# Sleeping in bed with us???



## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Having a potty break in the bedroom would be the least of my concerns!
Try peeing, pooping and or vomiting *on* your bed....
Try and obstruction becuase he decided to chew on your favorite comforter or found a sock under the bed....(he was awake when you drifted off to sleep and amused himself!)
Try teething damage to you headboard/footboard or a hole in your box spring or mattress - (he woke up early and was bored!)


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

LibertyME said:


> Having a potty break in the bedroom would be the least of my concerns!
> Try peeing, pooping and or vomiting *on* your bed....
> Try and obstruction becuase he decided to chew on your favorite comforter or found a sock under the bed....(he was awake when you drifted off to sleep and amused himself!)
> Try teething damage to you headboard/footboard or a hole in your box spring or mattress - (he woke up early and was bored!)



I understand these risks exist, but I know lots of folks who sleep with their dogs in bed with them so I'd assume it becomes safe(r) at some point and thats why I was asking when.


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## LibertyME (Jan 6, 2007)

Personally they dont sleep in my room uncrated until they are done setting their molars at 10-12 months....and if they have a proclivity for chewing fabric...they never sleep uncrated...

While every now and again, I allow a snuggle while Im reading at night ..frankly the thought of the dirt that comes in on their coats wigs me out and wreaks havoc with my allergies...


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## Karen2 (Jan 5, 2009)

This is just my opinion, as Sierra was 2 when we got her...
I would wait until you know Rowan is respectful and obeys commands.
Sierra didn't start sleeping in our bed for almost a year after she came to stay.
She slept on the floor in our our room to be close.
just my 2 cents
Karen


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## willip (Oct 27, 2010)

We have our dogs in the room with us but in their own beds. This is because the older one could no longer hold it in all night and being in our room he can tell us when he needs out (he does manage to hold it in most nights) Chester only being a yr does get hold of every sock etc that he can find and I recently found a stash of chewed up things under the bed! I wouldn't have them on the bed as they would just take over, its bad enough when the kids come in in the morning for a cuddle, especially when they were very young. 
They are happy in their own beds...or the floor if its too warm! 
Its completely up to you if you do, But once you start its a hard thing to stop and a fully grown golden will take up alot of space on your bed! maybe having him in your room but crated would be best till hes older.
They were probably just as happy downstairs at night by themselves to be honest though!


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

I would say it depends on how Rowan is doing during the day. Is he a chewer? Does he need to go out a lot? I don't see anything wrong with having him in bed with you...a lot of people love having their pooch sleep with them. If you are a light sleeper or BF is, then he would probably wake you up when he needs to go out. I suspect, though, that with his 'family' to cuddle up with, he will be quiet all night and sleep really well. It might bother you guys a little at first while you get used to him being there.

Maybe try it for one of his naps. Lie down with him and take a nap.


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

Penny's Mom said:


> I would say it depends on how Rowan is doing during the day. Is he a chewer? Does he need to go out a lot? I don't see anything wrong with having him in bed with you...a lot of people love having their pooch sleep with them. If you are a light sleeper or BF is, then he would probably wake you up when he needs to go out. I suspect, though, that with his 'family' to cuddle up with, he will be quiet all night and sleep really well. It might bother you guys a little at first while you get used to him being there.
> 
> Maybe try it for one of his naps. Lie down with him and take a nap.



He's not too bad of a chewer thank goodness :] We give him the run of the downstairs - family room, kitchen, bathroom, and front entrance during the day while we're at work and he has only managed to find (my fault) and shred a newspaper. He holds it overnight right now and I often wake up before he does. 

That sounds like a good suggestion having a little nap trial; I'm coming down with a cold so tomorrow afternoon a nap will likely be in order. If he is too wiggly, or keeps waking me up I will move his bed into the walk in closet and he can sleep there.


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

I've never had a dog sleep in bed with us, so can't help you there. Goldens are big, hairy dogs. Mine love being outdoors; running, digging, rolling, getting wet & dirty. I can't imagine allowing them on the bed. 

Our dogs usually sleep in our bedroom but not on the bed.


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

I would start by moving his kennel into the bedroom at night (that's where it works best for me) and it helps the pup feel safer and part of the pack. If you are leaving him home alone with free run and no issues -then it is likely fairly safe to give it a try- if there is a problem you can always put him in his kennel in his own bed. But you also need to make sure he understands that it is your bed and he comes up when invited and gets off when asked to. Personally I have no problem with my dog sleeping with me and thoroughly enjoy the 'bonding time'.


