Should my puppy sleep in my bed? Pros, cons and safety

Should your puppy sleep in your bed? For the first weeks, a crate or dog bed right beside yours is usually the safer and calmer choice: the puppy can hear and smell you, you hear it wake for the toilet, and nobody falls off a mattress at 3am. Sharing your bed can work well later, once the puppy is dry at night, gets off when asked and is relaxed about being moved. This page owns the bed decision. The full night-by-night crate plan for the first week lives on crate training a puppy at night.

I am Andrew Darov, a dog trainer. I am not a veterinarian. This is a puppy page about where a young dog sleeps.

Is it okay for a puppy to sleep in your bed?

It is a choice, and it works best later. For a young puppy, a bed right next to yours gives most of the comfort with fewer of the problems.

Plenty of adult dogs sleep on their owners’ beds with no trouble at all. The question with a puppy is timing. An eight to sixteen week old puppy still needs to pee in the night, still chews whatever is in reach and still has short legs compared with the height of a mattress. Starting close to you, on the floor, gives you both a good night while those things settle.

What are the pros of sharing your bed?

There are real upsides, and they are worth weighing before you decide:

• Comfort in the first nights. A puppy who has just left its litter often settles faster when it can smell and hear a person.
• Closeness. Many owners simply enjoy it, and a calm dog in the bed can be lovely.
• You notice changes. You will hear restlessness, scratching or a puppy who needs to go out.

The good news is that a bed or crate pushed up against yours gives most of the same comfort. You can drop a hand down to the crate door and the puppy knows you are there.

What are the risks for a young puppy?

The problems with a puppy on the mattress are mostly practical:

• Falls and jumps. A small puppy can tumble off in its sleep, and jumping down from a high bed again and again is hard on young joints. Ask your vet if your puppy limps or yelps after a jump.
• Night accidents. A puppy on a duvet has a soft, absorbent spot to pee on, and you may not wake until it is done. That slows house training.
• Wandering at night. A puppy who is awake while you sleep can chew cables, books or the bed itself.
• Guarding the bed. A few puppies learn that the bed is a great place and start to stiffen, growl or snap when someone moves them or climbs in. That is worth taking seriously early.
• Lighter sleep for everyone. Puppies wriggle. You may both sleep better a little apart.

If someone in the house has allergies, asthma or a medical reason to keep the dog off the bed, ask your doctor and keep the dog on the floor.

Where should a puppy sleep instead?

For most homes, the easiest set-up is a crate or a dog bed right beside your side of the bed. A crate keeps a young puppy safe while you sleep and helps the toilet routine. A dog bed in a small pen works too. Keep it where you can reach it without getting up. The crate’s size and its first nights are covered on crate training a puppy at night.

If your puppy has only ever napped on you, the move to its own bed takes a few small steps. Those are on puppy only sleeps on me.

How do you move a puppy to its own bed beside you?

1. Set up the bed or crate beside your bed. Put it close to your side, so the puppy can hear you breathe and smell your hand.
2. Practise there in the day. Give a chew or scatter a few treats in the new bed and let the puppy nap there while you read nearby. The spot should feel familiar before the first night.
3. Use the same spot at bedtime. After the last toilet trip, put the puppy in its bed, rest a hand on the crate or the edge of the bed for a minute, then lie down.
4. Keep night toilet trips quiet. If the puppy wakes and fusses, take it out on lead, wait for the pee, praise quietly and go straight back to the same bed. No play and no lights. The rhythm of those trips is on night toilet trips.
5. Add bed sharing later if you want it. Once the puppy is dry at night and gets off on cue, you can invite it up with a word such as “up”, and ask it off with “off” and a treat now and then.

Expect a few unsettled nights after a change. Most puppies settle within a week when the routine stays the same.

When is it fine to share the bed later?

If you would like your dog on the bed in the long run, wait for these signs:

• Dry nights. The puppy sleeps through without accidents for a few weeks. The age guide is on when do puppies sleep through the night.
• Up and off on cue. The dog jumps up when invited and gets off happily when asked, with a treat as a thank-you.
• Relaxed when moved. You can shift over, roll or get in without the dog stiffening or growling.
• Its own bed still works. The dog can sleep alone in its bed on nights when it needs to.

Use a step or ramp for small dogs and for any dog with joint concerns, and lift small puppies down.

What if your puppy growls on the bed?

A puppy who freezes, stares, growls or snaps when moved on the bed is telling you the bed matters a lot. Stop sharing the bed for now and give the puppy its own bed beside yours. Do not drag it off by the collar. Teach a cheerful “off” with a treat tossed onto the floor, and get help from a qualified trainer early. The furniture version is on dog growls on the couch, and the wider picture is on resource guarding. If the growling is new or comes with signs of pain, ask your vet; see when to call the vet.

What are the usual mistakes?

• Putting the crate in another room on night one. Close by is easier for a puppy who has just left its litter.
• Letting a young puppy jump off a high bed. Lift it down or use a step.
• Playing during night toilet trips. Keep them dull, then back to bed.
• Switching the plan every night. Bed one night, crate the next, makes both harder.
• Pulling a growling puppy off by the collar. Use a treat and a cue, and get help.
• Treating bed sharing as a fix for night crying. Look at toilet timing and the day’s naps first.

Start with a bed close to yours, keep the night routine on crate training a puppy at night, and check dry-night progress on when do puppies sleep through the night. If your puppy arrives this week, read first night home too. More on the puppy hub.