Now Trying To Sleep On Bed...ugh

[Guest Domino]

We've had our greyhound for over a year. He got on the bed once early on, I said NO, he never got on the bed, again, for over a year. His very plush bed and blanket are beside ours. My wife was traveling for 6 weeks. She got back and, jet lagged, went to bed at 7pm, I went up around 11pm and to my surprise (and her surprise) the dog had gotten onto the bed and snuggled up to her. And so it began. She goes to bed early than me, falls asleep, and the dogs gets in bed. I have to kick him out to go to sleep and twice I've awoken to find he's somehow found a way to get onto the bed at our feet. Now, we come home over lunchtime and find the dog in our bed. He gets out when we tell him to, but he's not happy. I'm not sure who is going to win the battle for the bed at this point. We'd rather not have him in there... He's done some half-biting when he's been sleep-startled in the past. Plus, there's just not enough room. Suggestions?

[sobesmom]

Well.... make your choice. In our out? You humans have to agree. And you have to seriously decide and stick with it. I NEVER wanted a dog in my bed. My DH didn't mind. He let a dog sneak in, and I relented. I kinda don't mind, until I have no blankets or no room! But - I've decided - the dog is in the bed.

 

If you and your DW decide NO DOG IN THE BED - just do it. Be vigilant. Say no and get him off - even if it means waking up in the night and putting him off.Never let him on there. Close the bedroom door during the day. He'll adapt, but it might take awhile because he's got a taste of the good life. Snuggling.

 

If you give in, set rules. My Sobe slept at the bottom of the bed until DH went to work at 3 am, then he cuddled up with me. My Diana always sleeps with her head on my feet, but never on my DH's because he hates that. If you choose to let your dog in your bed - make sure he respects your comfort. Find a bed-spot for him.

 

It's YOUR CHOICE. Make it, and do it. Either way is fine. Don't dither.

[greysmom]

"Not enough room" is a personal choice, and one, as said above, you both have to make and stick to. He *will* learn, but greyhounds can be stubborn and extremely persistent, so you need to be as well. If you don't want him getting on the bed on his own when you're gone - it's really just a big flat couch to them! - you'll need to block him from the room during the day.

 

Teach him a command that makes sense to you - one you don't practice in the middle of the night when one of you is asleep - that tells him it's time for him to vacate YOUR bed and sleep on his. Keep some yummy treats in a bedside drawer specifically for luring him off, if the command doesn't work, but also to reward his compliance. You can also hook up a leash for the same purpose. Unless you know your dog *very* well, do NOT grab him by the collar to get him off the bed. This is nearly always guaranteed to elicit a snap/growl. Plus, you already know he sleep startles, so make SURE he is aware and fully awake before you attempt to move him.

 

If both you and your wife do not ever want him on the bed, then he needs to be removed whenever you find him up there. If it's OK that he starts out on the bed with your wife, and then moves to his bed when you come to bed, then that's what the rule is - every time. If you wake up and find him on the bed in the middle of the night, calmly and without fuss, give him the command and have him move to his own bed.

 

Yes, you will lose sleep for some nights. All training has a cost. But he will eventually get it. FWIW, it's just a good practice to not have a dog that sleep startles sleep with humans on the same bed, so you are right there. But some dogs do settle into being able to sleep and cuddle with sleeping people just fine. Unfortunately, you don't know until you try. It is, however, totally fine to choose to not sleep with your dog.

[Riverhound]

DH and I have a similar arrangement with Joe. I go to bed, and Joe comes with. DH comes upstairs, and Joe gets down. We only have issues if DH follows behind me too soon, or we go to bed at the same time. Joe expects at least an hour in the people bed and can be stubborn about getting off if he doesn't get it.

 

Brees gets on the bed in the morning and is impossible to move. 65 pounds of crazy glue stuck to the comforter. We've had to pull the blankets off to get her down -- but mostly I don't bother. She tends to sleep ON hubby and doesn't bother me at all.

 

No sleep startle with either dog though, and amazing self control from both of them. I've stepped on Joe (hard) and just gotten a "snark and lunge". Same reaction when they step on each other. Never teeth. I have total confidence that I could roll over on them or kick them in face while sleeping and be ok.

 

What do you mean by "half-biting "? Is it just noise or does he make contact?

[NeedlenoseJake]

We originally said no dogs on the bed. It took Jake all of one week to figure out that the bed was nice! We held out for a few months and with consistency in the "no" and "off" he didn't really push it. When we decided that we wanted him on the bed it actually took some convincing because he knew he wasn't supposed to! I guess my point is that they can learn. There are nights when I wish he wasn't on there (freezing cold on a small slice of bed...) but most of the time we love being able to cuddle with him. It's definitely a personal choice. He has been growly a couple times when DH rolled on top of his head, but wouldn't we all growl at that?

