Thursday, January 6, 2011

DoggyStyle: Twin Dog Beds

 I remember reading somewhere that one reason people feel exhausted during the day is that they have too many distractions in their bedroom to get a good night's sleep. They recommend not using computers and TV's in the bedroom so you can condition your body to know the bedroom is for sleeping. While we don't have those items in our bedroom, we do have an even bigger distraction: the dogs. We have a second set of dog beds that we keep in the corner of the bedroom where the pooches sleep at night. And I will admit, the rattling of dog tags, the tapping of claws sneaking out to the sofa, and of course having this in our face each morning is sure to disturb our sleep cycle.
 I just started thinking about this as we've been making some improvements in our bedroom. We're getting a new headboard and rug which will probably takeover much of the dog bed space. While we originally had the beds pushed together to create a 'queen size':
We decided to alleviate Mr. B's suffering and make twin beds; ala Donna Reed. They even have matching pillows to rest their luggy heads, but Miss M still needs to sneak over to Mr. B's bed and take over:
This is working for now, but I think when the new headboard comes, our bed will become even bigger pushing everything back and putting the beds in an area where we would literally have to jump over them each time we left or entered the room. They do enjoy sleeping on the rug too, so I'm not sure if they really need another bed. Just curious, do most people have dog beds in the bedroom? Or do the dogs just sleep on the carpet?  Or do your dogs just not sleep in the bedroom?

51 comments:

Christine said...

Our dogs sleep on our bed...my sleep is definitely compromised, but I love the snuggle time.

Love you blog and read it all of the time!

Unknown said...

My sleep is definitely affected by the dynamic duo. Flash always sleeps with us and Ollie does occasionally. I always hear when one of them comes in and also wake up whenever one of them gets up to move. I love how snuggly they are though so I can't complain too much!

Maggie Mae and Max said...

My mom is mean and won't let me on da furniture, my dad would if he could,I am sure of dat, so I has a bed in da living room and a bed in mom and dad's bedroom. ;)

Woofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae

Levi said...

I sleep in my bed at the foot of mom's and dad's. I am not allowed in the bed though I have tried once or twice. Mom said sometimes I do keep her up but she takes my collar off at night so now all she'll hear is my ears flapping when I shake,bol!
I don't think I could sleep without them in the room....
and I often go to my bed even if they aren't in bed yet :)

Anonymous said...

Great shot of Mr. B's snoot! :D Mom said she wouldn't mind havin that as the first thing she saw in the morning vs. my tail whackin her in the face sometimes ;) Yeah I sleep on the bed :D

Waggin at ya,
Roo

Pip said...

We keep the dog crates in the bedroom, but at night we usually let the dogs take turns sleeping with us (sometimes they'll both sleep with us at the same time, but that gets pretty crowded).

How Sam Sees It said...

We do have a bed, which Sam spars with every night before hopping into our bed to sleep!

Sam

Corbin said...

I have a bed in the bedroom, but I often sneak into bed with mom and dad as soon as they fall asleep... They also have a crate in the bedroom... I sleep in there unless we have a foster dog, then the foster sleeps in the crate because I'll try to play all night otherwise :-) Sometimes I sleep on the couch if I'm real comfy before bed.
-Corbin

Maggie said...

We have beds all over the house and don't really make Emmett and Lucas sleep anywhere in particular. Cooper the puppy sleeps in his crate in our room. Emmett, though, always chooses the dog bed next to our bed. Lucas starts out on his bed in our room, waits until we start to fall asleep, then he sneaks off to sleep on the couch.

Passion 4 Pits said...

We have let them sleep with us in the bed (yes two pit-mixes and two people in our Queen sized bed). Bruno liked to snuggle under the covers and warm our feet and Winnie curled up in a ball at the bottom). But our sleep was definately suffering.
We tried giving them dog beds in our rooms, but they would jump on the bed until we finally gave up.
Then, miraculously, last night we brought in the chairs they love to snuggle in from the living room. They each curled up on a chair and snoozed all night with only a couple attempts to join us in the bed.
Apparently they just like being up off the ground! I woke up this morning refreshed!

Anonymous said...

Poooor Mr. B. Only his tushie on the bed while his big ol' head has to rest on the cold, hard floor.

