Doggone Etiquette—

Sleep Well!

By Bardi McLennan

A Word to the Dog:

Do you mean to say your VIPeople have been letting you sleep under the covers in their bed and now they’re pushing you out? Oh, you poor dog! No, not really. You probably did a good con job of getting them to think you were cold and lonely. The “poor me” trick, and it worked. Well, now they’d like a little privacy. No need to feel sorry for yourself because it will soon be too warm for this pushy intrusion. Curl up contentedly on the floor in a corner of the bedroom for the night and watch how proudly they’ll brag to neighbors and friends of your deep understanding. There are lots of ways to outsmart those VIPeople!

A Word to the Dog’s Owner:            

While I personally do not advocate it, or condone it, most dog owners consider a major part of having a dog is to let their Rufus sleep on the bed with them. However, allowing a dog to sleep with you under the covers is strictly taboo, and regardless of how you may feel about your dear dog, he/she IS a dog. There are many reasons not to allow a dog on the bed. Depending on the size of the dog, you could roll over on it (causing you both to wake up) or you could stretch and push it off the bed (causing possible injury to the dog) or, in the case of a large dog, you could be the recipient of these nightmares!      

However, allowing a dog to sleep with you under the covers is just plain unhealthy for both you and for the animal, be it dog or cat. The combined heat of your bodies at any time of year is perfect for producing fleas and ticks, thus subjecting you to Lyme disease as well as fleabites. Here’s another caveat: All dogs dream (at least, that’s what we would call it) and in this semi-somnambulant state they bark, moan, snap, and move their legs as if running or seeming to dig! Not much fun to be curled up with that activity going on when you’re trying to get a night’s sleep! For all these same reasons, dogs should be kept out of the children’s beds. A prebedtime goodnight cuddle is fine, and then each needs to be in his or her own bed.                             

There is a way around this, for all of you lovers of dogs-on-the-bed. If your bed is big enough, and your Rufus is small enough, put a cover like the one you’d use to protect a sofa or chair on the foot of the bed. Then comes the hard part — teaching the dog to stay put on it all night! If Rufus doesn’t go along with this bright idea and would prefer to share your pillows, then bring a bed of his own into your bedroom. Just be sure to put it where you won’t trip over it in the middle of the night. It will take time to teach Rufus to stay there for the entire night, but a special toy or bone might help him settle down. No doubt you’ll get paws, nuzzling, and whimpering sound effects first thing in the morning!

If none of that works, you can always resort to the crate (or dog bed) in the kitchen, den, or spot of your choice. Good-natured training is still essential to success. Use positive reinforcement, not punishment. 

Next week we’ll cover a preview of “the biggest show on earth”! Well, not quite, but the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in Manhattan with 2,500 dogs is a really big two-day event not to be missed if you have a dog or are thinking of getting one. You could meet a Spinoni Italiani or an Anatolian Shepherd, or even a Polish Lowland Sheepdog!

Until next time — BE GOOD!

—Bardi