# Second dog sleeping arrangements!



## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

We are currently after getting another dog (as half the forum probably knows by now LOL) and me and my mum were discussing the sleeping arrangments once dog number two has arrived with us.

Our current dog sleeps on my bed (which I know a lot of people advise against) which we've never had a problem with, it hasn't created any behavioural/dominance issues so i've never had real reason to change his sleeping arrangements. But we're not sure what to do with the second dog. My bed is a small single so won't really fit me and two dogs on it comfortably (although I wouldnt mind sleeping on the floor :lol so we were wondering what would be the best thing to do.

My mum suggested making our second dog sleep in the living room at night, wilst our current dog carries on as he does going up to sleep in my room. However, I think that could cause an issue between the two dogs as having one going up to sleep with us (top of the pack) and leaving one downstairs to sleep alone is not fair and could spoil the pack structure and the relationship between our dogs.

So, what would be best? Should we let one dog sleep in my room, and one in my parents room, have them both in my room, or have them both downstairs at night?

I don't really want to choose the last option as I think having a second dog in the house is enough for our dog to cope with without having such huge changes to his routine, so I don't want to cause him any more stress. Plus, I wouldn't want the two dogs being together all night at first if we're not entirely sure how they would react. Obviously the two dogs will meet a few times before we bring the new one home, but it would be silly to leave two dogs unsupervised for such a long period of time until we were sure they can be trusted to get along with one another.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Oh, and if it's any help - our current dog is male and our second dog will be female, and obviously both are neutered.


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## hobo99 (Aug 18, 2008)

Hi, you could try using a crate for the new dog and getting it used to the crate down stairs then if all is ok having it in the crate in your room. When we got our second dog he was crated to start with , he is 9 mths old now and does not sleep in the crate any more , its just used for car journeys suz


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

I did think about crating her, but i'm worried about what to do with our other dog. I don't want the fact that he goes off to sleep with us at night to upset the new dog because she's left alone in the living room. I don't want it being that our current dog sleeping with the 'top dogs' in the pack (us) causes friction between them 

but on a side note - I did see a lovely pink crate and it wasn't expensive


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## Burrowzig (Feb 18, 2009)

Would a 4 foot wide bed fit in your room? There should be enough room on that. They're not as common as standard single or double beds, but are not difficult to find. Otherwise, how about a dog bed on a piece of furniture to raise it up to the same height as the bed (a blanket box at the end of the bed should do, and provide useful extra storage).


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

hehe I can't really afford a new bed, and it will mean switching my whole room around - i've got my bed in between the chimney breast and the wall, and it fits in perfectly 

I could try them both sleeping on my bed, as our current dog is a Patterdale (but hes very big and bulky for his breed - he might have some staffy in him somewhere) and our new dog is a Border Terrier x Jack Russell....if we do get her. So, neither are big dogs but you know what they're like, they spread right out all over the place, and one ends up taking up half the room as it is sometimes!

I just dont know what is best in terms of where they both sleep - I dont know how our current dog will react to a new one sleeping on the bed, but I also dont want the new one being left to sleep alone downstairs while Tiger goes upstairs with us, i'd feel mean for a start! They probably will both fit on my bed, but i'm more worried about how it could affect them from a behavioural/pack structure point of view, could it cause any negativity or dominance issues with them?

I'm just worried because we've never had two dogs before and we want to get it completely right


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

HI. I had 3 dogs, 2 were rescue's and one my sister's dog. The 2 rescue's sleep upstairs in our bedroom and my sister's dog downstairs. I then got a third rescue and thought it would sleep with my other 2 upstairs.

Unfortunately it did not pan out like that. The first male rescue and the new one, have had trouble accepting each other. Although it is much better now, it still has to be supervised. So the new rescue is sleeping with my sister's dog downstairs.

The reason I am telling you this, is you can make plans, but be prepared for them to change. You have to consider that if the current dog stays sleeping with the pack leader and the new dog on his own downstairs, then this could make their relationship unbalanced.

I would start discouraging the current dog from sleeping with you, maybe start by bring his own bed into the room, on the floor. From my own experience of, first introducing my sister's dog and then the new rescue, it has taken time. Although they could now sleep with my sister's dog, it has taken a long time to get there. 

I am not sure on other people's experience of bring new dogs into their pack. I have 2 problematic rescue's who are very territorial, so don;t let my stories put you off!

I think you are going to have to play it by ear. You may find the new dog will suffer from S/A and will need to sleep with you for a while. Therefore, if you can get your current dog to be flexible with his sleeping arrangements, then you can cater for any eventualily.

Bottom line, don;t have plans set in stone!

Vicky x

PS: Are you confident introducing 2 dogs? Remember, that it may be a different story inside the house. They could be fine outside, but could be problems inside.


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## Fleur (Jul 19, 2008)

Goodvic has some great advice.
I think you'll need to play it by ear and may have to change the arrangement once the new dog settles in and establishes her place in the pack.
Is there room for a dog bed in your bedroom, if you encourage your dog to sleep in his own bed overnight the new dog could join him.


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

Thankyou for your advice, that was really helpful 

When we first got our dog, I did try making him sleep on his own bed in my room, and he'd stay on it until I was asleep (or he thought I was) and then jump up. I don't really know how to tackle this because I can't really do anything about it when i'm asleep.



> You have to consider that if the current dog stays sleeping with the pack leader and the new dog on his own downstairs, then this could make their relationship unbalanced.


I know what you mean about him going to sleep with us and leaving the new dog downstairs, that's the issue I had with that idea. Would it help if our dog carried on as he is used to doing and sleeping in my room, and the new dog go and sleep in my parents room, or could that cause an issue? It seems the most balanced way of doing it, but i'm not sure if that could bring up any issues?

I am quite confident about them meeting - we tried a staffy x with him a few weeks ago and our dog wasn't bothered by him at all, in fact, he pretty much ignored him. We just decided that the other dog was a little too big for us, so we're looking for something smaller than our current dog, which the one we have our eye on at the moment is. We also think our dog would be more likely to accept a female than a male dog.


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## PoisonGirl (Oct 24, 2008)

Hi, I don't think it will cause problems having the new dog sleep downstairs to start off.. It will make him know that your dog is first, and thats a good thing to teach him. You may find that he likes sleeping downstairs, or when he has settled in and got used to the routine you can let him upstairs too..

Dixie sleeps upstairs occasionally, and Dave sleeps down, I like to know the dogs can settle without eachother, incase one of them has to go to the vet or something, cos when Dixie was wee she slept with our lab x - when she ran away, Dixie would not settle or eat.

Good luck with getting another dog 

x


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## Tigerneko (Jan 2, 2009)

Yeah, they're good points too! I suppose like others have said, it's best to just see how the dogs react to one another once they both get into the house and then work out the best sleeping arrangements from there. I'll take everyone's advice into consideration as it could all be helpful!

I might try and get my parents to invest in a crate and maybe try and crate train either of them. I'll make sure we ask the rescue our new dog is at whether she's crate trained, because that'll really help a lot if she already is.

They might know a little about her background because she was brought in after her owner died, so it may have been friends or family who handed her in to them, and they may have known, so it's worth asking


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