David said:Just wondering how common it is to let your dog sleep bed with you at
night. How could you resist this sweet little guy? Our little Sam. We
treat him like family.
http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=10958
On the bed, yes; in the bed: absolutely not. It's a perfect breeding
ground for allergens (especially with the dog's butt hanging out all
over the sheets) and I'm allergic to cat, dog (and people) dander. For
that matter, I don't even sleep in the bed normally without clothing
on, since exposed skin is also a perfect breeding ground for allergens.
On those few occasions, when they expoentially multiply, the situation
can literally turn in a matter of minutes leading to painful sinusitis
or worse.
Toward the end of his life, I let my 140 lb Rott climb up on the bed,
since the bed is about 80 square feet, with one area set aside for him
to keep him comfortable and several of his stuffed toys laid out there
for him to play with. I have a couple pictures of him lying on his back
holding a large stuffed dog close to his chest, and various other
pictures of him, that I may post soon.
He always made it a point to check for permission before climbing on
the bed, even when I gave him open leave to lie on it while I was away.
Only once did he take up that offer. He also knew that the sheets had
to be arranged with the bed made before he could get on it and always
waited for this before climbing up.
He was extremely intelligent, on par with the intelligence of a Bonobo
or human child, including a large passive English vocabulary, the
ability to understand words in continuous speech, the ability to
recognize streets by name and take directions ("turn left at Ivy"😉 and
a limited ability to utter spoken English. He rarely barked, but
instead, tried to speak, syllabifying and sounding (and looking) a lot
like a Wookie.
On account of his intelligence and unusually civilized and friendly
demeanor, on the walks we went on, we usually went without the leash
and was often given complete leeway to do his own routing, going as far
as 4 miles at a time in a walk, and averaging 2-3 walks a day over the
last 8 months of his life, 1-2 miles each one; including a 4 mile walk
the last day he was alive.