Can you train a dog to sleep on your kids bed at night?

[KalamazooMom]

My DD has never been a great sleeper. She's a worrier and seems to be worried a lot at night. Our previous dog Lacey slept on DD's bed and she loved it. It was one of the things that was particularly sad for DD when Lacey died. So now we have Rex (hooray!) and the kids are really enjoying him. Rex seems to prefer to sleep on his bed out in the living room at night. He'll sit on her bed while we talk at bedtime or read a story but once the lights are out he goes back to his bed in the living room to sleep. Could we train him to sleep on her bed? Could I give him treats on the bed so he associated good things with it? Or would that be a bad idea? Maybe I could just move his bed from the living room to the kids room?

[WaitingForKiddos]

I bet it could be done. But I think it's normally considered bad manners for the dogs sleep spot to be the human's sleep spot.

[JavaJunkie]

I would try moving his bed to the kids' bedroom.

[mamalisa]

I would just move his bed to her room. We had to put the dog's crate in dd's room on Christmas Eve because she was scared of Santa (Yes, we told her Santa wasn't real, but really it was Christmas Eve and way too late for the damage control). She felt much better having the dog in her room.

I'm sure if you worked at it for a few nights with treats and down/stay he would get used to the idea.

[greenmagick]

Short answer is yes I will include the disclaimer to make sure your dog is rock solid with the child first and that the dog listens to and respects the child etc. My 1 year old dane sleeps with my 4 year old daughter...started because my dd was starting to get scared and wanted her to.

As for the how, that will depend on what the current situation is. If the dog is used to sleeping in a crate or a dog bed, you could move that into your childs room. My dog was already used to sleeping on couches and taking naps on our bed, so I just started calling her up to my dd bed at bedtime and they would snuggle together during story time and fall asleep. My dd does go to bed later than a lot of kids though....not sure how well it would work if she went to bed really early.

Originally Posted by WaitingForKiddos

I bet it could be done. But I think it's normally considered bad manners for the dogs sleep spot to be the human's sleep spot.

Its only bad manners if the dog has resource guarding problems or if the dog refuses to get off when asked. If the dog is not already used to being allowed on furniture etc, just train the off command. Otherwise it is a great snuggly pack experience

[ouesi]

Definitely make sure the dog is rock solid first. How does he react if someone hurts him accidentally? (Gets stepped on, fallen on?) Does the dog have good bite inhibition?

I would move the dog bed in to the bedroom, and go from there.

Our twins slept in our bedroom forever - they had a futon that they shared with the dogs LOL. When they moved to their bedroom, the dogs went with them. They sleep in the same room, each with their own dog in the bed. It works wonders for us - especially for my son who is in constant motion. Petting the dog really helps him calm down and relax himself to sleep.

I video taped this wake-up call one morning
The Great Dane on the floor sleeps with my daughter (who was already up), and the black dog sleeps with my son - the other Great Dane was joining in on the wake-up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xm6uywounM

[ParisApril]

As a kid I could aways get my relatives dogs (we didn't have one) to sleep with me when they were visiting. I would play with them, walk them, pet them and give them treats. Dogs have always liked me and me them.

Have your DD buddy up to the dog and the dog will want to sleep with her in no time.

[jamesong55]

All 3 of my dogs sleep in the kids beds. They would prefer ours but they are just too big and 2 of them think they are too good for their dog beds. The 3 boxers Bo, Luke, and Daisy normally sleep with the same, Bo with Quaid, Luke with Grayce, and Daisy with Myra it works and they come let us know if the kids are up and moving and not going to bed

[sk8boarder15]

Make sure your dog has no dommenace issues and understands that the child is above the dog in the pecking order!! Also, how long have you had the dog, if he's still new to the family I would wait till you know him a little better (at least a few months) to make sure he won't bite if startled (even good dogs do that!). Then I would deffinatly start with the dog bed on the floor next to bed. It could be the best thing you could do for dog and your kid, or the worst if the dog isn't trustworthy. Just make sure you really really really know your dog! I would trust my youngest dog to sleep with a kid in an instant! But I've known him since he was 8 weeks old! either way I'm glad your kids have a great dog to be buddies with!