Why Having a Dog Sleep in Your Bed Might Not Be a Great Idea
Owning a dog can be great for your health. Their wagging tails and barks every evening, when you get home from work, can make you smile and forget about your stressful day. And the fact that you must take at least two walks every day can help you stay fit. So, after leaving him at home the whole day, you just want to snuggle up with him in the evening and fall asleep.
But do you know that co-sleeping with your dog is not a great idea? As much as you don’t want him to be lonely at night, inviting him to bed can be detrimental to your health. Snuggling up with him in bed can help you fall asleep faster, but it can also destroy your chances of good night sleep. Here are a few more reasons why sleeping with your dog in bed is not a great idea.
It Can Affect Your Sleeping Patterns
Dogs are fidgety, and they have odd sleeping behaviors such as twitching and snoring. Your furry friends can wake up at night to dig into your beddings until they get a cozy spot, stretch, or walk around the room. Even a pooch that is capable of sleeping an entire night can sometimes wake up to drink water or patrol the house. And this will affect your sleeping pattern too. Therefore, you might end up feeling tired the whole day simply because you didn’t sleep well.
A study conducted by Mayo Clinic on whether co-sleeping with your pooch is beneficial confirmed that it’s not a great idea. Even though dogs can sleep peacefully throughout the night, the study confirmed that the sleeping efficiency of their owners was reduced.
They Can Destroy Your Expensive Bed Linen
Even the toughest and high-quality bed linen is no match for his claws and teeth. Dogs can get snagged in your beddings while looking for a comfortable spot or playing on your bed. And if you sleep with two or three dogs, then your beddings are not safe. Your dog can track some dirty from outside into your bed.
Dogs have a tendency of destroying or chewing their bed and in severe cases, they can even chew your furniture, papers, and shoes. This behavior can be a sign of stress, anxiety, and boredom. And revoking his bed privileges after he has slept for years might trigger this issue. So to avoid this you should get your dog a chew resistant and tough dog bed. These beds are indestructible, and they are the best options for chewers.
Your Pooch May Exacerbate Your Allergies
Other than hypoallergenic dog owners, pet owners are not usually allergic to their dogs. Your allergies might not be triggered by pet saliva or dander, but sharing a bed with him could still be dangerous. Some common allergens like dust and pollen can stick to his fur when playing outside and then be transferred to your bed.
These allergens can worsen your allergies, which can affect the quality of your sleep. So, instead of sharing your bed with them, why don’t you get him a doggy bed?
Your Bed Can Become Part of Your Dog’s Territory
Your pooch is a territorial creature that loves protecting his domain. Therefore inviting him into your bed every night can make your bedroom part of his territory. This can become a problem when you try to remove him from your bedroom in the future.
Some dogs tend to become aggressive every time you sleep on a specific part of the bed. If this happens, you should stop sleeping with your dog until he curbs this aggression. Another disadvantage of allowing him to make your bed his territory is their behavior of marking their domains with a little urine.
Doggy Drool
Some dog breeds tend to drool a lot, especially when asleep so that you can wake up to several wet spots on your bed. If this is the case, you can get him a comfortable bed next to yours. Some dogs love sleeping in your bed even when you are not at home. This might not be an issue, but wait until he comes to bed all muddy and rests on your clean sheets.
House Training Accidents Can Happen
Even though cuddling with your newly adopted dog helps with bonding, it is not a good idea, especially if you are still house training him. He can forget and urinate on your bed in the middle of the night. Throwing his beddings in your washing machine is easier than steam washing your mattress.
It Might Not Be Suitable for Your Marriage
Allowing your pet to join you in bed can interfere with the kind of intimacy that contributes to a great relationship or marriage. A dog can become jealous and start guarding one of the spouses against the other. If your dog starts exhibiting these behaviors, then it’s time to remove him from your bed.
It Can End up Being a Lifetime Commitment
Snuggling up with your dog can form a habit that can last for his entire life. You might be single right now, and you don’t mind sleeping with your pooch every night. But what will happen when you finally start a family. What will happen when you start sharing your king-sized bed with your child and spouse?
The bed will become overcrowded, and revoking bed privileges at that stage can be challenging. Therefore, you should introduce your pooch to his own bed on the day you adopt him.
Your Dog Won’t Be on Guard
One of the best things about being a pet owner is that your pooch can alert you in case of intruders. Dogs have very sharp hearing, and they can hear someone breaking into your home long before your human ears hear anything. However, with him nestled deep in your beddings and the bedroom door closed, he might not hear noise disturbances at night.
Warming Your Bed
Dogs tend to give off some heat every time they sleep, which can increase the temperature in bed. While this factor can be quite beneficial during winter, it can affect people who don’t like sleeping warm. If you sweat a lot when the temperature increases, then snuggling with him is not a great option.