Where does your dog sleep?

[Camden's Mom]

Since he was a puppy we've kept Camden's crate in the bedroom. Until he was about 18 months old we kept him closed in at night. With the crate now open his routine is to sleep most of the night with us in the bedroom, however he'll often wander downstairs sometime late in the night or early morning.

 

I *mostly* trust him to have freedom in the house but I'm not a big fan of him wandering around at night. I'd prefer it if he'd just stay in the bedroom until we get up in the morning. He's got plenty of comfortable options as his crate has foam bedding in it and he's got a cushy dog bed right next to that.

 

So, is that asking too much? Where do your dogs sleep and do you insist they sleep through the night or is wandering around permitted?

[medic09]

All three get let out for a last pee, and then they sleep in the bedroom with the door closed. Keeps the youngsters from wandering, and the cats from coming in. We did the same with the previous generation.

When my wife isn't around, I let Golan (year old soon) up on the bed along with our little terrier mutt. (The older girl can't get up and down by herself anymore, so she stays on a dog bed.) When my wife is present, she makes Golan sleep on a dog blanket because he takes up too much space for her liking.

If we didn't have the cats, I think we'd still baby-gate the doorway to keep the young dogs from wandering in the middle of the night and getting into mischief.

[Root Beer]

Dean and Tessa sleep wherever they want. They tend to wander the house. If I get up in the night, I can literally find either of them anywhere. Tessa tends to start out on the sofa at the front of the house and Dean tends to start on the floor by my bed, but I will often find Tessa in the doorway of the bedroom in the morning and Dean clear across the house on the futon. I've found Dean on the bathroom floor, kitchen floor, in the bed with me snuggled under the covers, on the sofa, you name it!

 

Speedy slept on a bed of his own on the floor near my feet. Sometimes Dean sleeps on it now. Sammie slept on my feet in the bed. It was the only place he would sleep and I had to lift him onto the bed to get there for the last year of his life. Maddie was also a wanderer.

 

Puppy Bandit is in a crate that I have about a foot away from me. When he starts to sleep loose eventually, I probably will close the door to keep him in the room until I trust him with more freedom. I will either need to make Dean and Tessa stay in the room with me, or shut them out. I will probably let them choose at bedtime. Or maybe I can rig up the x-pen somehow to keep him in, but leave part of the room by the door where Dean and Tessa can at least come into the room.

 

I really try to accommodate everyone. But I do miss having a dog who will stay in the room with me the whole night. I might not give Bandit a choice in the matter.

[Debbie Meier]

For the most part everyone gets crated at night, occasionally Ricky will get to sleep where he wants but he is not one to wander about, I will find him one of three places, on the bed, on the couch or on the dining room floor if he is warm.

[GentleLake]

Mine sleep wherever they want to, but it's generally in the same room as me. Tansy sleeps with me in the winter, but when it's warmer, she prefers one of the dog beds. Bodhi sleeps on a dog bed. Tilly sleeps in the crate now, because she started having accidents when she got older. She'd probably sleep in the crate, though, even if the door were open. She spends the majority of her time there now anyway.

[Hope/P.]

I have two dogs. My five year old sleeps at the foot of the bed and my five month old sleeps in his crate. Sometimes I don't feel like I have enough room and our 5 year old will be shut in his crate at night. It's a large crate with a foam bed inside.

[urge to herd]

Gibbs starts out 90% of the time on his bed by the front door. If he's not there, he's on his bed by my desk.

 

Around 4 a.m. he comes and gets on the bed with me. Earlier than that is simply Not Done, according to Gibbs. He's one of those dogs that has a very clear schedule.

 

My departed Buzz slept with me every night, and I loved it. I grew up in a family where pets were allowed on the beds, and still like it.

 

Ruth and Agent gibbs

[juliepoudrier]

Pip and Lark sleep with me at night. Sometimes Birdie will start out on the bed, then go to a crate or dog bed elsewhere. Twist will sometimes ask on the bed and I will help her up there. I don't care as long as they stay on their side of the bed.

 

Everyone else sleeps where they want, except for one of the oldsters, who tends to be restless at night (melatonin mitigates this somewhat), so he is crated so he doesn't disturb my sleep.

 

Sometimes they are in the same spots they were when I went to bed, and sometimes not. Kat tends to stay put, but Willow would change locations during the night. It just depends.

 

The cats also sleep pretty much wherever they want.

 

J.

[Lizabeth]

Poppy sleeps on the bed or sometimes she will go on the floor if i am rolling over too much, Gidget falls asleep using my feet or legs as a pillow

[gcv-border]

The puppy, Kiefer, sleeps in a crate in our bedroom. And if he follows the same schedule as my other BC, that will last for about a year - or until I can trust him.

 

My old girl (~17.5 years old Sheltie mix) sleeps on one of 2 beds in the bedroom.

 

Torque comes into the bedroom with me at night and will stay there while I get ready for bed. The minute I get into the bed, he leaves and goes downstairs to sleep. He comes back up into the bedroom about 5:30 - 6:00 in the morning and lays in a dog bed.

[Tess's Girl]

I got Tess at 10 months old and she started sleeping in her crate. That last about two nights and she slept with me every night for a couple of months. There was a little phase where she would want to get down, but I couldn't really trust her, so she got crated at night.

 

Now she starts out on the bed with me, then generally sleeps under the bed. I'll sometimes find her in the crate or on her dog bed too. Sometimes in the early morning she will jump up and snuggle with me. If she gets anxious about something she will press up against me as close as she can possibly get.

