When Miss M first came to live with me, I was very strict with the rules. Living with a dog like this:
I knew once I let her do something, there was no going back. So I decided not to have her on the furniture and we just became used to that (with a couple of sneaks on here and there).
When Mr. B joined us, he followed our lead and learned they had free run of all the cushions and beds on the floor. I like having our sofas just for us, and not having to worry about cleaning or buying new furniture often, especially since we learned Miss M drools in her sleep.
Though lately, a certain Mr. B thinks going on the outdoor furniture gives him free reign to all furniture. And lately, we've noticed a couple of stubby gray and white hairs on our white couch.
I'm curious about everyone else.
Do you allow your pups on the furniture?
Can they distinguish between the types of furniture that they can go on? And how often?
Or once you go furniture, is there just no going back?
Also:
Sneaky
Sneakier.
Caught!
Cleaning Couches.
30 comments:
Bella is allowed on all furniture, but she has to move/get off when we tell her. Sometimes there is a bit of sad-eyeing on her part, but she does listen. She has her own special blankets for her area of the sectional, and ends up setting up camp there every evening.
Dina is allowed on all the furniture but then again she is a small dog and our couches are leather so her hairs don't stick to it at all. However, we do have too blankets that she has to lie on so she doesn't scratch or damage them in any way.
Leroy has free reign, even on the antique cream colored davenport. (It has a slip cover, and a second blanket.)
My dogs have always been allowed on the furniture. My thinking about this is that I have children. Children are MUCH hard on a house and furniture than may dogs ever have been. I would have been more inclined to not allow the kids on the furniture than the animals. :)
Ray is allowed on some furniture but in retrospect, I wouldn't have allowed it. One of the worst pieces of advice we followed from a trainer was to teach him to get on the furniture so that we could teach him to get down. Ugh! What was I thinking??!!
Both Kilo and Tank are allowed on the furniture. They're family, why wouldn't they have the same rights as the rest of the family? Plus, both my dogs are rescues, so they were already in the habit of getting on the furniture anyways.
Karma is only allowed on her side of the bed. She does have her own "day bed". At night when it's time for bed she knows she can't come up on the bed until she is invited. She will pace around the bed staring at me. I am usually reading. I get that feeling that I am being watched and realize she is asking nicely. I pat the bed several times and she hops up for a good nights rest.
We allowed our dogs on our king size bed only. Wrong move as they grew to 50+ lbs. Recently we moved, bought a queen size bed, banned the dogs and things have worked out. They have numerous dog beds inside and out. Our oldest is 14 and she can no longer jump on the bed so it was a no brainer. The younger dog can but we don't allow it because then the older dog wants up.
Dogs don't differentiate the way people do. Dogs generalize. Therefore, if allowed on one piece of furniture, they will generalize it to mean that they can get on *all* the furniture. You'll be better off sticking to your "no furniture" rule.
For us, we only allow the dogs up on the furniture when we ASK them to get up on it. It works pretty well for us! (99.9% of the time, of course.) ;)
My pups are allowed on my furniture... I just keep many lint rollers laying around. If you come to my house, you ought to know you will be covered in hair anyways.
Nala is allowed on all the furniture - or should I say, she allows me to join her on her furniture ;) When I first adopted her it took a couple attempts to get her on the couch - she was obviously not allowed on furniture at her first home. She doesn't shed too much, but I do have to keep fleece blankets on the couch because she is a serious fabric licker (doggie OCD!) I can not imagine not having my snuggle buddy on my couch and bed with me :)
Our pooches have free reign on the furniture - although we kept Ed off for a long time until he understood the rules of the house. We also made sure the dogs understood "off" before allowing them on full-time. We also try to limit them on the furniture until we invite them up.
When I lived alone, Tess was all I had and I had crappy college furniture, so it wasn't a big deal. This became our routine even after I moved and got new furniture. If I got her now, I might do things differently, but I'm sure my pooches will always be allowed now!
I have heard of dogs that understand the difference between furniture, though.
Our dogs are allowed on our couch downstairs, but not upstairs. They seem to have figured that out pretty well.
