Ad blocker detected: Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker on our website.
My husband and I recently rescued a 2 year old Boxer named Daisy. She is smaller than most boxers, and is totally mellow. Her foster mom had her for 4 months and let her on all of their furniture as well as their bed at night. We will not be having her in our bed; she has her own bed in our room. But my husband and I have no idea when it comes to the couch. We both like a very clean house so originally we agree not to let her on the couch. But she looks so sad and seems so awkward, she'll just sit in the middle of the room staring at us...almost like she's saying "where do you expect me to sit if not on the couch?".
One of our friends has a medium sized dog, and they only let him on the couch when they have a sheet down. My husband thinks we should try this...but I can't help but wonder how confusing this will be for Daisy. I think we should be consistent.. either yes she can be on it or no she can't. None of this...well when we say it's ok. Because how is she to know the difference?
I also don't want her to be in the habit that she can jump up on the furniture and be next to whomever comes over, because not a lot of people are comfortable with that.
Is it possible to have her up there sometimes or is that too confusing? Let me know! Thanks.
completely your choice. if you want her on the couch, let her. if not, don't. Just realize, if your not around to enforce no couch/bed then she will go up on them anyway when your gone. This isn't being bad, spiteful, trying to be dominate etc, etc. it's simply finding the comfy spot that smells like you and your husband and laying down in it.
To prevent her from being on the bed/couch while gone, you will need to crate her if it's a short period. And close bedroom doors. it's that simple to keep her off when your not around. If your going to be gone more than a couple hours, you might want to think of having a placed gated off like the kitchen, or some other room she can stay in without being confined to a crate. or if you don't have or will be using a crate, just have a "doggy" safe room that dog stays in while your gone.
If you choose to let her up on the couch, you can train that it's by invite only and off when asked. several people here have done that successfully. I tend to be a bit looser with my dog since he is small and I don't mind him jumping up to join me when I sit on the couch. However since not everyone likes that, I am actually starting to work on him asking first. which means sit and wait to be invited.
whichever you chose don't flip flop. today it's ok to be on the couch/bed, but tomorrow it isn't, but oh today it's ok again. It is ok to change your mind once or twice as you figure things out, just don't flip flop all the time. it will confuse and stress your dog. make your choice and stick with it for a good long while. or just make the choice and live with it. your dog will be fine either way. it's the flip flopping, today it's ok, tomorrow it isn't then back to ok that causes the problems.
If you have any doubts which way you are comfortable, I would suggest going with no dog on couch/bed for now. Then if you decide..well ok I want my dog up on the couch and bed with me, it's is easier to go from no dog on couch/bed to it's ok than it is to go from it was ok, but not it's not.
if you go with no on couch, make sure she has a dog bed in the room with you that she can lay down on. something comfortable for her.
if you do end up allowing the dog on the couch, but don't want dog hair on the couch, get a sheet or blank that you either keep either on the couch or put on it when you want to sit on it with your dog.
Anyway, bottom line, it's your call just be consistent and fair with your dog.
It is perfectly possible to train a variety of rules regarding furniture, as long as you stick to those rules and you make sure its really clear for the dog to understand.
I do know of a number of dogs who are trained to ONLY sit on the sofa on the blanket provided - this works pretty well but you must make sure the throw or blanket provided is easily distinguished from the sofa itself, so choose something in a contrasting colour and preferably a distinctive texture to make life a lot easier for you. If you choose something that matches your sofa completely your dog may well not be able to tell the difference!
If she isnt to be allowed on the sofa without invitation, then she does need a comfy dog bed in that room - in fact in any room where you will want her to lie down and keep out of the way, provide a dog bed, and also bear in mind that these need to be in a position the dog finds comfy and secure, NOT where you may think it looks prettiest. Against a wall or in a corner tends to be best, with a view of the doorway too. Beds that are raised up off the ground can be more inviting, as can bedst hat 'surround' the dog rather than flat pads, but experiment and you should find what your dog likes best.