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## mylissyk (Feb 25, 2007)

I think it's entirely a personal choice, though I would wait until he is reliably house trained and can go all night without needing to go out. Starting with his crate in your room is a good idea.


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## OriJames (Jan 23, 2009)

I had no problem with Ori sleeping on my bed. It seems that he knows he's not supposed to touch anything I don't give him so it's never really a problem. I can leave food sitting on my bed, leave for another room for an hour, and it will remain untouched.

However, getting him to sleep on the bed was MY idea...he prefers the floor by the doorway, and often jumps OFF the bed only to plonk there and stare at me like I'm cruel. Lol.

I would advise as others, wait until his teeth are fully grown (around 11-12 months) and he knows all his commands first. But always remember there's the chance he won't want to. *sigh* it's a lonely life on the top of the sheets.


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## momtoMax (Apr 21, 2009)

Max didn't start sleeping in my bedroom constantly until he was around 6 months old. It was a very tiring experience though, so be warned. It took a few weeks for Max to learn that Mom's bedroom is for sleeping - not for exploring or playtime. 

It was worth it though! Now Max goes in my bedroom, gets comfy on the bed and sleeps almost every night through and I get the added weight and cuddliness of him to help me sleep more soundly as well.


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## Green&Gold (Nov 2, 2010)

Madison so far has only been up for a brief 10 or 15 minute cuddle before being ready to get down. You may find that your puppy isn't as interested as you might be... I think they tend to get hot. 

I'll also say that at 3 months, I think the mischief is just getting started. Madison isn't much of a chewer, but good luck hiding ALL the socks you own because she'll find one somewhere. At just over 5 months, she's really hitting her stride as far as mischief we were never previously concerned with goes.


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## The Trio (Apr 24, 2010)

All three kids have their own crate and sleep in a separate room. I tried it an Max bounced like a bear. Morgan cuddles and I love it, but I want them to know I'm the boss. Sleeping with you if you are not a strong leader can lead to pack imbalance. They can think they are the boss cause they sleep were the leader sleeps. If you are going to do it after they are 1 year.


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## GinnyinPA (Oct 31, 2010)

I hope you have a king sized bed. When an adult golden stretches out, he's BIG.

When I was a child, I slept with our German Shepherd. I'd be curled into the corner, while he had three quarters of the bed. It was warm, but very cramped. As an adult, I said, "no way!"


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## spruce (Mar 13, 2008)

totally improper training at our house:

our lap pups slept in bed with us since lst nite home. I wanted to crate train Sadie, but she cried & DH couldn't stand it. Sadie chewed the blankets (and everything) for lst year; Sara (RIP) would take a toy to bed & chew it. 

Bridger (goldie) came to us at 6 months & we brought him on bed right away -- we were 3rd home & wanted him to feel loved.

never had any potty accidents, they would let us know when the need arose.

it can be done, but I think crate training makes for a better pet


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## Elisabeth Kazup (Aug 23, 2008)

He sounds like he's perfectly ready to sleep anywhere you would like him too. Penny doesn't like to sleep on the bed if there is someone in it. She will sleep on it all day, however, by herself. She's a TRUE bed hog! 

Make sure he can get down/off by himself without hurting himself. You may find he likes to cuddle a bit and then go to his own bed. Penny usually starts out on her bed in our room but will move around during the night to the tile floor in the front hall, the sofa and back to her own bed.

I think moving his bed to your room is a good idea. Then he can choose!


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## sharlin (Feb 26, 2007)

Ahhhhhh - the days of wondering WHEN instead of HOW MANY.
As soon as the crate becomes a nightstand!!


