Author Topic: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.  (Read 1583 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Firestorm

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« on: February 08, 2022, 09:34:26 AM »
Max is 6 months old we have bought a number of different types of bed and mattress for him. He will go into the bed or on to the mattress for a short time then prefers to lie down on a mat / rug or wooden floor. Is this normal behaviour for cocker spaniels? We are concerned lying down on a hard surface may not be good for him.

Offline sophie.ivy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 121
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2022, 10:37:30 AM »
Hi Firestorm, my puppy Ivy (6 months) happily sleeps on a thin piece of vet bed in her crate every night and we have a hard plastic bed for her with a vet bed lining in the living room where she curls up and sleeps during the day. I've tried adding blankets and doubling up the vet bed as I was worried about her not being comfy enough/cold and she just chucks it out! She even flips the vet bed to the scratchy harder side sometimes and prefers to sleep on that!

I'm no expert, but I think it's perfectly normal and often see my parent's sheepdog sleeping on the carpet (one of them sleeps under the bed every night, rather than on the bed even though she's allowed!). I have a friend who has a pack of working gundogs (including cockers) and they all sleep in kennels on vet bed or hard raised beds. He's tried putting in soft beds for them before but they just chew them and don't really use them! 

I would be interested to hear other member's thoughts/experience on this.

Offline vixen

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 2100
  • Stevie and Marley
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2022, 11:36:19 AM »
My Maisie has  just turned 7 months.  She sleeps in a crate in the kitchen with her original soft  puppy bed that she curls up in. My daughter insists on making her look cozy and puts a velour throw on her  :005:  In the morning she has always discarded the throw  :005:  Eventually when she is too small for the puppy bed, I will just put vet bed in.  Maisie also has a raised bed in the lounge with vetbed and a lovely fake fur throw.  Whenever she goes into this ‘luxury’ she starts digging it up, turning over the vetbed (like Ivy) and making an enormous uncomfortable looking lump  :005:  She then curls up on that!  She also likes to sleep under my sofa that she can just about still fit under and rest on the hard wooden floor.  Her favourite position to sleep however is on the long sofa with her tummy and bits on display  :005:
Max (GSP)  always in my heart

Offline LizzyG

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2022, 02:14:27 PM »
Monty is 4 months old and like Ivy, at night he sleeps in his crate on a piece of vetbed. During the day he sleeps on our tiled kitchen floor…. Sometimes on his microfibre towel, sometimes not, but always stretched out on his back with his paws in the air!!

Offline Finvarra

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1414
  • Milo, best of dogs
    • Gaia Art
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2022, 02:49:04 PM »
Dylan usually curls up on the sofa during the winter, but often sleeps on the wooden floor near the wood burner. This  wood burner is  in a stone inglenook fireplace, and when there is no fire he will lie behind the stove on the stone floor. I guess it's cool in the summer.
Remembering All the dogs of my life, especially Milo

Offline Firestorm

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Posts: 18
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2022, 09:47:16 AM »
Thanks for your replies. It is reassuring to know that other dogs do the same and will not be as concerned.

Offline Mudmagnets

  • Site Member
  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 8324
  • Gender: Female
  • My boys
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2022, 12:43:58 AM »
For my boys too it varies, in the winter somewhere cosy like their crates with warm bedding and in the warmer months a cooler cotton cover is required on their beds/crates, but they also like sleeping on my bed (especially when I am in it  ;) )
Remembering Smudge 23/11/2006 - 3/8/2013, and Branston 30/8/14 - 28/10/22 both now at the Bridge.

Offline sophie.ivy

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 121
Re: Puppy prefers to lie on floor.
« Reply #7 on: February 10, 2022, 01:23:16 PM »
Whenever she goes into this ‘luxury’ she starts digging it up, turning over the vetbed (like Ivy) and making an enormous uncomfortable looking lump  :005:  She then curls up on that!

This made me chuckle! Ivy does this with the pillows on the sofa - I arrange them nicely for her to lie next to me, then she scrabbles them all up and sleeps on top of 'the lump'. Much better :005:

I think the key to a comfy spaniel bed is the exact opposite of what we would choose to sleep on (the rare exception being the human bed of course!), same goes for sleeping positions!!