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Dobe won't sleep alone. (at least not this weekend he wouldn't)

2K views 13 replies 13 participants last post by  Beaumont67 
#1 ·
Toby is 2 and a half years old, a big strapping lad and the biggest wuss going.

Over the last couple of months my son has been allowing Toby to sleep on his bed with him as Russell our Terrier has decided he would much rather sleep outside on the fly free terrace. The moment the weather turns warmish, Russell is out there and nothing you can say or do will get him to come in.
Anyhow, previous to my sons decision to allow Toby to sleep with him Toby slept in the living room, having access to his crate and the sofa, (guess where he preferred to sleep if you can).

Now this wasn't a problem, well not for me, as I was not the one sharing a bed with a huge big lump of a Doberman who hogs the bed like he was in fact 10 dogs all piled on there.
And whilst Toby was keen to sleep with him most nights there have been times when Toby has been known to ignore my sons invites to come on into the bedroom, preferring it would seem to sleep in the living room as he has done since puppyhood, alone sprawled out in his own little world of happiness.

However, everything changed Friday night.

You see my son went away for the weekend.

Now I was not expecting any problems, my son has gone away many times before with zero issues from any of the dogs regarding.
Save this time, we had howling, scratching at my door, huffing noises, banging on my bedroom door, barking, crying. The list is never endless as to how many noises a dog can make when he doesnt want to sleep on his own.

Of course, the obvious answer was to ignore him. Prevent him from getting at my bedroom door by closing the living room door.
Which left Toby with no other recourse save to 'up the volume' which he did with great effect.

In the end in desperation I let him in, now unusually for him he slept on the end of the bed. Normally he likes to hog the middle, so it wasnt too bad.
But truth of it is, I actually don't like sleeping the whole night with a dog anywhere in my bed. I kind of half sleep because I am afraid I will kick them or lay on them so I hover between sleep and wakefulness and well to be honest when you are operating heavy machinery and things like chainsaws the next day it isn't advisable not getting a decent nights sleep.

Luckily my son is back tonight.
So the question of where Toby will sleep if he won't sleep in the living room is moot.

However, I was wondering, do any of you guys have a similar problem?
We have a lot of people on this forum who openly admit they let their dogs sleep on their beds, but is this because you like it or because the dogs cry if they aren't allowed or the like?

Now in the past I have allowed Toby to sleep with me, if he is afraid by a sudden noise or a thunder storm. Heck in the past I have had to share my bed with a Doberman, Boxer and 2 Terriers because of the terrifying thunderstorms we experience up in the mountains. But this is understandable and to be honest is shortlived. Once the storm is over, they trot off back to their beds. Never sleeping together not since Toby became big that is. So what gives with this sudden need to sleep with someone? As I have said he seems to turn it on and off whenever the urge takes him. It doesnt appear to be something that he needs all the time, so I was wondering....

Should I have slugged it out.

Thing is, I know for a fact he can carry his shenanagins on for hours whereas when I need to go to sleep I cannot simply shrug off the woeful lamentations coming from my Dobes direction and just drop off. Especially seeing as he has the kind of volume control that can rival anything Ozzy Osborne could conjure up at one of his head banging concerts.
 
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#2 · (Edited)
.............However, I was wondering, do any of you guys have a similar problem?
We have a lot of people on this forum who openly admit they let their dogs sleep on their beds, but is this because you like it or because the dogs cry if they aren't allowed or the like?............
We are only a single dog family, so our dober sleep in a family members bed at night...I don't condider it crouded, on the queen size bed.

Our 2nd dober Amy, first 2 nights she slept on a pillow covered blanket (beside the bed, on the floor) for the first two nights only.
Night #3, puppy found her little voice box, and started to cry-whine 10 minutes straight, with her front paws up on the edge of the bed mattress.
So she was hoisted up on the bed to sleep (on a humans bed, for the rest of her life).
As she matured (big enough to jump on/off beds):
Former Amy would stay in our sons room for 30 minutes till he fell asleep and run down the hall way to bed hop and sleep with Dad.
- soon I couldn't sleep until Amy was in our bed, and every night I just waited for her to enter our bedroom

Puppy #3 could probably have been crate trained (??), but I wasn't having it.
Kelly slept with mom & dad, from the first night home...thats the way we like it.
 
#4 ·
What a horrible night! LOL Pardon my LOL but you write so vividly I feel like I was there. Actually, I have been in similar situations before, but have found myself facing the dawn in a decidely more dyspeptic mood and unable to put words to paper in any coherent manner.