My dog goes on the couch and we almost always keep a sheet on it. We remove the sheet when guests come over, and when guests leave, Murphy waits on the floor until we put the sheet back on. So it's possible to train that.
Train a really solid "off" (as in "get off the furniture"...as opposed to "down", as in "lie down") so that you may ask her to get off the couch any time you need her to.
For what it's worth we also decided our dog wouldn't be allowed on our bed but ok on the couch - we also wanted to avoid dog hair everywhere, etc. He also has his own very large fleece bed in our room. A year after we got him, he started sleeping in bed with us. So don't be surprised if several months from now you find you care less about your furniture and more about having Daisy close for cuddles.
Ditto Jacksdad, to keep her off the furniture while you're gone, crate or confine to a different room.
I've found dog hair gets on the couch and in the bed regardless of whether the dogs allowed up or not so I said what the hell and let him up. Leather sofa so dirty paw prints wipe off easily and so far it's almost 18 months old and I've not found any marks from his nails. The only rule I've really enforced is the no playing on the couch rule. If he's up on the couch he has to be sitting or lying quietly.
I'm not a very good hostess as I've never even considered visitors not liking the dog hair
I personally dont let Dylan on the sofa.....because I dont want dog hair on it, and my sofa is a big black leather one and I dont want scratches or hair or anything on it. Plus my mum's cousin and a friend of mine have dogs that they let on the sofa even when people go round....so you end up sitting on the sofa, squashed up one end while the dogs lounge on the rest of it...or they get on top of you. I just dont like that, so I have stopped Dy;an getting on the sofa....plus I would rather try and stop him jumping on other peope's sofa's when he goes to other people's houses. I reckon that if he is allowed on my sofa, its harder to tell him he isnt allowed on other people's sofas!
I feel a lot better about 'inviting' her up onto the sofa. We have a dark brown couch, and the first day my husband tried it he used an old pink sheet...so defintely a different color!
She's actually really good about not getting on the bed when we're not there to tell her no. The past few days I've showered in my room I always think I'll see her hanging out on the bed...but she's been laying in her own bed quietly every single time!
Its easy enough to teach them to either only get on the couch/bed when you invite them.
Or to teach them to get off when you tell them e.g. if you have visitors. Or teach both.
My dog has always been allowed on the bed and couch, but still always "asks" to be allowed up on the bed. I didn't even really consciously teach him that. He just does it anyway (good manners maybe?).
If he is sitting on the couch and someone else wants to sit there a simple "budge" will make him jump straight down.
I've always let me new dog onto couch with me (he sits on towel on couch or curls up on my blanket I use). However, after reading the posts here; I have started inforcing a 'sit' command before he can come up. He has done very well today with having to sit first before jumping on the couch. When I get off the couch; he always follows me off as well.
The big test will be him not jumping onto the couch if people come over. He has a pillow spot in the living room; but he is being slowly introduced to commands; but he usually will lay on the pillow if I'm home if he isn't on couch with me.
What to do when the dog gets on the couch while nobody's watching but immediately comes off when somebody enters, as the dog knows it's not allowed? Is closing the door/crating the only way?
My friend has this problem with his new puppy. He has never been allowed to the couch by any family members and has his own comfy place under staircase. Maybe it's not comfy enough?
Yep, prevent access to the couch, you can't teach a dog to NOT do something when you are not there. You can hope to build in habits that rule out the thing you don't want them to do (ie, teach them to chew their own stuff and not the sofa legs), but things like 'stay off the couch' or 'dont eat that delicious food' when 'i am not here to tell you not to'... no chance and not worth the aggro in expecting a dog to be able to learn that.
When I go out I now put a mat/throw on my sofa as Dylan is a cheeky lil monkey! He seems to often get up on the sofa when i am out, but never even tries when I am there! So I just stick at yoga mat or a throw over it when i go out as otherwise I end up with remnants from his frozen kong m ixed with dog hair on my leather sofa!!