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## PrettyPollysMom (Oct 18, 2010)

My dogs didn't start sleeping with us until a couple of months ago. Polly is almost four and Rocco is two. It took me a while to convince my husband that Polly was ready to sleep with us. We tried it a lot over the years and she got too excited to be up there with us and wouldn't let us sleep. Now they are up there and they stay on the floor until my hubby gets up and goes to work, then we all get in the bed and sleep for a little bit longer. He sounds like he's ready for a try. I'd put his crate in there with the door open that way if he wants to go in his crate he can, if not, he'll find a spot.. Polly usually sleeps on the floor near her daddy (she's a daddy's girl) and Rocco has a pillow in the corner he likes (until he sneaks on the bed in the middle of the night)


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## SylviaB (Jul 5, 2008)

We got Tundra when he was 11 months old and he's slept on his bed in our room for the past two years. I recently did coax him up one night on the bed to sleep with me (dh was sick and in the other room!). Not that comfortable having a 90 lb golden taking up over half the bed and not moving!LOL I do sometimes call him up in the morning for a few minutes after dh has gotten up. But he's not really a "snuggler"....more likely he's on his back with his feet in my face!


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## Jax's Mom (Oct 16, 2009)

My pup Boone, who is 4.5 months old, still sleeps in his crate, but in our room. My other 2, Jav and Lucy are 19 months and 16 months, sleep in my room but there just isnt enough room for them while hubby and I are sleeping. All 3 get snuggle time before we go to sleep, but once I want to sleep, they all need to get off. Lucy does manage to sneak up sometimes during the night, she is the smallest of the 2 at 55 lbs. I think my 2 were both abot 6 or 7 months before we let them sleep out of the crate.


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## Lisa_and_Willow. (Dec 18, 2007)

Willow was crated by my bed until we stopped the night time pee breaks. From then she slept in my bed.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Chelseanr said:


> Hey everyone :] me and my boyfriend would love to let Rowan begin sleeping in bed with us, and I haven't let him because I'm worried about him having a potty break in the bedroom. When is it safe to start letting him do this??


I think this depends on you. 

My dogs were kept in my bedroom from the start. I kept them in my bed because that way they'd wake me up when they started moving around and needed to be taken outside. 

So like with my Jacks... because my bedroom was his sleeping area, he never had any accidents in there. 

But potty training meant getting up two or three times a night to take him out until he was able to sleep the whole night. 

The downside is probably you getting used to sleeping lightly and taking the puppy outside every time he snuffles puppy breath in your ear or chews on your hair (my guy's signals that he had to go out).


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## jwemt81 (Aug 20, 2008)

Our dogs don't sleep in our bed with us. We didn't start letting Tucker out of his crate at night until he was a little over a year old. That's when we felt that we could fully trust him and everything went fine, but we did still use a baby gate to confine him to certain areas of the house. Our youngest who just turned a year old still sleeps in his crate at night because he is still very much a chewer and we can't trust him at all to be left uncrated while we're sleeping. Him having an accident would be the very least of my concerns. I would be much more worried about him chewing on our bedding or anything else that could cause a potential obstruction. I wouldn't risk it until he's much older and more mature.


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## Everything's Golden (Nov 1, 2010)

I know how you feel about leaving him downstairs! Mattie sleeps in her crate downstairs and in fact, we don't let her upstairs at all. We have a baby gate up. I feel bad but our upstairs is carpeted and she isn't fully pottytrained yet and would have a field day with all the clothing and kids toys lying around up there. So she is downstairs only for at least a year. She really doesn't mind though. I set my alarm to let her out and we are early risers so she is not left alone too long while she is awake.


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

Tess is 13 months old and still sleeps in her crate, downstairs. She has done so from day 1 she came to live with us at 8 weeks, never a problem. She actually goes into her crate by herself when she's tired.


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## KatieandAngie (Dec 24, 2008)

When we first picked up Angie we were playing with her at the hotel and had her on the bed. We sat down and had a glass of wine and looked over and this what was we saw...










Once we got home she stayed in the crate maybe 2 or 3 nights and then after that she slept with us every night since. Now that we have her and Chance they'll take turns sleeping on the bed or the floor during the night and will often times both get in the bed. I won't lie, the best sleep of my life is when she snuggles up and lays her head on my chest and Chance lays his across my legs. I don't know what it is but it's just such a comfortable feeling.


ROFL Steve... That looks like our situation (with one less dog albeit)



sharlin said:


> Ahhhhhh - the days of wondering WHEN instead of HOW MANY.
> As soon as the crate becomes a nightstand!!


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## grcharlie (Nov 10, 2007)

sharlin said:


> Ahhhhhh - the days of wondering WHEN instead of HOW MANY.
> As soon as the crate becomes a nightstand!!


