Question for everybody who sleeps with their dog on the bed

Why do dogs insist on sleeping perpendicular to the long axis of a bed? When Duke stretches out he can span from one side of my king size bed to the other. This ususally results with his head on Dukesmom legs and his back legs shoving against me. In the middle of the night I sometimes get so scrunched over I will get up and, with some effort, realign his body in a more parallel position only to have him stand up, turn around a few times, then re-plop back to a perpendicular position. Do they align themselves with the earth's magnetic fields or are they possibly guided by sub-atomic particles steaming down from the Dog Star Sirius? Just wondering.

 

because they know it bugs you ha ha last night I had to go sleep in the other room because jake was sprawleed next to me length wise and wylie was perpinducalr I was being squished

 

My husband doesn't allow the dogs on the bed, but Bonnie can do this to me on the couch! We start out with me on one side and her on the other, curled into a little ball. The next thing you know, she is stretched out over 90% of the couch with her legs braced against me and pushing for all she is worth. And she's really not that big of a dog!! :lol:

 

I must be pretty lucky then. Even though my dog is tiny. She sleeps pushed into my back as hard as she can and then I have one cat at the top of my head and another curled at my knees. Sure does make for a long night when I can't even move, but I will have to say, I like it that way. My kids even have a cat sleeping at their heads too. Hubby tolerates them being there and will even laugh at me when I wake up sore.

 

I loved it when we used to let the cats in our room. One of my cats likes to curl up under my chin and draped over my neck, like a scarf.

 

I don't know..Annie's dad and I have puzzled over this before...It all starts with the dog curled compactly at the end of the bed....then all of the sudden there's a 50 lb dog laying across 2 sets of human legs pinning them to the bed...and somehow...while the humans are asleep...the dog has magically snuck it's head on to the pillow and in between the two humans, pushing someone towards the floor...we figured it was just what dogs do..the real mystery is why I can't put the dog on the floor..and instead carefully move her legs so i don't wake her but I can still fit on the bed. :roll:

 

My husband thinks it's funny when there is an animal on every piece of furniture so I sit on the floor so as to not wake them. Apparently, that's not normal?? :shock:

 

HEE HEE!!! TOO FUNNY.....

Abbey used to sleep with us, and she can if she wants to. But she now prefers the back top of the couch.

 

What's REALLY fun is when I am stretched out on the couch with Bonnie draped across me and her head on my chest. Nala is on her favorite chair next to us. Then Tesla, one of the cats (who is not the sharpest tack in the box), wanders into the room and jumps onto my shoulder. Bonnie's head comes up and her ears go straight up and Nala bounds off the chair and hurls herself at the cat. Now I have the combined weight of three animals (totalling over 100 pounds) writhing around on my chest and/or face complete with howling cat and kitty claws.

It's getting better, though. If I intercept Nala soon enough and the dogs are tired enough, I can usually manage to end with Tesla and Bonnie sleeping on me and Nala at the foot of the couch, eventually to wander back to her chair.

And it's better than it was when we first got Nala. She used to get so excited to see you lie down on the couch that she would hurl herself at your face and bite your nose. I found that to be unappealing.

 

Luther doesn't really like to sleep on the bed, unless the cat or another dog (someones spending the night) he usually sleeps under the bed. But I know exactly what you mean about them sleeping like that, I think it is because if the dog lays the same way as you, he can only see one side, but if he lays sideways he gets a better view of things, does that make sense? But I have always heard that taking over the bed or couch thing is a dominance thing?

 

When I had Max he used to sleep in my bed. He would start out the night right in the crook of my knee trying to push m off and then in the morning he would be right beside me with his head on the pillow just like a person. If he wasn't on the bed he liked to sleep in the closet :?

Rocky sleeps in his crate but if I decide to let him sleep in my bed he usually winds up on my chest (he used to sleep there when we first got him), on top of my feet or on my pillow above my head.

On the couch, no matter how hard I try, I usually get scrunched up in the corner.

 

Zoey would do that when I let them sleep with me. She would totally end up perpendicular to me. And then would kick at me. Brie would curl up in the crook of my legs. I miss them sleeping with me though...

And Jamiya--no it's apparently not ABnormal to sit on the floor because of the animals! I have new furniture in my living room that rarely is used because I don't want the girls up there. So we all end up on the floor!

 

My personal opinion is, this is nothing but doggy sarcasm.

My dachshund sleeps in his kennel at night, but during the day, he likes to sleep on my shoulder while I read or watch TV. Or I should say shoulders. His butt is always on my right shoulder, his head on the left. And he is not a miniature dachshund, either. He's a standard, and weighs 22 pounds!

 

Natalie almost always sleeps towards the bottom of my bed behind my legs. Once in a while I wake up with her stretched out right next to me....head on the pillow and all. She insists on being under the blankets too. :mrgreen:

 

Piper's Dad and I laugh at this problem, too. Piper starts out on our feet, but always ends up between us, taking up over 1/2 of the bed while we are fighting to stay covered and not fall out. Of course, I don't want to wake her, so I try to take up even less room, barely move and go back to sleep. By the way - can anyone explain how a dogs weight doubles in the middle of the night? Piper's 50 lbs feels like over 100 lbs on the rare occasion I do try to move her ... she usually wins because we end up giving up! :roll: