How to Stop a Dog From Sleeping on Your Bed

Adrienne is a certified dog trainer and former veterinarian assistant who partners with some of the best veterinarians worldwide.

Need to stop your dog from sleeping on your bed?

How Can You Stop Your Dog From Sleeping on Your Bed?

If you’re looking for info on how to stop a dog from sleeping on your bed, most likely, you have allowed your dog to snuggle and snooze in bed with you for some time, and now you believe it’s time to foster some independence and encourage your dog to sleep on his new personal bed.

Perhaps you have recently rescued a dog with a history of being abused and who was acting very fearful. The first few days, letting it sleep in your bed was a no-brainer as it looked at you with those soulful, pleading eyes and kept following you room-to-room.

Now, that several days have passed, you may be considering teaching your velcro-dog some independence so you have decided it’s time to relinquish its pass for a bed share and try to encourage it to sleep in its new bed.

Not an Easy Process

It’s important to emphasize this-the weaning-from-the-bed process won’t be easy. Just like a child, who has been allowed too many times to sleep with mom and dad, struggles when it’s time for him to go sleep in his bed alone, the process won’t be with any objections. Your dog will likely whine, act frustrated and attempt to return to the bed.

It goes without saying that sometimes, life is much easier for these dogs if they weren’t granted bed privileges from the get-go. Indeed, dogs struggle when they aren’t provided with consistent guidelines.

Stick to Your Plan

Therefore, it is important doing some major decision-making. You will have to choose whether you will accept him always in your bed or provide him with his own sleeping area- stick to the plan.

If you are still debating on whether your dog should sleep on your bed or not, here’s a read that offers some pros and cons so that you can make a more informed decision: should dogs be allowed to sleep on your bed? I tried my best to keep this as neutral and unbiased as possible.

Here’s the thing: if we let our dogs sleep sometimes in bed, and other times we expect them not to, this only generates confusion. And of course, given the choice, most dogs will almost always pick sleeping in the bed with their owners rather than on their own beds! Nothing beats the reassuring presence, smell and warmth of their owners.

So if you have decided that your dog from now must sleep on his own bed, below are some tips to make the process a little smoother.

Train your dog the “off” cue to get him off your bed without having to push him or pull him off.

How to Stop Your Dog From Sleeping on Your Bed

Stopping your dog from sleeping on your bed isn’t typically an easy process. However, you can ameliorate the situation by taking some baby steps to gradually wean him off.

You can accomplish this by taking a multi-tiered approach, in other words, tackling the issue from several angles. For instance, you can make gaining access to the bed difficult, while offering some amenities to make his new bed look wonderful in comparison. This multi-tiered approach can therefore help you succeed.

1. Shop for Beds With Perks

Provide amenities that can help your dog stay comfy and happy based on his personal preferences. For example, if he’s after warmth, you can provide some bed warmers made for dogs, or pet beds with heating pads.

Do you own a cute Doxie? Many dachshunds love to burrow in their beds. If your dog loves likes to be under blankets, there are dog beds now that are shaped sort of like a cave and there are recently even hooded dog beds on the market.

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A Tip for Difficult Cases

Finally, for rescue dogs or dogs struggling with the transition, it may help to place the dog bed on the human bed at night and always reward the dog for choosing to stay in his bed. Afterward, the dog bed may be gradually transitioned to the floor.

Praise and reward your dog for sleeping on his own bed.

This content is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and is not meant to substitute for formal and individualized advice from a qualified professional.

Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on February 25, 2021:

I find your hub useful, informative and dog owners who have this problem would appreciate it.

Devika Primić from Dubrovnik, Croatia on February 23, 2021:

alexadry Dogs are such lovely and obedient pets if the owners trains them that way. Our fluffy pets love sleeping on the bed. Your ideas are useful and so well-written. Your vast knowledge about dogs is interesting and in detail.

Sp Greaney from Ireland on February 22, 2021:

This is brilliant advice. Some people I know who have dogs, love cuddling them in their bed in the morning. But the dog sleeps next to their bed at night in his bed. So I think that’s a good tip about dog bed placement. It will just takes time. But dogs are smart and just want some extra love.

FlourishAnyway from USA on February 21, 2021:

Aww. They really are children. As a cat person who sleeps with one cat beside me all of the time (the others don’t like my movements and snoring), I guess it is easier to never invite them into the bed to begin with. We develop nighttime routines and everyone has their place. Your suggestions about heated individual beds and making them respites are good.

Heidi Thorne from Chicago Area on February 21, 2021:

This was a problem with my first golden girl. When she knew I was heading to bed, she would race me to take over my spot. Later, we taught them the off command. Our later pups haven’t really been consistently interested in sleeping on the bed. They’ve claimed their own dog beds, although sometimes the dogs have issues with each other as to who gets what bed. But they switch places often and it’s not a problem.

Hope you’re staying safe and well. Take care!

Peggy Woods from Houston, Texas on February 21, 2021:

We always allowed our dogs to sleep with us, so never had to wean them from stopping this behavior. Your suggestions do sound like good ones.

Pamela Oglesby from Sunny Florida on February 21, 2021:

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