I grew up in England. Many people I knew both in the city and he country let their dogs sleep in the bed, from westie to Newfie. Some differences I did notice were:
-people socialized their dogs more thoroughly. Public lands and dog friendly pubs helped in this area a lot
-owners were more likely to actually euthanize aggressive animals rather than bring them to shelters/rescues, or continue to keep them
My dog came from a shelter as an adult with horrible separation anxiety and other very serious issues. I can not say what her exact background was, but can guarantee she did not sleep in a bed, nor lived inside. She eventually earned the right to sleep in our bed, and her separation anxiety continued to improve during this time. She will never be the dog she would have been had she been raised differently, but she has overcome huge obstacles. Her breed is very prone to separation anxiety, despite being rough and tumble livestock dogs, yet the bed sleeping neither triggered separation anxiety, nor hampered improvement. My roommate's dog is a rottie. He was born outside at his breeder's house, and lives almost entirely outside now. He is in no way coddled. While it is not as bad as it was in his puppy years, he displays moderate levels of separation anxiety to this day. These are merely two examples of many. Separation anxiety has to do with things like genetics and upbringing rather than the location of sleep.
The dog/cat/rabbit (we let him spend the night up there too)/bed death count is not yet high enough for me to lose sleep.
That's true and still... does not contradict my point. Good hygiene practices will benefit people when applied at all times. Washing your hands, covering your sneeze and from sick people who sneeze by your side, keeping your house and clothes clean, not sharing personal items and definetely... not sharing your bed with animals who step on their feces, smell and lick their privates and can't alert you when they have critters crawling inside their ears and fur.
I have known nutritionists that eat like Fast Food Franchise owners and lawyers that are the biggest liars you can imagine... I think you misunderstood my point... this is not about dying from it, but more about health best practices and what is in our best interest... but we as humans sometimes easily (until sometimes is too late) underestimate those things and just go for what makes us happy or feel good.
Actually, more and more the scientific community is learning the danger of going so far in the direction of sterile environments that we are swinging over to things like drug resistance issues and steeply increased levels of autoimmune disease. I will personally take my low-risk chances with Fido.
