Sleeping With the Dog

Now that my dog, Star, sleeps with me, I see that it changes my focus on what’s important. Rather than being preoccupied with antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids, I’m more concerned with whether she should have a bath every 5 days or every 7, and whether I should use gloriously expensive shampoo for her bath, which of course I should.

My other dog, Sam, never gets into the bed except when he’s bragging to other dogs about his privileges. When we have company, Sam gleefully demonstrates that the bed and the sofa are his playground, but we all know that when there’s no company, Sam prefers a quiet life on a firm, cold floor.

Some behaviorists are convinced that allowing Sam and Star full access to the bed will encourage them to misbehave. They suggest it’s a simple leap from sleeping with humans to demonstrating pigheadedly malicious behaviors, such as trying to get through the door first and disemboweling other dogs.

I think the behaviorists' misguided Off the Bed policy is the result of being raised without toy guns. Those of us whose childhoods were full of plastic six shooters had years in which to learn the difference between acceptable games and unacceptable violence. For us, it makes sense that dogs given the right games and the right exposures will be equally capable of distinguishing what’s acceptable from what’s unacceptable.

Letting Star on the bed just gives her a nice place on which to refine her behavioral choices.