Last month for my Birthday the Wife and I adopted a mixed Lab from the local Vet Clinic that also runs a small shelter. He is about 1 to 2 years old and a wonderful dog. We named him J. Henry. The cats are adjusting to him and Henry really wants to be friends with them. The Wife said he could be on the furniture, but not in the bed. Well she sure caved in real quick on that. He has been sleeping in bed with us since we brought him home. We both have sleep issues. Her's are way worse then mine. I use a CPAP and I really didn't notice any issues until Henry came. I sleep so much better now with him in the bed. I don't roll around near as much at all anymore. With my CPAP I usually wake up between 3 or 4 AM. I have no issues getting back to sleep now. Has anyone else noticed this? Mental security now that he is with me and the Wife at night.

Well I have a Pug so....He doesn't really make me feel safer and he snores

He gets to sleep in the bed anyway.

Just one of the many reasons dogs rock! Glad helps. Ours sleeps in bed but she is quite a bed hog

Yup,

You are normal and so is your pup.

Your dog appears to be very wise. Probably a reincarnated Buddhist monk. Very soothing.

Namaste

Good boy

I have a far out theory. My dogs connect with me mentally and they're secure and relax they're sleeping in the master bedroom with me. Them being relax also transfers to me. In return, one of the dogs plays the guard dog and is able to monitor for any intruder while still being able to sleep.

Our 140ish pound Labradoodle has had the exact opposite effect.

Between the fuzzy horse snuggling in bed with us and my wife's lumberjackesque snoring, I end up sleeping in the guest bedroom most nights.

My dog presses hard against my legs and causes me to get too hot. She's also got some magical way of moving me towards the edge of the bed over the course of the night, so she can have the middle. For those reasons, I had to move her back to her own bed.

Our Jack Russell/smooth fox terrier mix has a nightly ritual. She goes to bed with the oldest until he is asleep. After he is asleep, she checks in on the youngest for a few minutes. She then gets a few bites of food, a drink of water, and then goes out through the doggie door to take a leak. When she comes back inside, she hops in our bed and leans on me about 10 minutes, and then settles in at my wife’s feet and goes to sleep.

I like it because she will alert and growl if something isn’t right. If the youngest is crying, or she hears something, she wakes us up. It makes me more relaxed knowing she will get us up if something is wrong.

If there is thunder however, even if we can’t hear it, she turns in to a panting, shaking basket case, up and down losing her mind. She is terrified of bad weather.

J. Henry is a good dog.

Down deep you know you did a good thing.

He just makes things better.

Simple............

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Our 140ish pound Labradoodle

uhh... Neither Labs nor Poodles get to be that big. That dog is mixed with something bigger... or really fat

Cat or small dog: OK. Dogs over ~20 lbs. want to hog too much of the bed.

quote:

Originally posted by Jester814:

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Our 140ish pound Labradoodle

uhh... Neither Labs nor Poodles get to be that big. That dog is mixed with something bigger... or really fat

Neither. He's a 1st Gen 50/50 Labradoodle. And he's not fat. If anything, he's kinda gangly/lanky. He's just a big dude. (When he stands on his hind legs, he can put his paws on my 5' 4" wife's shoulders.)

His father was a large purebred Standard Poodle. His mother was a large purebred Lab. So he comes from large stock. Plus, he was already 2x the size of his littermates at birth.

For comparison, most other Labradoodles are 60-80 pounds, so he's roughly double the normal size.

We get asked all the time if he's an Irish Wolfhound, due to his size and build.

We got a little pit puppy girl from the pound.

First night we set up her bed next to ours, but she put her paws on the bed and cried a bunch, so we let her in.

It's 12 years later now and she sleeps with us still.

Something comforting about it. She licks me relentlessly as she's falling asleep. It might be like a mommy dog / puppy thing, but I can't tell you how many times we've gone to sleep with her head on my shoulder or her front legs wrapped around my arm.

Sweet little thing.

Used to think it was weird to sleep with a dog, but now, not so much.

I also thought that all the scratching, the gas, etc would be a problem, but so far the dog hasn't complained.....

My old girl never cared to sleep with us. When she was younger she would come upstairs and jump in bed with us during thunder storms. She still freaks out during storms. My wife actually sleeps downstairs with her now when we know a storm is coming. She doesn't need to smother you she just wants someone nearby during a storm.

She is allowed on the furniture. If you are sitting on a spot on the couch that she deems to be the spot she currently would like to be on she will lay on the floor and stare at you. Something the wife and I have called the stink eye.

If you get up to get a snack or go to the bathroom chances are when you come back she will be sprawled out where you were sitting.
She will lay there and wag her tail at you as if to say "yeah I took you're spot and you're going to like it"!

I was never one to project human traits onto animals but sometimes there is no denying it.

Since my wife passed, two years ago, the cats now share my CA king.
Three of them like to be close to me and one often plops down as a pillow.
The Maine Coon kitten has the loudest, most relaxing purr.
They don't take up much space and are much appreciated.

Sorry Guys & Gals No dogs in our bed. We have four in the house and one in the field (livestock guardian) and none have been or shall share our bed. It's not that we don't "love" our dogs but they are still animals. I sleep very well with them on guard in the downstairs of the house. PS: No furniture either. I know but in my parts some don't think dogs or cats for that matter should be in the house at all. Chris

quote:

I also thought that all the scratching, the gas, etc would be a problem, but so far the dog hasn't complained.....

Back in the day, when we had dogs in the house, I actually had a dog leave the room...

quote:

Originally posted by egregore:
Cat or small dog: OK. Dogs over ~20 lbs. want to hog too much of the bed.

I have cats over 20 pounds! And they sometimes sleep with me.

flashguy