I'm always curious about how people share their space with dogs. Living in a 2-bedroom, we really don't have much of a choice. Our space is too small to really have "off-limit areas", so instead, we've had to get creative and find ways to integrate them into our rooms. We don't allow them on the couches, but we do toss
a few floor pillows around to give them a place to hang out:
Keep dog-friendly carpets:
And we created a
"dog bedroom" by pushing one couch forward a bit and putting the crates, Mr B's tepee and toy bin behind:
Where the pooches actually enjoy hanging out:
And of course, putting "twin dog beds" in the bedroom:
Do you find it easier to create off-limit areas? Or just integrate the pooches into your space?
32 comments:
nothing is off limits to Maisie...in fact, sometimes I feel like it's her place and I just pay the rent! ;)
http://maisieme.blogspot.com/
Our house doesn't have any off limit areas technically speaking. There are certain doors that I tend to keep closed, but the dogs want to be in whichever room I'm in. We've dogified a few of the more popular rooms so that if we have guests, the dogs have a place to hang out (other than on the couch!).
Darwin is off limits on the bed, otherwise he can lounge on the couch and chairs, he likes the ottoman too. To deal with the issue of keeping the furniture clean, we bought everything leather and cover the cushions with sheets/fleece. The leather makes it easier to clean up any messes and the sheets are nice to prevent damage from scratching, licking, playing around. :)
Nothing is off limits... we live in a pretty small 3 bedroom house, I have my own bedroom, but I also have run of the rest of the house! I have a bed in the living room that I usually hang out on, but I'm also allowed on the couch sometimes.
-Corbin
The dogs have free range of the kitchen, living & dining room, but the hall that leads to the bedrooms is blocked by a baby gate (with a cat door) so that the cats have their own private space. Normally they also have the family room too, but for now this is Red's room.
Hey, at this point, I'm lucky to be allowed to have a key!
Our pups cannot go into the living room, but every place else is up for grabs!!
Your teepee makes us happy, love it, but thinking Wyatt would try to eat it!
Wyatt's Mom
and all this time i thought you guys had only one bedroom, other than the dog bedroom.
Loveandaleash--Yes, we do have a second bedroom, and you just made me realize we never do write about it. It's pretty small, but right now my bike lives in there and E uses it for an office. It's great for when we have company!
Nothing is really off limits in our house, but our dogs do know "off" (as in "get OFF the furniture") and "go" (as in "GO into another room"). As we put in new floors and furniture, I've been looking at ways to keep things dog-friendly - and I think some floor pillows will be in our future!
I'm SO far behind on my Google Reader that I hadn't seen the contest yet, so thanks for pointing it out to me. I'm going to have to think of something really good! It's a really great idea because people love to show off their dogs and I'm excited to see what other people do in other cities.
The dogs don't really have any off-limit areas. They get on the couch, they sleep in bed. We don't let them climb on us or other people (not that Levi would) when they are sitting down in a chair. It can be annoying when they express their anal glands on the couch (or as Jason calls it, butt juice), but we have a slipcover. Gross, huh? But, I do like to snuggle with them, so it's an easy trade-off.
I guess they won't have free reign of the nursery when the baby is in there sleeping, but they don't really go in that room anyway. Now that we have such a big house, Levi has his own huge bedroom that he stays in while we are gone. Spoiled!
that first picture is so cute! it really made me smile.
I have decided that my next dog will be a pit bull (most likely a rescue). Your blog is a great resource for when I get my new dog and start training her. Thanks so much.
Like you, my house is too small to off-limit anything, and I have the eaten chairs and sofas to prove it. There is no way for me to block off anything.
I've just learned to roll with it, even if it ticks me off at the time. With a puppy in the house, it's fair game!
I can't get over the teepees!
Jack gets floor pillows, too. He has free reign to all rooms, but NO furniture!
We tried to keep Wilbur off the futon. That lasted one day. We kept him out of our bedroom so Chlorox could have her own space but she died and now Wilbur sleeps with us. He's tremendously spoiled and it's all our fault!
Nothing is off limits in the house to Sophie. She has full run of it. We do keep her crate set up in case she needs some down time.
She is allowed on the couches in the family room when her blanket is laid out but not the living room. But if there are guests over her blanket is folded and put away and she isn't allowed up much to her annoyance.
Kayla gets free roam of the house and the furniture, though she has her few pieces that she treasures more than the others. But, when we ask her to please move to another piece, she gets off and goes somewhere else. She has never put her teeth or tongue on any of our furniture (or anything that belongs to us, for that matter). If she were not so well-behaved, she might have restrictions, but since she is pretty much an angel, she is allowed freedom.
our decor consists of lots and lots of fur ;)
Kari
http://dogisgodinreverse.com
Nothing is off limits to Pug and Maize although I do have a baby gate for the kitchen but that's more because Pug is a little possessive over food so Maize eats in her crate and Pug eats in the kitchen and I can watch over him. I have a small 2 bedroom so there's not a ton of space. At my parents they are not allowed on the furniture. Someone said it best- I am lucky that I get a key to this place!