Me and Brudder Ranger have our own condos in the bedroom and that's where we sleep at night. She also takes off our collars so we don't jingle. So the only time we really wake 'em up is when we decide to rearrange the furniture in our condos in the middle of the night. Mom has been thinking abouts getting some new condos for us that look like end tables to put on either side of the bed. They kind of cost a lot of green papers but it might be worth it cuz our current condos take up half the bedroom.

Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie

Lucy-Fur, as typed by Dr. Liz said...

Our dogs sleep in 'the big dog bed' (aka our bed). We've got a king size bed so everyone can fit (and 70lb Abby still thinks she's a 10 pound puppy and tries to sleep on our pillows... we've given up the fight and she has her own pillow above each of our own... seriously.) Since the dogs have slept on the bed since before I met my husband, we didn't even try to change the behavior with the youngsters (have some dogs on the bed and others not allowed? yeah, um, that wouldn't last long). All that said, there is nothing more soothing than the sound of a snoring dog on your pillow! ;-)

-Dr. Liz (the girls are out barking at the garbage truck)

The Heartbeats said...

I sleep in Mamma & Daddy's room on an or-tho-pea-dic beg. I kick when I am asleep so I can't sleep in the bed. McIver sometimes gets to sleep at the foot of the bed. I get yelled at for licking myself in the night. HEHE. Sometimes my toenails click on the floor too. But Mamma likes to fall asleep listening to me breathe- weirdo...

Wiggles & Licks,
Calhoun

Trissi_V said...

I can honestly say that our dogs sleep when we sleepand aren't up roaming around. Apollo and Laci each have a quilt (folded over) on either side of the bed that they sleep on(Laci is on the left and Apollo on the right). The only problem we seem to have with this arrangement is the fact that Apollo is an early riser and wants to go out around 6am. Laci and I both feel that is way to early to get up, I think she would be happy to sleep in until about 9 or 10.

Anonymous said...

Chick sleeps in his dog bed right up against our bed (on my side, of course). He begs really nicely to be let up, and occasionally if he's not feeling well or on a particularly cold night we let him in. Lucky for us, he is an extremely talented sleeper-- he goes to bed the second we do, and often it's a chore to convince him to get out of bed in the morning-- even when we're sleeping in!
Foster Lollie sleeps in her crate in her very own bedroom (essential to keeping us from thinking of her too much as our own dog).
I can't get over how funny it is that bossy Miss M is always kicking poor Mr B out of his spots!

Wyatt said...

We have dog beds on the floor in the bedroom as well. We have an open floor plan house, with no doors, so there is no keeping them out anyway! We get a face full of dog, every morning around 5 am!

Wyatt's Mom

Mary said...

I'm cracking up at the Donna Reed comment. Ms. M is such a bed hog! Look at poor Mr. B having to rest his big ol' head on the hardwood floor.

You left one option out of your set of questions-do your dogs sleep in bed with you? Levi sleeps in our bed and Neptune sleeps on the big new dog bed for two on the floor. Actually, Levi has been sleeping with Neptune for part of the night and then stares at me until I wake up to invite him into bed. Lately he's been growling to wake me up, which is terrifying until you realize it's just Levi.

I'm sure Levi sleeping in the bed is not great for our sleep, but I do love to cuddle with him. Neptune snores. LOUDLY. That is taking some getting used to, but the noise machine helps. I also hate waking up to the sound of licking or even worse, those heaves before the barf comes. Nonetheless, I could never bear to kick them out of the bedroom at night.

houndstooth said...

Ours sleep in the bedroom, and I can't imagine not having them in there. We do leave the door open now, so they're free to sleep in the living room if they want, but in the colder monthes, they all always sleep in there with us.

tdc2283 said...

We have dog beds in our room, not that they use them. Lol! Our girl pitbull starts out in her bed then goes and sleeps with our son. Our boy pitbull sleeps with us and snores like a freight train. I've given up on great sleep unless I go to the spare room and shut the door. :) We love them to pieces no matter what.

My husband and I love your blog!!!

Two French Bulldogs said...

We heard the same, the bedroom is for relaxation/sleeping. Yes We have our bed next to moms but I prefer sleeping on her feet and Lily next to mom with her head on moms shoulder. My said she can not move in the night
Benny & Lily

Bobby said...

