Dogs in bed… it starts so innocently
Your puppy stands by the bed in the evening and looks at you pleadingly… and you find it hard to say no? Maybe you even help them get comfortable under the covers. But after a few months, the dog grows up and starts taking up more and more space. You have to sleep in an uncomfortable position, you get cold because your beloved pet has pushed the blanket off again. In the morning, you wake up tangled in fur, with a tail on your face. You decide it’s time to teach the dog not to sleep in the bed, but telling them to get off doesn’t work. Sound familiar? You’re certainly not the only person in the world facing this problem.
Should a dog sleep in the bed?
Dog owners often wonder whether a dog should sleep in the bed at all. There is no one right answer to this question. Ultimately, the decision belongs to the dog’s owner. If the presence of fur in the bedding bothers you, if you like to have the whole bed to yourself, or simply believe that the bed is not a place for an animal, you have the right to require the dog to use its own bed. However, many owners find the company of their pet in the bedroom pleasant and gladly allow them to be in the bed. There is nothing wrong with this decision either; it’s just important to ensure that getting on and off the bed is safe for the dog. For this purpose, you can place a rug or another non-slip material on the floor to provide a stable surface and prevent paw injuries.
Consistency is important
Consistency is very important when it comes to permissions and prohibitions regarding the dog. If you have decided that the animal will not sleep with you in the bed, you should establish this rule from the beginning and stick to it always, regardless of the circumstances. If you are inconsistent (for example, forbidding the dog to get on the bed only during the day or only in the presence of another family member), your pet will learn that it needs to try a certain number of times to finally achieve its goal. So it will keep jumping on the bed and testing your patience. Still, it is definitely easier to establish the ban at the start than to discourage the dog from a behavior that has been reinforced in its mind for several months. For the pet, this will be an incomprehensible change of routine: “Why is the human shouting and chasing me away, I’ve always done this and it was fine.” So if you are at the stage where the dog has not yet learned to sleep in the bed, and you already know that this behavior is undesirable, start training immediately. The key to success is consistency.
Teaching the "get down" command
Every time the dog jumps on the bed, gently lift them and put them down on the floor while giving the command, for example, “get down.” You can try to distract them with a moment of play or command training to divert their attention from further attempts to jump on the bed. However, focusing may be difficult for them in such a situation, so this method does not always work. Over time, the dog should understand what the command “get down” means and obey it without your help (you can also reinforce it with a hand gesture). Learning without positive reinforcement can be difficult, but giving treats in this situation is risky. The dog might learn the pattern: jump on the bed – get down – get a treat and deliberately increase the frequency of this behavior. Therefore, it’s better to choose verbal praise. It is essential to remember that even after fully mastering the command, consistency must be maintained. Every time the dog jumps on the bed, you must tell them to get down. After a while, this behavior should fade away.
You take the bed away from the dog, what do you give in return?
The process of unlearning, or rather extinguishing a learned behavior, looks similar. Similarly, you need to teach the dog the “get down” command, but in this case, it’s also worth providing an alternative. If you deprive the dog of a familiar, safe place to sleep, give them something equally good in return. This could be a comfortable bed placed next to your bed. It’s worth putting a blanket with a familiar scent in it, especially if the bed is new. Teaching the dog the “go to place” command with an indication of the bed will be helpful. You can encourage the dog to choose its own bed instead of the human one by giving small treats there when it decides to lie down on its own. If you don’t want the bed to stay in your bedroom, you can move it later. However, this should only happen once the dog has fully mastered resting in it and will choose it instead of your bed on its own. The place should be changed gradually. You can move the bed a few to several centimeters every few days. Only in this way will it not cause additional stress to the dog. However, it’s worth considering this decision carefully. According to many behaviorists, placing the dog’s bed outside the family’s bedroom is perceived by the animal as exclusion from the group and can negatively affect the owner-dog relationship.
The process of changing the sleeping place can be difficult for the dog
The whole process of changing the habit of sleeping in the bed can be very difficult and demanding. Often, after some progress, there may be a recurrence of the unwanted behavior. This is normal and should not discourage you; training must continue. However, persuading a dog to change habits can be very difficult, especially when sleeping in the bed is driven by more than just a learned pattern. If the dog chooses a place close to you because it has anxiety or excessive resource guarding, therapy led by a behaviorist may be necessary. If you don’t yet have a dog and are unsure whether you want to share your bed with it, think this through carefully and decide in advance. It will be much easier to prevent the dog from developing the habit of sleeping in the bed than to eliminate this habit later.
Tags:
