Not sure about the dominance issues. Even with Gi sleeping above me - she knows I am the mommie! No messes either or they would be out of the bed.
T.

I have read in books before that it is very easy to get worms, parasites from your dog if they lick your mouth, sit on your pillow, etc. I figure if that is true, then by now I am so infested that them sleeping with me isnt going to make a difference. I wake up to all of mine licking me all over the face, sticking their tongues in my mouth, ears, and eyes. They are better than any alarm clock. They know when I am supposed to get up and let me know about it and dont leave me alone until I do.

Barb

It's me, my husband, and our two yorkies and our maltese in bed. When my husband works 3rd shift our boxer seems to think he needs to take my husbands place!!:D

Maddie sleeps between my boyfriend and me. Wesley sleeps on a pillow by our heads.

I originally wanted them to sleep in crates but I wasn't strong enough to withstand their little cries when they were in there. :rolleyes:

Awwww seems like we have a bunch of spoiled pups :D

Ya! Haruka sleeps right next to me :)

Most trainers will tell new dog owners not to sleep with the dog in the human bed. There are a lot of reasons for this:

- dominance issue: alpha dog sleeps higher than others in the pack. the alpha dog also dictates who sleeps where. your dog may get used to sleeping in your bed and insists on sleeping there going forward despite your say, thereby making him/her alpha to you.

- potty issue: having a puppy that is not potty trained in bed is an accident waiting to happen. a dog will not want to soil his bed, but it's a big bed and what he/she defines as "sleeping area" and off limits to pee/poo may be within the confines of the edge of the bed. hence you can wake up with a poop pile by your foot.

- size issue: trainers deal with dogs of all sizes. they will teach you good training habits that's consistent across all breeds. they will teach that what is not acceptable behavior for a bigger dog should not be acceptable for a smaller dog, although owners of smaller dogs tend to neglect this and give small dogs alot more latitude. hence, imagine having a puppy that will grow to an 80 lbs adult dog. many new owners find it cute to have a 10 lbs puppy in bed with them, but most find it difficult with an 80 lb dog in bed with them and will boot them out of the human bed. but the dog on the otherhand is already in the habit of sleeping with the owner. this is just another bad habit that needs to be broken so it's better not to even start.

- cleansing issue: unlike humans, dogs wear the same "outfit" for indoors and outdoors. you would never consider wearing your jacket, jeans, and shoes to bed with you, but having a dog in bed with you to sleep, you're basically allowing your dog to bring his/her "outerwear" into your bed.

Now, with that being said, my boys are small so size is not an issue. i've trained them to move off the bed and furniture on command to reinforce my dominance over them, so dominance is not an issue. they only started sleeping in bed with us when they're potty trained, so potty is not an issue. and they get a little foot bath and baby wiped body whenever they come back from the outside so cleansiness is not an issue. :D yeah they are spoiled!

I don't think I could sleep if they weren't in bed with us. Isabella & Romeo both sleep under the covers. Isabella cuddles with me under the covers & Romeo is a Daddy's boy & he cuddles under the covers with his Daddy. Bounce sleeps on top of the covers & will sleep partially with me & partially with Dad & it is between our legs or almost on our legs but definitely as close as possible. Life wouldn't be good without them :D !!!!!!!!!!!

My 3 sleep with us, we wouldnt have it any other way. They are like children to me instead of (whispers):secret: dogs.

Yup, both our boys sleep with us every night. We never had dominance issues and we waited until each was potty trained before they were allowed in bed.

It's so much fun to have them there. The best time is the morning when we all cuddle. :)

hahaha... mine have learned to vacate the bed when "things" happen.... then jump back on when the rustling stops. haha.

Well every morning I wake up with a kink in my neck. Noel sleeps on one side of me, Bella on the other side of me and Tia my three pounder crawls up around my neck and I don't move in fear of disturbing one of them. LOL. Disturbing them, now that's funny. So I guess my answer is yes my Yorks sleep with me. Newman is the only one who doesn't since he has bad hips and hurts all the time. He preferes to crawl up in his bed which is right next to mine. I don't worry about worms or catching anything as someone mentioned. I'm meticulous with my dogs and they are always clean and vetted. Probably better cared for them some kids in this world. Elaine

I cannot even imagine not having mine in bed with me.. I was a little afraid at first when Hopey came because she is so little but she knows her "place".. she has her blankie between our pillows and does fine... I have the three little ones in bed with us but they dont sleep under the covers, I cant go that far.... my lab sleeps with my daughter, YES, on the bed, on a pillow and she has her own blankie too, LOL

nope. no room. got a 5 month and a 1.5 in there already.:D working on kicking them out. hubby said no to Troy getting there once the babies are gone. i don't mind. i've shared my bed for the past year and a half... i want my bed back! Troy cries but she'll get over it! my chow used to sleep outside my door, but never tried to sleep in the bed. i probably will put her bed in the room once shes fully trained though.

Freyja was used to her crate when we got her. The first night we put the crate in the living room and she cried so bad I brought the crate in the bedroom. It only took 2 nights for her to go to sleep all night in her crate. We cuddle with her in bed till she is sleepy and then pop her in her crate. Sometimes she gets so sleepy she will go into her crate on her own for a nap.
Patti & Freyja