I had a call recently having to do with a highly reactive dog that was starting to bite and growl at his owners, the caller was a relative of one of the owners and she was certain that this bad behavior could have been prevented had the owner been more strict with their dog  “What did they expect when they allow the dog to sleep on the bed?!”  she asked me.

Is letting your dog sleep on the bed really as bad as people think? Some dog trainers still seem to think so. And certainly for a dog with uncertain boundaries in his every day life, being allowed to sleep on the bed  is likely going to promote the idea that the bed is at least partly his. This confusion in his life and in regards to the ownership of the bed can lead to exactly what my caller described. A reactive and quite possibly dangerous dog who feels it is is job to guard his bed, couch, home, food, bone, toy… etc. A dog like this doesn’t  realize that what he is doing could be worthy of capitol punishment in the human world. He is a dog that has assumed the role of “leader” for his house because he didn’t think his owners were up to the job, He is simply doing what any stressed, anxiety ridden, untrained leader would do; overreact and lash out in order to keep the troops in line.

I know, I have been there myself. I was an overworked, anxiety ridden, untrained manager in charge of a dozen teenagers in a large pet store in the US when I was just 22. I was out of my depth and had no idea how to get 12 adolescent adults to work with me or each other. I didn’t bite any of them, but I certainly was not the best manager in the world and I had been given no training to deal with the situation. Dogs get put into situations like this all the time, then punished for doing the best they can.

The thing is, all of this has absolutely nothing to do with  being allowed to sleep on the bed. Many very well known dog trainers allow their dogs access to their beds. To name a few, Suzanne Clothier, she talks about her dog’s  bed manners in Bones would rain from the Sky. Ian Dunbar allows his dogs to lay on him on the couch. I also am guilty of allowing my dogs to sleep on the bed or the couch. Do our dogs try to dominate us? Bite us? Do our dogs guard the bed or not allow us on our own couch? No, they absolutely don’t do any of these things because a bed is just a bed. In all other aspects of their lives, certainly the most important aspects, our dogs are given training, bonding, and leadership exercises as part of their every day life.

So here is the important question. If you allow your dog on the bed, will she get off if you ask her to? If the answer is yes, then great! If it is no, then maybe it is time to take a look at not just bed rules, but all the boundaries you have set for your dog and make sure she isn’t shouldering too much responsibility.