Sofa, so good - or is it bad .........

This is another opinion postings. How do people feel about letting your dogs on the sofa? I have never let Lily on the furniture although she would dearly like to get on and still hurls herself up there when she gets the chance, but I have seen some lovely pictures here where they are all snuggly on the sofa. Am I being mean? I know that some folk say only when invited but how do you control that - yesterday I said yes, today I say no.

So what are your reasons for letting them up there or what are your reasons for keeping them off?

When we first got Rocky he wasn't allowed on any furniture or the bed.

That didn't last very long though, we have a leather sofa which is easy to clean, thankfully.

He really does love to have a cuddle, who am I to say no to that

He also sleeps on the bed now too (well he has for about the last 12 months)

Mine are allowed on the sofa (I have throws to protect the sofa and that I can remove if guests that don't want to be covered in dog hair come round, plus easy to wash).

However, if anyone's sat on the sofa, the dogs have to ask, they can't just jump up. They sit next to the sofa and look at you if they want to get up then they get told 'up'.

If they ever jump up without being invited (which is rare nowerdays) then they're told to get off, asked to sit, then told to get up

ETA: The reason I allow them is because I love sofa snuggles with the dogs!

I used to let Blue on my bed and sofa but he can be very dominate. He started to think he was boss so I had to go back to basics. He doesn't go upstairs, get on the sofa, walk in front on walks etc.
He is allot better behaved now because of it.
But if he wasn't trying to test for pack leader status and was more a natural follower then I would let him on the sofa etc in the blink of an eye.

Suki is allowed on all the furniture as have all of my dogs. Just one big happy family

Mmmmm, me thinks perhaps I am missing out on something here

We have never incouraged it, and dont tend to let Max up on the sofa, but he has a comfy bed in three rooms he always has access to, and comes and sleeps between my legs on a large soft foot stool in the evenings for a snuggle

Bedrooms are a big no no in our book, we havent ever let any of our dogs in the bedroom, tho plenty do ... (he's gonna think he's gone to heaven next year when we start our camping trips and he can sleep on our sleeping bag at night , dont think we'll get much room when he sprawls out on us the big lump !!)

Galadriel wrote:
However, if anyone's sat on the sofa, the dogs have to ask, they can't just jump up. They sit next to the sofa and look at you if they want to get up then they get told 'up'.

If they ever jump up without being invited (which is rare nowerdays) then they're told to get off, asked to sit, then told to get up

How did you start off with training the dog to wait until asked to jump up. We are happy to let Ralph on the sofa, but only when he's calm etc. is it a case of telling him to get down unless a command has been given?

Lol, Moo also wasn't allowed on the sofa or the bed, but you've guessed it, she now sleeps on my bed

We made Suki wait a week before we granted the all access pass so she would know who was in charge

Ledger is allowed on the sofa I have a blanket on it anyway although if I leave him alone he does turn it into a nest gathering the cushions and blanket around him. He is also allowed on the bed he likes to be in contact with me at night and I really don't mind but again he doesn't go up before me otherwise he pulls all the duvet into nest at the end of the bed

We all used to be allowed on the sofa in our house , now we replaced it with a new leather one even I'm not allowed on it any more...only kidding. When we got the new sofa my OH was worried Tilly's claws would damage it and didnt want her on , but she used to sit on the floor looking up with those "why do you not love me any more eyes" and we just throw a duvet on there and she's happy . She's such a good girl she wouldn't damage anythinging on purpose. The Tomminator on the other hand, different story and ultimately now we very rarely use the front room , I've put a safety gate up
1) to stop him making a bolt through the front door
2) ban his access to the front room.

Beds are still free territory though but for Tommy it's only for a quick snuggy before he's in his crate for the night , Tilly it's her big bed and hard to get her off it, she was under the covers with us last night as so snuggly

Jellytot wrote:

Galadriel wrote:
However, if anyone's sat on the sofa, the dogs have to ask, they can't just jump up. They sit next to the sofa and look at you if they want to get up then they get told 'up'.

If they ever jump up without being invited (which is rare nowerdays) then they're told to get off, asked to sit, then told to get up

How did you start off with training the dog to wait until asked to jump up. We are happy to let Ralph on the sofa, but only when he's calm etc. is it a case of telling him to get down unless a command has been given?

Yup, all we did was if they got up uninvited, they were told to get off (don't use down if you use that to mean lie down otherwise he'll get confused, same goes for off, if it means something else then choose another word like move).

