# Question about sleeping location



## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Nikki sleeps in her crate at night with the door closed and she's fine there, she does not fuss at all, does not have accidents. She's potty pad trained. Her crate is right next to my bed, eye level with me. We decided to keep her crated for a little while longer, at least until after her spay in two weeks so she can rest during the night while she is recovering. (And so we can sleep through the night as well.)

For the future, hubby and I were discussing whether to:

A. Put her crate on the floor and leave the door open so she can come and go as needed during the night (to use her potty pad or for water) 

B. Make or buy her a comfy bed and put it right next to ours. 

C. Let her sleep in bed with us.


Obviously with either A or B options, we would have to train her to not beg us to get up on our bed at night. We don't mind having her sleep in the bed with us, but we were wondering if this action changes the behavior of the dog in any way? Does this make a dog feel more like an "equal" and might lead to dominance issues that we will have to rectify later?

We love our Nikki very much, and our first inclination is to have her sleep in the bed with us. But we are trying to train her to be a happy, well-adjusted dog, with no dominance, aggression, or anxiety issues. So far everything is going very well. She's a quick learner, she's obedient, and she never seems anxious. 

Thank you in advance for your input!


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

Sounds like you have her best interests, but I would be afraid she may getting into some mischief at night with no supervision. Try an xpen and put that in your room. In that you can put her crate, potty pad, water, food, and toys. It size is a 2x4 and gives plenty of space but still confinement. She is still young and may start peeing other places if not confined at night.


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## jazak (Feb 12, 2008)

Max sleeps in my bed at night. We have not had any behavioral issues from this. I think it strengthens the bond. Lilly is still in the xpen at night, but that is for potty training purposes only. As soon as I am confident in her potty skills she will also be in our bed.


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## graceandmartin (Feb 25, 2008)

Dini is almost in the same boat as Nikki. For the first month in a half, she slept in her crate, door closed, on top of the ottoman next to our bed. This was mostly for potty training purposes. Then, as she stopped having accidents in the middle of the night, we moved her crate next to our bed, on top of side table that was eye level to me, and with the door open. So far, its been almost two months now with the door open and she's been really good (of course, she sees the height and hasn't even attempted to try and get down). If she has to go potty in the middle of the night, she'll get up and peek her head out of the crate. For some reason, I've been lucky enough to be in tune with her where she doesn't even have to make a sound. Its like an internal alarm for me. When she stirs or gets up, I'm instantly awake.

Recently the hubby and I considered moving her to our bed, or putting her own bed on the floor next to us, since she is pad trained. That way she can go on her own through the night as she pleased and/ or get some water if she was thirsty.

Well, we tried the 2nd option (we decided not to let her sleep with us because both my husband and I are wigglers in bed and one of us would have felt really bad if we rolled on her leg- or worse, her!!). I have to tell you, I don't know if its because she's still a puppy, but that just did not work for her. We kept a night light on, and the living room light on (which is right outside our bedroom door) that way she could see where she was going. However, she howled in the middle of the night like she was having a nightmare. Turns out that she had to go potty, but was too scared to venture out and leave her bed on her own. 

So we've put her crate (open door again) back to our table next to our bed, but with a water bowl next to her too. So far, this has worked great. She can go in and out of the crate as she pleases, within the parameters of the table (which I would estimate is about 3'x3') and still let us know when she has to go in the middle of the night. I think that for a duration as long as night time sleeping, the crate helps her feel secure. She has a couple of beds as well, which work perfectly for nap times for her, but thats it. Plus too, we tried to recreate the crate to be comfy for her too with a thick pad and blankies to burrow under. As long as the crate is helping her, I think we'll keep it in the meantime.

Hope this helps!!! Good luck with Nikki!!


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Unless you are experiencing behavior problems, sleeping on the bed alone will not create them (it is a privelege, though, and you can take it away if need be). 

I would be more worried about her getting into things during the night. Be sure she cannot leave your room and your room is totally puppy proofed. Sleeping on the bed or not is your preference. Soda sleeps on the floor and this arrangement works quite well for us. Some dogs will be up and wandering without the structure of being crated at night, so if she does, you may need to go back to the crate.


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

Thanks. Your comments and advice are greatly appreciated!

I will probably keep her crated at night in her "nighttime" crate for another month or so. Then we will probably let her sleep with us, or hubby will build her a bed level with our bed and she can either sleep in that, or next to me. 

One day I put her crate mat on top of her "daytime" crate, which is right next to a chair in the living room. Nikki was in my lap. She saw the crate mat on top of the crate level with my chair, so she walked to the crate mat and curled up and went to sleep! So hubby built a bed to go on top of her "daytime crate." It is level with my chair, and she loves sleeping in her perch. I'll post a picture of it soon. We call it her "second floor" bed. She can't fall out of it, and she loves being next to me in her little bed while I'm on my laptop.

We've completely stopped crating her during the day with great success. I've left her alone in the house while I run errands. One day I was out for 4 hours and as best as I can tell she stayed inside her (open) crate. She ventured out to use her potty pad, which is located in another room. 

But every time I return home, she is inside her crate.


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## cloey70 (Jan 6, 2008)

> Thanks. Your comments and advice are greatly appreciated!
> 
> I will probably keep her crated at night in her "nighttime" crate for another month or so. Then we will probably let her sleep with us, or hubby will build her a bed level with our bed and she can either sleep in that, or next to me.
> 
> ...


By the way, Nikki is soooo cute!


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## Nikki's Mom (Feb 13, 2008)

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Thanks! So is yours!


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## Lacie's Mom (Oct 11, 2006)

When Lacie was a puppy, we lived in Southern California. She stayed in my master bathroom and we had a great set up. Her potty pads were on the tile in the farthest corner of the bathrood. The bathroom opened to a carpeted hallway that had a closet on each side and then opened into the master bedroom. I had a baby gate at the opening between the closet hallway and the master bedroom. 

Lacie had her food and water on the carpeted hallway and her bed. She also had a small crate in the bathroom, and of course, she had toys everywhere. 

She would sleep on her bed and would be able to see me through the baby gate.

At the time, I was afraid to leave her on the bed because it was sooooooo high and because I also knew that she couldn't get down by herself.

We moved to NM just after her 1st birthday and that's when she began sleeping on the bed with me. We have a bench at the end of the bed and she can get onto the bench and then the bed by herself. We also have a doggie door that she can go out of to do her business with an opening from the bedroom as well as from the family room.

Tilly has slept with us since she joined the family. Lacie has both a bed and her Pink Pampered Princess House (like a crate - kind of) by the bed and if we get too restless in bed or if we get up too early and the Princess hasn't had enough beauty rest, she will get off the bed and go into her House or sleep on her bed -- whichever suits her mood.

If Nikki is happy in her crate at night, I wouldn't change the sleeping arrangements.


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## LMJ (Feb 16, 2006)

Jeff sleeps in the bed with us. Regarding dominance there, we don't let Jeff sleep on our pillows. In the beginning few times during the night, he would try to get up even with our faces and even nudge his way on to our pillows. We just pushed him away saying NO very firmly. When we are not in the bed and he is, if I catch him on either of our pillows, I make him move. Lately though, he doesn't get on the pillow, but will lay right next to them. You jsut have to limit the freedom you give them in the bed and always let them know who's "boss".


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## lovemytobi (Apr 21, 2005)

All three of mine sleep in our bed (we had to get a king bed with the addition of the third one though ... hehehe!) They have all slept in our bed from the time I brought them home and have never had any problems at all. They have their own beds on the floor for daytime napping, but at night, they know when it's time to go to bed. They love it and we love them being there. I don't think I could get to sleep without them.


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