If your doodle sleeps in your bed...

[Kim Fine]

When did you start allowing thIs?

Honey has been with us for a week and is doing great! Rings the bells to go outside and Is have less house accidents each day. Lots of nipping but I know that is to be expected. She is so sweet and cute. She has done really well in her crate at night- I have one in our room. She is usually up once during the night to go out and then I put her right back in her crate and is quiet! She also loves being in our bed and we let her nap with us there while we are still up. Wr are tempted to let her just stay in bed with us through the night. I know it's probably too early, mostly because she still can't get on/off herself and she isn't fully housebroken and she could get into stuff in our room. When did you feel it was safe to let your pup stay in your bed through the night?

Adding some new pics :)

[Amy and Annabelle]

Annabelle was a year old when I first let her sleep with me permanently. Up until then I was afraid she would get bored during the night and start chewing the bedding. But she did fine the first night I tried it, and has been sleeping with me ever since. She is a snuggler and likes to sleep right up against me.

[Khaleesi]

Khaleesi has slept with me since I brought her home at 7 weeks and never has nighttime accidents, neither did my last puppy. You've got to let them out immediately though once they wake. I like that she wasn't big enough to jump off, she still doesn't jump down without permission at four months. Sleeping puppies are the best!

[Khaleesi]

And the chewing is a real risk, I've always given Khaleesi a toy in bed and she usually plays with it until I wake. Early on she liked the comforter so I took the nice cover off until I could trust her. A few corrections nipped that quickly though.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I would say a year old--just too risky otherwise--and if she is good in her crate, why change things?

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Honey looks like Teddy at the same age ! 

I got Teddy in early-September at 7 weeks and he was sleeping with me within a few weeks.  He didn't like his cage even when I elevated it to be parallel to my face/pillow and he was separated from me by no more than 6".  He wanted out, and wanted to sleep with me.  Because I go to bed very late (usually about 2:30 AM or a bit later) I didn't want to have him barking and waking up my neighbors.  If I lived in my old house I may have just let him bark until he got quiet and fell asleep in his cage.

My main fears were (1) he'd soil the bed (has never happened, a dog's bodily functions shut down while sleeping/resting) and (2) I might roll over onto him and he was very small (< 5 lbs.).  

I have a queen-sized bed so I just gave him 1 side and put his pillow bed and a pillow for protection/elevation.  He also likes to sleep on the comforter which I fold onto a corner of the bed.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Good point, Kim, about Honey not being able to get off the bed (or couch).  Teddy had an accident or two very early on because he was afraid to jump off my bed (it was afternoon but I was doing some cleaning there and he hung out by resting on the bed).  

Teddy barked and barked but I didn't realize he needed to go out to do potty (his potty bells are on the apartment door).  Little accident then ensued on one of my bed pillows......LOL  :-)

If Honey has just gone out, she should be OK for a few hours.  If she starts to bark or gets up from laying down, be on the lookout.  There should be an Early Warning to let you know she has to go.

With Teddy, he'd give me 2-3 minutes notice when he was 2 and 3 months old.  After 4 months or so, it increased closer to 10-15 minutes so I knew I had time.  For the next few weeks, just make sure Honey has just gone out or is not indicating she needs to go outside, if she is on a couch or sofa or chair or bed where she can't reach her potty bells.

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy &amp; Pippa]

Love that little snow covered face! Daphne was about 4-1/2 months old before I could be sure she would not pee in my bed...Lol. She was potty trained before that,I just wasn't ready to trust her all night long. She never had a problem.

[Lori, Winnie, Bob and Indie]

We waited until Winnie was potty trained. Then we started leaving the door of her crate, which is in our room, open. She went in there by herself maybe one night night, and then has slept with us ever since. :-)  We got Bob when he was 2, and he's been in our bed since day 1. A King size bed is perfect for the 4 of us!  :-)

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Interesting to read the comments here....Teddy was NOT potty-trained when he started sleeping in my bed, I think he was only 9 or 10 weeks old, not even 3 months old.  He didn't have 1 accident in my bed sleeping, though he had a mini-accident during the day when I didn't realize he needed to go out because he was barking and couldn't reach his potty bells.

[Stacy]

I let Katie start sleeping with me when I first brought her home. But I'm a pretty light sleeper and woke up to check on her every time she moved. I still wake up if she gets off the bed in the middle of the night. I do have a good waterproof mattress pad on the bed just in case. Potty accidents weren't our problem. She ate holes in a lot of bedding when she was little! She ate a lot of everything! I kept telling myself that when she turned 2 she would grow out of it. And for whatever reason she did. She grew out of chewing most stuff when she turned 2. Although, for a dog who can't reach the counter very well she will try and try to get anything off the counter. It's never food. But she lives for a napkin that hasn't made it into the trash yet. And underwear are not safe unless they are in the hamper with the lid. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

3 of our dogs (when puppies) were on our bed at night as a last resort for night time sleeping. Once on the bed each of these dogs went to sleep and stayed that way until morning. We never even tried crating for the first two and the third was not crate-able due to anxiety.   It absolutely worked for us.  Ned was crate trained - which was a better  option overall and one I would always try first.  We crated him when we were gone and overnight in our room for the first year, then left the door open.  He chose our bed to sleep on and he still does, although he likes to get on an off during the night - sometimes because I want more room and sometimes because he is hot.

[Paige and Leo]

Leo was a year old when we did bed.  He now does both.  He hops up and down between his crate and our bed. The crate door is open.  I think he gets hot some nights and likes to get off our bed comforter.  He was in crate with door closed until 1. I know some do earlier. But he loves his "home" too.