GF encourages puppy to sleep on our bed?

My GF is not helping my situation with my puppy. My puppy used to sleep in a puppy bed next to my bed. Well, my GF recently moved in and she’s encouraged him to get up on our bed and sleep with us. So now if you ask him, “ Leo, where’s your bed?” he’ll show you the big bed and not the puppy bed. What do I do?

Answer

Scarleton:

I agree with another poster that for dogs that are otherwise well trained and respectful, it's fine to allow them access to your bed. But it's always safer to hold that until the dog is older and more well trained, especially so you don't have to clean up as many bed potty accidents while he's young.

I have benefited from crating each of my dogs, who all have different personalities, for at least the first year of their life. One of them has full run of the house and is respectful, and the other has training and chewing problems so crating is absolutely essential. Having a dog sleep in the crate is a great management and training tool for more than one reason. It will make your life easier when you don't always have a wiggling puppy underfoot to worry about. 

Alfajores:

Have a serious sit down with her,tell her if she loves the puppy,she does the best thing for him.
Right now he is confused,on the bed or off the bed?You and your gf argue most likely which then creates tension and that is no environment for a puppy.

He will grow up to be insecure.Tell her to state why she thinks having him on the bed is a good idea and you do the same.I can give you some.First off,you both are his leaders and putting both in the same bed isn't wise.He will develop separation anxiety if after a couple of years,your gf decides that she changes her mind.
Good luck:) 

Anonymous:

Letting the dog sleep in the bed won't cause behavioral issues and won't cause the dog to think it is "above" you, unless you just don't discipline him or train him at all in other situations.

However, it's your dog and your bed, so you need to let your girlfriend know that you don't want him on the bed and if she doesn't listen it may be time to rethink your relationship, because if you all can't come to an agreement over this, you're in for a rude awakening. 

Kendal:

Get your girlfriend to stop encouraging your puppy to sleep in the bed, if you want the puppy to sleep in it's puppy bed, then tell her that. You will have to teach the puppy that the puppy bed is their bed, you can do this by giving the puppy treats when they are on their bed and when you tell your puppy to go on their bed and the puppy successfully goes to their bed and lays down. 

Lakelady:

What are you going to do if and when you have babies? I actually asked my future husband, who had asked if I wanted a family, if he was OK with a baby/and or a small sick or scared child being in bed with us. I remember what a comfort my parents bed was. Had he said no kids in bed, I probably wouldn't have married him. I think you should examine the reasons that you DON'T want the dog in the bed. Are they rational?

Joan:

Tell your girl that it's a bad idea. Tell her that letting your puppy sleep on the bed can lead to behavioral problems in the future. Not saying it will but do you want to take the risk?

If someone wants to let their dog sleep on their bed, case closed. It's called an opinion so just do it, I don't care but please don't argue with me?

Think of it, you are the "alpha" and you're letting him believe that he can do what ever he wants and that's not how it works in the wild. Later it can come to the point where he can sit on your dining table eating your food. Again, leaders eat their own meal by thesmselves then gives food to lower positions.

My dog got into a habit of sleeping on my bed and eating food with us. Now he steals food from the table and he TURNED AGGRESSIVE and kept biting me if I wanted to sit on the bed. So he had "claimed" it. It took many months to fix the problem. Yes it's my fault for letting him sleep on my bed and letting him do all those stuff, so am I a bad owner for not knowing?

So prevent that from happening and remember your position in your little pack. Tell my story to her and hope that she would understand. :) 

Kathy:

It's your house and your puppy. Quit allowing it. It may take a few days of listening to your pup whine but if you don't want him to get used to sleeping with you, break the habit, the sooner the better.