WE HAVE DOG BEDS IN OUR BED ROOM, WHEN FOSTER DOGS COME IN WE USUALY HAVE A BAD NIGHTS SLEEP. THEY USUALY FEEL STRANGE AND UNSETTLED THEY SETTLE BETTER IN A BED AT THE SIDE OF OUR BED. WE TAKE BOBBYS COLLAR OF ON A NIGHT OR WE WOULD NEVER GET TO SLEEP HE SHAKES HIS HEAD AND RATTLES IF WE DONT.

Elaine Pritchard said...

I would love to sleep in the bedroom - but it's upstairs and I don't "do" stairs.

I think if I got up the stairs I wouldn't get down. I've never tried but I don't think greyhound legs and stairs go together - and at my age I'm not going to start trying.

I have a bed in a corner of our kitchen (which is quite big) where I go at night and another in the living room where I spend the evenings and some of the day.

I often snuggle up with one of my cuddly toys.

Two Pugs in a Pod said...

My little dudes sleep in bed with us. There have been times when I've regretted this decision, but the funny thing is, now I literally can't sleep without them! They are pretty good in bed, they snuggle in and sleep until we get up. I think I probably sleep a lot better this way than if they were allowed to roam around in the night. :)

Kari in Alaska said...

We have the Mesa snoring as a distraction in our bedroom

Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com/ - VISIT US FOR AN AWESOME GIVEAWAY

brooke said...

So cute! Miss M just likes being close to Mr B!
Darwin doesn't sleep in our room, besides it being tiny, she just never did it. She always sleeps in the living room, usually on the couch. I got tired of hearing her tags, so we usually take her collar off when we are inside or I was keeping her tags on her leash (til I lost them this weekend... oops).

Kerri said...

I used to keep my dog's crate in the bedroom when he was a puppy, but as soon as he was old enough, I started keeping it in the kitchen all night. I couldn't get any sleep because I'd hear him rattling around in there when he shifted positions.

I only let the dog sleep on my bed on the very coldest of nights - mostly for my benefit!

Anonymous said...

Aww, I love the twin bed look. Your apartment always looks so well put together.

Shiva sleeps upstairs in the living room. Because of the cat, she generally doesn't go downstairs where the bedroom is at all without express permission. We've dicussed letting her sleep downstairs now that she and the cat get along much better but I kind of like our arrangement. Shiva is not a heavy sleeper and I have a feeling it wouldn't be long before she was on the bed with us. Or rather, taking over the bed and kicking us off!

Kellee the Caffeinated said...

I have a dog bed by our bed that the dogs can choose to sleep in. They usually choose to sleep downstairs though.

The Highlands Mathis said...

We used to have Dude sleep in a locked crate at night but now that we have established boundaries of where he can and cannot go, we let him sleep on the couch under a blanket. He loves it and comes trotting to sit outside our door when he hears the alarm go off.

denofwolves said...

I wrap the tags with a rubber band, no noise. I've done this for a long time because I hate the noise.

Heather said...

Both dogs have beds in the bedroom - one on either side of the bed. We have to watch our feet when we get out of bed, but it works for us. And while we do catch Jackson sometimes sleeping under the bed and Ava sometimes sleeping in a pile of dirty clothes on the floor, they tend to enjoy their respective spaces.

Daisy Dog said...

I am the worst. They all sleep with me. It didn't start out that way. Daisy at the foot of the bed, Roscoe next to me, and Mouse in his little bed, where the second pillow would be. It definately comprimises my sleep. I am considering changing and buying new beds all around and getting them back off the bed, but not sure how well this would go over.

Shauna (Fido and Wino) said...

Kayloo sleeps in her crate in our room & Mickey sleeps wherever- sometimes that means the foot of the bed, sometimes in a little bed beside me... sometimes in a different room altogether.

Unknown said...

Both of my dogs sleep with me however I also keep beds on the floor for them to sleep in too. I find that Koda enjoys resting on the bed when I'm not in it and thinks I wiggle too much for him to sleep with me. Sophie just cuddles right in unless the light is on too long.

Kitty+Coco said...

