Wiener Writings

It would help me to know that even though Bonnie seems to LIKE the crate, that I'm not being a mean ol' mom choosing to crate her.  I hope you'll tell me why you chose your bedding plan for your babies.

You won't be being a "mean ol' mom" no matter what!!  :grin:

You left one choice off...Hallie lets ME sleep in the big bed with HER. LOL. It was worse when I first got Fred (my Great Dane) I had a twin bed and we both couldn't fit so I would sleep on a mat on the floor next to the bed and he'd sleep on the bed and I'd reach up and hold his paw that would be hanging over the edge. Sometimes when he got up he'd forget I was down there. We did get a bigger bed eventually that fit me, him, Jessie the standard longhair and two cats!

Seriously though I love sleeping with Hallie, we cuddle all night, I couldn't imagine sleeping in the bed without her. But your situation is different than ours and anything you do will be in the best interest of everyone so don't feel guilty!

Patches did sleep in a crate when young but after she was house broken she sleeps in the waterbed with me Buddy use to sleep in his crate beside my bed just last month I bought him a bed at Target he now sleeps on it beside my bed. I should mention my waterbed has two sets of drawers under it so it is about 28" tall Patches never jumps out except once or twice when I left the computer chair too close to the bed. In your situation with Bonnie being the new dog I would let her sleep in the crate by your bed that way Maddie does not feel like she has to defind her bed (Big Bed) if I get it right Maddie is the older dog of the two.I would go very slowly with everything since
Maddie may think the young dog is taking her place. If I knew what I know now I would have waited till Gizmo my Papillon had went over the bridge before getting Patches. Hard to call it since Gizmo had Puppy Alzheimer's too,Gizmo might have been happier if she had been the only house dog in her later years??? just do not know.I do agree like others have said Bonnie is picking up on your stress about them fighting of course Maddie is picking up on it too. Practice NILF training with them both that would help show them both you are the pack leader.Good Luck
Papbouv

Willy and Alex sleep in the big bed.  They have their "comfort station" and water bowl in the upstairs bathroom off the master bedroom, and they will get up in the middle of the night to go potty or get a drink of water.  Lately Alex has had the "runs" but he never fails to get to his potty station, he is such a good boy.

We have always slept all of them in a giant woofer bed next to my side of the bed. They are only up on the beg bed as a treat or if we sleep in or watch TV from bed in the winter. I worry about jumping up and down as it is a high bed.
Roberta

My two have always slept in the big bed with us and they both have their "assigned spots".  Winston sleeps between us near our heads and Zoe sleeps down by our feet.  They have a ramp at the bottom of the bed they can go down to get out to the kitchen which has their water bowl and "potty station".  It all works out real well.  Sheba sleeps on her dog bed beside my side of the big bed.

Eddie sleeps with me except when I fall asleep before he comes to bed then he sleeps on the couch.  When I had Sully Angel, before  he got groomed he had to sleep on the floor by the bed - the cats wouldn't allow the shaggy dog up into their "country.  So if he had to go outside, say at 2 AM he would rest his chin on the mattress near my head and do the doggy mind meld until I would wake up.  We didn't have a gate at the time so I had to get up, get dressed and walk him at 2 AM, it was our bonding time.  Then when he finally got groomed Sully was assigned a spot on the bed by Fluffy Kitty and he slept there until he went to the bridge.

Parker sleeps in a crate in my bedroom. Lately I have been leaving the crate door open. Sometimes he wakes me up to get in to bed with me. Usually when he is cold. I always take him out first. He doesn't seem to have figured out how to get under his blankets. Parker also has a doggie bed in the living room, and a small heated doggie bed in the family room. He also has a play pen in the office, with a lid (about 2X4ft) with a bed at one end. This is where he is confined when we are away at work. I would love to give him the run of the house, but he jumps, and also isn't very trustworthy with the housebreaking. I don't want to come home to a "down" dog, and a soiled house. He is very comfortable sleeping in a soiled play pen, I wash his bedding every day. It is my hope that he will some day be more comfortable in a clean playpen. The past few months he seems to be keeping his playpen clean, but yesterday there was another mess.
This housebreaking business is the only "trial" I have with Parker.

