Have I Committed The Ultimate Sin?

[Kelly_Louise]

I can think of far worse sins to commit than letting your dog sleep on your bed

[W Sibs]

Emmy and Charlie slept on my bed the day the came home.. wouldn't have it any other way

Now, Charlie prefers on the floor and only sleeps on the bed with me when he isn't feeling well.

[optimistic millie]

I have a good relationship with my 15-month-old Ridgeback, Max. He has slept on my bed since he was about 7 months old (I got a bigger bed ) and I have, to my mind, no problems with him.

Night before last I saw he was not himself. His ears were 'down' - like when he's afraid or unsure of himself, he was restless, his tail was between his legs and he spent the night on the floor next to the bed. In the morning he refused his breakfast and was very clingy. We had an appointment at the vet for his annual vaccinations at 09:00 and when we got there I explained to the vet that I was concerned about Max. The vet could find nothing wrong and said to just keep an eye on him. He did the vaccs and we came home. Max was very lethargic and spent most of the day on his bed in the dining room which is most unusual. He normally follows me to the workshop and seldom leaves my side. I was quite worried by the end of the afternoon and SMS'd his breeder to ask advice.

I'm not good and SMS'ing and eventually after a couple of backwards and forwards messages, I got one I couldn't understand (other than that she was so angry with me that she was incoherent in her SMS ) so I called her. Long story short is that I have totally f$cked up the dog by allowing him to sleep on my bed ... there were some other upsetting comments made which I won't repeat here.

For the record, Max is back to normal this morning, playing and just being Max :laugh: I am a first-time dog-owner and I tend to panic when something is not right. I do not yet have the confidence to "just leave things and see what happens" and I worry when things are not right. Have I really screwed up my dog by letting him sleep on the bed?

[shyfig]

My BC Jed (8mths) sleeps on the bed too.....but by his own invitation. I'm very interested to hear of the process involved in teaching the dog to hop up on the bed only by invitation.

[scolly]

Hi...we have three dogs,two beagles and a stuffy. All three love sleeping on the bed they generally take turns.Rocky,the beagle hops into bed,crawls under the cover and rests his head on the pillow just like a human.The staffy sleeps at our feet but wakes me up at 5 am every morning by putting her head under my neck to let me know it's time to wake up,jump out out of bed and feed her. When I'm sick all three are on the bed and don't move until I do. Wouldn't have it any other way.

[smooch]

Smoochie sleeps with me, on or in bed. If he gets too hot he will get down on the floor next to the bed. But mostly on the bed and has to be touching me. He must think I willl run away from him LOL. In winter he snuggles up to my back to keep it warm, if I roll over he goes round the other side and snuggles to my back.

[AmandaJ]

Our Neuter is our first Beardie - we committed the same sin - he slept on the bed as a pup. The more dogs we got the harder that got, so now he's on the floor. The dogs are allowed on the bed when we aren't in it but it's ours at night. We get the "finger" from them when it's time to get off and Charlie "plays dead" rather than move, but eventually he gets off - no growling, no real fuss - it's more like a game to the dogs now. I'm more anoyed when he steals my chair - EVERY time I get up!

[Sheridan]

I'm not good and SMS'ing and eventually after a couple of backwards and forwards messages, I got one I couldn't understand (other than that she was so angry with me that she was incoherent in her SMS ) so I called her. Long story short is that I have totally f$cked up the dog by allowing him to sleep on my bed ... there were some other upsetting comments made which I won't repeat here.

For the record, Max is back to normal this morning, playing and just being Max :laugh: I am a first-time dog-owner and I tend to panic when something is not right. I do not yet have the confidence to "just leave things and see what happens" and I worry when things are not right. Have I really screwed up my dog by letting him sleep on the bed?

There is a special hell reserved for people who allow their dogs to sleep on their beds ...

Seriously, tell the breeder to pull her head in. It's your choice and as long as you control it, I doubt whether he's going to be damaged for life.

[Adza]

Tahli sleeps wherever I sleep, if I accidentally don't wake up on the lounge, she is on the floor next to me, if I'm in bed she's in bed. I love it that way which is my choice. I hear more and more people these days who have their dogs on the bed, nothing wrong it's personal choice and I love snuggles. :D

[TangerineDream]

All my dogs have slept on the bed from the time they could physically climb up by themselves (except Tango - I dragged out a suitcase for him to use as a step from the 2nd night he was home :D - no way do you ruin them - if he will do what he is told at other times, and you are the leader of your pack, there isn't a problem - it's personal choice....don't worry about it...just enjoy his company.

[Sheridan]

Grumpy and Mini sometimes sleep up on the bed with me (separately). Mini is better because Grumpy is a bed hog and ends up with all of the queen size bed bar the foot that I end up in.

[gwenneth1]

Unless you have pre existing dominance or aggression issues- personal choice IMO. Our dogs take it in turns but there is almost always at least one on the bed.

Exactly what Cosmolo says. I have had all dogs sleep on the bed bar one (dominance issues with other dogs emerged). It didn't f*** her up, I just rejigged the sleeping arrangements and all was well with the world.