Picture this: you’re relaxing on your bed as you usually do in the evening, and your dog comes barreling in to see you. You think he wants to snuggle with you, but he ends up pushing you off the bed! As you hit the ground, you have to ask yourself; why does my dog push me off the bed?
Your dog pushes you off the bed as a way to assert dominance. Not having enough room to extend their bodies, protecting their space or bad habits can be associated with this behavior.
Dogs have strange ways of asserting their dominance, and taking over your bed is just one of those ways he shows you. Of course, pushing you off the bed is not always the only reason he pushes you off the bed. Keep reading this article to learn some of the other reasons why your dog hogs your bed.
Reasons Why Dogs Push You Off The Bed
There are many reasons why your dog may push you off the bed, but here are five of the most common reasons:
Your Dog Wants More Room
Your dog may choose to push you off the bed because he is looking for more space on the bed. Even the smallest dogs may feel like they need more room than they do and would like your space to make up for it!
Your Dog Is Feeling Playful
Dogs that are feeling playful may use their body weight to play with you. He may think that he is doing something fun, but it may end up with you on the floor. Your dog is not trying to be mean when this happens, even though you may take it that way.
Your Dog Is Asserting His Dominance
Your dog is pushing you off the bed as a way to assert his dominance. Dogs feel that they are most dominant when they are on top of another animal or human, in this case.
Your Dog Does Not Like You In His Space
Some dogs have issues with space, and if you get pushed off the bed by your dog, that may mean that you are in your dog’s space. Some dogs do not mind if you are close by, but other dogs will be sure to know they don’t like it.
Your Dog Is Looking For Attention
Your dog could be trying to get your attention and, while doing so, accidentally pushes you off the bed. He may not mean to do this. For instance, he could be leaning against you and suddenly shifts too much weight onto you.
Why Does My Dog Push Me Away When I Lay Next To Him
Your dog feels like you are invading his personal space when you lay next to him, so he pushes you away.
You may love to snuggle up to your dog any chance you get, but that doesn’t mean that your dog always likes you being so close.
Some dogs hate when you get too close, even if your dog adores you.
Your dog pushes you away as a first warning to leave him alone. You should pay attention to this. If your dog gets aggressive as a next step, it could end up with you getting bit.
What Does It Mean When A Dog Pushes Against You With Their Paws
Your dog is pushing against you with his paws because he is looking for attention.
Dogs will start to use force with his paws when he wants attention from you, and he isn’t getting it as soon as he wants it.
Some dogs will jump up on you and paw at you. Other dogs will scratch and paw at your legs and maybe even whine a little bit.
When your dog is pawing at you like this, it is usually not an aggressive act.
This could still be painful, especially if you have a large dog or a small dog.
Smaller dogs tend to have nails that are sharper and can break your skin.
On the other hand, larger dogs have thick, hard nails. Bigger dogs’ nails are usually too blunt to break the skin, but that scratch can still hurt!
How To Stop My Dog From Pushing Me Off The Bed
The best way to stop your dog from pushing you off the bed is to make sure that your dog knows that you are the dominant one.
Showing dominance to your dog can be challenging and cannot be done immediately if you are having issues with your dog wanting dominance.
You will need to show your dog that you are the alpha in the household. You may have trouble with this, mainly if your dog is male and a large breed.
It is not unheard of that a female owner will have a male dog, which means that you might struggle to maintain dominance in your household.
Other Factors
Let’s talk further about some ways in which you can assert dominance over your dog.
As previously mentioned, you will need to work to maintain dominance over your dog, but it is not impossible to do.
Here are some methods that you can try:
- Eat before your dog eats. This will show your dog that he is at your discretion, and you choose when he can eat.
- Stay ahead of your dog at all times. Whether you are taking your dog on a walk or walking upstairs in your home, show your dog that you are the leader, not him.
- Do not give your dog attention when you walk into a room, even for multiple minutes. You are not there to see your dog, so you need to show your dog that he gets attention when you want to give him attention.
Perhaps most importantly, you need to be higher than your dog at all times.
If your dog struggles with dominance issues, do not lay on the ground with your dog. Do not let him crawl on top of you and lick you.
In this case, do not let your dog push you off the bed and take a higher position than you.
Being higher than your dog is a visual representation for him that you are the larger animal, even if you have a large breed dog.
None of this is to say that you cannot show your dog affection. You need to do it in a way that shows your dog that you are still in charge.
Some dogs will grow out of dominance issues, but you should stay alert if you have a dog that tries to maintain dominance over you.
A dog that tries to be the alpha in your house can cause worse problems than simply pushing you off the bed and taking your spot.
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