Sleeping Question

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:45 am

We've had Special Dark for a over two months now and and he will not sleep on his bed! He won't even really get on it during the day. It took a long time to show him it was his, and now he mostly tries to chew it and just lounges beside it all the time. Has anyone else experienced this?

During the day he sleeps wherever we are and all over the floor (but never on furniture because he is, of course, an angel!

), but at night he doesn't even come in the bedroom, he sleeps in the living room.

I've tried moving his bed to the living room thinking maybe he will use it if he just likes the living room better, but he won't use it there either. He'd rather be in the middle of the room of the hallway (which is just awfully cute!).

He's a puzzling, wonderful little guy and we couldn't be happier to be his family! We're still discovering new things about each other day and he is still busy coming more and more out of his shell-- I mean, trying to see what he can get away with

Yesterday, he jumped on the sofa for the first time looking for a place to "burry" his milkbone!

Roxana · Post by **Roxana** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:14 am

Hi,
I have a 13 year old girl and she has never, ever slept on any sort of doggy bed. I bought one for her when she was a puppy and she totally ignored it. Now that she's older I've often tried to get her to lay on blankets I've put out for her thinking it would be more comfortable for her but.........Nope!

She has never even liked to sleep on the bed with me, too hot I guess. I don't think this is too unusual for Chows as I'm sure the other members will say.

Take Care,
Roxana & Dakota

Jess04920 · Post by **Jess04920** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:48 am

My Jack Russell/Chiuahua mix LOVES to sleep in his doggy bed, he also has a basket with a pillow in it that he loves to sleep on. He loves the couch and the bed (which we have since gotten him out of the habit of) and will lay on any pillow or blanket that is on the floor.

Now Koda, my Chow Chow/German Shepherd/Retriever/Who knows what else Mix absolutely will not sleep on any so called "comfortable" surface, I have bought him puppy beds, tried towels, he doesn't like beds or couches either. He absolutely loves the bare tile floor...I think it is cooler for them.

You're definitely not the only one. Congrats on your new boy!

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 8:58 am

I wondered if maybe it was because it's just cooler on the floor. That would also explain why he stays in the living room overnight rather than in our bedroom where it's warmer.

Oddly, he only likes our carpeted floors though!

Codybear · Post by **Codybear** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:35 am

My Cody will not have anything to do with his bed either. We bought it for him for X-mas the first year we had him and he has never even tried it. Totally not interested. He also prefers a cool tile floor. And he doesnt like to get on the furniture. He seems to prefer to stay close to us.
Scott

Judy Fox · Post by **Judy Fox** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 11:36 am

Milly and Mabel have a bed each with a blanket in and they do both sleep in their beds. Not all the time but mostly. In the summer they tend to find the coolest spot but they have some of their cuddly toys in but others on the site have said that their chows do not sleep in a bed or on a blanket. Some have a blanket and sleep on that.

Chows are very funny boys and girls aren't they!

fillyok · Post by **fillyok** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:03 pm

So I have the odd one that loves to sleep on furniture? My Bear will sleep on the bed while I'm at work. In the living room he prefers the leather recliner over the love seat...that's caused a few disagreements. I usually win. At night he'll snuggle with me on the bed until the tv is turned off then he hits the floor in the bedroom. I guess I move around too much for him.

ngraham · Post by **ngraham** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:31 pm

My Koda does not sleep with me either. We play and do loves on the bed right before lights out, but then he wants down on the cool floor when I am ready to turn the lights out. He used to sleep on the floor right next to me bed. but recently he has started sleeping in the hall by my bedroom door. I'm not sure what that's all about, but whatever makes him happy.

Koda does jump on the furniture.... his favorite game is "beat Mom to her recyliner" but I make him get out. LOL I don't think he really wants to go to sleep in it, it's just a game for him. Now if he is chasing Lucky, one of our cats, or Max, the ferret, he does jump on the furniture. But again doesn't stay. He stretches out on the floor for his sleeping, usually on his tummy with his back legs stretched out all the way. Sasha used to do the same thing, so that has got to be a chow thing. LOL

Jeff&Peks · Post by **Jeff&Peks** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:36 pm

Pekoe has had a bed for 8 years she has never slept in it or looked at it except to clean her teeth on the sides but lately she has been using it at night but only for a few minutes she gets in it curls up and goes to sleep after about 15 min she goes back to the floor next to the bed. she would much rather sleep on hardwood floors. Even though she never uses her bed she does know its hers so you can't move it. you also might look at those big over stuffed pillows, your Chow won't sleep on it but will love to stomp around and snort on it.

TigerTiger · Post by **TigerTiger** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 3:55 pm

Tiger also has his bed for over 5 years and he has never ever slept on it. He usally sleeps on the hardwood floor, or the living room sofa -- that is his space after 11 pm every night. Onetime, my hubby was still sitting there and watching TV about 10 after 11:00, Tiger was first stand right there, stared at him for about 5 minutes, then he just claimed into the sofa and laid right on top of my hubby!