Max was taught to never be on furniture, and towards the end of his life I so wanted him to come up and snuggle, he'd refuse. Rules are rules. So I spent a lot of time with him on the floor. In those moments, I decided future dogs would be allowed up. Life is short, I want them close!
Boomer and Dottie are allowed on the furniture which means our couches have becoming slightly beat up. Dottie also thinks that our bed is her lounging area during the day, we've taken to calling it the Princess Bed.
Yes on the couch, no on the bed (she sleeps in her crate anyway). We vacuum weekly and have a small roller attachment so it's very easy to vacuum the couch and pillows also - what's the big deal? Our couch also isn't that fancy. I just can't imagine not cuddling up w my pup after work.
Our guys were never allowed on the furniture... until we saw photos our pet sitter posted of her with all 3 up on the sofa. After that, we kind of just went "eh" and let them up on the sofa. We kept the rule of no dogs on our bed, though, and they were able to distinguish between that and the couch.
Kaya & Norman are allowed on furniture. I personally love getting all cuddly and cozy with them on the couch and I love sleeping close with them all night. They know not to get on when they're dirty or wet and they don't try to get on furniture at other people's houses. I do have the clean my sheets more often and vacuum the couch but it's worth it!
We totally let our dogs on the furniture. Sometimes I wish we didn't though because we are constantly covered in dog hair and if they happen to sneak past us with dirty paws, the couch is inevitably going to be covered in dirt in two seconds. I keep thinking we should get a leather couch so I can easily just wipe it down.
PS - The photo of Ms. M after you said she drools in her sleep nearly made me spit out my drink! Hilarious!
Emily @ Our Waldo Bungie
www.ourwaldobungie.com
We're a "dogs on furniture" household. However, I do think they can be trained to distinguish between the two. Hard to do when you're not there to witness, though!
Our foster pups aren't allowed on the furniture….we also like to be able to sit down somewhere without being covered in fur and crusty drool! Plus, we want them to be as 'adoptable' as possible for their future families. Also, our cat is allowed on the couch and that's his 'safe' place so no dogs!
I grew up in a house with cats: the rule, no pets on the furniture never really held true. (But the rule of no cats on the kitchen furniture was kept to the best of my knowledge). With Annie and Paul, they've always had free reign of whatever furniture they felt like being on. They're not thrilled with the hubbs lazy-boy recliner, the kitchen chairs, or the office chairs. But I've actually built furniture for them to lay on to look out the window, and they have freedom to sit on both beds and the couch whenever they'd like.
We do sneakiness on the sofa. Otherwise we are allowed on our blanket on the love seat only
Benny & Lily
When Felix moved in, I had a staunch and unrelenting "no dogs on the furniture" rule. Every night I'd settle him in his bed and every morning, I'd wake up with him snuggled up against me in bed. What the woof?! Turns out the Hubby was inviting him up after I fell asleep. I know when I'm beat.
Our Willow is allowed on certain pieces of furniture in certain rooms. Family room-all dog friendly. Downstairs futon-dog friendly. Living room-no dog on any furniture. Our bed-must be invited. Guest beds-no dog allowed.
And then if we are sitting on a piece of furniture that is dog allowed, she must be invited on. Sounds complicated but somehow our smart dog gets it.
Willow is such a snuggler I can't imagine not having her curled up on the couch next to me.
Of course, if we had 2 or 3, we may have to change the rules or we would have no place to sit while we watch TV. :)
Ace is not allowed on the furniture except for those rare times when he gets verbally invited up. This seems to work for him. He's so good about not jumping up on the couch or beds when we are not home.
He's just a gross dog, and we don't want his drool or hair or eye boogers on our furniture anymore than it already is from him just walking by :)
I think they know which furniture they're allowed on and which one they're not. I think they're just trying to test you. I don't invite my two on the couch but they are allowed on the bed, although one doesn't go up anymore. My one boy does go on the couch when it storms but he doesn't go up any other time. I give him slack as he's older and he has issues with storms and some other things. Certain areas comfort him. If I invited my girl on the couch, that would be the end of sitting on it. She would be up there all the time then.
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