my girlfriends dog ......

[JollyGreenGiant]

How old is the dog? If it's old or has arthritis it would definitely suck not to have a decent bed to sleep in. What if you bought the dog it's own bed?

You could be all like, "I think your dog keeps jumping up in the bed cuz he can't get comfortable so I bought him/her this cool new bed!!"

 

[BirdDawg]

When my then future husband and I first moved in together one of my dogs was 12. He insisted she was "old and poor" and should be allowed to sleep in the bed. This lasted all of two nights...after the second night of waking up clinging to the very edge of the bed because the dog had sprawled herself across the entire middle, he decided I was right in not allowing dogs in the bed. The dog returned to living out her life in a very comfortable dog bed at the foot of ours.

Having been "in dogs" professionally for many years, I hear a lot of stories about the dogs in the bed issue. Perhaps the best arguments for not allowing it are these two:
First, dogs are pack animals and live by pack rules, even if their pack is human. Allowing them to sleep in your bed tells them they are your equal, not your subordinate. If the dog has behavior and/or dominance issues, you should never allow them into your bed. It's as good as telling them they can run the pack as leader. Ask any canine behaviorist!
Second, and I think this is the most important: Most dogs develop at least some degree of incontinence as they age. Most people do not appreciate finding these "accidents" in their bed on a nightly basis. How do you explain to the dog that after 10-12-14 years of sleeping in the people's bed that now they must sleep on the floor? The dog does not understand this, especially after having been allowed in the bed for so many years. It then becomes extremely difficult to change this habit. Better to give them their own beds from the get-go. In later life you will find it far easier to wash or replace a dog bed rather than your mattress. I've got a 14 year old dog now with this problem, and I use human type incontinance pads over his bed. Everyone's happy, and the dog is still loved despite his aging issues.

Perhaps your girlfriend will benefit by presenting her with logical reasons not to allow her dogs in bed. Much as I love my dogs, they are still dogs, and treated as such.

 

[Dan42nepa]

One of my best friends was dating a female doctor. He moved into her house with his dog. One day his dog growled at her for whatever reason and she gave him an ultinatum. Either the dog goes or you do.. so my friend and his dog left.. I would feel the same.

 

[Guest]

BirdDawg,
I liked what you had to say.I am an eigth generation dairy farmer with lots OF ANIMALS.
My dog goes everywhere with me that it is acceptable.Yes, he is my baby but he is still a dog and does much better if I treat him as such. He is by my side 24/7 and I enjoy it more than he does...but he doesn't sleep on the bed.He's got his own couch that he knows hes allowed on...but no bed. And yes at age 13 yrs + he has started to have small accidents while he sleeps.This just started and is definitely an age thing.He was just at the vets yesterday.Pets are more respectful with some boundaries.
I couldn't do the shitting and pissing in the house thing.TOTALLY disgusting,unsanitary, and disrespectful of your own space..YUCKERS MAN!!
I recently went to look at a house for sale by its owner.The lady couldn't have been nicer really but when I got w/in 10 ft of the backdoor I could smell cat urine etc and when I looked down there were flea bites on her ankles...NEXT!

 

[space cowgirl]

So what ended up happening?

 

[evilunclephil]

My girlfriend (QueenofGreen) and I have been living together for about six months, and we've been dating for over three years. She has a 9 year old cat that was born in her bedroom closet, and slept on her bed practically every night until she moved in with me. I totally adore her cat, in my view it's almost an extension of my girlfriend, but I have horrible allergies to cats, so we comprimised. She agreed that he wouldn't be allowed in the bedroom, and of course the garden, as long as he had total run over the whole rest of the house, and we fed him with huge hoppers, I agreed. He's since been in the bedroom maybe twice, and been on the bed ONCE before he was ejected. He meowed by our bedroom door for the first couple days, but now he just sleeps on a couch downstairs, which works well for EVERYONE!

So I think the key to fixing this situation is to find a compromise. Maybe the dog can sleep in the ROOM, but not the BED? Like maybe you could get it a fluffy cozy doggy bed on your lady's side of the bed, so she could still pet it in the middle of the night if need be, or whatever, but then you don't need to worry about waking up in the jungle with some crazy animal trying to steal your body heat

But really, if you're waking up in an active battlezone because of your girlfriend's dog, maybe some therapy would do a little good!