that he hasn't attempted to jump up on the bed.

[Root Beer]

Sammie's place has always been at my feet on the bed. Sometimes he moves to another spot on the bed but I can count about two times in his entire life at our house when he has not slept on the bed.

 

Maddie tends to be a bed dog, too. Sometimes she starts out someplace else but she almost always ends up on the bed eventually.

 

Speedy generally sleeps on the floor, half under the bed and half out. In colder weather he sometimes sleeps on the bed or moves out to the living room and sleeps on the sofa. But he always, always starts out on the floor.

 

Dean moves around. You never know where he will be. Sometimes he starts on the bed and stays there all night. But I've also gotten up at night to find him on the bathroom floor, in the kitchen, on the sofa, in another bedroom, on the futon, etc. Usually he moves around a lot throughout the night.

 

Tessa doesn't have an established pattern yet. Sometimes she is on the bed right away and sometimes she spends the whole night out on the sofa. Usually she is on the bed when I wake up.

 

So yes, that's five dogs that like to end up on the bed even when they don't start out there! Sometimes I wake up and all five are with me! Sometimes I wake up and only have Sammie. Generally speaking, they like to sleep where I am, but Dean, Speedy, and Tessa do move around some.

 

As far as why - I'd say they all sleep where they are most comfortable.

[Ms.DaisyDuke]

Daisy has slept on my bed since she was about 2. First she was crated, then, while I was testing her 'free reign' worthiness, she slept in a gated off portion of the hall way. Then we had a whole bunch of break-ins in my neighbourhood, so Daisy started sleeping in my room with me, on the bed of course. My boyfriend works nights, so I felt safer with her in there with me and that's the way it continued on. For a little while Riley had to be crated at night because he was not adjusting to the change of routine when we adopted him. Now he also sleeps in my bed room, almost always on the bed for most of the night. He will otherwise sleep on the dog bed in the room or in front of the door. Not really sure what makes him get up and move through the night, but guaranteed he will come back up on the bed at 5:30 every morning.

[MrSnappy]

Dexter has slept in his crate since I brought him home at 9 weeks, and he continues to sleep there, not because he's not trustworthy loose or wouldn't like to sleep elsewhere, but because where he wants to sleep is under my bed. Alas, there are two demonbeasts under the bed already called Tweed and Piper, and they don't let him under there without a lot of ongoing grumbling, so to make life easier, he stays in the crate at night.

 

Mr. Woo has slept on my bed since the first day he arrived. I kicked him off, he bounced back on and after three rounds of that game, he won.

 

When I first got TWooie he slept in a dog bed in the living room for months. I couldn't even get him to consider one of the dog beds in the bedroom, as he found it too stressful. About a month ago, he snuck onto my bed in the middle of the night and I found him tucked up under my chin when I woke in the morning. Since then, he has been climbing onto the bed at night more and more often, sometimes even before or while I get in it. From time to time, he still prefers to go back into the living room though.

 

RDM

[2 Devils]

My 2 eldest dogs (an acd and a toy poodle) sleep in the bed with us. We have a king size bed. The borderjack sleeps outside the crate downstairs in the family room where we tuck him in at night (literally we cover him with a blankey - he can't survive without one), the border collie decided in July after the fireworks that downstairs was scary so now she is upstairs. She may jump on the bed for a quick cuddle but then off she goes to her doggie bed on my side or recently to the guest room where she takes up that bed and sometimes you will find her sleeping in the bathroom on the rug - basically there is no telling where you will find her in the morning. The youngest acd sleeps in a crate downstairs. She is not trustworthy outside the crate because she gets into everything and has no respect for a baby gate.

[sixx]

On my bed. Who doesn't love a big pile of snuggling fur?

 

Although lately Seek insists on sleeping on the floor. I think my room is too hot. I never have the heat on, it's just insulated well or something. So I made up a nice bed for her on the floor with a fan gently blowing. She also has a couple of fancy organic cotton eco beds that she loves, but those get too hot for her as well. She just likes to spread out!

 

When she was a young pup, she would "spoon" with me. She always had to snuggle into my body and have me hold her in order to sleep. She was abused before I got her, so maybe she felt secure with me holding her. Either way, I loved it and miss it now.... such a stinker!

[D'Elle]

I always wanted Jester to sleep on the bed with me and cuddle, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it for all those years until Kit came along. She was on the bed snuggling with me from the first night.

 

After a week or so, Jester seemed to notice that Kit was getting all kinds of lovin' up there, and decided to join in! Now both sleep on the bed....if they want....or not if they don't want to. But they are both pressed hard up next to me when I wake up in the AM, one on each side.

 

I call it waking up as a Border Collie Sandwich. Love it.

[bc4ever]

Scooter will lie dozing on the floor at my feet if I'm up late with the computer or watching t.v. He'll jump up on the bed sometimes for a little cuddle time, then he's off to his recliner in the den. He alternates between the chair and the hardwood floor, sometimes stretching out on the carpet in the hall. I'm pretty sure he stays upstairs till we get up in the morning. I never see any evidence of him being anywhere else. There have been times I wished he'd sleep in our bed, but he prefers his own space.