 

I trust her out in the apartment so if there's nothing out that she can bother I will let her roam sometimes at night. She stays in the bedroom most of the night but occasionally I'll find her on her dog bed by the patio door. She loves looking out.

 

I kind of miss having her sleep on the bed with me all night. When she's up on the bed it's like she has to be touching me. If I scoot a little bit she will scoot too.

[Gloria Atwater]

My dogs are ages 4, 5 and 6, so they get to sleep anywhere they want.

Generally, though, they choose to sleep in our bedroom. Nick has his crate with the door open or a doggie bed on my side of the bed. Gael has her crate with the door open set in one corner. And Ash the Aussie sleeps on our bed.

You could always try a baby gate in your bedroom doorway, though, if you want the door open but prefer to keep him semi-contained.

~ Gloria

[ObeytheBC]

All four are locked away in crates at night. And no comfy beds for them either, just maybe a towel (since they will all just ball it up into a corner anyways and anything foam or stuffing filled equals a fun destructo-toy). Boy don't I sound mean compared to all these other homes!

[Cass C]

Lyka used to be crated at night, but at 6 months I started leaving her out in the bedroom with the door closed. She usually ends up on the AC vent or in her crate of her own free will. She doesn't like laying in the bed with us at night I trust her, but it makes me uncomfortable with her roaming the house at night.

 

My aunt just uses a dog gate to keep her toy poodles in the bedroom at night.

 

I will allow Lily to stay out in the bedroom at night when she gets a little older and I can trust her.

[alligande]

Rievaulx sleeps in the bedroom, with a dog bed beside me. He is free to roam, get a drink or just find a new spot. In summer with the window AC in the dogs have been confined to the bedroom with us.

Rievaulx was crated at night till he was about a year, he was my bedside table, when he got to big for the crate we decided to trust him as he seemed to be a dog who liked to sleep through the night. We kept using the crate during the day time for another 6 months.

Our other dogs have had the choice to sleep where they wanted, our first border collie, slept beside me every night we had him, occasionally getting up for a drink, but he never really moved. Brody refused to sleep in the bedroom, he liked the hall outside (or the couch but we never proved this )

[Mom of Mya]

Mya has been on the bed since the first week we had her at 9 weeks. She has done wonderfully with no accidents. Slept all night until i or my husband got up in the morning. If she needs to go out for any reason she goes to the door and barks, which is rare but occasionally when she has not felt well. We do not have the door shut so she is free to roam if she wants (she is almost 8 months now and I trust her completely) but I don't think she ever has. She generally stays curled up beside me except occasionally when she lies across my legs and then I have to move her, feels like I am pinned down and I don't like that feeling. If she has to go out before we wake up we get kisses and once I let her out if I go back to bed she usually goes with me but expects to play heartily once we get up LOL.

[rushdoggie]

Puppies start out crated in the bedroom, so they get in sync with the rest of us and have the comfort of being close. Gradually after about 6-7 months the crate gets slowly moved to the hallway then the front room, because I once heard that sleeping in the bedroom all the time can contribute to separation anxiety.

 

Eventually, they get crate freedom into an area as they earn it, and they eventually have run of the house. There are dog beds in our bedroom, and they usually but not always choose to sleep in those. My BC often sleeps on the couch and my old Papillon likes the floor of my husbands closet. He actually keeps a old sweatshirt folded up for her there and the door open a little so she can go in when she wants (spoiled? nooooo, not her! )

 

No dogs sleeping on the bed as I am claustrophobic and DH is a light sleeper. They do hop up for a cuddle and kiss and then when we say its time for bed they hop off and sleep elsewhere. UNLESS there's only one of us in the bed in which case they can sleep on the other half (and how they have all figured that out I have no idea but somehow they know when its OK).

[terrecar]

Hannah sleeps wherever she wants, but in the morning she is often pressed up against my back (back-to-back). Since I live alone now, I'll admit to finding it rather comforting.

[Root Beer]

I used to find Sammie snuggled up to me back to back in the winter. Sometimes he was under the covers with his head on the pillow, too. I always loved that.

[Mark Billadeau]

Most of ours are crated. Those that are sleeping loose in our bedroom will find theselves crated at night (in another room) if they get into a habit of waking us up due to wandering at night.

[Maralynn]

Mine sleep loose in my bedroom. I really don't care where as long as they don't wake me up!

[Lizabeth]

nothing better then a bc pup laying on your legs chewing on her toys tell she falls asleep, using ur legs or feet as a pillow lol. I call her Princess Gidget cuz shes so dainty always crossing her legs even when she stands shell cross those 2 front legs, she cries when she don't get what she wants, shes really getting spoiled (in a good way) and she loves it

[KJT]

My 2 are in a spare room. The older girl has a raised bed, the pup is shut in his crate beside her. The door to the room is left open but we shut the door between the bedrooms and rest of the house so the old girl can only go into the hallway, but she doesn't wander anyway

[RichardH]

 

Just sort of got into the habit of crating (closed door) in the bedroom or at least near me if I'm travelling and staying with friends. She knows the score and runs right in. The few times I've forgotten to close the door, I found her right where I left her. Tent camping and hotels are usually an exception because the crate is kind of hard to fit in my backpack/luggage.

 

-Rich

[mum24dog]

Partly because we travel around a lot all ours are crated at night - 2 in the living room, 1 in the conservatory and 1 in my daughter's bedroom. That way bedtime is pretty much the same wherever we are and they stay in their crates quietly in the morning until I'm ready to let them out.