How I Got My Adult Dog to Sleep in His New Dog Bed
Not without some ‘Dog Mom Guilt” setting in
I have a four-year-old dog who has been sleeping in his dog cage outside of the house for 2 years. He is the family’s first dog and as far as my mom was concerned, dogs ought to stay outside the house.
But this set-up didn’t last very long.
One day in February 2019, my mom and I came back from a 4-days trip only to discover that my dog was very sick and thin. He hadn’t eaten while we were not around. He fell very ill which resulted in an emergency trip to the vet the moment we arrived.
I got depressed at the possibility of suddenly losing my dog, and not even allowing him to stay inside every night. I’m very attached to him and in fact, consider him as my child.
My mom finally allowed him to stay with us (inside the house) and the rest of his outdoorsy-dogged-life was history.
I Got My 4-year-old Doggo A New Bed
Just a month ago, I got my dog a beautiful dog bed to sleep in for the very first time. It was the largest one I could find in the shop. However, I overestimated the size and went for the largest one that’s 3x as large as him (he is only a medium-sized breed).
He is 4-years old now but it’s the first time I’m placing him on his bed. He has a dedicated sleeping area right beside my bed for over a year now, but I wanted to give him more comfort. I also thought that he earned his stripes after all these years.
When the Dog Bed Finally Arrived
His dog bed finally arrived this week and I was the most excited dog mom ever to put him to sleep that night!
My excitement turned into a shock when I realized that he barely looked at the bed. He wouldn’t look at it, wouldn’t come near it, wouldn’t smell it, or even just appreciate it!
With patience, I tried and tried. I even carried him inside his bed just to make him feel comfortable, only for him to jump out like a fish in the sand, desperately swimming its way back into the ocean. He was not happy.
I felt horrible and a little mad why he seems ungrateful. I waited a month for my online order to arrive and even called the lousy courier service where my item got stuck for more than a month. I went through all that hassle, I thought. And only to have my dog never look at it or use it.
On the first night that I set up his new dog bed beside my mattress, he was restless and sleepless. He must have felt that a new alien has invaded his sleeping spot. So he squandered most of his energy, going around the room, prancing all night. In the morning, he still never laid eyes on the bed and was determined to keep sleeping anywhere on the floor.
I wouldn’t know how you’d feel if you were in my position… but I really felt bad. I thought that my dog was so ungrateful and unappreciative. And I wanted to make him feel that. I wanted to punish him, to get him to understand, and sleep there.
However, that was a double-edged sword.
When ‘Dog Mom Guilt’ Ate Me Whole
I’m not a mom, so I don’t know that mom guilt truly entails or even feels. Though I’ve heard a lot about it straight from mothers, I never really gave it any piece of thought. Until I felt dog mom guilt. Oh boy, it exists!
And it’s because of how I felt about my dog ignoring the gift I got him and not appreciating what I went through to make sure it arrives home so he can finally use it. These things felt unmatched to his reaction of dismay over the mere sight of the dog bed. He looked at it with vicious eyes thinking that it was an alien. But obviously, he just didn’t understand.
After two days, I gave up the expectation of seeing my dog sleep in his dog bed. I slept and heaved a heavy sigh, regretting why I even tried. He is an adult by now. Most of the time, you train puppies to sleep in their dog bed.
I thought of the possibility of giving the dog bed away or selling it to my sister (who has a large Golden Retriever who will most likely appreciate and use it). Plus, it is perfect for his size!
However, I left a little stuffed teddy bear in it, just to tease my dog a little bit. I didn’t expect obedience from him anymore, so I went to sleep while he still chose to stay on the cold, hard floor. So stubborn, in my opinion.
The Surprise of My Sight
I woke up at 5 AM the next day to the biggest surprise yet.
I found my dog, Joey Casper, sleeping soundly on his dog bed. Curled up in a quarter of the spot, because he is a teeny-weeny dog compared to the 3XL bed.
He was sleeping, but he woke up the moment I did. He seemed finally comfortable in his dog bed. Beside him was the bear I placed in it.
These days, I catch him in his dog bed the moment I turn the lights off, getting ready to sleep. I am not sure if it’s the bear, or the bed’s position (it was in his sleeping spot after all), or he just gave up resistance and decided to obey after playing with my feelings. (LOL)
But I’m very happy about it as you can see, resulting in this piece of writing.
Here’s What I’ve Learned
Patience rewards, but feeling bad about your dog not understanding is useless, and so is dog mom guilt.
It’s useless to get trapped in feeling bad about your dog not liking the new idea that you have introduced them to. Dogs are creatures of habits and they will not always embrace change as easily as you think they would.
But with training and patience, they will finally understand you and obey.
Give up the dog mom guilt and just stick to your guns (in my case, I never removed his dog bed in his sleeping spot to communicate that it will stay there as long as possible). He finally got the idea.
