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Originally Posted by Athina Yes my dog sleeps in my bed every night with me. Ok, that makes sense about her letting my boyfriend know that it's her side of the bed, I was wondering if it had something to do with a territorial thing or if she just didn't like him. So your saying i should start crate training, but does that mean she can never sleep with me at night again? I'd love to have Ruby and my new yorkie Bella (when i get her) both sleep with me is there anything i can do so they can sleep with me without peeing the bed?! |
Most dog experts will discourage you from letting a clearly dominant dog sleep in your bed. If your Yorkies are terribly small, it may even be dangerous for them. I'll lay out a few facts clearly and let you decide:
1. the bed is a prestige territory.
2. Dogs are territorial.
3. you want to give them this territory...
4. You want to be able to take it away at certain times and expect them not to act out...
It just seems like an unrealistic expectation when you consider how the dog sees it. It's like asking your kid to let homeless people share his bed. They just aren't going to like it. So if you must house the homeless, you would probably get your kid his OWN bed. Your dogs will be much happier once they know clearly what's theirs.
I'll tell you something though: We DO let our dog sleep in our bed...but he has in fact marked on my side. The big difference is that I have always slept there, and I had subtle ways of gently letting him know that it was MY territory and not his. (The way I moved him whenever he came up to pillow height). He sleeps at the FOOT of the bed, not the head, or on any one side.
Also we have gone to other great lengths to reduce his dominance in the house. He eats AFTER us, can't come onto furniture we are on without invite, is unable to initiate play unless I have decided it is playtime...etc...
A dog can be a good bed warmer if there's not going to be people they will consider interlopers, and if you take the time to work on other dominance issues. Otherwise, you are going to get a sex-yapper, or an unintentional 3-way during intimate moments, and a wet blanket to sleep in.