Since then, we knew that we are only allowed to stay there till 11 pm.

Odessa's mum · Post by **Odessa's mum** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:10 pm

My Odessa sleeps on her bed but it's funny the way she does it as her head will be off the bed but the rest of her on it.
However I got her a nice (to me) new bed as the one she had was a bit worn and she absolutely refused to sleep on it. I gave it to a friend recently and her German Shepard loves it.
Now I have got Odessa a thow which I put over her bed and she likes it a lot, has to have her teddy bear with her and she is fine.
I guess our chows are pretty fussy

Mildred

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 4:44 pm

I guess some chows just don't care for beds!

Good to know that we've at least invested in a good giant sized chew toy! I do get a kick at watching him jump up on it, chew and wrestle it for less than a minute, and then off he jumps...

Codybear · Post by **Codybear** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 7:20 pm

I actually find Codys bed very comfortable. I like to use it for a pillow when i'm laying around watching TV. Cody finds this very amusing. Silly Chows

ciaobella · Post by **ciaobella** » Tue Mar 28, 2006 10:30 pm

So funny. I bought Sophie a fabulous, cushy sheepskin to lay on thinking she would immediately curl up on it and fall asleep with a grateful sigh of joy. No way! She avoided it like it was radioactive for weeks. I was so outdone. Tried putting her treats on it so she would see that it was for her. Nothing. Tried putting in the part of the living room where she usually sleeps. Nuh uh. Had some luck putting it in the back seat of the car where she rides, but really, she didn't have a choice. Weeks later, I got up one morning and found her using a small corner of it as a pillow. She's gradually worked up to sleeping with half of her body on it, and has come to consider it hers.

Sophie seem to be a creature of habit, and takes a while to accept changes in routine or environment. I think its a "chow thing".

Odessa's mum · Post by **Odessa's mum** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 2:40 am

I'm surprised Cody allows you to use her bed, my Odessa absolutely refuses to let anyone touch her bed, except for me though (because I change the sheet and wash it I suppose).
When my son was 2 he insisted on sleeping next to Odessa one night and she was very upset, used her paw to push him off the bed and came to me with that exasperated look of "why is he bothering me again". My liitle guy sobbed bitterly but has never tried sleeping on Odessa's bed after that.

kiwani · Post by **kiwani** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 4:54 am

The poufy type beds trap too much body heat to be comfortable for a Chow indoors, but Chows who love to nap outdoors in the winter do appreciate them there. Keep in mind that their body temperature is a few degrees higher than ours, and if their thyroid is humming along nicely they won't be seeking warmth indoors.

I have found that a firm toddler size mattress on the floor works well as a support for joints without trapping heat. There are also large gel-foam type mats, a few inches thick, available either in farm feed type stores as kennel mats; industrial supply firm-foam floor mats; and pool supply gel-foam mats for lounging, etc. All of those offer good support for joints, and are about the size of yoga/exercise mats.

There are also cot type beds advertised as being more cooling, since they allow air to circulate beneath them.

ngraham · Post by **ngraham** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 5:02 am

Just as I said Koda deos not like to sleep on the bed with me... guess what he does last night? I had told him Koda, time to go to bed, so he headed for the bedroom. As I was getting ready for bed, all of a sudden he jumps on my bed. He has never done that before. He is starting to get energetic (I think he is hitting his teenage peak) and leaping on furniture, but my bed is pretty high and I have always helped him on top of it. Not last night. So I got into bed with him and we did our normal "lovings time" then I shut the light off figuring he would jump down like he usually does. Nope. He lied on the foot of the bed and was there until I fell asleep. Of course he wasn't there when I woke up this morning, but he sure made a liar out of me last night. Aren't kids good for that? LOL

Lucydog · Post by **Lucydog** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:28 am

This is another funny thing about Jasper, compared to my Pit Bulls. I guess Chows have so much natural cushioning and body heat that they don't need beds. Whenever I have brought a new Pit Bull home, even if they have lived out on a chain for their entire lives, they make a beeline for the patio chaise lounge and it's nice cushion, and indoors they go for the bed or the club chair the dogs are allowed to sit in. There is a dog bed too, but they don't use it much except when the heat is on, since it's near the heat vent. They all like to sit with me on the chair to watch TV and sleep in the bed with us at night. My friends' Pit Bulls are the same way - lazy lapdogs even if they weigh 90 lbs.

Not Jasper. He likes to lie on the laminate floor, usually in a doorway so that he can guard me and see what is going on. At night, he sleeps on my side of the bed on the floor, near the doorway. In the morning, I call him over and he sits next to the bed, and lets me pet him for a bit. He had done the same thing when he lived with his original momma (she had wood floors).

