This might be a stupid question, but here it goes. Gunner the Great Dane loves to sleep in bed with us. We generally don’t mind, but for some reason he always insist on cuddling up right next to us with his head down towards our feet and his rear pointing towards our faces.
If you are familiar with Great Danes then you know they are pretty gassy dogs. Needless to say we always make him get up and lay with his head facing ours. But, during the night he always changes back to the other position. What gives? Is this the way dogs naturally lay with each other or does Gunner just think it’s hilarious to poison us?
My chihuahua and jack russel/chihuahua both do the same. Head towards our feet. But if we move them to heads-to-our heads, then the eventually end up perpendicular to us and taking up the whole bed with their tiny bodies. We’ve dog-sat for a couple of our friends’ dogs (various, smaller breeds) who also do this. So I’m tending to think all dogs do it, from my 8 or so data points. However, Gunner might also think it is hilarious.
I have no idea how common it is, but my dog does it too. I can’t get her to lay the other way for any length of time. It’s butt to head or she’ll just sleep on the floor. She’s a border mix.
I think he doesn’t like your breath and is retaliating. Dogs don’t like to get too close to faces for too long–some kind of aggression/submission hang-up. You’ve seen a box of puppies, right? You can’t tell where one begins and the other ends. Same thing.
I can’t say for ALL breeds, but I don’t think dogs are naturally gassy. You might want to re-assess his breakfast/dinner components–could cut down on lethal emissions.
My small likes to sleep this way too but I am lucky that Marty’s butt is not near my face. But this does make it hard for me to move when I am sleeping .
I found this link about why dogs sleeps at the end of bed and according to it your dog see you as the pack leader.
www.quora.com › Life (biological) › Animals › Animal Behavior
“Aug 31, 2011 - A dog who sleeps at your foot is yielding to you as the leader of the pack. When your dog takes over the bed, as many do, he is challenging your leadership of the pack. That is when you must exert your dominance. Remember, dogs are pack animals and every dog has his place in the pack, including where to sleep.”
Without a bit of shame either, I’m guessing. Mine too.
But, as another data point, my two dogs don’t always sleep facing my feet, although they both do like to cuddle right up next to me (which is why I get about a foot of space in a King sized bed). Ruby, the Boston Terrier, does like to sleep towards the foot of the bed, but Stella, the Shit Tzu, likes to cuddle up near my head or midsection. Sometimes they face the headboard, and sometimes they don’t.
That’s interesting. My pit used to sleep next to me (which I actually enjoyed), but then eventually started sleeping at my feet, and this is his preferred position now. Same when he’s staying over at my parents. He used to split them, but now he sleeps at their feet, balled up.
I like snuggling my dogs near my head. I do not want them at the foot because they get kicked there. The issue is that they realign themselves so that their heads are facing my feet, but still near my head. It would be very easy to just kick em out of bed altogether if I wanted to feel superior to them.
You can try training the dog with treats to sleep with its head in the same direction as you. You can also show the dog that it either sleeps in that position or off the bed.
My little beagle girl sleeps facing the foot of the bed. I’ve tried, but just can’t get her to change her preferred position. I finally figured out why…she actually likes watching TV, so she has to be turned the right way to see the screen.
Seems to me that my dogs just don’t like my breath blowing on their nose and ears when they sleep. My boy sleeps at the foot but sometimes sneaks up to the top of the bed by me but doesn’t stay long. His ears twitch every time I breathe on him.
The girl’s spot is up by my shoulders. But if I fall asleep facing her, she turns her back to me.
My Pekingese, Delilah, burrows under the covers, and sleeps with her head sticking out and on the pillow next to me. She obviously thinks she’s human.
She stays there all night long and doesn’t move.
My half Corgi/half Lab, Ian, used to sleep exactly the same way. He’s older now, and doesn’t get up on the bed anymore, so he sleeps in his bed. It’s on the floor right next to the side of the bed I sleep on.
Perhaps I offended you; I didn’t intend to do so, and I apologize.
By way of explanation, I posted (at 6:32 pm) an anecdote where I explained that my Shih Tzu, Stella, likes to sleep up around my head, and that both of my dogs tend to push up against me, forcing me to the edge of my bed.
When I hit “submit reply”, I saw your subsequent post about how dogs who take up the bed are showing dominance, and that I needed to assert my position in the pack.
I thought it was funny, since it basically meant that Ms. Stella Bella Boo (all 12 pounds of her) is running the show. I quoted your post and tried (unsuccessfully) to make a light-hearted quip about how I was screwed. That profane retort was posted at 6:34 pm.
So, to answer your question, it took my approximately 2 minutes.
Dogs don’t like to get too close to faces for too long–some kind of aggression/submission hang-up. You’ve seen a box of puppies, right? You can’t tell where one begins and the other ends. Same thing.