Well. Mr. Wilson sleeps with me, where ever I fall asleep, couch, bed or chair he's stuck to me like glue....and, he's turning into an excellent foot warmer now that we're deep into fall with winter approaching.

Mrs. Lucy sleeps where she pleases, usually in her doggy bed. Once in a blue moon she'll join me and Mr. Wilson in the big bed.

Some dogs love their crates, if it bothers you then you can simple leave the door to the crate open and she can choose where to sleep. No problem.

Mine all sleep in the big bed and they all have thier own self-designated spots.  Bella is in the big bed as well now and she likes to be cuddled up on one side of me while Beatrice cuddles on the other.  Oscy is a burrower and spends his night as far to the foot of the bed as possible.  Buelah, naturally has to be right in the middle of it all on top of the blankets where she can make sure that everyone else is exactly where they should be. 

Annie&Blusky sleeps with me in big bed,Manny sleeps with my Mom in her bed and Fritz sleeps with my nephew Trevor.Ours are like Terri's puppers they all have they're own spots they sleep in.Annie up by my pillow, Blusky down by my legs,Manny at the foot of my Moms bed to tect everybody and Fritzy wherever he wants to.

Auntie Sandi.... surely you jest...  :2funny:     We sleep in de big bed, of course.... and we even let mama sleep wid us   :wink:

Lub,
Rudy and Brandy

Mine all sleep in the big bed, except for one of my cats.  Yes, that means SEVEN animals (five dachshunds and two cats) and me in one queen sized bed  :idiot:

I've run into the problem where even the dogs that are crate trained (like my foster Doc) sees all the animals on the big bed with me and start crying.  It's like they think it's not fair.  I've thought more than once though of getting a few enormous crates for the bedroom and putting them in crates in pairs to sleep.  I'd need to do it on a vacation week, since the whining and complaining would be horrendous for awhile.  It would be heaven to be able to turn in my sleep without trying to find room for my legs, or waking up twisted into a pretzel from trying not to disturb the herd of beasts.

Stormy and Sophie sleep in a big pile of pillows and blankets in the corner right next to our waterbed.  If someone leaves worn clothing on the floor, it too, risks being incorporated into their bed.  While we leave the bedroom door open, we do put up a baby-gate to keep them in the bedroom.  We sleep a bit too soundly to feel comfortable with unrestricted roaming.  That, and the fact that Sophie would be up barking at squirrels and such all night (she once notified us at 3AM that there was a raccoon in the bird seed on our 3-season porch!). 

Porky Sleeps in his dog bed next to our BIG bed until 3 am.  At 3 am he wakes up and begs to come in the BIG bed.  So, he does both the dog bed and BIG bed.   He slept in his crate until last year at night.  He loved his crate and still goes in there part of the night when its left open by his dog bed.   

Oscar and Bonita sleep in the big bed, but Trooper has his own bed on the floor.  I don't allow Trooper in the big bed because when he wants off he just takes a flying leap.  Oscar and Bonita both wait to be put on the bed and taken off the bed.  Trooper doesn't seem to mind sleeping by himself, but I do tuck him in.

Annie & the New Jersey Doxie Gang

Check out the crate cover I made for the two boogers. http://www.wienerwritings.com/forum/index.php?topic=1897.0

Schatzi is always on the big bed. If she wasn't I would be really worried. She's usually under the covers up against one of our backs. Many times I get those little feet kneading the small of my back.
Molly is also on the big bed most of the time. She has a bed in the corner and will occasionally use it at night (or if she gets restless in the middle of the night, be sent to it). We have issues occasionally since she thinks we are on HER bed and wants to low growl anytime our feet touch her once she is settled. We've discussed removing her from the bed altogether, but haven't done so yet. It may happen soon, we're talking about it more and more.

