In 5 years, my dalmatian had never come upstairs to our bedroom. After initial gate-training while he was a puppy, we removed the gate and Tino knew to stop at the bottom. He watched me go up every night and waited for me come down every morning. He was the pooch love of my life but still not allowed in our room.
Suddenly, I awoke in the middle of one night to find Tino's nose in my face as he stood at the side of my bed. What a shock! I took him back downstairs but he continued this each night - I woke up to find a spotted dog staring at me with his nose/chin on the bed.
Shortly thereafter, I was put on bedrest for risk of preterm labor. I swear, he knew something was wrong!
And of course, I couldn't spend the next two months upstairs without him so he was finally granted permission to extend his home to the upstairs. He had earned it! I no longer cared what the cats thought, what the carpet looked like (seriously, if i let the cats throw up on it why was i worried about big muddy paws?), I needed him and he needed me. For the remaining 3.5 years of his life, he was my favorite part of going to sleep as he slumbered on the floor next to my side of the bed.