We do have boundaries for miss Molly, she is not allowed on any furniture, the pantry or our bedroom. Our bedroom is simply to cramped to possibly try to let her hang out in there with us, so she has the whole guest room to herself. We spend a lot of time on the living room rug for our snuggle time :)
havi is allowed everywhere and anywhere except the couch. she usually will just curl up into a ball on her bed though, shes not very creative or curious! we just made an ikea stop to check out floor pillows and get some other funs tuff well post about!
What is an off limit? We are confused by this. Our humans are gone all day and we just do our own thing. Oh, maybe we do have one off limit that has a large white gate on it. That would be the bathroom and our 2-legged brothers room when he lived here. He had a bedroom cat that need a little extra protection. BOL Sniffs, The HoundDogs
No we have no off limits, the only one who is not allowed upstairs is Tyler we could not bare the snoring.
Licks Bobby
Wow, I'm astonished that so many of your commenters have no "off limits" areas. With three large shedding dogs, our sofas and beds would be uninhabitable by people if they were allowed up there. So, all their furniture is "ground level" like at your place!
Our Millie is with us at all times, and I'm fine with that. I love having her on the couch with me, or curling up against my back. :o) Our cats though, are a different story. They have a room all their own and we have to put them in it when we are in bed. Otherwise they scratch at our bedroom walls and MEOOOW to get our attention. They're crazy, but our Millie hound is chill. :o)
I have two cats, so I have to create a dog-free zone. I've done the same thing as you with the doggie bedroom using the couch as a wall. I really need to get one of those teepees!
Snoopy and Arrow are only allowed in the dining room and lounge - and only in the lounge when they are invited. Our bedrooms and bathroom are up the hallway, they know that they aren't allowed through the hallway door. We trained them with a chair across the door way, and progressed to a piece of tape across the door way, and now they know. Velvet (the cat) is allowed anywhere and the dogs respect this :)
Oh come on!! Not much space in a two bedroom??
I'm currently in a NYC studio apartment with three adult dogs, two puppies, and a cat. And tomorrow a boarder's coming to make that four adult dogs.
Not sure if my sanity's intact, but I can say that the entire apartment is animal friendly =-)
Though not sure all of it is human friendly at this point . . .
We've got no space for off-limit areas in the Winnebago. In fact, I often put Buster on the couch just so he's not in the way!
Theoretically, Penny is not allowed in our bedrooms. So when we arrive home, we will often find her sitting quietly by the front door, and you'd swear she'd been there for ages. But if you speed into the bedrooms and check the covers on the beds, you will find a nice warm body-heat spot on one of the beds.
Hi there! Haven't left any comments for ages (blame my hooman) but we have read your blog! No off-limit spots for me either. Well except from the kitchen but according to my mum that goes without question?! And that I'm only allowed on the sofa or bad when my mum or dad are there as well and invite me to jump up. Kinda works for me - if they aren't there I might as well sleep on my bed - smells much nicer :)
Slobbers from Down Under - Teal'c
We live in a two bedroom apartment with our 85 pound pittie and two cats. The cats were there first so it was really important that we gave them their own space. Thus the guest bedroom/office is off limits to our Bella. It is funny to watch her pout at the doorway when one of us is working in there and the cats seem to rub the rule in her face. One will even instigate chases and run in there and Bella would be forced to slam on the breaks on our hardwood floors to keep from accidentally sliding in. Sometimes I can see in her eyes how tempting the guest bed looks to her. I caught her in there once curled up on the bed. After I admonished her she was the most miserable dog for hours. Lots of dramatic sighing and flopping on the floor. For the most part she is really good about obeying that rule even passing up invitations by well meaning guests.
When we first brought Bella home, we kept her separated from the cats when we left by keeping the cats in the office and her in the living room. At this time our bed was completely off limits. But we soon realized this was not a good situation for our neighbors because she would sit in our bay window that looks out into the courtyard and bark whenever she saw people.
So the solution was to put her in our bedroom with windows that weren't very entertaining and release the cats to roam freely around the rest of the apartment. Since she was in our room unsupervised we pretty much just lifted no sleeping on the bed policy. It is only in effect when we are both actually sleeping. She has her own crate to curl up in at night. Plus we've found it nice to have someone to curl up with with our human partner is not there.
We gave up on the couch a long time ago because we are weak and she makes a nice pillow. She is really good about not hogging and will graciously move to her floor cushion when asked.
She is also not allowed to hang out in the kitchen alone. We can't see if she is getting into mischief. She is a little more sneaky when it comes to the kitchen.
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