One thing about your fear of lying on the dog--I have found that they seem to like closeness of that sort. At least the few times when I have practically laid on one of my dog's heads in desperation for a little space (surely he will move then, right?), he has merely snuggled in closer apparently thinking that the inside of my ear needs moisturizing with damp dog breath.

No help here, but you have my sincerest condolences.
 
#5 ·
At least the few times when I have practically laid on one of my dog's heads in desperation for a little space (surely he will move then, right?), he has merely snuggled in closer apparently thinking that the inside of my ear needs moisturizing with damp dog breath.
That sounds exactly like Bruce. It's not often he sleeps with us (his choice, he prefers the living room where he can alternate from crate, to couch, to futon, to his bed and back again), but when he does he likes to get as close to me as he possibly can. When I "retaliate" by laying on him hoping he will move, he just snuggles in even closer. It doesn't make for a good nights sleep, at least for me, Bruce seems quite rested come morning lol.
 
#6 ·
Our dogs have always slept in the bed.
When it becomes too crowded I send my husband to the guest room.
We bought a king size when we got our 3rd dog.
It was always Garth & Claire in the bed, at about 100lbs each, and Chaos slept in her dog bed or the loveseat in our bedroom. (she didn't like to be crowded) when OH left for work at 5:00am, he would lift princess Kay into the bed.
I have an oscillating fan at my feet to keep Claire cool. She is a big furry Shepherd and when she pants, the entire bed shakes.
Beauford the cat also sleeps on my pillow.

Toby's Mom, just wrap your arms around Toby at night, and you will have the best sleep ever.
 
#7 ·
I like hearing about other Dobie owners sleeping arrangements, I don't feel so bad about ours! Our pups have always slept on the bed with us. When we had our husky and doberboy Sultan, Sultan slept on the bed but our husky roamed the house. All that fur would get too hot for the bed. Now that we have two Dobies we went out and bought a king size bed so we can all fit. I can't sleep anymore if I'm not buried under a pile of Dobie :)

Flaminscotch, My husband has said on more than one occasion that one day I'll send him off to the guest room for more room! I almost snorted my coffee when I saw you actually do it. Hubby better watch out :roflmao:
 
#8 ·
Oh where to start haha Diesel has slept with us since day 1 and surprisingly was great. He never left the bed and until he was about 6 or so months and then he would shuffle between our bed and his next to ours. I adore having him in bed with us. Yes, sometimes it gets crowded and I push him to scoot over, which he does with lots of moaning and groaning haha now Rogue is a different story.

When we first brought Rogue home the plan was for her to sleep in her crate. The bed was Diesels. It always had been and always will be and I wanted that to be the one place Diesel had to call his own. Well Miss Rogue had a plan of her own. She's always started out in her crate, even to this day she does, but somewhere between 1:00-2:00am the whimpering begins haha I tried to ignore it but honestly I knew eventually she'd end up in our bed but I wanted her to know that Diesel gets to pick his spot first. She is not to rule the bed. So finally I started bringing her in halfway through the night and I love it. She's hilarious she comes flying out of her crate, jumps on the bed, gives dad a kiss then heads under the covers. Rogue is awesome to sleep with because she sleeps like a person. Body under the covers, head on a pillow and that's where she stays. Diesels tends to just plop wherever he wants whether you're there or not. So at the end of the day both my kids sleep with me. However there are times when one or the other or both have to sleep in their crate and their fine with it. They might complain a little at first but they settle down and go to bed. I feel that's how it should be.

Sleeping in bed is a privilege and sometimes it can't always happen (when I'm sick or Rogues in heat etc) They need to be okay sleeping wherever and they seem to be. Do they prefer to be in bed? Yes but do they have to be? No. I personally really enjoy sleeping with my babies. I feel safe and at night when it's cold they keep me warm. It's actually harder for me to sleep without them. It's like a big puppy pile in our bed and I love it haha

Toby has just discovered th joys of sleeping with someone is all :D
 
#9 ·
All of ours have slept with us except Lexi. She will get up on the bed if one of us is in bed, but not both. She has her own bed and seems to like it. She has only slept with us twice. Both times we had been away from her. Once after daycare, and once when the neighbor stayed with her. It is kind of nice to have room in the bed. I never could figure out how they can become so small and put themselves in a ball, then stretch out and take up the whole bed. I think he likes the bed with someone in it.
 
