What are the risks of letting your dog sleep in bed with you?
About 42% of all dog owners let their pet sleep with them and veg out on the couch.
It’s fun to snuggle up with your favorite fuzz buddy.
However, I periodically see questions in the forums asking about the safety of sleeping with your dog and the possibility of disease transmission.
So, let’s talk about the actual risks of sharing your bed with your beloved four-legged friend versus the risks that are imagined.
What are the risks of letting your dog sleep in bed with you?
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Sharing the bed isn’t as wonderfully safe as those of us who do it think. It also isn’t an invitation for horror that some people think it is either.
The truth is that co-sleeping with your pet is relatively safe and poses only minor concerns. Let’s take a look at both the imagined risks and the real risks.
1. Imagined Risk – Disease Transfer
Dogs and humans rarely swim in the same germy pool. Dog’s don’t get human colds or the flu. By the same token, you aren’t going to contract the dog flu from a pooch. It is extremely rare for humans to contract an actual disease from their dog.
The only notable exception is in the news right now – leptospirosis, a disease which attacks the kidneys. However, even that one is spread through contact with urine, and there is a vaccine, so the likelihood of getting it from your pet is extremely low.
2. Imagined Risk – Injury to Your Dog or Yourself
It’s just not going to happen 95% of the time. Unless you’re trying to sleep with an Old English Mastiff who’s prone to night terrors – which is highly unlikely – you’ll probably be fine.
If you’re sleeping with a 5-pound toy breed and YOU are a violently flopping fish while you sleep – which is more likely than the former, but still not high on the list of possibilities – your little pooch should be fine.
3. Real Risk – A Mess
Sleeping with your dog poses the risk of a lot of extra bed linen washing. If your dog is a heavy shedder, you’ll be changing the sheets just to get rid of all the hair. If your dog is a big one for outdoor play, and you don’t adequately clean him off, you’ll be changing your linens quite often.
The reality is that if you sleep with any pooch at all, you will be doing a lot more laundry.
If you do sleep with a relatively messy dog, I suggest getting a mattress protector. In fact, even if your dog isn’t messy (and doesn’t sleep with you), grab one anyway. Mattresses are expensive, so you might as well give them all the extra protection possible.
You can also invest in special waterproof blankets made specifically for dogs that sleep on the bed.
4. Real Risk – Fleas and/or Ticks
It is very important to note that this is only a risk if you don’t keep your dog up to date on his flea and tick preventative. It is extremely important to your dog’s health to keep him protected from these parasites.
It’s also extremely important to your bed. If your dog comes into the house with fleas on him and then sleeps with you…well, I don’t think I have to tell you what will happen!
5. Real Risk – Some Zoonotic Parasites
Again, this is really only a risk if your dog doesn’t receive regular vet care. However, in the case of dogs who are not regularly given proper flea and tick preventative, a dog with a zoonotic parasite like some worms could potentially transfer them to his owners via co-sleeping.
All it takes is a hard-to-see fleck of poop to fall off of his rectum and get on his owner’s hand at night. After that, the owner simply has to scratch near their face or roll over onto the particle face-first to potentially become infected.
This situation is rare and mostly occurs with owners who don’t properly protect their pets, so if you are doing what you should be, this is a non-issue, as well. This is why deworming your puppy is so important!
Special Circumstances When Sleeping With Your Dog is Riskier
For most people, sleeping with your dog isn’t really risky at all. However, there are exceptions to every rule. Consider letting Fido sleep with someone else (or in his own bed entirely) if:
- You are pregnant:
For the most part, sleeping with your dog when you’re pregnant doesn’t carry many risks if you follow the above precautions. Still, there are some minor risks (exposure to fleas and ticks, large dogs that thrash around, and so on) that you should consider.
- You’re co-sleeping with your infant.
Too many variables, too many things that can go wrong. Your baby rolling over on your dog and startling her (which can result in a bite), your large dog rolling over on your baby, etc.
- You have certain medical conditions:
While it’s uncommon to contract an illness from your dog, for some people with compromised immune systems, even the most minuscule risk is too risky. Talk to your doctor to find out if co-sleeping with Fido is okay.
Sleeping with Your Dog – The Risks Aren’t All That Risky
If you’re doing all the things a responsible owner should be doing, you have relatively little to fear from sleeping with your dog. The real risks are so incredibly small when your dog is properly cared for that it essentially becomes a non-issue. So don’t fret, and continue to snuggle up to your furry friend.
What do you think? What are the risks of letting your dog sleep in bed with you? Do you let your pup share your bed? Tell us in the comments!
