First off, I love to snuggle with my dogs so I allow them on or in the bed upon invitation, and they must get off /out when I say so. Main sleeping quarters for Tessa however still is the crate, in the bedroom.

However: I have heard that you should NOT let the dog sleep in the bed (or even bedroom) with you because

1. it will raise their status in the pack, and if you have a dog with dominance issues, or if you are working on establishing yourself as the pack leader, that's a bad thing.

2. it will make a versatile hunting dog less independent in the field, so if you want to hunt the dog, that could pose a problem (dog will statoo close to you).

Any thoughts?

Mine sleep in the bed with me whenever they want to.  Usually, Belle is in the den on her favorite sofa, Halo is in the game room on her favorite sofa and Ringo will choose the bed with mom almost every time.  They rotate from time to time with Belle in the bed with me, Ringo in his bed, and Halo in her bed.  And sometimes Halo is in bed, Belle on her sofa, and Ringo in his bed.  Once in a while I will get two in bed with me, but that is rare.  Ringo loves to get under the covers.  Halo just likes to lay as close to mom as possible and Belle usually at the foot of the bed.  Belle is hot natured and usually gets hot when in bed and gets down in the middle of the night. 

I have never had dominance issues or possessiveness issues.  Also I have not seen any problems with the dogs being indepent when working whether it is field work, obedience, flyball, agility or whatever.  They also have no problems leaving mom to go to doggy daycare.

I did draw the line though when Ringo tried to curl up on my head one night.   He wanted my pillow.  When he comes in from going potty just before we go to bed at night, Ringo always runs into the bedroom and gets in my spot on the bed and looks at me very innocently.  Then I tell him that's my spot and you either have to get in your crate or move over.  He then chooses where he will sleep.  It is a game we play every night.  Sometimes he moves over and sometimes he gets in his crate.

unowho, Michigan sleeps under the covers sometimes, too. She lets us know when she is invited up onto the bed if it is too cold by pawing at the blankets.

I had the most wonderful snuggle time with her last night after I woke up around 3am and I couldn't imagine not having her in the bed.

If she displays any dominance or growliness we send her off the bed (works on the couch, too). I haven't noticed her being clingy outside, she runs off, stays far away and points when she thinks it is required...when she's not sniffing the ground, that is.

Texas Belle, our Border Collie is like your Belle, up and down all night due to the temperature.

Our dogs can join us in/on the bed ON OUR TERMS. That's the important part... if anyone gets grumpy or possessive, they get unceremoniously shoved off onto the floor with a foot immediately. That usually solves the problem post-haste.

Rogan had been the worst in that regard, and he's such a diehard putz that he doesn't even volunteer to get on the bed any more. He can't seem to help getting territorial and he KNOWS he'll get in trouble for it, so he avoids the situation altogether... which is fine. The girls are better anyway- they snuggle right up when it's cold and don't budge. " src="/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/blue/emoticons/smile.gif" />

ETA: they're all used to sleeping in a crate as well, so no worries about traveling.

I've heard about the pack status issue, our trainer warns about that. 

I'm thinking you started this because of the other thread where the pup wasn't sleeping.  That was our situation too....pup got older, and less likely to make it through the night.  It had zero to do with bathroom and 100% to do with velcro dog syndrome.  He just got lonely.  Now he's in bed from 9-10PM on and hasn't had a problem making it through til my kids wake us  somewhere between 6-7AM.  Our room tends to smell a bit funky these days but what can you do?

On a serious note, anyone find this cramping their style in the bedroom?  Not sure I can deal with 14 years of this! 

Febreze Pet Odor Eliminator works well for the smell.  I just  make sure the area I spray is dry before I let the dogs back into the room.  Crates and nice big dog bones work great for keeping the hounds entertained when you and the misses have something better to do.

my pup Lola sleeps in the crate the night through, since about 2 weeks after she came to us...she's now 5 months..............but, she does take naps on my bed in the daytime, on invitation only, if i'm napping a little (rare!, but precious moments ....or sometimes if my 2 yr old daughter Ellie is sleeping in on my bed (yeah, if she 'whines' in the middle of the night, in she comes...sleep is precious when the alarm goes off so early) the pup will jump in with her after i've let her out in the am to pee.....   the first time, i was on the computer & suddenly worried that pup was too quiet (ie: oh oh, what's she chewing now...) & looked around, both 'kids' were snuggled up together, very happy & warm...... I think my longterm goal is in another year or 2, Lola will sleep with Ellie most nights...........

i grew up with the concept: a dog per kid....no one sneaks into room at night ...dog always knows............not that home was unsafe then or now, but it's nice to know.........as a matter of fact, i accidentally fell asleep with them on the bed on T-day last week (2 hours!--yikes for the cooking schedule, good thing dinner was at 6pm)....& only woke up cuz Lola 'woofed' once as my teenager came up the stairs to the bedroom level...one woof, then pup knew who it was, & stopped..... I woke up & told her she's a good pup....that's her job

shorthairs are such nice little heaters to snuggle up with

 Last year pic -07 of Rocky pre-warming his master's spot in the bed

Rocky's favorite chair in our livingroom with his Ducks Unlimited cover

Mine sleep with me, I've just given up.  It was fine when I just had one, then I got Jasper and he had to sleep on the floor.  Except when he would creep into bed while I was asleep.  (I must have been really passed out.)  Finally I just got a bigger bed.  It doesn't keep them from squashing me in the middle but at least nobody falls out (which was usually me).  

I have no problem booting either of them off the bed; its just that deep down inside I don't want to.