Once they down, praise then ask them to sit and wait then invite them up if you want them up at that moment otherwise just leave it at a praise for getting down. If that makes sense?

We don't let ours on the sofa as its leather and im scared of him ripping it

Mine are allowed on sofa but ONLY when invited, Kodi's still getting to grips with that and does tend to take a run and jump but gets told "off" until he decides to wait for an invite.

Beds well ive got a cage in kitchen with a duvet in, same in livingroom, a HUGE bed other side of livingroom and one on landing so they sleep where they want 90% of the time Kodi gets on my bed

I think that as long as you can get the dog off of the furniture without physically having to take them off (with a voice command), it isn't a problem to let them on furniture.

Mine can on the family room furniture, but not on the living room sofa and couch. They learn what the rules are. My one rule on the couch for the family room, no rough-housing! I have to send them packing daily for that...

Our lot are allowed on the couch all the time but wait to be asked most the time. We got a leather one so it would be more dog proof.

They are allowed on the bed when OH is away, but have a dog bed next to it to all pile on when he's home at weekends. He's away for 4 months at the moment so the dogs are loving sleeping on the bed all the time. There not going to be impressed when he come home!!

Neither of our dogs are allowed on the sofas. We decided that with the children that it would be better to keep the dogs off, so the kids have somewhere to go out the way - like the dogs and their beds! I do very often sit on the floor with them both lay on my lap though. They are allowed on the bed at night but only when called and only for a fuss and cuddle, they then have to get off and sleep in their own beds in our room (LuLu has her crate and Buster has a large soft bed by my side of the bed) OH takes up most of the bed as it is, I can't cope with with wrestling the dogs in the night aswell!

Bit of a mixed result really - seems I should be getting the best of both worlds by setting some rules for times for cuddles and times when its not appropriate

Zac is allowed on the sofa but only when I say he can come up and we cover it with a throw.

Its quite cute as he puts his chin on the sofa, looks up at me, and waits to be told he can come up

He is not allowed on the beds but that doesnt stop my girls sneaking him on their beds when they think Im not looking!

buster has his own chair in the corner with one of his blankets on, he's always allowed there. he's allowed on the sofa and bed only when invited and he's very gd at getting off the sofa when told, not so good with the bed though. and during the nights he sleeps on his big duvet at the end of our bed.

Our's are allowed on the sofa but they do think it's great fun to leap from one sofa to the other playing chase but if we say, "this is not a park!" they take the fun out to the garden! That's thanks to my Mum's way of training

It all depends on wether or not your dog is dominant i think. If they are on it and don't get off the sofa when you tell them or they mess around and becomg hyper/snappy then you have a problem and they need to never be allowed up. if they get up and down on command then i think its perfectly okay.

Deebee wrote:Our's are allowed on the sofa but they do think it's great fun to leap from one sofa to the other playing chase but if we say, "this is not a park!" they take the fun out to the garden! That's thanks to my Mum's way of training

Just wanted to add, my girl's are giddy but they are well behaved. They do get on the sofa when invited and off the sofa as soon as they are told. They are very good girls.

When we first got Lola she wasnt allowed on furniature but it didnt last long!

She trys jumping up on the couch when visitors are round and she's told no!
Shes only ocassionally is allowed on the bed.
She sleeps in her crate downstairs

from day one romeo was a spoilt little git. he's always been aloowed on anything and everything.

Busters not allowed on the sofa, he tore the last leather sofa scratching and trying to make a bed on it when he was younger so we put a complete stop to it

no dogs or cats allowed upstairs or in the bedrooms either !!

I'm not gonna let Loki on any furniture or beds. It's good for dogs to have boundaries and rules, it gives them a bit of a mental challenge, and plus it'll let him know where he stands in the pack (the bottom but still very much loved ). That said, if I can get him to be very well behaved, I might, in the future, let him on the furniture, but only when I say so.

Pixee is not allowed on the sofas. However she is allowed on two chairs in the conney, which are covered for her. We still sit in them, and Pixee will wait nice and calm to be called up on our laps. She is a good girl. She does have a mat in the lounge, but the conney is open plan with our lounge so she tends to go on one of the chairs on a night time, and can still see us. She sleeps in her own bed in our bedroom on a night, once the alarm goes off in the morning, its her clue to getting on our bed. Weekends she will cry as no alarm is on, till we call her up. While I will gladly have Pixee up on the sofas, hubby wont allow it. I often sit on the floor if she wants a fuss.