Dog’s sleeping on bed

I’m sure most dog parents are guilt of letting their pets sleep on their beds and they might actually love it. However, from a sitter perspective this is not always ok. I have had to retrain some dogs by not allowing them on the bed and it takes a couple of nights to get the dogs used to it.
What do you think?

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Personally we do not choose sits where the dog/s sleep on or in the bed. Most of them are used to it and would feel turfed out of familiar territory! Its helpful if hosts mention this in their listing (then we scroll on) or if its unclear we ask. Some hosts make it a requirement, others say the dog is flexible & can sleep elsewhere. Our feeling is we want to keep the dogs routine familiar so if their habits don’t suit us we leave that sit to better suited sitters!

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We don’t take sits where dogs sleep on the bed. Red line. The only exception was a one night sit in Basel with a Tiny Yorkshire Terrier called Wally who was smaller than a cat on a super king bed :joy::joy:

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I think it’s more than helpful if the HO mentions it in the listing - it’s probably essential. I am okay sleeping with some dogs - ones who don’t snore or scratch too much!! - but it’s a red line for my partner.

On one sit, the dog had a bed under a table in the bedroom. The HO said he would go to sleep and be very quiet, and he did, and was.

In the middle of the night, my partner got back into bed after his regular midnight trip to the loo. It was cold, and the duvet was wrapped right round me, but I shuffled across to give him a cuddle and some welcoming heat through the covers. And gradually realised he was the wrong shape… I put the light on, and there was a big hairy head with a long snout on the pillow beside me. Coming fully awake, I remembered I was on a solo sit. Except never quite solo, of course…!

I didn’t have the heart to turf my bedfellow out, and we both slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

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This screen grab is a Facebook memory of our dog. LOL.

I don’t mind if pets want to sleep on the bed, but not under the covers. The bed also has to be big enough so I don’t have to sleep funny.

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Yep - exactly that!! :laughing:

Our profile states that we don’t want dogs upstairs at all. Even if they sleep outside the bedroom door I can hear them move.
Mr Itchyfeet says I have ears like a bat

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I always ask sitters before I even get on a call with them if they’re okay with dogs sleeping in bed because mine likes to snuggle between humans. However, my dog is the size of a cat. He’s tiny. I understand not wanting a medium to large doggo on the bed with you.

I once dated a guy with a beautiful lab who always slept in bed with him, and I could never get enough sleep whenever I stayed over because the dog would completely take over my side; let’s just say things didn’t quite work out, lol

My current cat sit is sleeping with me. Several days ago, he was lying by my feet and I faintly felt his teeth on my ankle. I look down and he’s perched over me like a vampire, ready to bite. LOL.

I told him no and made a bunch of “ow, ow, ow” noises, so he’d know I don’t want to be bitten. He tried once more the next day and I repeated. He hasn’t tried since. I think he was trying to give me a love bite, but I don’t want any kind of bite, especially if I’m asleep.

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Does that mean you can only have couples sit, so he’ll be between people?

No, he just wants to sleep next to any number of humans. :smile:
My partner and I travel for work sometimes, and he’s fine sleeping with one person.
I just always ask because I worry about couples being afraid to hurt him because he’s so tiny. I tell them that as long as you’re not kicking in your sleep, he’s fine.

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Like grooming nibbles? My dog gives those all the time. I think it’s the sweetest.

My mom’s cat use to try to bite like that playfully but her teeth were a bit too sharp! :face_holding_back_tears:

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I ask the HO if I don’t see Pets on Beds in Photo’s, we personally don’t do upstairs Dogs anymore, it’s our preference.
Happy Sitting

Yup, I think so. His teeth are sharp. He’s very lovable, in a quirky way. But I think most of the cats I’ve known have been quirky, much more so than dogs.

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I never apply for sits where the pets sleep on the bed. During the discussion i always ask the question and back out of the sit immediately if they do.
My bed is sacred, even my husband knows where the middle line is .

Generally I don’t mind…it depends on the types of dogs and other factors. So sometimes I don’t consider sits where this happens. If it is that important to you they don’t, you should start asking about this before accepting a sit. I don’t agree with not allowing the dog to.sleep.on the bed if he is normally allowed. While it probably isn’t doing any major damage to his well being, I would personally not feel comfortable making such a major change to his routine. Easy question to add to your screening process.

I’ve told this story before on the forum but will mention it again. When I was planning a trip to NZ in 2019 I spotted a listing which said “if you’re not happy having the dogs sleep in bed with you please don’t apply”. I applied as the 2 dogs were very small and cute and got the sit. The first night I had a dog either side of me in bed so I was like the meat in a sandwich and hardly slept a wink! From then on it was fine and missed them in bed when I moved on. However, that would not be my choice and certainly wouldn’t want a large dog on the bed