Why lie on the floor?

[Clodagh]

Why does our old girl lie on the floor?
She’s always liked her own space so when we moved we put her a bed in several different places. She is now deaf, and possibly a little daft but I can’t see why she chooses the kitchen.
There is a Rayburn so it is very warm but where she lies is away from the warm tiles.
It really can’t be good for dodgy arthritic joints?

 

[Lintel]

Silly simple question but any chance she is just too warm?
Our GSD lies on the cold bathroom tiles, all year round, very occasionally will you find him on his bed.
Occasionally he will lie on his cooling cushion in the summer, but generally prefers the tiles!

 

[Equi]

My mare does this. Has a lovely big stable and a nice bed, rubber mats on 3/4 of it and she lies on the 1/4 bit of cobble ?

 

[MissTyc]

My GSD x Rottie always preferred sleeping on tiles or concrete. Her whole life, even mid winter. She got more grumpy about it in later years, really insisting that she needed to be on the tiles, or on the frozen ground in the garden. Couldn't find a medical reason, although there may have been one I suppose. She did get hot and I clipped her out every summer which she loved.

 

[skinnydipper]

Why does our old girl lie on the floor?
She’s always liked her own space so when we moved we put her a bed in several different places. She is now deaf, and possibly a little daft but I can’t see why she chooses the kitchen.
There is a Rayburn so it is very warm but where she lies is away from the warm tiles.
It really can’t be good for dodgy arthritic joints?

I think sometimes arthritic dogs find cool floors soothing. My GSD would sometimes choose the cool floor in the bathroom over his memory foam bed.

 

[Spotherisk]

I am sure it is breed related! Sheepskin rug is very acceptable thank you, he is currently on our bed, stretched out in full sunshine. He is boiling hot and very happy about it!

 

[Clodagh]

I don’t think she’s too warm. She never pants or feels hot.
Maybe the tiles are nice for her, I know she has other options so will leave her to it (and continue falling over her ?).
At night we shut her in a small area at the bottom of the stairs or she paces ( a whole separate worry) and she settles there happily enough it seems.

 

[teddypops]

My collie has always preferred the floor and we have wood, stone and tile floors, not even carpets. He’s 15 now and will sometimes get on the couch for a nap but he doesn’t stay there long.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

Silly simple question but any chance she is just too warm?
Our GSD lies on the cold bathroom tiles, all year round, very occasionally will you find him on his bed.
Occasionally he will lie on his cooling cushion in the summer, but generally prefers the tiles!

My first thought is that the floor is the coolest place she can find. If you would prefer her to lie somewhere softer, I can reccommend acool mat. Our rotter often chooses to lie on her mat when the weather is too warm for her liking.

 

[skinnydipper]

I don’t think she’s too warm. She never pants or feels hot.
Maybe the tiles are nice for her, I know she has other options so will leave her to it (and continue falling over her ?).
At night we shut her in a small area at the bottom of the stairs or she paces ( a whole separate worry) and she settles there happily enough it seems.

Do you think the pacing could be due to pain from sore joints?

 

[Clodagh]

Do you think the pacing could be due to pain from sore joints?

IDK. I assumed a dementia thing, but you could be right. She doesn’t pace in the day and is very cheery pottering around.
We have just changed vets and she’s on new meds which have made her much happier and more free moving. She sleeps like the dead all day (when not poovering the area).

 

[MotherOfChickens]

A couple of suggestions-she might either not find it that easy to get off/out of the beds any more or they might not offer enough support (bearing in mind I do t know what beds are on offer). My old setter was like this although he was also rather bony so I found it hard to believe he was more comfy on the floor. I bought him a Tuffie which he loved, he didn’t sink into it and they are also very thick and it was easier for the old boy to rise from.
Or she could just like the floor ?

 

[Auslander]

My old setter likes the sofa best, especially with his bed on it, to make it even comfier - but he periodically gets off and lies either in the sitting room doorway, or on the kitchen floor. I think it's when he gets too warm. He doesn't feel hot or pant either

 

[fankino04]

Maybe try a raised bed as they have air flow under them so cooler than a nice fluffy bed but softer than the floor so nicer on their joints???

 

[PurBee]

Ive wondered this and think perhaps the synthetic fabrics many furniture is made with, aswell as carpets ,doesnt allow them to ‘ground themselves’ well, and they probably feel static more acutely than we do, so can discharge static on bottom floor of a house floors like tiles and wood.

My cat is very static-prone and he loves sleeping on the barest part of the floor much of the time! Same with the GSD - polyester big fluffy comfy bed, or cold board flooring by the door….she chooses the door floor!

 

[Clodagh]

I don’t think she would get into a raised bed as she can’t even do a doorstep happily now. (We use the door without one for her).
A different sort of bed sounds like an idea. Ty

 

[planete]

My old bitch spends a lot of time lying on the floor, especially after exercise but she usually lies on the kitchen mats or the woven cotton ones in the hall. I have wondered about it too as I know she can be uncomfortable from old pelvic injuries. All I can think of is that it somehow helps her back in the same way lying on a thin mattress on the floor used to help mine when I had to muck out and ride several horses every day.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Almost all of my GSDs have preferred the floor/a hard surface.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

Zak and Bear ran/run hot, so the floor was often the preferred spot. Brig and Jake liked the hearth when the fire was lit. Might just be a temperature issue.

 

[GSD Woman]

Mine will lie on the concrete/cement floor in the laundry room sometimes. (I can never tell the difference between concrete and cement.) They like to curl up on the dog sofa most of the time though.

 

[Clodagh]

Thing is it’s a new behaviour, since the move. She always lay in a bed (sane beds as now) at the old house.

 

[planete]

She is not putting herself in a strategic place from which she can watch the entrances into the house for instance? One guardy bitch of mine made sure she was lying where she could see into the back garden through the kitchen glass doors while blocking the front door!

 

[Clodagh]

I have spoken to the vet and upped her meds and she has cheered up and is back in a bed. So, fingers crossed she stays happy.