Both my 1 year old pups have always slept in the bed with us. Now that they are getting bigger, we are sleeping less. They used to sleep at the bottom of the bed and we really didn't mind it. Now one like to sleep above my head and the other has to be under the blankets and kicks me all night. We crate them during the day while we are at work, so I couldn't imagine crating them again at night. In the past we have gotten them dog beds but that quickly turned into the male constantly marking his territory and urinating on both pillows. Anyone have any suggestions??

I would kick them out of my room by closing the door. I've done this before with my own pets. If they do things that annoy me while I'm trying to sleep. They can sleep on the couch or somewhere where you want them to sleep.

Dog's easily understand the word "move" Tell them to move to the spot on the bed you want them to sleep while pointing with your finger. Hopefully your bed is big enough for the 4 of you. Otherwise, you will need to get them their own double or queen size bed where they can sleep together if you have an extra bedroom. It could be time for their own bedroom.


When I first taught my dog to move, I used to push her away from my spot while I said, "move." She likes to sleep on my spot but 99 percent of the time, I tell her to move. The other one percent of the time, I let her sleep on my spot.

Spaying them might keep them from marking their territory.

Roxy, this is definitely a training and leadership issue. The fact that your dogs have started working their way up the bed, one claiming a spot above your head (huge no-no), the other under the blankets and kicking you, means that they have slowly started to push the boundaries and are attempting to be the "alpha" dogs in the pack ranking. Dogs view their world in a different way than humans do. Everyone has a rank within the "pack". There is an alpha male and an alpha female. Those two alphas always run the show and the rest of the pack take on various ranks and roles within the pack.

First, Dana brings up a good point, if they aren't already neutered/spayed, you should definitely consider doing this. Unneutered males have a tendency to mark their territories and anything they view as "theirs" with much more frequency than neutered males. Neutered and spayed pets are usually more docile and easier to work with.

Even though you think it is unfair to crate them at night, the easiest thing to do to resolve the issue until you can take the time to retrain them, would be to do just that, crate them at night. This situation isn't a quick fix and if you want to get your sleep, it is the most practical solution for now.

The people in your home need to work on firmly establishing themselves as the leaders of the pack or else their behavioral issues will increase. Labman and I both refer to this website as a quick guide: Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position, Letting your dog know you are the boss

When you let your dogs out of their crates and give them free reign at the end of your work day, start using these training techniques I use when either sitting/lying on the couch or the bed. Make sure that when anyone is sitting on the couch, the dogs don't jump up first but are made to sit and stay until you, the leader, claim your spot. If they are already on the couch don't just sit down but shoo them off, make them sit and stay, and then claim your spot before inviting them to come up and join you. Do the same thing with the bed. Make them get off, sit/stay, claim your spot, then invite them up. Never allow them to be in a position on the bed any higher than your chest level. If they like to sit or sleep next to your head or at the top of the bed, they are telling you that they think they are above you in rank. Dogs recognize the one sitting up higher or claiming the primo comfy spot first, is the alpha dog. So, you need to ensure they are always physically at a lower level than you no matter where you are. Doing something that simple will help entrench you as the leader and you will find the dogs will be more willing to listen to your direction. They always follow their leaders and do what their leaders want from them. At the end of the evening, when you and your spouse are ready to go to sleep, crate the dogs for now. See how all this goes over the next month or so, then you can retry allowing the dogs to sleep with you again. Direct them to the end of the bed as they were before only after you and your spouse have claimed your spots. If they start to move upward again, you need to quickly direct them back to the end of the bed with a "no", "lie down", and "stay". If during the night they start to creep upwards again, you are going to have to keep correcting them. If they don't listen, it is back to the crate for them. Eventually, they will get it and won't try to challenge your leadership. Consistency in your training is the key.

Dogs learn fast. It could take as little as two "moves"

I'm for dogs sleeping with their owners. I learned the hard way.

When I first got my dog, we used to fight every night because she refused to take no for an answer. She insisted on getting on my bed.

But about a year later we were having extremely cold weather here and many trees died as a result. That year, I let my dog get on the bed for the first time. I was sitting on my bed with my legs stretched out in front of me reading a book. I said "up." It was like she was sitting there for a whole year waiting for me to say "up." Instantly she jumped up on on my legs and sat on them for about 20 minutes. A miracle happened. I hever again had leg pain. I had been suffering my whole life with leg pain (both legs). I could never eat potaoes without the pain getting worse. After that I ate a lot of potatoes to make up for all those years of not eating any.

I no longer throw my dog out of the bed. I am grateful that she taught me that animals have healing abilities. Through out the years she used to lie on top of me when she sensed something was not well with my body. She stopped doing it when I injured my back. She stopped on her own too.

With just a little bit of training, you all can sleep together happy as long as there is enough room on the bed. And I believe it is healthy for animals to sleep with us.

Hi Ruby

I have really learned a lot from your post.


Thanks for reminding me how dog's think. I never thought my dog was demonstrating dominance just by lying on my spot on the bed (which she gets to sleep on only 1 percent of the tim)

I'm retraining my dog with you mind.

Thanks so much for helping us.

You are welcome Dana. When we met in the members discussion forum, I realized from one of your posts that you were having a problem with your dog dominating you, but I don't like to force advice onto someone who hasn't requested it. I still wasn't sure from your other post in the dog forum (about your kitten) whether you were open to working with your dog or not. It can be quite a challenge to retrain a much older dog that has fallen into a regular routine with their owner, but if you have the patience and you are interested in trying to change some of his behavior, just post another question in this forum and I will do my best to help you when I am online.

Hi Ruby

I was most definitely looking for help with my dog.

Yes, I was going to ask you for some more help but at a new post. I will make it shortly. Please keep an eye out for it.

Thanks again.

Thank you all for your input. I am going to try the dog pillow thing again. I will let you all know my proggress. Thanks again!