Re: [PyrNet-L] re sleeping arrangements

["Tracy Bassett" <espinay@dynamite.com.au>]

<<I love the dog trainer- books that rant on and on about not letting your
dog sleep in your bed because they will dominate you?? >> Cindy.

I LOVE having the dogs on the bed with me.  I am home this week - not the
best healthwise - and the three dogs spent a good part of the morning
cuddled with me on the bed.  Makes staying-put most enjoyable :-)

In most cases I feel having the dog on the bed with you is great.  There are
cases however, where it is not a good idea.

First of all, if you are comfortable with your dog being on the bed and your
dog will move off the bed when you ask it to (however grudgingly :-) ), then
it is no problem.  This I think would be a majority of people.

However, if you are afraid to move when in bed in case you disturb the dog
and he will growl/react nastily in some way, if when you ask your dog to get
off he reacts in such a way (growling or snapping etc) that you are
concerned (and perhaps even a little afraid?), if the dogs behaviour when on
the bed is such that you find it worrying and confrontational, then THIS is
the time to remove the bed as an option for the dogs sleeping place.  This
is also the time when Alpha Boot Camp comes into play.

As long as you can teach your dog that being on the bed is a priviledge that
YOU have bestowed on them, and that YOU have ultimate control over whether
they stay on the bed or get off the bed, then having a dog on the bed is
really no big deal.  And as a lot of you on the list know - snuggles on the
bed with these Pyrs of ours are just the best! :-)

Tracy Bassett
Canberra, Australia
espinay@dynamite.com.au
visit my webpage at http://members.dynamite.com.au/espinay/index.htm