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.
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.