#10 ·
Our both sleep with us, Mimi under the covers spooned into one set of legs or the other and Boss sleeps between us with his head on the pillow.... It seems relatively roomy since my son moved away with Bubba and my daughter moved out with Oscar lol. When Boss was diagnosed with DCM we actually took the frame out from under our very high bed (requiring steps) and set the box springs and mattress directly on the floor so he did not have to jump so far. YEP we have a bad case of the Dober virus :D
 
#11 ·
Odin always and I mean always starts the night in his own bed for I refuse to let him up straight away! But he gets up around 5:30-6:00 in the morning to have a cuddle until we get up. The only times I have made exceptions is when fireworks are going off as being cuddled up to us keeps him calm or, when my husband is working nights and Odin becomes restless as he isn't there and I decided at around 0200 that I really need to get some sleep and give in before I have a sense of humour failure! :lol2:
 
#12 ·
I started Jazzy out in the crate when I first brought her home. She whimpered a bit and the first night I gave in and let her up. I was so tired from the driving that I didn't want to wait for her to settle. The next 3 nights she slept in her crate with no problems. A few whimpers her and there, but then silence.

After the 4th night, I got to thinking this was stupid. I had always intended for her to sleep with me and the only reason I didn't start at first was fearing that she might potty in the bed. Except for one night, she has slept through the night since getting her.

So from then on she has slept with me and stays the entire night. She does hog the bed, but other that that, she is the best bed buddy. She will stay asleep as long as I want to.

But it is puzzling why Toby now wants to sleep with someone since he is as old as he is. I would just chalk it up to him just changing. I think our dogs go through spells just like we humans do. When I first brought Jazzy home and for about the first 2 months, she would not eat unless I was in the room with her. Now there is no problem. However, just recently (past two weeks) she will not eat her daily milk bone treat unless I'm in the room with her. She follows me wherever I go and then will eat it. If I leave the room before she is finished, she will pick it up and finish it in the new location.

Since our Doberkids are almost human anyway, this must be why they do silly things.
:)
 
#13 ·
haha Toby!! Toby's so silly :)

******* owned my bed from day 1. Once she's on there and comfy, she acts like a rock. You can't move her, She hogs blankets, pillows, but usually she sleeps like a human. She lays vertical next to me with one hand above the covers and head on the pillow. Then there's the feral cat. She owns ME lol. So she takes over all of the pillows.

******* usually changes positions in the morning to either her back, or this:



I was a little terrified when I woke up one morning and couldn't move:


Seriously *******? You're not a lapdog!! I have wee little legs too! You don't fit!

I admit that there is something about having her sleep with me that makes me feel more safe.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Having 3 dober pups over the last 35 years, I consider the night time sleepy in the masters bed, has its training advantages.
a) still 100% supervision (with one eye open...lol...still better than nothing)
b) never in my dog owning years have one of my pups peed in our bed
- as soon as they stir and stand up on all 4 legs, Dad immediately wakes up and its outside ASAP in the middle of the night
- after a few months with baby Kelly sleeping with us, she started to get up and jump off the end of the bed and I praise her and she waits till Dad gets his pants & shirt on, and off we go together downstairs & out the side door
(all my dogs have been potty trained in 3 short weeks, and I cringe when another member tells others "potty training is a 5 month process")
- so I feel I can't completely tell what my pups needs are, sleeping overnight in a crate
c) my pups aren't allowed to suck bed blankets either, Kelly tries initially for a half minute (at the end of the bed) and Dad quickly puts a stop to it and brings her up to to my head area and redirects with a squeaky
- if she was in a crate overnight, I am afraid we could of had obstruction surgery by now
d) a puppy that has had human bed manners instilled in them from day1, makes my job easier during the daytime...she is perfect on our leather livingroom furniture
- if they can't develop bad habits at night, new bad habits forming during the day are easier to avoid

Now @ 7.5 months old, Kelly is an angle unsupervised - left with the free reign of the entire home (for a half hour) or left in my truck (up to one full hour, in the front seat) if I am picking up building supplies &/or getting paint mixed.
(PS - my former puppy Amy was left unsupervised daily at 4.5 months young before I retired from 30 years of work, and I always found the house to be in perfect shape, when Dad returned)
- so YES my pups sleep with me, so I can keep a training/watchful eye on them (24/7 or as much as possible), even in bed and correct for unwanted actions, that quickly disappear with parental involvement & guidance...for me the early benefits of taking a pup to the master bed, makes my job much easier
- and in the winter time, a warm dober back laying softly against my legs feels good, under the covers...many times I planted my cold feet on our former girls body for 10 minutes, to get toasty warm...no surprise, I sleep better with a dog than without
 
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