Note - now that we all sleep in the big bed, this is a new change from Dog Star of the Day posts.  I had to try Robinton out and make sure he wouldn't leap off the bed. Dainty Miss Brekke doesn't, anyway, so we are all snuggling.

To keep Cali from "puppy whining" when we first got her, we let her sleep on our pillows (above our heads!) and now, she usually will either sleep on my body pillow next to me or on our heads yet...LOL I  :heart: it! Due to the fact of where she first started sleeping, she's a total titty baby-she is so loyal...and loving & cuddly! LOVES to cuddle! She also has a pillow addiction....she LOVES laying on ANY pillow she can find. Gotta  :heart: her!

We crate the boys together in the laundry room.  It was a defensive decision.  I needed sleep and every time there was any noise one would woof under the covers and wake the other one up and then he would woof and this would go on for up to 15 minutes with neither one remembering what the first woof was about.  Champ was originally adverse to sleeping in the crate alone and we were using two separate crates but when we put them both together they both slept more quietly.  (And so do I)  They will now go to the crate when we say bed time.  When hubby is out of town I might let them sleep in the big bed but Champ will bark for hours the next night he is back in the kennel.  He will completely forget about it the next day and will go to bed in the kennel so the big bed nights are reserved for nights when i do not need to go to work the next day.

All our boys sleep with is in the big bed along with a couple of fosters. Then when my daughter is gone for the night we have her two. We have had as many as 13 in our bed but Frank will not let me do that any more :dontknow: So right now we have Tofu and Billy sleeping on dad's side, Pumpkin (foster) sleeps between our feet, Siggy and Sharky (foster) sleep on my side and then when Bella and Hoover sleep with us Hoov takes my side and Bella takes Franks side. It's quite a picture :grouphug:

sorry this is a bit late but I've been feelin kinda oogy.....
At first both slept with us but then Delilah fell out one night and broke her foot then Frank refused to use any ramp and jumped too many times.  We miss snuggling with them, but its for their own good 'cause I'd need to surround the bed with barbed wire to keep them put.
Delilah has her special bed & blankie by her daddy's side of the bed and Frank sleeps in a playyard next to me.  Frank obviously can't get out and we shut the door to keep Ms Delilah confined to the bedroom at night.

Cajsa sleeps in the big bed with me.  She occasionally sleeps in her bed in the kitchen though and I have the bed to myself, but that's not very often.  She's a huge snuggle bug at night and wants to sleep up against me so she's really not happy to be left in the kitchen at night (even if she chooses to stay there when we go to bed).  when she was a puppy, she slept in a closed crate in the kitchen.  She is crate trained and loves her crate, but she doesn't like to sleep there at night anymore.  Probably because she realized there was such a thing as a BIG BED.  That was because of her Papa who originally said "no dogs in the bed!"  That's another story though. 
Gretchen always sleeps in her bed in the kitchen where she can get up and go to the potty or get a drink.  She can't go everywhere in the house though since she's gated into the kitchen area so I wasn't really sure what to put down in the polls for her!  Gretchen loves to nap with us on the couch and if left out will sleep on the couch, but is just as happy to go to her bed in the kitchen where she gets tucked in by David when he's home.  I don't tuck her in, because she always gets out and looks at me like I haven't got a clue how to fix her blankies before walking around then getting back in her bed. 
We tried letting Gretchen sleep in the big bed when she first came to live with us, but it just didn't work out.  Nobody slept well.  Gretchen wanted everyone to be perfectly still if a twitch was had, Gretchen would snap or growl about it.  Cajsa was upset that another dog was in HER bed. It just worked out best to have completely separate sleeping areas for them at night.  Gretchen gets lots of snuggles and loves during the day.  They share pretty well when someone is napping on the couch, so neither is left out.  It's just at night that we had to give them separate areas.

Simon sleeps with us 50% of the time.His bed is in our room but sometimes he just needs to be with us.Benji(our Yorkie) is either in his crate or under the couch.