Cats/dogs on the bed - what are your thoughts?

chunkychocky

gingin wrote: »

Can you train a cat not to do things? Mine are stubbourn things who get up to mischief when I am not looking. Sitting on the dining table is one, occasionally the work surfaces. They know they are not allowed but still do it when they think I am not looking. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do to stop it.

It probably depends on the cat and how young they are when you tell them what you like and don't like. As a small kitten he heard a sharp hiss if he went on the work surface and got lots of cuddles for remembering not to go on them (if he looked like he was about to jump up and then changed his mind). As a result he never goes on them. My MILs cat goes where he likes when he likes and she claims to have tried to tell him not to, but when I've been there she has picked him off the worksurface and given him a cuddle as she gently lifts him down saying in a loving voice 'that's naughty' so it is hardly surprising he pays no attention.

bestpud

Our dog shares our bed - he snuggles under the cover, usually on my side because DH moans at him for stopping him moving.

He's better than a hot water bottle as he doesn't cool down!

loulou123

My cat sleeps on the bed every night and under the covers if she's scared! I've had dogs and cats my whole life and ever since I was a child they've slept me and I haven't caught anything yet.

One of my old dogs never tried to get on furniture, she always chose to sleep in her bed on the floor and could never even be persuaded to get on sofa. One day I went out and left her on her own, but forgot something and had to pop home, I walked in door and there was my extremely large dog asleep in the middle of my dining room table! We presumed she'd been doing this for some time, but as nothing was ever disturbed when we got home we didn't have a clue!

Shows that you never know what even the best behaved pet is doing when your backs turned!

Sid_Wolf

I have 3 Huskies, they did all sleep in our bedroom but since I found out we were expecting we've had them sleep downstairs.

Once a week we will take the male up for the night, he likes to sleep on the bed, and another day of the week we'll take our eldest girl up, she comes up for a cuddle then moves to the floor at the foot of the bed.

Our other girl prefers to sleep downstairs in her crate, we took her up a couple of times but both times she wouldnt settle and whinged at the door until we let her downstairs and put her into her bed

the 2 eldest have run of the front room when they sleep downstairs.

Mad-Frog

When I lived at home my mum at one point had 3 cats and 4 dogs, they were not allowed in my bedroom apart from the one dog who was old and cuddly and I had her since I was 6 years old.

That didn't stop the rest of them invading though, scratches at the door, leaping through the window etc etc

I think now that my mum was far too soft on the pets we had as they definitely ruled the roost, how do you stop the pesky things scratching on your doors? ours were able to sneak through open windows and the dogs learnt how to open doors

POPPYOSCAR

Not for me personally.

But each to their own, what people do in their own homes is entirely up to them.

There is no wrong or right.

elsien

Not a chance. Can't be doing with the smell, the snoring, the farting and the general fighting for my fair share of the bed. If I wanted that I'd get a partner.
All dogs are downstairs pooches only, stairgates aren't just for kids!

rileydog

*max* wrote: »

I couldn't care less what is socially acceptable in my own home!

Me neither - here's where I confess to letting mine sleep on one of the pillows (with a blanket over it) Some of my non-animal loving friends think it's gross/weird to let them on the bed and would have a fit about the thought of them being under the covers, hence the socially unacceptable thing. Maybe they're the weirdos though?!

The hairs do annoy me though :cool:

Lancslass1982

We got a little rescue kitten about 10 weeks ago. She was incredibly shy when we first got her and didn't come upstairs for weeks. We thought nothing of closing the bedroom door on her, until one night she cried and cried outside the door to get in and scratched up the carpet. We have no choice but to let her in the bedroom at night, as she has already done far too much damage to the carpet outside the door, after only a couple of nights shut out.

I really didn't think i'd ever be ok with a cat on my bed, but now I really don't mind at all. I even think it's cute when she comes and wakes me up in the morning with a nose rub!!

I don't let her in the kitchen though and I'm never too impressed when she's scaling the curtains!!

kloana

Don't really have any opinion on the hygiene side of things, but...

...I'll never forget a news report I saw about 5 years ago. Woman was letting her beloved, mild-mannered greyhound sleep in her bed with her, and had done for many years. One night, the dog got 'spooked' (bad dream?), lashed out, and pretty much bit the woman's face off. Horiffic injuries.

Of course it was nobody's fault (she kept the dog), and it could have happened outside of bed, too, but after hearing about that, I'd be nervous of being in such close, unguarded proximity to a dog in such an 'intimate' setting.