Pet Owner Reveals Why You Should Never Let Your Dog Sleep With You

A pet owner has revealed why you shouldn't share your bed with a dog in a lighthearted video posted to TikTok under the handle rumi_the_beagle, but the clip has been taken the wrong way by some people who viewed it.

Nicole Evatt poked fun at what some experts view as the potential pitfalls of sleeping next to your prized pooch.

Evatt told Newsweek she truly believed she and her husband "hit the jackpot" when they answered a Craigslist ad for a free beagle "who escapes all the time." That beagle was Rumi.

"I had been trying to convince him to get a dog for years," she said. "Something about Rumi's pictures finally made him cave."

Life with Rumi has been pretty great ever since. "Rum is the sweetest, easiest, most well-behaved little guy," Evatt said. "He doesn't even bark and has never escaped with us. My husband is a private pilot and Rumi is happy to join us on all our adventures. He's usually fast asleep before takeoff!"

There's just one slight snag though, if you can call it that. Rumi insists on sleeping next to Evatt and her husband. Every night. "It's totally my fault. I created a monster," Evatt joked. "When we first got him, he preferred sleeping in his bed. But I would invite him up for snuggles and then he got used to the good life. How can you say no to that face?"

It would seem Evatt isn't alone in sharing her bed with a dog either. In a poll of 2,400 U.S. adults conducted by YouGov in 2021 on behalf of mattress company Slumber Yard, 24 percent of respondents said they would rather share a bed with their dog than a domestic partner.

In that sense, Evatt enjoys the best of both worlds by sharing her bed with her pet pooch and her partner. But there are some drawbacks to the setup, as she attempted to explain in the clip.

The video shows Rumi firmly ensconced in her humans' bed. "Here's why you shouldn't let your dog sleep with you," a voiceover explains. "Dog hierarchy is simple: Whoever sleeps on top is in charge. Having your dog sleep with you might actually increase your chances of problem behavior or aggression."

Evatt explained that the video was supposed to be a joke, with Rumi's behavior in the clip running counter to the claims being made in the audio. "I came across the audio making this ridiculous claim that letting your dog sleep in the bed causes behavioral issues," she explained.

"Rumi was snuggled up next to me under the blankets at the time and I just thought it was too funny not to post as a joke."

The video ended up going viral and has already been watched over 2.6 million times. Not everyone got the joke though, with many reacting angrily to the idea that their dog should not be allowed to sleep alongside them.

"Oh well, my little guy sleeps alongside me and I wouldn't change a thing," one viewer wrote, with another commenting: "All my animals sleep with me." A third added: "Either this is a joke, or you are for believing it."

Though it is a joke, Evatt said it "makes sense that other pet parents are reacting strongly."

"One thing that keeps coming up in the comments on that video, that I think of often, is how dogs only have a short time with us on this Earth," she said. "I want every moment to be happy and magical for him."

Sleeping alongside a dog can be detrimental in some cases, though. Leigh Siegfried, an experienced dog trainer based in Philadelphia, told Newsweek: "It can be dysfunctional, and it can undermine some dogs' confidence in being left alone or, worse still, lead to them developing separation anxiety."

But despite Evatt acknowledging she "hasn't had a good night's sleep" since Rumi started sharing their bed, she's not planning on changing their sleeping arrangements anytime soon.

"There's nothing more special than the bond you have with your pup, especially when they're curled up with you in bed," she said. "Albeit often snoring, repositioning and generally ruining your rest."

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