Dog Community

Top dog gets the bed?

Posted : 5/28/2006 12:32:58 AM

Hi, I heard somewhere that if you have two dogs, the one who's allowed on the bed is considered more dominant than the one who isn't? Is that true?

Diddy(our pom) has ALWAYS slept on my bed. And when we got the gsd pup, he had to sleep in a crate, then on my bedroom floor.

Recently, I wanted to let Haygl (7 month old gsd) sleep on the bed too, but our pom doesn't think it's such a great idea. He would growl at Haygl when he comes up, but stops as soon as Haygl lies down. And sometimes instead of sharing, he would jump off and sleep on the floor. Speaking from a human point of view, this doesn't seem very fair for Diddy.

I'm not sure who's the dominant dog right now. Of course Haygl can easily overpower Diddy by brute force, but he never tries to steal Diddy's treats or bones, and only eats Diddy's food if he's done and theres some left over. Haygl also whines loudly if Diddy gets mad at him(sign of submission?), these are times when he plays a little too rough with the pom. I dont wanna give Haygl a false sense of dominance if he's actually not the top dog.

PS. The bed is big enough for the 3 of us, as long as I keep my arms and legs to myself. [

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jensw

Posted : 5/28/2006 1:12:59 AM

I'm no expert, but I think *you* should get to decide who gets in bed and who doesn't. [

] Roscoe will guard the sofa against the cat and our current visiting dog, but I make him get off if he growls or snaps or otherwise expresses displeasure. After a couple times of that, he quickly learns that if he wants to be on the sofa, he better share. Now he and the cat will lie snuggled together, and he's even willing to let Lucy be on *his* side of the cushions. [

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orangedog

Posted : 5/28/2006 1:20:22 AM

That wouldn't be accepted at my house. If I wanted all 4 of my dogs to sleep on my bed, then that's what would happen. No fighting/growling whatsoever, and if they did growl that dog would be off the bed. *I* am 'alpha' and I choose what dog is allowed to go where. My bed belongs to me, not the dogs, even though they sleep in it. That's me though..

jennie_c_d

Posted : 5/28/2006 1:54:59 AM

Agreed. Anybody that growls is banished to the floor. If they don't like the floor, they can sleep in their crate.

dasher

Posted : 5/28/2006 8:14:03 AM

I agree with everyone. In my house if anyone misbehaves on the bed, their bed privileges are revoked. The way I see it getting on "my" bed is a bonus not a given. [

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Katie M.

Posted : 5/28/2006 10:32:32 AM

I wouldn't say the pom is dominant, but is instead resource guarding. My Westie does that, and he's bottom of the totem pole around here. I agree with the others, a growling dog loses the prime real estate and is banished to the floor. In my house, the Collies CHOOSE not to get on the furniture, while the Westie prefers it, but when they do decide to get up there, the Westie often growls. What is funny is that none of the dogs take him seriously and Smidgen will actually purposefully sit on him. [

] I prefer if the dogs can work it out amongst themselves (if they are non-violent coping methods).

Minty_Pups

Posted : 5/28/2006 12:50:37 PM

I know what you guys mean.. it's just that I've always been a little biased in favoring Diddy. He's the older dog, and he's so much smaller than Haygl, I always feel like I should be on his side. I don't want him to feel like he's getting replaced. It's hard though, because he's rather mellow and calm most of the time, content with just sitting or lying on the couch. Whereas Haygl's still a puppy, in-your-face, and ready to play at all times. I'm also spending more time on him with training and such.

If it comes down to choosing only 1 of them on the bed, I'll probably choose Diddy, and make Haygl go back to sleeping on the floor. I know what you're all thinking... but I've spoiled the little thing rotten and I just can't stand watching him get shoved away by the puppy.

addicted2rescue

Posted : 5/28/2006 3:34:59 PM

I have a toy poodle mix that I have had for a year now. And now we have a mix pup for about a week. I have been (as I planned on doing) allowing Bear (the poodle) to sleep in the bed, and having the pup sleep in the crate. I plan to keep it that way. I think its important for me to not change anything in Bear's routine and make him feel replaces by the puppy. So far Bear has only gone after Taz a few times and that was purely to show him who the boss was. He doesn't hurt him or anything. Now they even play a little. Which I think is amazing, since its only been not even a full week. I just feel like Bear should be the dominant dog, and Bear knows I am his master, and listens to me. If I let the pup on the couch or bed, Bear has no problem. Its only if the pup tries to get up on his own. Its like Bear is ok if I give Taz permission to be there.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 5/28/2006 8:43:32 PM

Max would absolutely die if he lost bed privileges. [

] The ceiling fan is closer to the foot of the bed and he really loves sleeping under that fan.

Joyce & Max

Sera_J

Posted : 5/28/2006 11:07:06 PM

Growling = off the bed. But, I have three and really only Nikki resource guards, so she's usually the one getting kicked off the bed/sofa, etc. However I agree with Colliewog and I allow them to work out most of it by themselves. Just FYI my dogs are all about the same size, though... so, it maybe slightly different? I've always heard to error on the side of giving the little dog more status than the larger one.

If you want the little guy on the bed and not the pup -- that's your decision, you shouldn't feel badly about it [

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