Will I be sorry if I let yogi sleep in bed with me?

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Before I got yogi, I never thought I'd let him sleep in my bed. No other dog of mine has in the past.....
But he is such a snuggler, I've let him up the past two nights while DH was away.
Am I starting a bad habit? He's crate trained at night, so I am trying to decide if I want this to become a habit in the bed or not.

Are any of you sorry you started the habit of allowing your dogs up?

[Lynda Kamrath]

Nope, love to have them in bed.

[Cyndi, The Boys & Callie]

Tank sleeps with us and has ever since he came home.  I've never regretted it for one minute.  He sleeps at the foot of the bed unless it gets cold and then he moves between my husband and I.  We all sleep very comfortably and, if I'm out of town on business, I don't sleep that well.  Sully and Beau prefer to sleep in their bed which is in our bedroom.  If we put them in ours, they toss/turn all night.  We've all found our favorite spots in our bedroom (which is, lucky for all of us, very large) so we're very cozy.  

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

It isn't a bad idea, unless you think it is.  We have always allowed dogs on our bed.  When we got Clancy (adult rescue at age two), he didn't seem inclined to sleep on the bed, so we just discouraged it because there just wasn't any more room up here.  He doesn't seem to mind at all that Ned and Gordie mostly choose to sleep on our bed.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Brinkley cuddles at night until I turn off the light. Then he jumps down-- not because I tell him to, but because I think he gets too hot.  I love it when he snuggles. 

[Adina P]

We don't do it, but maybe someday when I have an empty nest and need snuggles from a stinky furry thing that farts all night ;-)  Rosco sleeps by my side of the bed on the floor and the other night his behind was lined up parallel to my nose (though below it) and had a great time passing dog gas my way.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

Just wiped coffee off my computer screen :-)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Doncha just hate that?!

[Joy Originator of GiantSchnoodles]

Hi Leslie, My dogs have to earn the right. No musical dogs in the middle of the night. Quiet, still all night. Respectful of my body: No steppping on me, no bone chewing, no rough housing with each other on the bed. No stepping on the computer.  Some are trustworthy from day 1 & some have to grow up. Xena has been sleeping with me since day 1. She has been in the hospital with me. Always Knew exacly what to do. Never barked at the staff during the night. No problem with anyone who'd take her out to potty. Goes behind the wall for xrays & MRI's. Xena rides on the gurney. People think she's a big stuffed toy. Everyone falls in love with her.  Impossible to follow service dog rules. She takes over the hospital Mirage has earned the right. She doesn't always want to. Zola has finally grown up (2 yrs) & would probably be okay now, but if the dog isn't going to be mine forever, I don't have them in the bed.  I will be placing Zola as a service dog, as soon as I have the time to focus on training & transition training. So although she'd like to be on the bed I've never let her. She accepts it. She is such a love bug that very often, i'm tempted but I try to abide by my own rules. What if the new owner doesn't want a dog in bed?  & there are transitional bonding issues. so dog in bed depends on you , the dog & everybody's ultimate job. Also, my dogs are more likely to sleep with me when its cold or when their fur has been clipped. I usually have 1 in bed bcs I only have 2 crates in the bedroom with 3 dogs, so if they are late in the race for a crate & don't get a crate. Then the're stuck with me or the floor. My best advice is to follow your heart & trust your intuition. Whatever you do can be changed. What ever they learn can be re--learned. Whatever you do will be right for all of you. Puppy love from Inventing Joy & Furry Folk

[J and Riley (and Luna)]

Luna sleeps on our bed after I caved about 6 mo. ago.  I do love the middle of the night snuggles!  Though her favorite spot is in between our pillows so sometimes I get a paw in the face lol.

[Jeanne, Tura and Dolly]

Once they are allowed up there it is a tough habit to break. My two usually sleep in the crate but when one was gone having puppies, I felt sorry for the other and let her sleep on the bed. When the first one came home, I put them back in the crate. Oh the howling and crying! I am just glad I have no nearby neighbors. So now they are in the crate at night, but take a bed nap with me every day so we can snuggle.  If you want your dog up there, then fine. But its hard to take it back.

[Richard Crowe]

Holly is up and down during the night; especially during warmer nights.  She has a bed on the floor which she opts for as she gets warm.  She has become quite adept at jumping on-off the bed without waking me.  

I have never had any problem with a dog sleeping with me except for our previous big dog who was German Shepherd, Golden Retriever and Wolf.  She was 85 pounds but the problem on furniture of any type was that she would shed bushel baskets of hair seemingly all the time...

We loved her Golden Retriever temperament but detested the shedding.  That is what lead us to selecting a doodle as our next big dog!

[Traz, Karen & Dale]

We didn't used to let Traz on the bed until he had his bloat and twisted stomach surgery back in July.  He wouldn't fit in his crate with the cone and I wanted to keep an eye on him to make sure he was ok.  Now, we let him on our bed before his bedtime and after he wakes up in the morning to snuggle.  At night, he sleeps in his own bedroom because he is too much of a wiggle worm to stay on our bed through the night.  Whatever you decide, Yogi knows you love him :-)