I tried and I didn’t sleep well, throughout the night they came in at different times, all stayed around my head area, which I don’t like, the dog walked on me, I’m also concerned one of them would pxxp loose stxxl on me
If animals are accustomed to sleeping in the bed or room with people–which I typically don’t mind but may in certain instances, such as if it was numerous large dogs that slept on the bed for example–I wouldn’t shut them out unless they were disturbing my sleep, and the host specifically said it was okay if we kept them out of the room, or if there was no mention of it either way, I would experiment and see how it went.
If shutting the door stressed them out in any way, I wouldn’t feel comfortable doing it as it wouldn’t be fair to the animal to have such a central part of their routine interrupted.
We have had a number of sits where we were given the option to shut pets out, but I don’t recall ever really having to act on it–either the animals didn’t disturb us, or they actually never came into the room to sleep with us even though we were told they may.
Some sitters feel very strongly about not having to share the bed, or even the room at all ,with pets overnight, and if that is something that does concern you, it is best to discuss this with hosts upfront, and perhaps only consider taking sits where you would not be expected to do this.
We had a sit with 1 dog (slept downstairs) and two kittens who slept wherever. The first night I left the door open but the kittens decided it was a great time to wrestle each other and my legs as well. I’m not sleeping through that so I put them out of the room and shut the door. Continued that for the next two weeks and everyone was happy. We don’t mind dogs who come onto the bed for a cuddle in the morning but we don’t sleep with them. That’s a deal breaker for us.
We usually take the homeowner’s lead. Most times we sleep with our door open, and if we’re not in the main bedroom and the pets are used to sleeping there, we just ask the HO to leave that door open so the furries have their familiar spot and can choose where they settle.
We once spent 10 nights in a tiny double with a Great Dane politely pretending he’s “small”, curled around our feet. The mini schnauzer took the full starfish position right down the middle, and the kitten claimed the premium penthouse suite between our pillows. It was the purrfect mix of chaos, comedy, and zero personal space — honestly, pure pet-sitting bliss ![]()
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I’m cool with sleeping with pets and always leave the door open, so they can come and go as normal. If I weren’t OK with that, I’d ask and pass on sits that didn’t meet my needs or preferences. (On one sit, they had Siberian cats and the hosts routinely closed the bedroom door and didn’t let the cats in, so I followed their routine, as asked.)
I don’t think it’s OK to change sit pets’ routines to meet your personal preferences. And what do you mean about the dog possibly crapping on you? Is it sick?
We’ve done many sits where the cats sleep with us (we feel quite honoured when they choose to do this, since it signifies they’re content with our presence) and several sits where the dogs sleep in the same room. Once, we were told the 2 Gordon setters - who usually slept in the HO’s room - would be fine in their beds on the landing. How wrong they were! The dogs scratted about and whined until we opened our door and moved them in with us, whereupon they settled down happily…only to then fart, all night long! ![]()
We’ve only done one sit where the HO specified the dog must sleep with sitters. He moved around the bed all night, so we won’t do this again. We always ask where the dogs sleep and, if they bed-share, we’ll pass.
This is a strange comment. Is the dog unwell? What’s going on?
Yes, one of them has been unwell for a while, the owner said the vet couldn’t find what the problem is, medication finished, the owner said they send sample to the same vet for testing, but wouldn’t give the pet new medicine until they’re back(a few days)
From my experience, if a dog is sleeping with you, it will not want to poop where it sleeps. Even when our dog had diarrhea, he would poop somewhere out of the way. More often, he would wake me up to be let outside, but I don’t know how common that is among dogs.
This is one of my questions during the video call. I do not sleep with( cats or dogs in my bed. I’m tolerant of my husband but just. If it says on the listing that the pets sleep with you I don’t apply no matter how cute they are or wonderful the place is. It’s just one of my many things I don’t do.
I state in my profile that I don’t have pets in my bed, so I keep the bedroom door shut. One exception was a sweet older dog who liked to sleep on the floor next to me.
We avoid sits in which we are expected to allow the dog(s) to sleep in bed with us.
We like sleeping with the bedroom door open, so dogs that are used to sleeping elsewhere in the house (or stay on a dog bed on the bedroom floor) are a match for us.
I avoid sits that requires sitters to sleep with pets and avoid the pets that normally sleep with their owners too, bus sometimes I just try to be available to the pets to offer them some mental support, I don’t want them to feel depressed or anything
@Travelerthiswld, wow - why on earth did you agree to such a sit?
From experience, we are attracted to listings that clearly state that pet(s) sleep on pet beds in non-bedroom location. We recognize that this is a personal preference. And that some pet parents and some housesitters may find joy in pets sleeping with them in human bed. Been there. Done that. Not work for us. It would now require a truly compelling reason for us to consider such a listing.
Are there other bedrooms? We’ve had a couple of housesits where we have happily let pets sleep on owner bed, while we sleep in guest bedroom.
Can pets elsewhere in house? We perceive that some pets are trained to always sleep in human bed, but some pets simply prefer it. If the latter case then consider relocating pet sleeping location to another room of house.
Because no choice, don’t want to go all the way home
We had one sit where two bedrooms were offered to us. How generous. We thought. I chose the king size bed. My wife and I both snore so she chose the ordinary double. And the dog? Well he went between the two! That is till my wife shut him out of her room! The dog and I slept royally and the Queen was also happy in the morning!
Another time the dog cage was put in my bedroom.. ostensibly for the dog’s use.. he jumped straight on the bed along with his hirsuit companion.. I didn’t sleep well.. The next night, as they had the run of the house, two other bedrooms and sofas inside and out.. I shut my door.
They accepted it ok. After all I am a lot happier dealing with them after a good night’s sleep. I do think at times it’s my sit so my rules. Dogs and cats soon fall in line. We are the head of the Animal Kingdom after all! I was particularly pleased with my regime when the hirsuit character developed diarhoea during the day and cleaning him thoroughly became somewhat of a challenge.
My present sit the owner said she’d prefer me to shut my bedroom door otherwise Berta would be sure to join me. She didn’t want the habit to develop as some guests are allergic or don’t feel comfortable with a Mastiff on the mattress. I cuddle her on her bed during the daytime to ensure I don’t hurt her feelings!
If you accepted the sit under certain terms, like if the pets were supposed to sleep with you, then you should have lived up to those terms, IMO. You had a choice. Pets don’t.
The owner didn’t require, but when the owner doesn’t shut their door and allows them to come in and out, I’m trying to match
The king of stinky loose stool has no clue that his livelihood depends entirely on the owner’s patience which one day might run out, with 0 hunting skill if abandoned the chance of survival is zero, his fluffiness is not enough for making a living, even adopted by someone once they found out he poops loose stools on the floor daily 2~3 times, he’ll soon be abandoned again.
Something interesting is that he only does it on tiles not carpets, makes me wonder if he does have some clue what he’s doing.
I wouldn’t want to try saying no to that dog ![]()
Just shut the door, the dog won’t benefit if you feel resentful and can’t sleep well.