Well, uh, our two sleep with us under the covers. This started when we got married and my husband was gone during the week working. Now I can't sleep without them there, though they can be disturbing at times. I guess it is good practice for a baby.
Maybe just keep the pillows for them and the rug will be fine for a bed.

HoundDogMom said...

Winston sleeps between the husband and me. Amiee sleeps at the end of the bed on my side. Cleo takes the couch because of the warm heat all night. But they all have dog beds in the bedroom and living room. We also use a baby mattress for a dog bed, provides great support the bloodhound used it the most. Just can't get rid of it yet. We just love how well behaved your pups are. I think I will send mine to you for some much needed training. :)

Laura and Hans said...

Wilbur sleeps on a big pillow...
on our bed. No kidding.
He started in his crate, worked is way up to the futon, and graduated to our bed.
Now if he would only get up and start the coffee in the morning.

jet said...

Barbie sleeps in her crate in our bedroom. Initially the crate was in the lounge but she made such a racket in there that I moved it into the bedroom and this helped her adapt. Crating at night was necessary because she kept peeing on the floor at night.... :P Bender usually sleeps on the carpet in the hallway but he can sleep wherever he likes at night (except on our bed)

SusanA said...

Stella sleeps in her own bed (from mammothoutlet.com) in the bedroom also. They come in all shapes and sizes and she really seems to love it.

Amy said...

Buster and Ty each have a bed in the bedroom. We have wood floors, so they'd be a bit hard for sleeping. And, there's no sharing going on here! Ty must have a doughnut bed so he has a place to prop his chin and Buster wants a large flat bed so he can stretch out.

Those Elgin Pugs said...

Goodness is that first picture adorable!

orange sugar said...

We have two siberian huskies. I made them a giant dog bed but it is rarely used. At night I keep the door closed so that they can't get out and make trouble. One likes to sleep in front of the door. Another likes to find corners to sleep in or ends up on the bed.

gamebred said...

ours sleep in their kennels. pocket, the oldest, used to sleep in the bed with me but there isnt room for a dog and 2 people so she started sleeping on her bed on the floor. then with the puppy he was in the room/bed for potty training. but all the misc noise you described started to affect us so much that we put em in their kennels now and they dont seem to mind.

A Confessed Pit Bull Addict said...

Our girls never sleep on the bed and seem to understand and respect that (even after we moved but hadn't put our bed together so our box spring and mattress were literally an extension of the dog beds!). They have the twins-masquerading-as-a-king (aka, two dogs beds pushed together) set-up. Sometimes they sleep on separate beds, sometimes both on one, most often separate but touching. Right now, until we move some walls, they're jammed between my side of the bed and a wall. Not ideal but I think they're happy as long as they're together.

Peppy Sheppys said...

Our ape is nodding with the poor sleep thing. We're a bit of a nightmare. Otis sleeps in his snuggle ball (soundly with minimal movement), Ethel sleeps on a couch in the bedroom (but frequently moves around) Oscar sleeps in the bed and is a hog. Edgrr has to sleep TOUCHING the ma ape and if she moves he will move to still be in contact with her.

Sheps w/Pep, Otis and Edgrr.

bitt said...

Sienna has a bed but Ellie sleeps UNDER the bed. Sienna wakes me up when she comes in and out of our bed too. Then sometimes grumbles to go out as well at night.

I like the queen bed for the pups and so cute that Ms M wants to be with Mr B all the time.

Hans luckee said...

Hi there,

The dogs are sleeping on their beds looking so cute.Thanks alot....
Dog Bed

Unknown said...

Hi your blog is nice, choosing right dog twin bed is important, it keep your dog away from many problems. Dog twin bed is the place where your dog feels safe and secure. You can also visit Pets Department to get best dog beds

Optimus Prime said...

Thank you because you have been willing to share information with us. we will always appreciate all you have done here because I know you are very concerned with our. best cat deterrent sprays

silent.john said...

Yes i am totally agreed with this article and i just want say that this article is very nice and very informative article.I will make sure to be reading your blog more. You made a good point but I can't help but wonder, what about the other side? !!!!!!Thanks paws are good

Unknown said...

Thanks for the blog loaded with so many information. Stopping by your blog helped me to get what I was looking for. Cat Furniture

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...