[cleptogrey]

when felix was a wee pup- 10 weeks old we let him sleep in-between us, i just couldn't take being woken up numerous times since he was such an unhappy camper sleeping with out his litter mates. once he started to grow(45#s)...off to another room in his crate. eventually the crate became off to his bed in the dog's room. we baby gate that at night. we don't have the pained bodies that results from 78# felix sleeping on top of us. now camping is another story....

Edited January 27, 2015 by cleptogrey

[Annette]

We keep a plasic floor mat (picture the mat used to make office chairs move easier on carpet) with the nubby side up. That is enough to keep Pogo off. No trying to coax him off the bed and we know he isn't on there when we are not home.

[Guest k9soul]

I sort of found a way to have it both ways. Rudy really loves getting in bed and snuggling with me. I usually read for an hour or more every night in bed before I go to sleep, and I enjoy cuddling with him, too; BUT he does have sleep startle which makes him snarl if I bump him in the night, so what I settled on was snuggle time before bed while I read and then he has to go to his own bed when I'm ready to stretch out and sleep. I put a little cup with treats on my night stand and started a ritual where when it was time for him to get down, I said "Ok Rudy, hop up!" and then I'd get up and hold out a treat and he would excitedly get down and I would give him his treat. Then I would say "Ok, time for bed."

 

At first, he would hop back up. I just got up and cheerfully called him back down and pet and praised him when he got down. After a few tries, he gave up and went to his own bed.

 

I just did this routine every night. After awhile of repetition, he knows the routine. Now when I say "Ok Rudy, hop up" he gets up and gets down and runs over for his treat. Then when I say "Ok time for bed" he turns and goes off to his own bed. He's very accepting about the routine now and I don't have any trouble with him. I never scolded him for trying to hop back up at first because I knew he didn't understand. I would just patiently get up and call him back down each time and praise him. He's really pretty bright so he'd only try it a couple times maybe.

 

So I would talk things over with your wife and decide what you both want to do and then establish a routine with him. If you want him to leave the bed I think it's important to try to make it rewarding for him to leave the bed rather than a forceful event. Hopefully you can get something figured out so that everyone is content

[Guest Domino]

Thanks for all the responses! Good advice, here!!!

[Brandiandwe]

We also have an issue sometimes with my going to bed earlier than DH and DH needing crowbar one or the other greyhound off the bed. They seem to rotate through. Tonight, I believe, Benny will be joining me. But we don't mind it, and enjoy snuggling with them. Brandi also joins us in bed if she gets cold. Paige if she's sick, or I am, Benny if he's scared......

 

Just be consistent. He'll get there. I also think that the sleep startle MIGHT decrease over time. Hermon has bitten DH in the past in his sleep. Now we have no problems, but he accepts that he will be shoved in his sleep if he's on our bed./ He's now very careful, and I trust him, just not as much as I do Brandi.

[Guest Amber]

If you decide he is not allowed on your bed period, then you'll have to set things up so that he has no opportunity to get on it all, whether you are in or out.

 

So if you are out, he is gated into another room, with no access to your bedroom.

 

At night when it's bedtime, I think the best way would be to fit his plushy bed into a large crate, make it a really good place for him to be (nice kong when he goes in there) and lock him in the crate so he can't sneak onto the bed.

 

I don't use a crate myself and my grey has free access to get into my bed at night if she wants, but I am single and even then she bed-hogs!

 

But it is up to you to manage him so he doesn't get on the bed...I think this is better than getting into a battle of wills and constantly having to tell him to get off it, which he will start to resent. Better to arrange things so he doesn't have access to get on it.

[Guest normaandburrell]

We let our first grey on the furniture and after about two months decided it was a bad idea, as he was nesting in the bedding and ruining it. We had some large plastic sheets that DH uses as dropcloths when he paints. We put one on the couch and one on the bed when we left the house. We only had to do that for about a week. They don't like the rustling sound the plastic makes and will jump right off, plus it leaves them with a bad association with getting on the bed or couch. A plastic tablecloth or shower curtain would do the same thing.

[KickReturn]

I have an odd rule. No boys but girls are allowed. My boy is 90 pounds with a big wet nose so no way. No the little girly dogs that visit are allowed up after 5:00 AM if they ask nicely. I just can't get over how my dog takes up at least 3 times the amount of space of 60 pound females.

 

To OP: Just be firm and don't feel guilty. You have to mean business. Guard your territory. I would go so far as to confront my dog and back him into his own bed if he pressed the issue. (Truth be told I gave one "uh uh" three years ago when he put a foot up and he hasn't tried since.)