If you ask me, there is absolutely nothing wrong with letting your dog sleep on the bed.
Your pooch is your best friend, and it’s their home as much as it’s yours. Of course, they’ll have a big (probably expensive) cushion on the floor or in a cage, but we all know that’s the token bed: they belong up there with you.
Some people disagree. Some call it ‘filthy’, ‘disgusting’ and that dog-owners should be teaching their canines where they stand in the home’s pecking order. To those people I say, get a grip.
Yes, the above dog is mine. And yes, he sleeps on the bed.
There’s some new research the bed-criers can suck on, too: the Mayo Clinic recently carried out a study to ascertain whether the presence of a dog on your bed helps or hinders your peaceful sleep.
For the study, 40 healthy participants with no sleep-related issues or conditions were observed, along with dogs which were no younger than six months old.
Irregardless of size or how often they moved around the bed and the room at night, the study was conclusive: people slept better with a dog in their room.
As reported by Mirror Online, the Mayo Clinic’s Lois Krahn said:
Most people assume having pets in the bedroom is a disruption. We found that many people actually find comfort and a sense of security from sleeping with their pets.
Today, many pet owners are away from their pets for much of the day, so they want to maximize their time with them when they are home.
Having them in the bedroom at night is an easy way to do that. And, now, pet owners can find comfort knowing it won’t negatively impact their sleep.
The verdict on Twitter appears to be largely in favour of letting dogs on the bed. One user even wrote: ‘I feel betrayed. My dog left my bed to go sleep on the couch. This is worse than a breakup.’
Another user wrote: ‘I sleep with three dogs which means i have to find my spot on my bed and stay there because moving in the slightest disturbs them all.’
Not everyone is convinced by people’s canine love. One user wrote: ‘Judge me all you want but I think it’s so gross to let dogs sleep on your bed and let them lick you on the mouth.’
Another person wrote: ‘You a trifling bitch if you let your dog lay in the bed with you while you are sleep or even lay on your bed at all and if you let your dog lick you on your face/mouth.’
Unless they constantly pee on the bed or rip apart pillows, your dog isn’t doing any harm on the bed. Loosen up a little.
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After graduating from Glasgow Caledonian University with an NCTJ and BCTJ-accredited Multimedia Journalism degree, Cameron ventured into the world of print journalism at The National, while also working as a freelance film journalist on the side, becoming an accredited Rotten Tomatoes critic in the process. He’s now left his Scottish homelands and took up residence at UNILAD as a journalist.