Our dogs are allowed on the furniture.
With a Great Dane, whose 160 pound frame needs lots of cushion, and Labradors, the snuggliest dogs ever, it’s sort of a necessity that the dogs have furniture privileges.
Which is great. It really is.
But it’s also why I love to travel for work.
I’m away from home for work a lot. This month, for instance, I’m out of town 13 out of 31 days.
Working out of town means I stay in hotels a lot.
This month I’m in a hotel bed almost as much as I’m in my own bed.
Why do I love to travel so much? I mean, I’m away from the dogs, from Smart Dog University, from my husband! All true. And I do miss them when I’m gone.
What I don’t miss, however, is dog hair everywhere. 
Dog drool everywhere. On the walls.
On the fridge.
Dogs taking up every available piece of furniture so the only seat left for me is the coffee table.
Dogs kicking me out of my very own bed.
This, my friends, is bliss. An entire bed. To myself.
An entire bed. To myself.
I can lay across the bed, I can lay sideways, I can have the entire bed to myself. Not a piece of drool anywhere. The only mess is the one I make. And believe me, I’m no where near as messy as a 3 year old Great Dane.
I can’t live the hotel life for long, mind you. But for a night or two? Bliss.
Hi Laurie, we have 2 Dane crosses who take up all the space everywhere 🙂 the dog hair on the bed I could do without, have to vacuum it every other day.
I have a bed related question if you have time to reply, our dogs sleep on the floor (on their comfy dog beds) in our bedroom. We usually feed them around 6pm, toilet and bed around 8.30pm. Two things trouble us:
1. Our eldest, Winston, is about one and a half and is a 100 pound Dane x wolfhound. He often refuses to go to the toilet when we take him out. He seems to hate walking on grass unless he has too. Being a big dog he holds it well but are there some strategies you could suggest to get him to toilet before bed? I often sit outside with him for up to half an hour with no luck.
2. Our little one (Ciri who is a Dane x and is about 6months) and Winston have been allowed on the bed for cuddles usually just before we get up in the morning, at about 5.30am. However, they have both been waking up earlier and earlier and trying to come up on the bed. They are now waking us as early as 3.30am (despite block out blinds) and I have real trouble getting them to settle again. If I do manage they are awake again an hour later. This is causing a lot of sleep deprivation and thus stress between myself and my partner. I am thinking of trying to teach them to sleep in another room but then I won’t be able to hear them if they do need to go out or something is wrong (e.g. my little one woke up and vomited in the middle of the night recently). Also, they will cry and bark at 4am for our attention while they adjust and this will not only wake us but the neighbourhood as well. Any suggestions to get them to sleep longer would be so much appreciated!
From Talia (Talia.hardaker@gmail.com)
Our dogs are also allowed on the furniture, I do travel quite a bit…not as much as you :-)…however, I love to travel for the exact same reasons that you do! I love my dogs, but I love only dealing with my own mess AND getting the bed to myself also!
My only reservation is our bed. I like for my puppy Zelda to sleep in her kennel and it is too high for her to hop up on without our help, but we let her sleep in our bed a few times a year. It is a special treat, not a habit. That way we don’t have a heartbroken puppy on our hands every time we want the bed to ourselves.