Why your dog wants to sleep in your bed!

Do you also wonder if it is normal that your dog always wants to sleep with you in bed or at least near you? In this article we will explain why your dog wants to sleep in bed with you and if it is okay or if you should do something about it.

Dogs are social animals and love to be with their humans. Also at night. So it’s perfectly normal if your dog wants to sleep in bed with you. Even in earlier times, humans and dogs shared a place to sleep. The dogs could protect the humans while they slept and at the same time help to keep them warm. So it is nothing unusual if your dog wants to sleep with you.

Reasons why your dog wants to sleep in bed with you

Dogs are social animals and need contact with their pack. This is usually yourself, or the whole family, as well as other pets in the household.

Dogs instinctively seek proximity to their pack. It gives them a sense of security when they are always near their pack. Of course, this is also true, or especially true, at night. So they can instinctively protect each other at night as well.

So it’s perfectly normal if your dog likes to sleep with you at night.

Besides, most dogs are cuddly by nature and love to lie close to their humans. When cuddling and petting, the dog releases the hormone oxytocin.

So when your dog lies next to you the body releases oxytocin. This calms your dog, helps to reduce stress and the stress hormone cortisol is reduced.

Less stress in dogs, just like in humans, means a better immune system.

In simple words, it’s just nice for your dog to sleep next to you!!!

Of course there are also reasons why your dog doesn’t want to cuddle.

Advantages when the dog sleeps in the bed

Regardless of what others think, there may well be advantages to letting your dog sleep in your bed with you. (As long as he does not sleep in the bed of others, it should not bother them).

Advantages of having your dog sleep in your bed:

• Your dog gives off heat. So if you are often or always cold, your dog can actually keep you warm. This is also used to be a reason why dogs slept in bed with their owners when houses were colder and there were no real heaters.

• Your dog is a natural protector. In case someone breaks into your apartment or house, your dog will warn you immediately and protect you in case of emergency. Dogs are better than alarm systems.

• Petting and cuddling has a relaxing effect not only on your dog, but also on you. If you can’t calm down and are tossing and turning in bed, cuddling your dog can help you fall asleep better.

Note: Our dogs do not sleep in bed. This has several reasons. Once there are 2 x 45 KG and the space would then already be a bit tight. The cover picture is Malou in our vacation in Croatia. Sometimes she made her lunch break in our bed :-).

In addition, we do not want our dogs to climb stairs unnecessarily several times a day. In addition, there are open stairs through which the paws can slip relatively quickly.

But contrary to our opinion before we had dogs and at the very beginning, our dogs are allowed on the couch.

In the beginning we were of the opinion that dogs do not belong on the couch. Even if you feed a good dog food, dogs have their own smell that we initially did not want on the couch. It is the same with the dog hair.

However, the advantages quickly outweighed the disadvantages. Lying on the couch together is relaxing and just makes everyone happier.

We now simply cover the couch with a matching blanket, and cuddle together with our dogs on the couch. Even the nap on Saturday 🙂 then takes place together on the couch.

Disadvantages when the dog sleeps in the bed

Of course, for all the romance, there are downsides to having your dog sleep in bed with you.

• If your dog is constantly dirty and smelly, it’s not pleasant to have him next to you or to have to clean him every day so he can go to bed. A Golden Retriever smells when he jumps in every mud hole or rolls in a dead animal on the lawn. Malou, our Cane Corso, won’t even go outside to pee when it’s raining (for a short time and then it’s fine).

• Your dog may have ticks, fleas or other parasites that he could bring to your bed. You must be aware of this.

• Depending on what kind of dog you have, this can be dangerous for him. If you sleep restlessly and turn on your sleeping Chihuahua, it can be fatal for your dog.

• On the other hand, it could be that you are sleeping restlessly because your dog is so small and you are already worried in advance because you are afraid of crushing him in his sleep. The stress factor would then increase for you.

Is a dog allowed to sleep in the children’s room?

In my opinion, a dog may sleep in the children’s room but in no case in the children’s bed.

Depending on the size and weight of the dog and the child, tragic accidents can occur if your dog sleeps in the crib. Even though children love to have their best friend with them at night.

However, there is a risk that your dog will lie down on the child at night to protect, warm or just cuddle him, suffocating him in his sleep.

It should therefore be ensured that the dog cannot simply jump into the bed. With us that would be the case, since our youngest has a loft bed.

However, if your dog simply sleeps in the children’s room on the floor or in an extra dog bed, this can also have advantages.

Because children who grow up closely with animals often do not get as many allergies.

Frequently asked question:

Why won’t my dog cuddle?

It may be that your dog does not want to cuddle because he was a victim of abuse in the past.

Does a dog need a garden?

As a rule, a dog does not need a garden. A garden is no substitute for a walk. Your dog always gets exercise and activity outside in nature. At home is the rest zone.

How can you tell if a dog is bored?

Normally, you can tell that a dog is happy when it is NOT exhibiting unusual behavior such as constant barking or the like. If a dog has enough exercise and activity, he is happy and does not show any misbehavior.

Conclusion: Is a dog allowed to sleep in bed with me?

Whether your dog is allowed to sleep in your bed, you must decide for yourself. There are certainly reasons such as hygiene, which speak against it, but also reasons such as stress reduction and relaxation and thus a better immune system, which clearly speak for it. Opinions of especially “non-dog owners” should be left out in any case, because they usually only see “work” with a dog and do not see the “beauty”.