Sometimes when Lucy needs to get from one room to the other, and he is filling up the doorway, she jumps over him! Good thing he is very easygoing about the other dogs.

sweetpea · Post by **sweetpea** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:32 am

Neither of my girls have a bed. when they were pups I had made a little bed using old sheets on the floor and had them sleep in a corner next to my bed. I did the same thing with both. I'd let them on my bed until I was ready for bed then would put them in their beds. Once I knew they would have no accidents during the night I took the gate away to allow them free roam of the bedroom while we slept, still I would have them go to their beds so I wouldnt wake up with chewed up blankets.

Now Princess is 2, Gracie is one. The routines are the same as when I first brought them home, by their choice. Each night we cuddle on the bed until my husband comes to bed, they will both look up at him to see what he's doing. Once they see he's about to get in bed, down they jump. They go to that same corner in the bedroom they slept in when they were little. I've rearranged the bedroom, put the sheets next to my side of the bed thinking they will sleep where the sheet is, nope. They go to their corner!

In the daytime, they spilt up. Princess naps either under my computer desk or on the sofa, Gracie will nap on my bed or on the tile floor. Once in a while I will find both of them napping on my bed. Gracie doesnt spend as much time on the sofa as Princess does. She would rather lay on the floor.

chowfrnd88 · Post by **chowfrnd88** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 7:33 am

I've thought to mysefl how comfortable Special Dark's bed looks! Maybe I will borrow it too!

That's a great suggestion of getting a non-fluffy matress. I might try that especially with the summer coming up. A few weeks ago we had a really spring-summer kind of day so I brought out a fan and he appreciated laying down beside it, but then he got up and stuck his face right in the air flow. All his hair was blowing back and he started flicking his ears and got annoyed!

He was quite cute though!

That's too silly Nancy and Koda!

I'd just have to laugh if Special Dark did that! When he first joined our familly, he would come into teh bedroom when it was time for lights out and sit besdie teh bed looking at us until the lights went off and then just as we were about to drift off into sleep, he would leave. Like he was tucking us in for the night!

Victory · Post by **Victory** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 8:06 am

Darkwind is a blanky boy, he needs a blanky to sleep, so getting him to use a bed is easy, I just put his blankie on it. Firesong uses the bed to clean her face and sometimes to sleep, (if Darkwind is already there), It's so cold in Minnesota and our new apartment is in the basement with cement under Prega floors so the floors are very cold sometimes. That's when they use the bed, just for part of the night.

Ming loved his bed that's the only place he would eat any treats he got. I just keep a bed so that they have the option if they want.

Post by **kingalls** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 9:56 am

Out on the deck we have a big round pillow bed inside their "cave" (a 4x8 homemade enclosure) - Mr. N uses it when he has one of his zoomie fits. He runs around the deck like crazy then dashes in and does this spinning thing on the pillow and does a sort of front paw digging, then dashes back out...that's about as much use as the bed gets. Shiloh has a little blanket she lays on next to the couch and Mr. N sleeps on the garage steps. I put a rug on the steps but I think he would prefer the cold cement. When he's inside, he prefers the wood floors to the rug or blanket.
Karen

Post by **Auddymay** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 10:03 am

Under the cabinettes where the kitchen sink is, there is an exposed section that has no kick board, and a draft comes up the pipes from the basement, and if you don't where slippers while washing dishes, your feet get cold. This is Lily's favorite spot to sleep. I have to strattle her to wash dishes alot of the time. sometimes she scoots a bit forward and sleeps with her chin balanced on the leg braces of my husband's kitchen chair. She reminds me of an old dowager queen, with a slave holding her chin rest while she sleeps in order not to muss her hairdo...it certainly looks uncomfortable. The chair is early american, so the legs and braces have alot of contours. I try to get a picture of it, but every time she hears me and picks up her head.

Got my shot, comfy!

Wollfie · Post by **Wollfie** » Wed Mar 29, 2006 11:54 am

Wolfie also will not sleep on my bed, nor any of the other beds or sofas in the house; never has and probably never will. We had tile in our other home -- lots of cold tile -- that he preferred sleeping on, whether it was summer or winter.

Since moving 1 1/2 yrs. ago, he sleeps upstairs, outside on the fairly large (10'x40') master bedroom balcony. I always (unless it is pouring rain) leave the sliding glass door open wide enough for him to come inside during the night. The funny thing is, as soon as I turn off the lights/t.v. and go to sleep, he will come inside and sleep next to the bed. It's almost like he doesn't want to be in the same room with me while I am awake.

Strange, loner dog.

carolyn dewrance · Post by **carolyn dewrance** » Sat Apr 01, 2006 10:03 am

Auddymay, your photo is stunning definatly a photo for my next calendar next year, funny though you and I are always on the site at the same time, must be telepathic, My chows love to sleep out side, and as the winter starts to come in down here in S.A. and it is getting darker in the evenings, and coolder, their coats are growing so thick that it takes hours to brush them out. I love my chows, could not live with out them, and the little pigs, are so funny, they now come to the kitchen window and wait for their piece of bread in the mornings, grunting at me just like the chows do.
Keep well
Carolyn