 
That is what my bed looks like...LOL. I also have 3 Goldens plus a husband...LOL It does get a bit crowded at times.

This is how Sally sleeps....above our heads...she loves the pillows.

http://inlinethumb37.webshots.com/21220/2836756050049351191S425x425Q85.jpg


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## katelyn29 (Jul 21, 2010)

I would definitely move his crate into your room if you feel bad for him. We have two goldens and both of them have always started out crated in our room. Dakota, who is now 16 months old has been out of his crate and just sleeping on the floor in our room for probably about 6 or more months. He adapted to it rather well since he never took a liking to his crate. Sometimes he would sneak in our bed in the middle of the night, but he hasn't done that in a long time. Right now we have a 6 month old puppy and she still sleeps in her crate in our room. She really likes her crate and walks right into it at night, but I know she would love to sleep on the bed with us. Even though she hasn't had an accident in the house in months I still haven't allowed her to sleep outside of her crate yet, at least not for the whole night. Last night she was fussing in her crate so i took her outside to pee and then she slept on the bed with me for a few hours until morning. She has never chewed up anything so that isn't a huge concern for me, I think I would just like her to be a little older until she has free roam of the room at night.

Dakota has slept with us before but it is very uncomfortable. Unless you have a huge bed i probably wouldn't allow a puppy to sleep with you until he is almost full size. Having a little puppy in the bed is a lot different than sharing with a huge dog, so if you don't think having a 70-80 lb dog sleeping with you would be comfy than just don't allow if from the beginning. I sometimes allow him to lay with us while we watch tv in bed, but as soon as sleeping time comes he gets booted off. I feel bad, but its not worth having a stiff back in the morning.


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## Chelseanr (Oct 3, 2010)

Thanks for all the tips and suggestions everyone! We will think about moving his crate up into the walk-in closet for another 5-6 months and maybe then transition him into sleeping on the floor, and lastly in bed occasionally. I am thinking about buying a kingsize bed so I can snuggle with him. I'm always cold at night so any extra body heat is a bonus to me lol.


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## MillysMom (Nov 5, 2008)

I'd like to suggest when you do let him sleep in your bed, please teach him that furniture is a privilege, not a right, and you must be invited. You might read this and think, "well, I love dogs in my bed, it will always be a right in my house", but there are still times you probably don't want a dog in the bed. Especially if you are ever sick or injured. 

Snuggle time is still fun. There is one dog allowed piece of furniture in the house, it's in the basement, and I love to go down and snuggle with Hush when the other dogs aren't looking. Sometimes I even doze off with her in my arms. Milly gets on bed snuggle time every couple of weeks. I know myself, and it is far too easy for me to fall into the routine of dogs in the bed every night, especially with Milly. Hush has never stepped foot in a bedroom, and for all she knows, I sleep in a crate at night, too.


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## LilTuffGirl (Sep 22, 2009)

... It gets old QUICK when they get big.

Hayden didn't sleep in our bed for a while. For once it was ME who said no dog in the bed... And it was the husband who ended up ignoring that one. I don't really mind she's a really good girl. But OMG first it was just the husband that would push me to the edge of the bed... now it's the husband AND the dog. The husband doesn't snore but half the time the dog does!! It's AWESOME being kept up all night because of a dog snoring.. and when she has her little barking dreams.. yea.. fun.. And don't bother to try to move them - they somehow make themselves weight like 500 pouds at this point so it doesn't happen.
The other night I was REALLY thinking about sleeping on the couch.

Bad thing is I still have one more that is still in the crate since he's 6 months and REALLY wiggly. Husband said he felt bad for him (hayden is his fav he doesn't like Duke's puppy personality) and said we should let him sleep with us. I said no it wont work.. he said it's just not right.. I said fine!! Lets go to bed then. haha 15 min later "ok put him in his **** crate". lol 

I have no idea where i'll go after he allows Duke on the bed.  Crazy stupid thing is *I* spent $3,500 on that **** bed.... And looks like i'll be the one kicked out. yay me....


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## Jamm (Mar 28, 2010)

I can't wait till Joey can sleep in my bed, but that wont be for a LONG while. A) my room is not dog proof (messy teenager room with things everywhere) B) Thats when Jesse and I snuggle C) Joey would go crazy with zoomies or SOMETHING. Joey is fine in his crate downstairs all night.


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