Should Your Dog Sleep in Your Bed? 4 Benefits and Tips
As a dog owner, you’ve probably come across mixed opinions about letting your pup sleep in your bed.
While some people claim that doing so disrupts sleep and leads to behavioral problems in dogs, others report improved sleep quality and a stronger bond between owner and pup.
As people in the dog ramp business, we’re not ashamed to admit that we’re all about letting our dogs get their beauty rest in our beds, and according to an American study from 2015, roughly 50% of individuals who took part reported allowing their pets to sleep in their beds as well!
That’s because for thousands of people, the advantages of sharing their beds with their pups outweigh the potential drawbacks, especially when many of the downsides can be eased with a little planning and care.
So read on to discover 4 big benefits of sharing your bed with your dog and 4 tips for making sure that both you and your pup get a good night’s rest.
1. Strengthened Bond
Dogs are social creatures that crave companionship and closeness. Having your dog sleep in the same bed as you can improve your bond as it allows for more quality time to be spent together, more physical contact, and more affection. This often leads to a happier dog since increased physical proximity, contact, and shared moments of relaxation can result in dogs producing more of the “love” hormone - oxytocin.
2. Increased Sense of Security
Having a sense of security can have a big impact on sleep quality. Basically, feeling safe in your space can improve your sleep. For many people, dogs create a greater sense of safety and protection as they are quick to alert their humans about anything that may be amiss at night.
The immediate companionship provided by sharing the same sleeping space can also foster a strong sense of comfort for both owner and pup, providing reassurance throughout the night.
3. Improved Feelings of Relaxation
With a greater sense of safety and comfort often come improved feelings of relaxation, which in turn, can help individuals experience more restorative, high-quality sleep.
At bedtime, a dog’s nearby presence and gentle, rhythmic breathing can also help their owner get into a more peaceful state, ease tensions from the day, and fall asleep more easily too.
Comfy spots help dogs relax and enjoy better rest as well. When a dog chooses to sleep on his or her side, like Potato the Corgi on the bed above, it shows that they are feeling at ease and safe in their space.
4. Extra Warmth
Many people feel colder when they sleep and that’s because our body temperature actually tends to drop as we snooze overnight. Feeling too chilly while sleeping can also end up having a negative effect on sleep quality.
When layering up with additional blankets isn’t an option or enough, sharing the bed with your four-legged family member can provide extra warmth. What’s more is that cuddling up with their owner can help a pup that's feeling a little chilly too.
Now, that's one cozy cuddle puddle! (Photo Credit: browndogbentley11)
Tips for Sharing Your Bed with Your Dog
Allowing your dog in your bed often won’t automatically mean that you experience all the benefits of sharing your sleeping space with your pup. Fortunately, there are a handful of routines that you can put in place to make sure both you and your dog get a good night’s rest.
Check them out:
1. Keep Your Dog Clean
Having a regular bathing schedule or grooming routine that’s appropriate for your breed can help reduce the amount of allergens, dirt, and odors finding their way into your bed and improve your sleep.
While some dogs shouldn’t be bathed frequently, brushing can still play a big role in removing dirt, debris, and loose hair before they get into bed.
2. Regularly Inspect Your Dog for Pests
When outdoors, many dogs enjoy investigating different smells, chasing local wildlife, making new friends, or frolicking through grassy areas. Depending on the time of year, it may be easy for them to pick up pests, such as fleas or even ticks.
Consistently checking dogs for parasites can help prevent unwelcome pests from ending up in your bed and waking you up at the middle of the night.
3. Establish Boundaries
If you happen to be a light sleeper, establishing boundaries and routines around letting your dog on your bed is especially important. This may look like training your pup to only sleep in a certain area of the bed, teaching them a “quiet” command, and more.
Making sure that your dog has structure and routine when it comes to sleeping in your bed can help ensure that you experience fewer disruptions at night... or none at all!
4. Provide Your Dogs with a Safe and Easy Way of Getting On and Off the Bed
Whether they’re craving a drink of water or feeling a little too warm in the moment, some dogs may move around and choose to get off and on the bed a handful of times throughout the night.
As dog owners ourselves, the noises and movement we used to experience from our dogs jumping off and on our beds or their requests for help at 2 am often caused the biggest disturbances to our sleep.
Thankfully, providing them with a convenient and safe way of accessing our beds through the use of dog ramps has eliminated these disruptions.
Crusoe the Dachshund and his sister Daphne with their DoggoRamps Small Bed Ramp.
With the help of a well-made dog ramp, pups can independently and gently get on and off your bed as needed without you hearing and feeling the impact of their jumping... or being woken up at 4 am to deliver human elevator rides. Here's what one of our customers had to say too:
The Best Dog Ramps for the Bed
At DoggoRamps, we take immense pride in offering the safest and most functional bed ramps out there.
We have two different bed ramp models available to accommodate dogs of all sizes, and both our Small Bed Ramp and Large Bed Ramp have all the features needed to make them easy and secure for dogs to use.
They:
- Are crafted from furniture-quality solid maple hardwood, so they're strong, sturdy, and durable
- Feature a unique, rubbery anti-slip surface for incredible traction (that’s way better than carpet!)
- Include a wide range of adjustable height settings to work with virtually any bed - including beds up to 35” and 37” tall
- Have a long, low-incline design, so they're more comfortable and safer for dogs to use
- Come with removable and reversible safety railings to help block off any shortcuts off the ramp
Providing your dogs with a convenient and safe way on and off your bed means that not only will they experience a more comfortable life at home, but as a dog owner, you’ll be creating a better sleeping environment for yourself too!
Dogs of all ages and sizes enjoy using DoggoRamps Bed Ramps.
Allowing your dog in your bed is a personal decision based on a variety of factors. However, if you have a healthy and well-behaved dog, there can be quite a few advantages to doing so for both dog owner and pup!
As well, many of the disadvantages can be eliminated by setting boundaries and creating routines, such as by training your pup to use a dog ramp in order to get on and off the bed.
If you're thinking about introducing your dog to an indoor ramp, make sure to check out:
- The DoggoRamps Small Bed Ramp (supports up to 50lbs)
- The DoggoRamps Large Bed Ramp (supports up to 200lbs)
- The DoggoRamps Couch Ramp - works well for shorter beds and more compact spaces (supports up to 150lbs)
- The DoggoRamps StepRamp - works best for more active pups + short beds and more compact spaces (supports up to 200lbs)
Happy Ramping and Snoozing!
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